Global Health Fellows
Program II
Technical Advisor I:
HIV/AIDS Costing Analyst
Strategic Planning,
Evaluation and Reporting Division, Office of HIV/AIDS, Bureau for Global
Health, United States Agency for International Development
Location: Washington, DC
Duration: Two year
fellowship
GHFP
II-P2-065
The Global Health Fellows
Program (GHFP-II)
is a five year cooperative agreement implemented and managed by the Public
Health Institute in partnership with CDC Development Solutions and Management
Systems International. GHFP-II is supported by the US Agency for International
Development (USAID).
GHFP-II's goal is to improve
the effectiveness of USAID health programs by developing and increasing the
capacity of health professionals with tailored development opportunities. This
is accomplished through the recruitment, placement and support of diverse
health professionals at the junior, mid and senior levels, and performance
management and professional development activities aimed to enhance the
technical and leadership skills of fellows.
BACKGROUND:
The US Government (USG) has
made the fight against HIV/AIDS a top priority, not only for humanitarian
reasons, but because the HIV/AIDS crisis threatens the prosperity, stability
and development of nations around the world. USAID has been, and continues to
be, at the forefront of the USG response in the fight against the HIV/AIDS
pandemic, funding 10 billion dollars in activities since inception of its
international HIV/AIDS program in 1986 with programs in nearly 100 countries
worldwide. PEPFAR is the largest commitment ever by any nation for an
international health initiative dedicated to a single disease. In July 2008,
the United States Congress re-authorized the PEPFAR legislation in the amount
of $48 billion, $35.4 billion of which is dedicated to HIV/AIDS services, $3.8
billion to tuberculosis, $4.8 billion to malaria, $1.7 billion to research and
$2.3 billion to training health care workers. The Global Fund will receive at
least $2 billion per year.
PEPFAR recognizes health
systems strengthening (HSS) as a key strategy to secure the sustainability of
its past and future achievements. PEPFAR's reauthorization provides an
opportunity to strengthen health systems and health policy, as the USG's and
its partners' efforts to combat HIV/AIDS transition from an initial emergency
approach to a more long-term sustainable approach. The PEPFAR II legislation
prioritizes strengthening HIV/AIDS health policies and health systems and
assigns USAID with the complimentary task to develop and implement a plan to
strengthen host country health systems and health policies to combat HIV/AIDS.
USAID's HSS program provides support to ensure that developing country health
systems are effective, efficient, and equitable. USAlD's assistance in the area
of health systems is an integral part of creating effective basic services in
maternal and child health, infectious disease and other priority services.
The overall objective of
USAID's Bureau for Global Health (GH), Office of HIV/AIDS's (OHA) HSS program
is to provide USAID leadership in building the sustainability of the HIV/AIDS
response through investment in health systems. OHA views health systems
strengthening as a continuous process of implementing changes in policies,
management and systems within the health sector. Health systems strengthening
activities may encompass all levels (national, district, community) and will
address any of the six building blocks of the World Health Organization's
health system framework -financing, service delivery, human resources for
health, health information systems, pharmaceutical management, health policy
and governance, including advocacy and civil society participation. OHA works
collaboratively within USAID, with other US Government agencies, and with the
international community to implement its HSS vision through coordinating
activities, evaluating programs, developing guidance and supporting countries
to ensure the application of up-to-date health systems development
interventions in both the public and private sectors.
Efforts are rapidly increasing
to identify and realize potential programming efficiencies under PEPFAR and to
promote efficient resource allocation within partner countries' HIV/AIDS
programs. Cost analysis was undertaken through the FY11 Headquarters
Operational Plan in the areas of adult and pediatric treatment, PMTCT, and
counseling and testing. Cost analysis is expanding to Orphans and Vulnerable
Children and other prevention activities. From 2009, PEPFAR began to pilot
results-linked routine expenditure analysis activities as a method to update
cost estimates more rapidly. These analyses will begin to yield cross-program
area cost data on a more regular basis, and over time will reduce the need for
the type of time-consuming, labor-intensive special data calls to the field and
reviews relied upon for this study.
