Terms of Reference – Project Assistant

JAMAICA
Support for the Health Systems Strengthening for the Prevention and Care
Management of Non-Communicable Diseases Programme
Loan No: JA-L1049
Assignment Title:  Project Assistant

 

The Government of Jamaica has received financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) toward the cost of the Support for the Health Systems Strengthening for the Prevention and Care Management of Non- Communicable Diseases Programme and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services.

The consulting services (“the Services”) is to assist in the effective implementation and management of administrative activities. This is to ensure the timely delivery of Services to the MOHW and implementing agencies. This Project Assistant will support the development and maintenance of an effective administrative and reporting environment that facilitates the achievement of the Project’s goals and objectives. The assignment is for twenty-four (24) months.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness now invites eligible individual consultants to indicate their interest in providing the Services. The requirements are:

• First Degree in the fields of Social Sciences or Arts/Humanities with a major in Management Studies, Public Administration, Business Administration or any other related field.

• Three (3) years working experience in general administration including working in a project environment.
• Knowledge of Government of Jamaica and/or International Funding Institutions (particularly the IDB) procurement procedures.

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 1.9 of the IDB’s: Policies for the Selection and Contracting of Consultants financed by the Inter-American Development Bank GN-2350-9, March 2011, setting forth the IDB’s policy on conflict of interest.  A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Selection of Individual Consultants method set out in the IDB’s Policies.

 

Expressions of interest in the form of an Application Letter and Curriculum Vitae must be delivered to the address below (in person, by mail, or by e-mail) by March 1, 2021. The detailed Terms of Reference for the Consultancy Service is available on the Ministry of Health and Wellness website at moh.gov.jm.

The Procurement Management Specialist
Support for the Health Systems Strengthening for the Prevention and Care
Management of Non-Communicable Diseases Programme
IBM Building 3rd Floor,
52 Knutsford Boulevard,
Kingston 5.
Tel: (876) 633-7934
E-mail:hsspproject@moh.gov.jm
Website: moh.gov.jm

We thank all applicants however please note only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

 

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Ministry/Entity:

MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND WELLNESS – SUPPORT FOR THE HEALTH SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING FOR THE PREVENTION AND CARE MANAGEMENT OF NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES PROGRAMME

 

JOB/CONSULTANCY TITLE:   PROJECT ASSISTANT

PROCURING ENTITY: Ministry of  Health and Wellness

REPORTS TO: Project Manager

ACCOUNTABLE TO:  Project Manager. The Officer shall have an indirect reporting relationship with the  Component 1 Coordinator / Civil Engineer / Construction Specialist. The Officer shall also liaise directly with the Procurement Specialist, Procurement  Officer or Assistant Procurement Officer  on the Project regarding procurement and contract activities.

MANAGES:  N/A

 

BACKGROUND

The Government of Jamaica has received two loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to support the Health Systems Strengthening for the Prevention & Care Management of Non- Communicable Diseases (NCD) Programme.The programme objective is to improve the health of Jamaica’s population by strengthening comprehensive policies for the prevention of Non-Communicable (Chronic) Diseases (NCDs) risk factors and improved access to an upgraded and integrated primary and secondary health network in prioritized areas with an emphasis on chronic disease management,  that provide more efficient and higher quality care.  This is a hybrid programme with a policy-based operation – a programmatic policy-based loan series (PBP) and an investment loan that will invest in the physical infrastructure and equipment of Jamaica’s health sector.

The Policy-Based Loan will look at policies that will consolidate regulatory measures to address the preventable causes of NCDs and to reorient health systems to address prevention and control of NCDs through a people-centred primary health chronic care model. The Investment Loan, in turn, will finance activities to consolidate integrated health networks and improve the management, quality and efficiency of health services.  The Policy Based Loan will benefit the Jamaican population at-large, while the Investment Loan will have approximately 800,000 potential direct beneficiaries who reside in the catchment areas of the health services networks that will receive investments.

