United States of America: Senior Principal Technical Advisor

Overview

The Senior Principal Technical Advisor, Management Information Systems (MIS), will provide technical guidance for the development and implementation of innovative strategies to strengthen the availability and use of pharmaceutical information for decision-making. The SPTA-MIS guides the development and implementation of plans and activities related to Objective 3 in the MTaPS program: “availability and use of pharmaceutical information for decision-making increased,” to ensure that the work is of the highest technical quality and consistent with MSH approaches and mandates. The SPTA-MIS works closely with Technical Strategy Leads, other SPTAs, Principal Technical Advisors, and Country and Portfolio Managers to identify opportunities to use new and existing tools, to coordinate technical work, and to ensure that MTaPS initiatives are based on and informed by country-level needs and priorities. The SPTA-MIS leads MTaPS’ collaborative efforts with other USAID-funded programs and relevant stakeholders in the field of information systems and information for decision-making. The SPTA-MIS will build MTaPS’ internal understanding and engagement in the area of information for decision-making and he/she will be actively engaged with the global technical community, strengthening MTaPS and MSH’s position as a recognized thought leader in this space.

Specific Responsibilities

Provide Strategic Direction and Technical Guidance (20%)

• Develop strategic approaches for the MTaPS’ information systems technical area ensuring that pharmaceutical-information-systems-related activities are effectively using the latest knowledge and best practices in the field.
• Define long and short-term priorities and plans for the information systems technical area in close collaboration with other objective leads, and provide strategic and technical leadership to the technical area activities.
• Develop workplans and metrics. Establish quarterly and annual data collection and reporting mechanisms for a specific portfolio of activities.
• Develop and implement MTaPS’ conceptual framework for technical assistance in the area of information systems, focusing on design, implementation, and monitoring of activities.
• Oversee creation and development of technical tools, concept papers, flyers, presentations, and publications in the area of pharmaceutical information systems.

Oversee Pharmaceutical Information Systems Technical Activities, Ensuring Adequate Allocation and Mobilization of Technical Assistance Resources (35%)

• Provide technical support to the development and/or review of technical approaches and strategies for pharmaceutical information systems.
• Provide technical assistance to develop and implement MTaPS-funded pharmaceutical information system activities, regularly reporting against USAID intermediate results and work plans.
• Provide technical oversight for pharmaceutical information systems work and assist in the coordination of initiatives with partners and collaborators.

Manage and Participate in Capacity Building Activities for Internal and External Technical Staff (10%)

• Plan, organize, and conduct training courses covering pharmaceutical information systems for external audience, MSH, and MTaPS staff as required.
• Support implementation of the MTaPS M&E strategy in collaboration with the MTaPS M&E team.
• Ensure that pharmaceutical information systems activities are adequately evaluated and contributing to MTaPS intermediate results and to its intended health outcomes.

Represent MSH and MTaPS on Specific Initiatives in Collaboration with other Technical Centres and/or Organizations (20%)

• Increase MTaPS' presence at relevant strategic meetings/global forums.
• Lead MTaPS research to identify, evaluate, and promote innovative approaches to achieving technical area goals, internally and externally, publish in peer-reviewed publications and other venues, and represent MTaPS at conferences and other technical forums. Participate in relevant advocacy work as needed.
• Serve as the technical point person on pharmaceutical information systems representing MSH and/or MTaPS at USAID meetings, global meetings, and other professional events.
• Liaise with USAID, international organizations, donor agencies, foundations, universities, and volunteer organizations. Seek opportunities for dissemination of lessons learned, research, publications, and other development and communications activities.

Oversee Regular, Contractual, and ad-hoc MTaPS TB Reporting to USAID and other Key Stakeholders (5%)

• Provide MTaPS senior management with quarterly, written technical briefs/updates on global technical issues and/or issues of strategic importance in relation to information systems.

Supervise Designated Technical Staff, Ensuring their Effective Performance (10%)

• Supervise technical staff as assigned, including tracking and evaluating annual performance and monitoring workflow and volume to maximize efficiency and productivity of assigned staff.

Qualifications and Experience

Education:

• A post-graduate degree in a health-related field with specialized training and/or experience relating to pharmaceutical management information systems required.

Experience:

Required:

• At least 10 years of experience providing technical assistance, including for large-scale projects in multiple countries, with demonstrated experience in areas related to pharmaceutical management information systems and data use in low-resource settings.

Preferred:

• Expertise and experience in pharmaceutical information systems, including system architecture, application design, current and innovative technologies, and open source solutions and standards.
• Practical experience with data governance to ensure sustainable solutions and adequate data protection, integrity, and use.
• Experience in improving data availability and use, and in establishing a data-use culture through motivation, incentives, and confidence in data quality and capacity building.
• Knowledge and relationships with relevant implementing partners and technology service providers, as well as country and donor policies and interests.
• Experience developing or using web-based or mobile systems for collecting and analyzing data on medical products in LMICs.
• Four or more years of experience recruiting, managing, leading, and/or developing a strong team of staff, program/project managers, and technical professionals.
• Recognized expertise and technical achievement within the information systems technical community, as demonstrated by peer-reviewed publications and/or participation in technical working groups.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Significant relevant experience in international public health with experience in pharmaceutical systems and information systems in low and middle-income country context required.
• Demonstrated experience working with and familiarity with USAID required.
• Familiarity with MSH information tools such as Pharmadex, eTB Manager, QuanTB, PVIMS, Quantimed, EDT, and RxSolutions preferred.
• Demonstrated competence to assess priorities and manage a variety of activities in a time-sensitive environment and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality.
• Excellent writing and presentation skills in English are essential.
• Proven leadership, management, and organizational skills are a priority, along with the ability to inspire highly capable technical staff, and remotely lead or support diverse teams.
• Skilled at creating a climate where high technical performance at all levels of the team is recognized and valued.
• Skilled at delegating appropriate responsibility, accountability, and decision-making authority.
• Proficiency in French or Spanish is desired, as are languages of other USAID-supported countries.
• Ability to travel internationally and domestically as required.
• Demonstrated experience in managing and supervising technical staff.

Competencies:

• Navigating the Environment: Perspective, Dealing with ambiguity, Organizational Agility, Political Savvy, and Strategic Agility.
• Ensuring Delivery of Results: Functional/Technical skills, Client Focus, Managing through Systems, Managing and Measuring Work, Negotiating, Information Sharing, Process Management, Priority Setting, Problem Solving, and Timely Decision Making.
• Leading with Credibility: Managing others, Building Effective Teams, Conflict Management, Managing Vision and Purpose, Integrity and Trust, Motivating others, and Approachability and Developing Direct Reports and others.
• Core Personal Competencies: Ethics and Values, Integrity and Trust, Listening, and Written Communication.
• Core MSH Competencies: Adaptability, Communication, Problem Solving, Creativity and Innovation, Timeliness of Work, Quality of Work and Team Relationships, and Resource Utilization.

Physical Demands:

• Up to 30% local and international travel.
• Keyboard use, pulling drawers, lifting papers <10lbs.

https://jobs-msh.icims.com/jobs/10868/senior-principal-technical-advisor%2c-mis/job