Position: m-mama Tanzania Field Specialist

Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Job Status: Full time employment

Touch Foundation, an NGO working to save lives and relieve human suffering by strengthening healthcare services in sub-Saharan Africa, providing better access to care and improving the quality of local health systems, is seeking an outstanding individual to join its team as its Field Specialist for the m-mama Tanzania Program. The Field Specialist will join a team of highly mission-driven professionals with diverse backgrounds and experiences, ranging from management consulting to global public health. The Field Specialist will support the regional roll out of the m-mama Emergency Transportation system in Tanzania, by working closely with program teams from Touch, implementing partner and the regional Tanzanian Government, becoming an integral part of Touch’s commitment to improving health in sub-Saharan Africa.

BACKGROUND

Touch Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 to help strengthen the healthcare system in Sub-Saharan Africa. Touch’s founder, Lowell Bryan, a former Director with McKinsey & Company, initially founded Touch to address the healthcare crisis in Tanzania where he understood that the country faced a daunting healthcare environment, with declining life expectancy and increasing maternal and infant mortality. One of the biggest impediments to access to healthcare was the dearth of medical professionals. Touch supported the development of a new medical school in Tanzania, created a program to improve training and delivery of services by graduates of the medical school, and started addressing the most critical challenges in the local resource-constrained health system. The success of Touch’s initiatives in Tanzania led to the expansion of programs across multiple Sub-Saharan African countries. In the recent years and in collaboration Vodafone Foundation and other funding partners, Touch has developed and implemented in multiple countries (Tanzania and Lesotho) the m-mama program which tackles maternal and infant mortality by providing emergency transportation to pregnant women and newborns in distress during and after childbirth. Touch’s work is data driven and evidence based, and we strive to share the knowledge and the information obtained through years of implementation with policy makers and other stakeholders globally.

Most of Touch’s staff work in Africa to implement our programs on the ground, with the administrative and development functions centered in the U.S., in New York City. The people who work at Touch are very smart, focused, collaborative and driven to excel which has contributed to the impact that Touch has made.

OVERVIEW OF THE M-MAMA PROGRAM

The m-mama program is an innovative and cost-effective at-scale

Emergency Transportation System for pregnant women and newborns led by Vodafone Foundation and implemented by Touch Foundation.

Vodafone Foundation and Touch Foundation launched m-mama in 2013 in Tanzania in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania. This program addresses the high rates of maternal and neonatal mortality in rural areas by reducing delays in access to care using safe and timely emergency transportation for pregnant women and newborns experiencing an emergency. The central component of m-mama is an emergency transport system enabled by innovative digital solution to address complications as quickly and effectively as possible.

This digital technology is used to triage a patient remotely 24/7 and then dispatch an ambulance or community driver to bring the patient to a health facility.

In Tanzania, after a successful proof of concept implemented in Sengerema and Buchosa districts, and scaling the program to Shinyanga region, the m-mama program will be scaled up across the country in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania starting from October 2021.

POSITION SUMMARY

We are seeking for three (3) Field Specialists to support the m-mama

program team in the implementation and national scale-up of our m-mama program in Tanzania.

The m-mama Field Specialist will work with the m-mama program team (Vodafone Foundation, Touch Foundation, Implementing Partner – Pathfinder International, and LGA stakeholders), conduct m-mama training during regional roll out and support post Go-Live activities, and perform other program support activities as required. She/he will report to the Project Manager and will be under the overall direction of our m-mama Director of Programs at Touch Foundation. Responsibilities of the role may be adapted based upon the experience of the successful candidate.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

m-mama regional implementation

• Assist and support Project Manager in planning and coordinating regional roll out of the m-mama system country wide
• Support m-mama team in data quality check during system configuration in each new region
• Support activities for the set-up of each new regional

Dispatch Centers (e.g., procurement of equipment, tools set-up)

• Coordinate logistics and implementation of Go-Live activities in new regions according to regional roll out plan:
• Set-up and deliver technical training (dispatcher and admin) sessions for m-mama dispatchers and LGA stakeholders for system launch
• Capacity building of government appointed stakeholders (e.g., ICT officers) in delivering dispatchers and admin training
• Provide support to implementing partner, local government, and dispatchers to ensure smooth Dispatch Center operations and monitoring in each region during immediate post Go-Live period
• Build collaborative relationships with implementing partner and local government stakeholders to establish regular communication and ensure provision of support and progress updates on regional m- mama activities

m-mama ICT System

• Collaborate with the Government ICT teams to capacitate implementing partner, regional and council ICT officers, dispatchers, and any other relevant government stakeholder in providing first level support on ICT troubleshooting during post Go-Live activities in each new region
• Conduct User Acceptance Test for new app version release and provide feedback and inputs to the government and Touch ICT teams
• Receive status update on ICT issues and bugs during post Go-Live activities in each new region by monitoring operations with Government ICT team and implementing partner
• Report to Project Manager any delays in any critical issues resolution or any operational challenges during post Go-Live phase

Project Management assistance

• Work closely with m-mama Project Manager and support the m-mama Tanzania program team in implementation activities
• Provide support to m-mama program team on monthly Operational M&E, including collection, analysis and reporting of data
• Assist in preparation of documentation (excel, power point) for stakeholders’ meetings or funders’ meetings
• Assist in conducting data analysis according to program needs

As job vacancy announcements cannot be exhaustive, the Field Specialist will be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.

QUALIFICATIONS

Knowledge, Education, Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field (Business Administration, Management, International Development, ICT)
• Minimum 3 years’ relevant professional experience in projects implementation at LGA levels
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Proficiency in the use of office software packages such as MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook etc.) and standard office equipment
• Technology savvy
• Ability to maintain confidentiality regarding sensitive information contained in data sources
• Ability to self-manage and work independently and remotely while aligning frequently with the m- mama program team and achieving agreed quality outcomes
• Prior experience in working and collaborating with Tanzanian government stakeholders is preferred

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English and Kiswahili

Other information:

• Travel required: 80% of the time will be travelling to regions across Tanzania for training and ICT support