The Investment Programme being implemented by the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) has two (2) major components and an allocation to support programme administration and evaluation:

 

Component 1 – Organization and consolidation of integrated health services networks

This component will finance the purchase of medical equipment and the improvement of infrastructure for primary health care services in the catchment areas of three priority hospitals to increase their capacity in health promotion and disease prevention, especially regarding chronic, non-communicable diseases. The investments will focus on strengthening the diagnostic and screening capability as well as the clinical and resolutive capacity of health clinics. This Component will further finance the upgrading and or expansion of three (3) hospitals selected on criteria relating to strategic role in the national hospital network, supply-demand gap analyses, and physical needs assessment. The hospitals will benefit from infrastructure upgrading and or expansion as well as modernization. 

 

Sub-Component 1.1 – Strengthening Primary Care

1.1       The purpose of this subcomponent is to increase the physical capacity for service provision at the primary care level in three (3) priority geographical areas. Approximately ten (10) health centres have been identified to receive investments in medical equipment and infrastructure refurbishment and expansion. The subcomponent will finance: (i) the preparation of building designs for the construction of new infrastructure on the sites of existing facilities (three centres), expansion of existing structures (four centres), and refurbishing (three centres); (ii) the physical works required for infrastructure improvement; (iii) the purchase of medical equipment including essential diagnostic and treatment items for NCDs, such as sphygmomanometers, electrocardiogram machines, pulse oximeters, defibrillators, computerized chemistry machines, etc.); (iv) engineering services for construction supervision; and (v) corrective and preventive maintenance of medical equipment.

 

Sub-Component 1.2 – Increasing the Capacity and Efficiency of Hospital Services

This subcomponent will address urgent needs to enhance patient safety and services in three (3) hospitals whose catchment areas contain the health centres identified in subcomponent 1.1. Financing from this subcomponent will be allocated to:

 

(i)         the building and engineering designs for the infrastructure improvement and expansion;

(ii)        the construction in three hospitals according to contracted plans and designs;

(iii)      the purchase of medical equipment to raise clinical capacity to partially account for existing demand;

 (iv)      the purchase of imaging equipment, including computerized tomography machines;

 (v)       purchase of industrial style laundry machines;

(vi)       construction supervision services; and

(vii)      the design and implementation of a corrective and preventive equipment maintenance programme.

 

Component 2 – Improvement of Management, Quality and Efficiency of Health Services

This component will provide technical assistance to design and implement the Chronic Care Model (CCM) in the participating health services networks; to review and develop care pathways and protocols; and to prepare change management, continuous quality improvement and social media marketing for behaviour change strategies. It will also finance the implementation of the fourth Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey. This component will further support:

• the creation of a strong foundation for a digital health ecosystem, including the adoption of standards for interoperability, system architecture, updated governance structure, and other key elements;
• the design and implementation of a sustainable Electronic Health Record (EHR) platform focusing on digitalization of key processes within the improved CCM;
• the strengthening of telehealth/telemedicine/telementoring capacity to include chronic care management, and the establishment of norms and processes for its institutionalization;
• the strengthening of telehealth/telemedicine capacity through the expansion of the ECHO model, the inclusion of chronic care in the platform, and the establishment of norms and processes for its institutionalization.

 

The Loan also supports Programme Administration and Evaluation:

This allocation will support the MOH in terms of strengthening its institutional capacity for project implementation. It will finance, inter alia, the consultants of the Project Execution Unit (PEU), specialized technical services, independent auditing, as well as surveys and studies regarding the implementation of the programme and evaluation of its impact. The PEU is structured to provide additional capability in the areas of project management, procurement, financial management, infrastructure upgrading, medical equipment specification, and health information technology. Technical and fiduciary staff from the MOH will work closely with the PEU specialists so that the MOH benefits from knowledge transfer and capacity strengthening the Government of Jamaica (GoJ) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have negotiated a loan agreement to improve health system efficiency in Jamaica. The objective of the Support for the Health Systems Strengthening Programme (HSSP) is to improve the health of Jamaica’s population by strengthening comprehensive policies for the prevention of Non-Communicable (Chronic) Diseases.  As part of the initial preparation activities for the project the Ministry is required to establish a Project Execution Unit (PEU).

