INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS EXPERT

Overview

Company profile: SoCha (a portmanteau of Social and Change) is an independent Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (ME&L) firm that provides bespoke solutions to social challenges. Since our inception in 2010, we have grown into a fully-fledged ME&L services firm that specializes in advancing innovative methodologies and changing the way donors find solutions to social problems.

Context: SoCha LLC is implementing a two-year (optional third year) Mission Support for Journey to Self-Reliance (J2SR) Pivot (MSP) Activity on behalf of USAID Kenya and East Africa (USAID/KEA). The purpose of the Activity is to support USAID/KEA staff and stakeholders in achieving development outcomes through the use of evidence, performance management techniques, and collaborating, learning and adapting (CLA) practices that enable J2SR.

USAID and the Council of Governors (CoG) will jointly create a team of four experts (in the areas of Intergovernmental Relations, Public Health, Health Financing and Health Supply Chain) and three program management assistants to augment the Health Committee’s Secretariat.

This support advances USAID/KEA’s support to county governments to have:

• Improved coordination, collaboration, and cooperation within the intergovernmental forum on health as well as the National and County Government Coordinating Summit.
• Improved capacity of the CoG Health Committee to engage effectively in policy analysis, research, and communication.
• Improved fiscal, policy and legal analysis on matters related to the health sector to enhance service delivery.
• Coordination and engagement with development partners and other stakeholders towards sustainable delivery of Universal Health Care (UHC).

Responsibilities

Context:

The Intergovernmental Relations Expert will work closely with the Chairperson and the Health Committee’s Technical Lead to provide technical expertise on enhancing collaboration and cooperation between the two levels of government.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Carry out an assessment of the technical challenges facing the CoG Health Committee in the implementation of their mandate as well and give recommendations on appropriate technical support.
• Support the streamlining and strengthening of coordination between the CoG, County Governments, Intergovernmental Forum (IGF) for health, Senate Health Committee and Development Partners in the health sector in order to avoid duplication of roles.
• Strengthen the capacity of the Health Committee of CoG to coordinate, review and streamline the Intergovernmental Partnership Agreement (IPAs) between the National and County Governments, to enhance the participation of County Governments to effectively implement the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program.
• Identify and suggest solutions to policy and legal barriers that prevent effective management of concurrent and residual functions in the health sector.
• Strengthen the policy and legal interpretation that operationalize frameworks for managing the intergovernmental forum on health through development of position papers, policy and legislative proposals that will strengthen the delivery of health as a function in the counties.
• Strengthen the Intergovernmental forum on health through the development of guidelines and best practices to enhance collaboration and cooperation between the two levels of government.
• Support the County Executive Committee Members Caucus on health to enhance service delivery in the health sector.
• Link key stakeholders in the health sector at National and County level in planning to ensure evidence-based strategic advice is provided to the health committee in preparation for committee meetings and decision making.
• Support the development of relevant meeting briefs for meetings with various partners, including development partners that will address relevant policy issues, promote the exchange of knowledge and experience and advocate for appropriate interventions and identify areas for potential collaboration.
• Support the detection of emerging disputes in the Health Sector, early warning prevention and the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
• Perform any other tasks that may be assigned

Education

• Postgraduate

Additional education

Minimum of post-graduate qualifications in Public Policy, Law or Social Sciences.

Experience

Additional experience

• Over ten years of experience in policy development and implementation

• Specific experience consulting for or working for Intergovernmental Relations institutions (Former Constitution Implementation Commission, Former Transition Authority, CoG, Ministry of Devolution or the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee) preferred.
• Experience working with/consulting for development partners preferred.

• Strong leadership capabilities and a demonstrated record of successful leadership of multi-disciplinary teams.
• An understanding of the Kenya Constitution 2010 and devolution.
• Strong report writing skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to engage with high level Government of Kenya officials

Skills

• Performance Management & Report Writing.
• communication skills

Additional skills

• He/She should have the gravitas to interact with the highest levels of both National and County governments commanding respect and credibility.
• Diplomacy: Demonstrate tact, sensitivity, emotional intelligence with superior negotiation skills to interact with the highest levels of government and the donor community.
• Advocacy: Be an effective agent of change in the Intergovernmental space of the health care system, who demonstrates strengthening of partnerships and building collaborative relationships between the National and County Governments.
• Relationship building: Establish credibility and earn the trust of those they work with in support of successful outcomes.
• Communication: Ability to effectively organize and present data to various audiences using a multitude of media channels; Additionally, the ability to speak and write persuasively to various audiences is valuable.
• Teamwork: Ability to work closely with staff at CoG, National Government and the donor community and stakeholders toward a common purpose, shared goals and objectives
• Manages complexity and ambiguity effectively: Demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and diplomacy in a complex, fast-paced environment.
• Research: Ability to conduct information gathering and operational research and synthesize evidence from the data.
• Ability to maintain a calm demeanor and keep the team focused and productive when under pressure
• Ability to effectively work virtually, and conversant with virtual meetings apps eg Zoom, Google Meets etc

Terms and conditions

To lodge an application for this position, please lodge CV via the following link

https://jobs.socha.net/intergovernmental-relations-expert/

Applications close on August 31, 2020