Technical Advisor, Maternal and Newborn Health, Emergency Referral Systems

Program leadership and management

• Provide overall technical, operational and strategic leadership for the ERS program and translate the approved program document, work plan and budget into clear team priorities, implementation plans, milestones, and accountabilities.
• Lead, supervise and mentor the ERS team; establish effective coordination between national and provincial staff; monitor performance; and ensure timely resolution or escalation of implementation bottlenecks.
• Manage day-to-day program implementation, including activity planning, sequencing, budget oversight, risk management, procurement coordination, documentation and reporting, in accordance with CHAI, Ministry of Health and donor requirements.
• Lead timely, accurate and high-quality programmatic and donor reporting; proactively communicate material implementation, safeguarding, fiduciary or operational risks; and maintain appropriate program, financial, procurement and asset records.

Stakeholder coordination and government engagement

• Lead program inception and biannual coordination meetings; represent CHAI in relevant national and subnational technical working groups; and oversee mapping and coordination of ERS partners to reduce duplication and strengthen collaboration.

Emergency referral and transport systems

• Provide technical oversight for mapping existing vehicles, referral pathways, facility obstetric and newborn care capacity, emergency transport availability, command centres, and communication systems across the program provinces.
• Oversee the procurement, allocation, deployment and equipping of ambulances and motorcycle ambulances, including communication tools, emergency and referral protocols, and non-pneumatic anti-shock garments, ensuring transparent, needs-based deployment and appropriate asset controls.
• Guide the development and implementation of district transport-management, maintenance, financing and refuelling arrangements for ambulances and motorcycle ambulances, including driver and rider training, rider stipends, district maintenance budgets and plans, and community income-generating activities supporting motorcycle-ambulance operations and maintenance.
• Provide technical leadership for strengthening referral decision-making, triage, pre-referral stabilization, documentation, escalation, pre-notification, feedback, and communication between communities, referring facilities, receiving facilities and district command centres.
• Oversee the development, adaptation, printing, dissemination and operationalisation of referral pathways, protocols, directories, tracking tools, registers, referral slips and community reporting forms, aligned with national guidance.

Capacity strengthening and community engagement

• Guide training-needs assessments and capacity-strengthening plans, and oversee training, mentorship and supportive supervision for healthcare workers, first responders, ambulance drivers, motorcycle-ambulance riders, Safe Motherhood Action Groups and community health workers.
• Provide oversight for community awareness, birth-preparedness, antenatal referral counselling, community dialogue and leadership-engagement activities that strengthen recognition of maternal and newborn danger signs and timely referral activation.

Monitoring, evaluation, learning and reporting

• Provide oversight of CHAI's rapid internal baseline assessment, including ethical compliance, stakeholder coordination, quality assurance and use of findings to refine program needs, training priorities and implementation plans.
• Oversee development and use of the program Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework, Project Monitoring Plan and performance dashboard; review progress against indicators and targets; and lead regular performance reviews and corrective-action follow-up with national, provincial and district stakeholders.
• Ensure routine review and strengthening of ERS, HMIS and Community Health Management Information System reporting; promote data quality, referral audits, two-way feedback and evidence-based decision-making across the program.
• Coordinate CHAI's engagement with IDinsight as the independent external evaluator, facilitate appropriate access to program information and stakeholders, protect confidentiality and data rights, and maintain a clear separation between CHAI's internal MEL responsibilities and independent evaluation functions.

Sustainability and institutionalization

• Lead sustainability and institutionalization efforts, including integration of ERS priorities into government pre-planning and Medium-Term Budget Planning processes, development of a costed transition plan, and technical assistance to strengthen relevant national policies, strategies, and reforms.

Perform other responsibilities as assigned.

• Master's degree in public health, health systems, health policy and management, business administration, or a closely related field.
• Minimum of seven years of relevant experience in public health program implementation, including at least three years leading multidisciplinary teams or complex health-system-strengthening programs.
• Demonstrated experience designing, implementing or strengthening maternal and newborn health, emergency referral, patient transport, or related health-service-delivery programs.
• Strong understanding of government-led health systems and experience working effectively with national and subnational health authorities in Zambia or a comparable setting.
• Strong program-management skills, including experience managing work plans, budgets, procurement processes, operational risks, donor deliverables and program reporting.
• Strong leadership, people-management and stakeholder-engagement skills, with the ability to build effective relationships across government, donors, partners, communities and service providers.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and communication skills, including the ability to interpret program data, identify implementation gaps and communicate clearly to diverse audiences.
• High level of integrity, commitment to CHAI's values, and willingness and ability to travel frequently within Zambia, particularly to Copperbelt and Southern Provinces.