INTRODUCTION:
The HIV/AIDS Costing Analyst
will be assigned to the Bureau for Global Health, Office of HIV/AIDS, Strategic
Planning, Evaluation and Reporting (SPER) Division, and will receive
programmatic and technical guidance from the HSS Team Lead. S/he will focus on
economic evaluation of HIV/AIDS programs and interventions, with primary
emphasis on the generation of information to support efficient resource
allocation decisions. Key technical emphases include costing, cost modeling,
cost-effectiveness analysis and the use of cost information. The HIV/AIDS
Costing Analyst will serve as one of the HSS Team's focal persons on costing
activities within the context of PEPFAR and the Global Health Initiative,
advancing OHA's vision for the use of cost information in collaboration with
other technical staff.
ROLES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES:
The primary responsibilities of
the HIV/AIDS Costing Analyst include:
- Provide
technical assistance to other OHA divisions, USAID missions and PEPFAR
country teams in the assessment, design, implementation of HIV-related
economic evaluations and cost analyses
- Participate
in the development, implementation, and analysis of economic evaluation
studies at headquarters and in the field
- Serves
as a technical specialist in analyzing cost data, especially pertaining to
resource tracking, costing, and cost-effectiveness studies
- Conduct
evaluations, comparative analyses, and other research tasks in support of
costing and health finance related projects
- Work
closely with the Health Systems Strengthening team to conduct research
studies by taking the lead in one or more major research activities (e.g.,
site training, protocol development and/or review, data analysis and
monitoring plans, project management, study implementation, data analysis,
data monitoring, data management, paper/report writing)
- Provide
technical assistance to the research team, interns, in-country colleagues
and others as needed
- Prepares
study administration and analysis tools
- Conducts
data analysis
- Participate
in technical meetings, seminars and conferences as needed
- Liaise
with multiple technical working groups to provide technical support to
cost analyses and other economic evaluation activities
- Monitor
implementing partners' economic evaluation work in the field, including
fulfillment of a technical advisory role on specific projects as assigned
- Support
the PEPFAR Finance and Economics Working Group and ad hoc modeling working
group as needed
- Serve
as a technical resource to the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator
(OGAC) and other PEPFAR implementing agencies on OHA-led and jointly led
Health Economics activities
- Participate
in OHA's HSS planning in PEPFAR's Headquarters Operational Plan (HOP)
development
- Maintain
knowledge of state of the art costing and economic evaluation practices
and serve as a technical resource for OHA, USAID, and PEPFAR
Other tasks or responsibilities
may be assigned based on (a) organizational and programming need and/or (b) the
Technical Advisor's own interests.
REQUIRED SKILLS,
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
- Master's
degree in public health, health economics, health finance, health
management, health policy, or other relevant field
- 0-7
years experience in cost analysis, economic evaluation, capacity building,
resource mobilization, data analysis and research design, management and
implementation with or without experience in an international or resource
challenged setting
- Demonstrated
understanding of and ability to apply accepted tools, techniques and
frameworks for economic evaluation and cost analysis of HIV/AIDS
interventions
- Specific
technical expertise in conducting economic evaluation and analyzing
costing data
- Experience
working on one or more additional areas preferred: HIV/AIDS, health systems
strengthening, health policy, statistics
- Strong
quantitative and qualitative research skills are required
- Excellent
writing, editing, research, and presentation skills
- Knowledge
of public health research methodology as related to data collection instruments,
data collection and analysis
- Knowledge
of statistical methods used in data analysis
- Knowledge
of and ability to use electronic data processing systems to gather, store,
retrieve and analyze data
- Experience
using MS-Excel and preferably relevant software packages such as SPSS,
SAS, R and Stata
- Demonstrated
experience working with a wide range of development partners, including
multilateral and bilateral donors as well as private foundations and civil
society
- Demonstrated
flexibility and openness in responding to changing work priorities and
environment
- Demonstrated
ability to grasp knowledge of internal processes within the US Government
and other health sector development partners, (e.g. thematic priorities,
decision-making mechanisms, and preferred funding channels)
- Strong
interpersonal communication and writing skills and ability to work with
diverse teams
- Strong
teamwork, multi-stakeholder collaboration and management skills
- Resourceful
in resolving problems and initiating solutions
- Willingness
to travel up to 30% of time
- US Citizenship or Permanent Residency required
SALARY AND BENEFITS:
TO APPLY:
All applicants are required to
apply for this position through GHFP-II's online recruitment system at https://www.ghfp.net/recruitment/,
which allows you to store your CV, profile and bio data form in our database. A
separate cover letter describing your qualifications and experience, interest
and familiarity with issues relating to this position, and how this position
relates to your career goals is required for each application. All applications must be submitted by
5:00 pm Eastern Time December 28, 2012.
