Job Description
Job Title: Senior Health Manager
Band / Level / Grade: PROFESSIONAL – 7A
Department: Health
Location: Aden, Yemen – with frequent visits to field sites across
Yemen
BACKGROUND: The International Rescue Committee (IRC)
responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive
and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the
IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to
flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S.
cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and
struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.
The IRC responds to people’s acute and longer-term needs
with integrated programs that improve health and safety, prioritize children’s
education, foster economic wellbeing, and empower communities to regain control
over their lives. Our work gives rise to some of the most pressing issues
facing contemporary humanitarian action, including questions of access,
conflict sensitivity, coordination, and impact.
The IRC began its programs in Yemen in October 2012.
Following the war that broke out in Yemen in March of 2015 and its impacts on
the humanitarian situation, the IRC launched an emergency response program in
the southern governorates of Aden, Lahj, Abyan, Shabwah and Al Dhale, later
expanding to Sana’a and Hodeidah in the North. Today IRC Yemen is operating in
eight governorates, directly and with local partners, across Health; WASH;
Nutrition; Economic Recovery & Development; Education; and Protection
(Child Protection, Protection & Rule of Law, and Women’s Protection and
Empowerment). Our work spans emergency preparedness and response, recovery and
systems strengthening interventions at community, facility, subnational, and
national levels.
SCOPE OF WORK:
Under the supervision of the Health Coordinator, the Senior
Health Manager provides technical and managerial oversight for IRC Yemen’s
health portfolio country wide. The portfolio covers primary health care,
reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH),
emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC), mental health and psychosocial
support (MHPSS), mobile health teams, supported health facilities and
partner-implemented health activities. The Senior Health Manager is responsible
for the quality, coherence and timely delivery of this programming across all
locations, ensuring that services meet IRC clinical standards, national
guidelines and donor requirements.
The Senior Health Manager provides direct line management and technical direction
to the Reproductive Health Manager, the MHPSS Manager and field health staff.
The role ensures that RH, MHPSS and primary health care services are
integrated, evidence-based and aligned with the IRC Outcome and Evidence
Framework (OEF) and IRC Yemen’s country strategy. It oversees work planning,
budget tracking, quality monitoring, data and reporting.
WORKING RELATIONS:
- Reports
to: Health Coordinator
- Direct
supervisors: Reproductive Health Manager, MHPSS Manager and field
health staff (including field-based health managers, officers and mobile
health team leaders)
- Internally
works with: Senior Nutrition Manager and Senior Environmental Health
Manager (integrated programming and joint planning), Protection teams,
health promotion team, pharmacy staff, MEAL/data management team, Grants,
Supply Chain, Finance, HR, and field office coordination staff
- Externally
works with: MoPHP counterparts and local health authorities,
implementing and local partners, Health Cluster and technical working
groups, UN agencies (e.g., WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA), donors, peer NGOs,
community leaders and community health volunteers
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:
Strategy and Program Management:
- Provide
technical and managerial oversight for IRC Yemen’s health programming
across all governorates, ensuring coherence between RH, MHPSS, primary
health care and other health interventions.
- Work
closely with and support the Health Coordinator in the implementation of
the IRC Yemen health strategy in line with the IRC Outcome and Evidence
Framework (OEF) and IRC Yemen Strategy Action Plan (SAP), national health
guidelines and donor requirements.
- Actively
manage and regularly review project outputs, indicators, activities and
budgets across all health grants to ensure smooth, timely and high-quality
implementation.
- Based
on assessment findings, data analysis and program learning, lead
coordinated work-planning with clear roles and responsibilities across the
RH, MHPSS and field health teams.
- Identify
gaps, risks and opportunities in the health portfolio, and adjust program
priorities in response to evolving needs of target communities.
- Participating
in and, where required, lead rapid needs assessments with other IRC
sectors and external agencies.
Technical Oversight and Program Quality:
- Provide
technical guidance and quality oversight for all IRC-supported health
facilities, mobile health teams and supported EmONC facilities, ensuring
compliance with protocols and guidelines prescribed by the MoPHP, WHO and
UNICEF.
