Technical Senior Manager - Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

The Organization:

IMA world health, which is part of Corus International, has been implementing projects in Ethiopia since 2025. Corus International is the parent of a family of world-class organizations working to deliver the holistic, lasting solutions needed to end extreme poverty once and for all. We are a global leader in international development, with 150 years of combined experience across our brands. Our nonprofit and for-profit subsidiaries include IMA World Health and its fundraising brand Corus World Health, Lutheran World Relief, CGA Technologies, Ground Up Investing, and Farmers Market Brands. In Ethiopia, Corus operates under IMA world health Our more than 400 employees around the globe are experts in their fields and dedicated to helping the world's most vulnerable people break the cycle of poverty and lead healthy lives.
At Corus we believe that good only grows stronger and we reflect that belief in our workplace culture. We value every employee's specialized area of expertise and nurture professional growth. We promote an engaging and supportive work environment, where employees feel enabled and driven to innovate, learn and collaborate. And because our subsidiaries often function as partners, our employees have the opportunity to work across our enterprise family.

Project overview:

The America First Global Health Security - IMA (AFGHS - IMA) project, led by IMA World Health and funded by the U.S. Government, aims to improve maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Tuberculosis (TB), malaria, nutrition, and Global Health Security (GHS). In Ethiopia, AFGHS - IMA implementation is led by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. in collaboration with IMA World Health/Corus International. IMA World Health/Corus International in Ethiopia is achieved through Local Implementing Partners and International Organization. AFGHS-IMA project in Ethiopia, focuses on strengthening the integration of MNCH, Nutrition and Immunization services access and quality through the delivery of life saving interventions in facility and community health platforms, while strengthening systems at sub-national level to enhance transition of the project interventions to the government and local stakeholders.

AFGHS - IMA in Ethiopia operates across 100 woredas and 11 regions and the project contributes to four key objectives : (1) Deliver efficient and effective health services at the health facility and community level; (2) Strengthen health information systems and data use, supply chain, laboratory, and other health systems to effectively deliver health services in a country; (3) Provide holistic support and country readiness capability for infectious disease outbreak detection and response, including a focus on the integration of animal and human health systems; (4) Enable sustainable transitions from donor-supported to country-led health programs.

Job Brief:

Position Summary:

The Senior Technical Manager - MNCH will provide technical guidance and high-level advisory support for the design, implementation, monitoring, and continuous improvement of maternal, newborn, and child health interventions. The position will translate the overall AFGHS-IMA workplan, guide the development and implementation of evidence-based, high-impact interventions to improve the quality, safety, accessibility, and utilization of MNCH services across primary health care and hospital settings through the work of local and international implementing partners (LIP) working with IMA World Health.

The position will provide technical assistance to LIP, government counterparts and strengthen institutional capacity, promote collaborative learning, and support the adoption and scale-up of effective practices in alignment with national health priorities and project objectives. The Advisor will also contribute to strategic planning, technical work plan development, performance monitoring, resource prioritization, partner coordination, and the documentation and dissemination of lessons learned and promising practices.

The competencies required to be successful in this position also include extensive theoretical and practical understanding of Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH), including MCH service delivery and integrated service implementation at facility and community levels; Quality improvement approaches, Performance Review and Clinical Mentorship Meetings (PRCMM), Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR), PHCU-led quality improvement, clinical mentorship, and health system performance improvement.

Responsibilities:

1. Technical leadership, Quality and primary health care (60%)

Technical Leadership and Advisory Support

• Provide technical assistance to Corus international and LIPs in translating the broad approved workplans to guide the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of MNCH interventions.
• Advise project leadership, government counterparts, and implementing partners on evidence-based approaches to improve maternal, newborn, and child health outcomes.
• Translate national health policies, strategies, standards, and guidelines into practical implementation approaches and technical priorities.
• Lead technical assessments to identify systemic bottlenecks, service delivery gaps, and opportunities for improving the quality and effectiveness of MNCH services.
• Provide technical oversight to ensure that interventions are evidence-based, contextually appropriate, integrated, and aligned with national priorities.
• Guide the development of technical work plans, implementation milestones, performance indicators, and quality standards.
• Identify opportunities to institutionalize successful approaches within existing health system structures and promote their replication and scale-up.
• Strengthen community engagement, advocacy, referral systems, and linkages between communities, maternity waiting homes, and health facilities.
• Advise on approaches to enhance the quality of maternal and perinatal death reviews, analysis of contributing factors, development of corrective actions, and systematic follow-up.
• Link MPDSR efforts to the Quality improvement efforts at the woreda and health facilities.
• Collaborate with MERL team and contribute to efforts to strengthen routine data review, logistics management information systems, essential commodity availability, and facility-level management systems where these affect MNCH outcomes.

Clinical Quality Improvement and Performance Management

• Provide technical assistance to strengthen PRCMM functionality, including performance analysis, clinical case review, action planning, and follow-up.
• Advise approaches to link the efforts and actions from MPDSR reviews with Quality Improvement efforts by QIT.Guide the implementation of QI approaches in the health facilities and community level including use of score card, Community Actions Cycles and Partnership Defined Quality.
• Guide health facilities to identify service delivery gaps, identify indicators to use to establish baseline and tracking of actions to address the quality gaps.Provide high-level technical mentorship and coaching to health facility leaders, clinical teams, and relevant technical staff.
• Support selected hospitals to improve service readiness, quality performance, and compliance with applicable quality standards and accreditation requirements.
• Promote the use of routine performance data, clinical audit findings, and quality improvement results to guide management decisions and improve service delivery. Advise government counterparts and implementing partners on approaches to improve the use of MPDSR evidence for decision-making and prevention of avoidable maternal and perinatal deaths
• Support the institutionalization of collaborative learning mechanisms, including Communities of Practice and Ethiopian Primary Health Care Alliance for Quality (EPAQ) activities.

Primary Health Care Strengthening and Child Health

• Provide strategic technical guidance on PHCU quality improvement and Health Post Reform implementation.
• Oversee technical support for the implementation of approved clinical guidelines and service delivery workflows, including IMNCI and iCMNCI.
• Guide capacity-building strategies for health workers, facility managers, and relevant health authorities.
• Support the integration of clinical quality improvement, community engagement, and performance monitoring into primary health care service delivery.
• Provide technical advice on restoring essential services through integrated periodic outreach services and other approved approaches.
• Promote effective linkages between community-level services, health centers, and hospitals to improve continuity of care.

2. Coordination and Collaboration: (25%)

• Serve as a senior technical focal person for MNCH-related engagement with regional health bureaus, zonal health departments, woreda health offices, health facilities, and implementing partners.
• Provide technical guidance and coordination to AFGHS-IMA implementing partners to promote harmonized implementation, consistent standards, and efficient use of resources across implementing partners.
• Facilitate consensus-building on technical priorities, implementation strategies, performance improvement plans, and approaches to addressing systemic bottlenecks.
• Strengthen collaboration between government institutions, implementing partners, and other stakeholders to support sustainable improvements in MNCH services

3. Data Management, Documentation, and Reporting: (15%)

• Collaborate with MEL Advisor in monitoring of MNCH milestones, quality standards, and guide improvements to address poor and maintain high performing indicators.
• Translate data trends, systemic gaps, implementation risks, and opportunities for strategic adjustment.
• Guide the development of corrective action plans and monitor their implementation and effectiveness.
• Ensure that program learning, clinical review findings, and quality improvement results inform planning and implementation decisions.
• Contribute to the preparation of high-quality technical reports including monthly, quarterly and/or semi-annual performance reports, strategic briefs, presentations, and program performance updates.
• Support Program manager to lead or facilitate periodic technical review, pause-and-reflect, start-up, and cluster-level learning sessions.
• Contribute to the quality data reported into the project reporting system, in collaboration with the MEL team.

Supervisory:

This position has no direct reports or list the direct reports.

Education & Experience:

• Master's degree in public health, with focus on Maternal and Child Health, Reproductive Health, Health Systems Management, Continuous Quality Improvement, or another relevant health discipline. Clinical Degree preferred.
• At least 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience in public health, MNCH programming, clinical quality improvement, or health systems strengthening, preferably in Ethiopia.
• Proven track record of developing and maintaining strong working relationships with target beneficiaries, as well as host country counterparts and NGO/FBO/CBO actors, preferred.
• Experience working with local and/or US-based and international partners (NGO/FBO/CBOs, universities and other technical institutions).
• Demonstrated experience providing senior-level technical leadership and advisory support to government institutions, development partners, or large-scale health programs.
• Substantial experience in maternal and newborn health, child health interventions including EmONC, ENC, PSBI, KMC, MPDSR, clinical mentorship, PRCMM, and Continous quality improvement.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong working knowledge of international donor funding mechanisms (including grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements), preferred.
• Strong knowledge of Ethiopian health system
• Excellent communication and influencing skills to communicate effectively and credibly, both verbally and in writing in English.
• Second language fluency preferred.
• Proficiency in Office 365 applications including Word, Excel, SharePoint, and PowerPoint. Experience with Salesforce a plus.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical delivery, coordination of/collaborate on program implementation across multiple teams (between prime and Sub-recipients and country offices, etc.).

Physical and Mental Requirements:

• The physical requirements that may be needed to execute responsibilities may include bending, standing, and walking, etc.
• The mental requirements that are essential to satisfactorily executing the responsibilities outlined in this job description include, but not limited to: learning new tasks, comprehending, and retaining information, completing tasks independently, effectively communicating verbally and in writing, demonstrating proficiency in using computer software to perform assigned tasks.

Other Duties:

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive list of activities, duties or responsibilities for the position. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. All positions are required to perform any additional tasks assigned by the supervisor. Global positions that are bound by contracts will not be changed without notice and approval.

Working Conditions, Travel and Environment:

• Corus International has an in-person work policy, with all employees reporting to the office Monday through Friday. The employee must be available to work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as required.
• This position must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business purposes. While performing the duties of this job in different locations, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high-security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as to infectious diseases.
• If applicable, must have authorization to work in the country of assignment.

As a member of the Corus Family, each employee is expected to:

• Foster a work environment where everyone feels valued and included.
• Support employees' evaluation and promotion processes based on skills and performance.
• Promote a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all members of Corus family, stakeholders in general, and particularly for the communities we serve.
• Follow Corus Code of Conduct helping to prevent any type of abuse including workplace harassment, sexual abuse and exploitation, and trafficking in persons.
• Adhere to the Organizational Core Values