Analyst, Quality Improvement - Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal and Neonatal Health Programme

Overview:

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skillsets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with the majority of our staff based in program countries. Learn more about our exciting work: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

CHAI strives to be an equal opportunity employer and promotes fairness, respect, equity and dignity in the workplace. CHAI welcomes applications from all qualified individuals and encourages people from historically disadvantaged groups to apply. CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experiences, backgrounds, and culture.

Team Overview

Over the last few decades, the South African Department of Health (DoH) has made significant progress in increasing access to sexual, reproductive, maternal, and neonatal health (SRMNH) services in South Africa. However, gaps still exist. Maternal, neonatal and child mortality is still a significant contributor to overall mortality rates and wide variations persist in quality and access to comprehensive, integrated healthcare services, especially for women and adolescents. To address these challenges, the CHAI-SA’s SRMNH team is supporting the DoH at national and provincial levels to implement a broad range of activities, across service delivery expansion, demand generation and supply chain strengthening, quality improvement and strengthened programme monitoring and evaluation, across both public and private sector channels, aimed at significantly increasing uptake of SRMNH services for women and adolescents. CHAI-SA’s SRMNH programme supports NDoH to ensure that performance of the strategic development and implementation of SRMNH programme efforts are conducted and monitored efficiently and effectively. This is done through the provision of technical assistance to support the development and deployment of strategic and operational plans, resource optimisation in the short and long term, development of strategic documents and tools, including demand generation, training, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E), to support critical management systems and to galvanise key stakeholder coordination.

Position Overview

CHAI is seeking a highly motivated individual with excellent analytical ability and strong communication skills for the Quality Improvement (QI) Analyst, who will be part of a team responsible for supporting the achievement of a reduction in maternal, perinatal and neonatal mortality through directly supporting health service quality improvement in the DoH’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Maternal and Neonatal Health programmes. This work will focus in priority provinces with a focus on national scale-up. The QI Analyst will input to a growing CHAI team and will be expected to support the DoH to create, execute and monitor evidence-based plans and strategies. The Analyst will be responsible for a wide variety of tasks, including quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, stakeholder engagement, coordination and collaboration.

The QI Analyst will spend time working directly with provincial and district teams every month, and documenting all processes and challenges identified during visits, for tabling at district, provincial and national meetings. The QI Analyst is expected to support the programme team to guide DoH staff (including nurses, doctors and managers) to utilise quality improvement tools, techniques and methodologies, develop and test models for improvement in care and facilitate knowledge sharing and learning sessions for QI capability-building.

The QI Analyst will be based in Pretoria, Gauteng and report to CHAI SA Programme Manager for SRMNH and Paediatric and Adolescent HIV and EPI (Expanded Programme on Immunisation). This role requires travel as dictated by programmatic needs.

Responsibilities:

• Provide comprehensive support to the national and provincial DoH and CHAI SRMNH teams to effectively implement the programme in alignment with established objectives, including offering input on quality improvement (QI) activities and guiding the project’s overall direction.
• Collaborate closely with DoH teams at national, provincial, and district levels, participating in feedback and planning meetings, framing QI plans, exploring evidence-based change ideas, and contributing to the development of standardised project tools and resources.
• Monitor and support the implementation of QI training activities, providing post-training support and tracking programmatic impact.
• Conduct regular review and learning visits to focal districts on a rotational basis, offering support to QI teams and preparing comprehensive reports for district and national dissemination.
• Assist district support staff and QI teams in developing strong collaborative relationships with DoH staff, testing new change ideas, and utilising data systems to monitor QI plans with run charts.
• Support strengthening of referral systems to ensure timely patient care across community, clinic, and hospital settings.
• Support the development, maintenance, and implementation of robust M&E frameworks, conducting routine data analysis, monitoring project progress, and reporting outcomes to CHAI leadership and donors.
• Engage with stakeholders across sectors to align and coordinate activities, ensuring successful programme execution.
• Document and share programme activities, best practices, and QI success stories through case studies, publications, and presentations.
• Develop compelling presentations, reports and participate in stakeholder engagements related to programme implementation and reporting.
• Contribute to business development efforts, including drafting concept notes, proposals, and seeking additional funding.
• Assist the SRMNH Programme Manager with key deliverables and other ad-hoc requirements as needed.

Qualifications:

• An appropriate bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification. A bachelor's degree in Health Sciences (preferably in nursing or medicine), Public Health, or other relevant discipline will be an advantage;
• At least 2 years of professional experience in demanding, results-oriented environments in a relevant field (e.g. SRMNH programme implementation, public health or health system strengthening) in the public sector and/or private sector;
• Knowledge of sexual, reproductive, maternal, and newborn health, health systems strengthening, and/or global healthcare systems;
• Experience working on QI projects will be an advantage.
• Excellent problem solving, analytical and quantitative skills, including attention to detail;
• Entrepreneurial mindset, demonstrated ability to work independently on complex projects and solving challenging problems, in a high-pressure, fast-paced environment;
• Strategically minded, able to think creatively around long-term programme objectives and the detailed steps necessary to achieve these goals;
• Strong interpersonal skills and proven ability to build relationships in a multicultural environment;
• Demonstrated ability to multi-task with a strong commitment to excellence, both internally and externally, and with limited structural support;
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to prepare compelling presentations that translate the results of team activities into meaningful policy recommendations;
• Ability to navigate complex governmental and organisational processes and favourably influence decision-making in a professional and collaborative manner;
• High levels of proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint;
• English language fluency, both written and verbal.