- Ensure
SRH services are delivered in line with MISP, and that mental health is
integrated into primary health care in line with WHO mhGAP-HIG and IASC
MHPSS guidelines, through the RH Manager and MHPSS Manager.
- Oversee
the development and roll-out of clinical SOPs, referral pathways and
integration with Protection programming, including clinical management of
rape and MHPSS referrals.
- Lead
the establishment of data collection, M&E and quality control measures
(e.g., supervision checklists, clinical audits, client satisfaction
measures and training reports) across all health services.
- Ensure
appropriate follow-up and decision-making based on program data, HMIS
reporting and quality findings.
- Conduct
regular field visits across program locations to monitor and support
health activities and provide feedback and mentorship to field teams.
- Ensure
availability and rational use of essential medicines, medical supplies and
reproductive health kits in supported facilities, in coordination with
country pharmacist and Supply Chain teams.
Integration and Multi-sector Coordination:
- Work
closely with the Senior Nutrition Manager and the Senior Environmental
Health Manager to plan and deliver integrated health, nutrition and
environmental health interventions, including joint assessments,
targeting, referrals and shared learning.
- Coordinate
health programming with Protection teams to strengthen integrated service
delivery and referral pathways.
- Ensure
health programming is implemented in alignment with IRC Yemen’s integrated
program approach and country strategic plan.
Budget, Grants and Supply Chain:
- Assist
the Health Coordinator in developing health project budgets, proposals,
logical frameworks and grant start-up and close-out documents, ensuring
interventions are technically sound and sufficiently resourced.
- Ensure
that health programs are implemented according to schedule and budget,
including budget forecasting, development of spending plans, review of
budget-versus-actuals (BvA) and recommendations for adjustments.
- Track
procurement plans, staffing plans and work plans with Supply Chain,
Finance and HR to ensure that personnel, facilities and supplies are
available to meet grant deliverables.
- Ensure
timely initiation of project procurement and staff recruitment across all
health grants.
Partnerships Management and External Representation:
- In
coordination with the Health Coordinator, represent IRC in the Health
Cluster, technical working groups and other coordination forums, and
maintain effective working relationships with the MoPHP, local health
authorities, UN agencies, donors and peer agencies.
- Work
with project coordinators and managers to identify implementing partners,
co-design interventions, monitor implementation and provide supportive
supervision.
- Ensure
regular performance monitoring and joint capacity building plans for
partner organizations and hold regular meetings with partners to address
challenges and barriers to progress.
- Advocate
with and advise peer agencies, local health authorities and other
stakeholders to promote inclusive, high-quality health service delivery.
Partnership and Localization:
- Provide
strategic leadership for health partnerships, working closely with the
Partnership Unit to identify, engage and strengthen local civil society
partners and other relevant actors (e.g., local NGOs and community-based
organizations delivering health services, community health volunteer
networks), as well as formal entities (e.g., departments within the MoPHP
and local health authorities).
- With
the support of the partnership team, assess the technical and
organizational capacities of identified health partners, as part of
supporting their systems and ensuring sustainability of work beyond the
project period.
- Ensure
partners are meaningfully involved in assessment, design, implementation,
monitoring, learning and strategic decision-making, in line with IRC’s
Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results (PEERS) approach.
- Oversee
partner performance and program quality while promoting equitable
relationships, mutual accountability and appropriate capacity sharing and
strengthening.
- Lead
strategic engagement with formal and informal health systems, supporting
sustainable capacity strengthening, improved referral mechanisms, service
coordination and locally lead health responses where appropriate.
Team Management and Capacity Support:
- Directly
supervise the Reproductive Health Manager, the MHPSS Manager and field
health staff, setting clear objectives and providing regular coaching,
feedback and performance reviews.
- Ensure
supportive supervision, on-the-job mentoring and continuous capacity
building of national health staff and partner staff, based on assessed
training needs.
