Sr. Technical Advisor

Reporting to the Director, MERL, the Senior Technical Advisor is accountable for applying technical expertise and knowledge to deliver, adapt and/or modify high-quality technical approaches that reflect best practices in research and learning. They will identify and assess changes in needs, priorities, requirements and operating conditions, ensuring technical approaches are aligned with and responsive to organizational, client and donor needs and requirements.

The Senior Technical Advisor will work with the team to define and determine the requirements for work, establishing actionable plans that support the conduct of research and learning.

The Senior Technical Advisor will establish strong working relationships with internal stakeholders to advance rigorous health behavior, service delivery and system strengthening research and learning. They will work closely with project teams to identify and co-develop approaches to ensure that appropriate data are available and of sufficient quality, the data are actionable, and project teams are analyzing and using data for both evidence generation and iterative learning. The Senior Technical Advisor will build capacity, support knowledge sharing, and compliance with JHU, donor and government policies.

Responsibilities:

Technical Assistance & Quality Programming

• Provides quality technical assistance in design, implementation, and dissemination of research and learning initiatives
• Drawing on experience and technical knowledge, designs or adapts technical approaches based on team capacities, analysis of program data, stakeholder needs and changes in context or environment. For Research this includes protocol design, implementation planning, data analysis, reporting and dissemination, and data compliance. For programmatic learning this includes, MEL plan development, systems design, staffing/coaching support, data review and use, data quality assurance, reporting support and data compliance.
• Ensures quality assurance for research and learning by contributing to internal capacity development, protocol/publication review and compliance processes
• Leads discussions with internal and external stakeholders to ensure programming and technical approach is responsive to needs and priorities.
• Leads the development of research-related products and materials, and supports the integration and implementation of research and learning activities into country programs.
• Leads the design and implementation of technical trainings within project settings and conducts activities to build capacity.

Knowledge Management & Learning

• Identifies important learning and opportunities to share technical knowledge across the organization.
• Contributes to development of technical updates to ensure the most up to date knowledge, best practices and learning are widely shared and taken up and implemented into programs.

Special Skills, Knowledge & Abilities:

• Designing and conducting program evaluations
• Implementation research study design and analysis, including use of theoretical frameworks
• Quantitative data analysis including multilevel modelling, time-series analysis, or econometrics and/ or comparable qualitative data analysis expertise
• Excellent writer; prior experience in publishing in scientific journals as the first author or co-author
• Prior experience with capacity development and/or mentoring of research partners
• Understanding of donor systems, structures and processes, e.g. UNITAID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and USAID
• Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural skills including the ability to communicate technical content verbally, in writing and through dynamic presentations.
• Team player who is comfortable working in a dynamic and evolving environment
• Ability to travel, if needed

• Master's degree in Health Policy or a related field, with Doctoral degree preferred
• Seven years related experience in health systems
• Additional experience may substitute for required education to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula

• Experience working or living in a low or middle-income country
• Expertise in one or more of the following technical areas: maternal and newborn health, reproductive health, immunization, infectious disease, primary health care, surgical care, health workforce development, quality improvement, social and behavior change
• Proficient oral and written English language skills; proficiency in French, Spanish or Portuguese preferred.