Health Finance Advisor, LHSS Bangladesh

Job DescriptionOrganization OverviewAbt Associates is a mission-driven, global leader in research and program implementation in the fields of health, social and environmental policy, and international development. Known for its rigorous approach to solving complex challenges, Abt Associates is regularly ranked as one of the top 20 global research firms and named one of the top 40 international development innovators. The company has multiple offices in the U.S. and program offices in nearly 40 countries.

Background

The LHSS Project is USAID’s flagship initiative in integrated health systems strengthening, with a goal to help low- and middle- income countries transition to sustainable, self-financed health systems as a means to support universal health coverage. The project will support country-level efforts to reduce financial barriers to health care, ensure equitable access to essential health services for all people, and improve the quality of health care. Equally important, it will equip host countries to sustain progress after the project ends. It will do so by ensuring that local institutions and organizations have the technical capacity and expertise to independently design, implement, and manage continued health system strengthening activities.

Objective

Abt Associates seeks a qualified Health Finance Advisor for the USAID-funded Local Health System Sustainability (LHSS) Bangladesh Activity. USAID Bangladesh is supporting the Government of Bangladesh in its efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030. Bangladesh has directed attention toward improving coverage, efficiency, and quality of essential health care services, with a particular focus on improved governance, stewardship, financing, monitoring, and community engagement in urban areas. It is critical in order to achieve UHC that the GOB strengthens its capacity and commitment to financing self-reliance of the health sector.

LHSS’s Work Will Span Three Key Objectives

Objective 1: Improved governance in financial management and health service delivery

• Assist GOB to strengthen regulatory functions to establish the National Health Security Office
• Improved public financial management for health
• Improved coordination among urban health stakeholders
• Increased domestic resource mobilization

Objective 2: Models for financial protection (FP) and service delivery (SD) tested and scaled

• Provide technical assistance to existing financial protection models
• Develop and implement new service delivery models in urban areas
• Provide technical assistance to strengthen existing urban health functions
• Strengthen civil and community oversite and engagement with health service delivery in urban areas

Objective 3: Increased private sector investment for health

• Identify and design potential models for blended finance instruments to advance health outcomes

The health finance Advisor will, under the overall supervision of the Chief of Party and the Principal Advisor, Health Financing, engage in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (especially the Health Economics Unit), Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Public Administration, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Local Government, etc. Additional stakeholders for engagement include DFID, World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, University of Dhaka/Health Economics Department, ICCDR,b and others as identified. USAID mechanisms with current and planned programming in Bangladesh (e.g., MaMoni MNCSP, AUAFP, AUHC, MTaPS, RDM, etc.) will be consulted on related activities in order to provide coordinated and complementary technical assistance to the Government of Bangladesh.

Key Roles And Responsibilities

The primary responsibility of the Health Finance Advisor will be developing and executing the work related to Objectives 1.1, 1.3, 1.4 (in future years), 2.1, and 2.3. The Health Financing Advisor will also contribute to Objective 3. The Health Finance Advisor may also lead or support activities under other objectives as they relate to health finance. This includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Support and assist Principal Adviser, Health Financing in all the matters related to health financing and public financial management activities aligned with LHSS.
• Represent LHSS to engage and foster relationships at the national and subnational levels and with other stakeholders in the health financing, public financial management, and urban health sectors.
• Identify the appropriate support the aforementioned stakeholders need by critically co-assessing needs around health finance and health financing mechanisms and ensure that LHSS activities meet established timelines and standards.
• Travel independently to subnational levels and improve collaboration with and solicit feedback from stakeholders to build capacity as needed around social health protection and strengthening health financing mechanisms and governance.
• Work with the appropriate national bodies (MoHFW, HEU, MOLGRDC, MoF, etc.) to develop their capacity to act as stewards for health financing in Bangladesh.

It is expected in the course of fulfilling these duties that the Health Finance Advisor will need to identify, engage, oversee the work of, and assure the quality of the work of consultants, partner(s), academics, and other experts working for developing PFM training modules, piloting PFM training, follow-up training with making a sustainable PFM platform in a strategic manner to enable the accomplishment of the objective of the LHSS Bangladesh Activity.

The Health Finance Advisor will work closely with the Principal Advisor throughout these tasks and collaborate with the CoP to strategize how to establish relationships with and then work with partners and stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• The Health Finance Advisor is expected to have the depth and breadth of technical expertise and experience, professional reputation, management experience, interpersonal skills and written and oral presentation skills to fulfill the diverse technical and managerial requirements of key roles and responsibilities.
• Master’s Degree (minimum) in Health Economics/Health Finance (preferred), Public Health, Management, Medicine, Health Administration, or other relevant field.
• Six to eight years of relevant professional experience in managing progressively complex health programs. Experience in working in USAID programs is preferred (but not required).
• Familiar with Government of Bangladesh budgeting, planning, health financing, timelines, and stakeholders’ dealings.
• Recognized expertise in health financing, with demonstrated success in in strengthening health financing, including social health protection schemes, oversite of the implementation of health financing mechanisms, and domestic resource mobilization. Experience with other health financing topics, including public financial management, highly desirable.
• Proven track record of working effectively with government counterparts at various levels, ideally in South East Asia. Experience in Bangladesh is highly preferred.
• Previous experience building capacity and/or mentoring on these topics in Bangladesh highly desirable.
• Demonstrated leadership and management skills and ability to lead and motivate multidisciplinary teams.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with USAID, ministry officials, and other development partners and a proven track record of interacting with other projects, high-level host country governments and international agencies.
• A proven, successful record of achieving results. The Health Finance Advisor will be required to fulfil the key roles and responsibilities largely independently and requires the initiative to ensure work is progressing.
• Experience with urban health desirable.
• Fluency in English and Bengali is required.

Bangladesh nationals encouraged to apply.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s Degree and six to eight years of relevant experience OR the equivalent of education and relevant professional work experience

Abt Associates is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse workforce. Abt Associates provides market-competitive salaries and comprehensive employee benefits. Local candidates strongly encouraged to apply.

Disclaimer: Abt Associates will never ask candidates for money in exchange for an offer of employment.