- Lead
or support the recruitment of health team members as required, in
accordance with IRC Yemen policies and procedures.
- Hold
regular health team meetings to review progress against work plans, and
share minutes with the Health Coordinator highlighting successes,
challenges, course corrections and lessons learned.
- Support
team building, professional development and individual development plans
for all direct and indirect reports.
Documentation and Reporting:
- Ensure
the timely preparation of high-quality internal and external reports,
including weekly updates to the Health Coordinator and donor interim and
final reports, with age- and gender-disaggregated data as required.
- Oversee
collection, analysis and dissemination of health program data, including
HMIS reporting and client outcomes, for problem analysis, planning and
evaluation.
- Ensure
program records and documentation are maintained according to project
management minimum standards, including confidentiality and security of
client data.
- Promote
a culture of learning and documentation so that lessons learned and good
practices are shared for institutional memory and advocacy on behalf of
targeted communities.
- Perform
other duties as assigned by the Health Coordinator.
Team Engagement, Safeguarding and Client Responsiveness:
- Promote
and actively participate in efforts to build team engagement, inclusion
and cohesion in the IRC Yemen Health team.
- Foster
ongoing learning, honest dialogue and reflection to strengthen
safeguarding and to promote IRC values and adherence to IRC policies.
- Educate
and raise awareness among the community and clients about existing
feedback mechanisms and response processes.
REQUIREMENTS: (Qualifications, Skills and Abilities):
A. Education:
- Bachelor’s
degree in medicine, Nursing, Midwifery, Public Health or another relevant
health-related discipline.
- Master’s
degree in public health, Global Health, Health Management or other
relevant discipline is an added advantage.
B. Experience:
- At
least 5 years of relevant experience in managing health programs in
humanitarian or conflict-affected settings, including at least 2 years in
a senior management role.
- Demonstrated
experience managing multi-site, multi-donor health programs, including
RMNCAH, primary health care and MHPSS integration.
- Management,
supervision and capacity building experience, including line management of
technical managers.
- Experience
in budget management, including budget forecasting, spending plans and BvA
review.
- Experience
in coordination with ministries of health, clusters, UN agencies and
donors; previous INGO experience is strongly preferred.
C. Skills and Abilities:
- Strong
leadership, organizational, supervisory and interpersonal skills, with the
ability to work in different cultural environments.
- Ability
to design, implement and analyze health assessments and develop work plans
in emergency settings.
- Ability
to write clear and concise reports and meet required reporting deadlines.
- Ability
to work independently while being a strong team player, and to cope with
stressful workloads and limited resources.
- Willingness
to travel frequently to field sites across Yemen.
D. Proficiencies:
- Technical
knowledge of primary health care, RMNCAH/EmONC, MHPSS integration (mhGAP)
and health systems strengthening in emergencies.
- Competence
with Windows and Microsoft Office, especially Outlook, Word, Excel and
PowerPoint.
- Fluency
in written and spoken English and Arabic.
Professional Standards: The IRC and IRC workers must adhere
to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional
Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with
these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection
from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment,
Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.
IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants
on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin,
religion, age, marital status, disability or any other characteristic protected
by applicable law.
IRC strives to build a diverse and inclusive team at all
levels who as individuals, and as a group, embody our culture statement
creating a working environment characterized by critical reflection, power
sharing, debate, and objectivity for us to achieve our aspirations as a team
and deliver the best possible services to our clients.
Gender Equality: IRC is committed to narrowing the gender
gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling
environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave,
gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and
allowances.
Commitment to Client Responsiveness: By committing to
Client-Centered Programming, at the IRC Yemen, we place the people we serve -
our clients - at the center of our programming and services. The IRC Yemen
Staff have an important role to play in supporting the implementation of
client-responsive programming through raising awareness among the community and
clients about the existing feedback mechanisms and how to use them including
the response processes, access, and eligibility to services, and contribute to
building an institutional culture that prompts staff to listen to clients.
How to Apply
To apply: