Cameroon: Programme Design Consultant

About us
Social Finance was established in 2007 to help build a social investment market in the UK, and is now rapidly building interest in social investment worldwide, including in middle- and low- income countries. Our mission is to improve the quality and quantity of finance available for achieving social impact. More information can be found on our website: www.socialfinance.org.uk.

About the project
Social Finance is working with Grand Challenges Canada to assess the feasibility of scaling up a neonatal health project in Cameroon. The project involves the rollout of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), an alternative to traditional neonatal care for pre-term and low-birth-weight infants particularly suited to low-resource settings. KMC involves continuous skin-to-skin contact between caregivers and infants, exclusive or near-exclusive breastfeeding, early discharge from hospital and close follow-up. In the first phase of this project, the Kangaroo Foundation Cameroon was established to work with one centre of excellence (La Quintinie Hospital in Douala) and five regional hospitals (in Douala, Yaoundé, Bafoussam, Bamenda and Garoua) to rollout KMC through a train-the-trainer model. Development of an e-learning platform will support training, evaluation and certification of hospitals and health workers.

There is now the possibility of securing additional funding to scale the project through a Development Impact Bond (DIB), a type of outcomes-based financing instrument where private investors fund the working capital of an intervention and donors / government repay the investors based on achievement of agreed outcomes. A DIB would enable KMC to scale up to more regional hospitals and local clinics around the country and would link funding to the achievement of outcomes, such as KMC performance indicators, as well as infant health and mortality outcomes.

We are seeking a consultant for an initial 3 month assignment, based out of Douala, Cameroon, to work with Social Finance, the Kangaroo Foundation Colombia, the Kangaroo Foundation Cameroon, the Cameroon Ministry of Public Health, hospital management and other local and international stakeholders, to develop and cost a detailed roll-out strategy for KMC at scale.

About the job
Strategic and operational planning

• Develop an understanding of health systems in Cameroon, regional variations in neonatal mortality, the role of KMC in neonatal care, and key actors, including as necessary through consultations with the Kangaroo Foundation Colombia, the Kangaroo Foundation Cameroon, the Cameroon Ministry of Public Health, hospital management and other local and international stakeholders.
• Provide a clear rationale for a strategic and sustainable roll-out strategy for KMC, based on conversations with key stakeholders.
• Develop a fully-costed operational plan for sustainable scale-up of KMC - including identification of target regional hospitals; identification of local clinics and a plan for rolling out to the local level in one or more districts, as appropriate; programme management resource; upfront and ongoing hospital / clinic level programme costs; etc. It may be necessary to design two or more options, with different cost and/or health impact implications.
• Develop scenario analyses for costs incurred and impact achieved.
• Undertake operational, intervention, evaluation and political risk assessment of KMC roll-out strategy.
• Assess quality of hospital-level management information and resulting needs for additional data management and monitoring systems to track service delivery performance and feedback learning.

External relations

• Support Kangaroo Foundation discussions with the Government of Cameroon (Ministry of Public Health), UNICEF and other actors to ensure that the KMC roll-out plan is complementary to and coordinated with their plans to rollout KMC to improve newborn health.
• Build relationships with target hospitals and local clinics, including agreement of MoUs including budget and resource commitments where appropriate.
• Act as an ambassador for the project with local communities, the academic establishment and other external partners as required.

Project management

• The Consultant will report to Social Finance, UK and will be required to proactively, regularly and fully inform Social Finance and its partners of progress, issues and potential problems as required.

Duration and start date

• 3-month contract with potential to extend. Starting March / April 2016.
• The successful candidate will be offered a competitive package, including travel to
  Cameroon (as appropriate) and reasonable accommodation and expenses.

About you
We are looking for a highly motivated, self-starting individual with the following attributes:

• Highly analytical with good project management, communication and information management skills.
• Demonstrated experience of strategic and operational programme design, including developing budgets, required.
• Demonstrated ability to engage with and influence senior government and non- government stakeholders in Central and /or West Africa (Cameroon preferred).
• Previous experience of working with international organisations required.
• Prior experience of working with health projects or systems an advantage but not required.
• Bachelor’s degree required. MA/MS preferred.
• Fluency in written and spoken English and French required.

Interested candidates should email a copy of their CV and covering letter to: consultant@socialfinance.org.uk.

Closing date for applications: 26 February 2016.