Health Financing Technical Lead - ACHIEVE, Malawi

Job Description

The Technical Lead will ensure that project activities align with Malawi’s Health Sector Strategic Plan III (HSSP III), the National Health Financing Strategy, and government guidelines, while promoting sustainability, local ownership, and integration within government systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide overall technical leadership for project-supported health financing interventions.
• Lead the implementation and strengthening of Direct Facility Financing (DFF) systems in supported districts.
• Support District Councils and District Health Offices to operationalize DFF in line with national guidelines.
• Ensure supervision systems identify operational challenges, mitigate risks, and strengthen financial accountability and transparency.
• Facilitate district-level performance review meetings to assess DFF implementation and identify corrective actions.
• Promote integration of DFF supervision into routine district health system supervision to enhance sustainability.
• Provide technical assistance to strengthen facility-level planning, budgeting, and financial management systems.
• Support health facilities to develop and implement annual and quarterly action plans aligned with DFF priorities.
• Support coordination between health facilities, District Health Offices, and District Finance Offices to ensure effective resource management.
• Contribute to national technical discussions, consultations, and working groups related to health financing reforms.
• Document implementation experiences and lessons learned to inform national policy improvements.
• Support advocacy efforts to promote the inclusion of health facilities within the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) planning and budgeting processes.
• Strengthen community participation and oversight in facility-level health financing.
• Collaborate with the M&E team to strengthen data collection, reporting, and analysis related to health financing interventions.
• Document best practices and lessons learned to inform program improvement and policy dialogue.
• Serve as the primary technical liaison between the project and the Ministry of Health on health financing matters.

Basic Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and 9+ years relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience, including 4 year of management experience.
• Minimum of a Bachelors’ Degree in Nursing and Midwifery, Degree in Public Health, Health Management or relevant health field. Those with advanced Post-Graduate training in Public Health or Health Economics will have an added advantage.
• At least 2 years’ experience in health sector planning at district or national level.
• Experience working at national, district, health facility and community levels
• Minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experiencein health financing, health systems strengthening, or public financial management.
• Demonstrated experience supporting decentralized health financing systemsor health sector reforms.
• Experience working with government health systems, preferably in Malawi or similar contexts.
• Experience working on donor-funded health programs(e.g., USAID, World Bank, Global Fund, or similar).
• Proven experience in capacity strengthening for government institutionsat national or subnational levels.
• Demonstrated experience leading successful teams, achieving deliverables on time and within budget, and interacting effectively and collaboratively with a broad range of senior and mid-level public and private sector counterparts, donors, and other key stakeholders.
• Ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with government and civil society stakeholders.
• Strong analytical, presentation, communication and reporting skills.
• Sound IT knowledge and skills in word processing, spreadsheet, databases, presentations
• Ability to work independently, good leadership and communication skills, ability to work with people from all backgrounds
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Ability to speak other Malawian local languages.
• Ability to travel within Malawi.

Preferred Qualifications

• A minimum of 5 years’ experience working directly with clients/patients in a clinical setting.
• Knowledge of USG rules, regulations, and policies.
• Experience supporting Direct Facility Financing (DFF) or similar health financing reforms.
• Experience working with district councils or decentralized governance structures.
• Familiarity with Malawi’s health sector policies and financing systems.