 

JOB PURPOSE:

The Project Assistant shall assist in the effective implementation and management of administrative activities. This is to ensure the timely delivery of Services to the MOHW and implementing agencies. This Project Assistant will support the development and maintenance of an effective administrative and reporting environment that facilitates the achievement of the Project’s goals and objectives.

 

KEY OUTPUTS:

1. Monthly administrative reports
2. Minutes of Technical meetings
3. Contracts Monitoring and Progress Report
4. Records/files maintained and secured
5. Administrative systems maintained
6. Support the Component 1 Coordinator and Technical Committees in the administrative management of the Component

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITY AREAS:

Administrative Responsibilities

• Undertakes administrative duties such as preparing and ensuring receipt and issuance of correspondences for internal and external stakeholders; maintain an efficient filing system; prepare monthly and other periodic reports; draft responses to correspondence as directed; prepare letters, minutes, memoranda, agendas, facsimiles etc.
• Proofread correspondences including reports, templates, training material, staff manuals, memoranda and documents.
• Support the development of documents including presentations, reports, contracts etc. in PowerPoint, Word and other written documentation/communication.
• Attends and assists with coordinating meetings for designated activities to be completed under components including Evaluation Meetings
• Attends inter-ministry meetings related to issues that affect the implementation of the Project.
• Facilitates stakeholder consultations and meetings
• Coordinate project reports
• Assist in the coordination of Project activities
• Support consultants and contractors undertaking assignments related to the respective Component.
• Monitor deliverable due dates, reporting timelines, contract end dates and assist in the resolution of any implementation bottlenecks for component related contracts and work with the project team to ensure timely completion and dissemination.
• Assist in coordinating administratively the submission of deliverables of consultants.
• Facilitate any change order process for activities
• Prepare and log requisition/initiation forms for activities, follow through with obtaining approvals and file accordingly.
• Assist in the preparation of request for quotations for goods and services and evaluate quotations and/ or coordinate the evaluation of quotations where necessary.
• Assist in coordinating the distribution of proposals for the recommendation of contract awards to the Procurement committee, Sector committee or Cabinet office.
• Coordinate supporting documents for the Component and submit to the Finance Unit for payment.
• Provide communication support to the relevant staff on time to ensure timely supports for project activities.
• Manage calendars and arranges appointments for members of the Project Component
• Assist in maintaining procurement files
• Organize and manage the hard copies of signed documentation, other paper and electronic filing systems.
• Assist in coordinating and monitoring other operational activities on the Project.

 

Other Responsibilities

Performs other related functions assigned from time to time.

 

AUTHORITY OF THE POSITION (EXAMPLES OF DECISIONS TAKEN AND DECISIONS REFERRED TO SUPERVISOR):

Not applicable

 

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

1. A high level of professionalism, integrity, diplomacy and initiative is consistently demonstrated
2. Key deliverables are produced within agreed timeframes to required standards.
3. Evaluation Reports, Correspondences and Progress reports are prepared and submitted in the required format and timeframe.
4. Minutes are prepared with high standard

 

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CONTACTS (SPECIFY PURPOSE OF SIGNIFICANT CONTACTS):

Within the MOHW

Contact (Title)	Purpose of Communication
All  Applicable Divisions	Collaborate on procurement and contract implementation  issues
Finance Unit	Collaborate on payment to suppliers

 

Contacts external to the organisation required for the achievement of the position objectives

Contact (Title)	Purpose of Communication
Suppliers	Resolve queries
International Development Partners	Organise meetings/mission visits, Seek approvals
Implementation Agencies/ Stakeholders	Monitor and Update them on work plan activities

 

SPECIAL CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE JOB:

Typical working environment, no adverse working conditions.

 

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES (CORE AND TECHNICAL TO BE SPECIFIED):

The successful candidate will have:

• Proficiency in Microsoft Applications including EXCEL and WORD
• Excellent ability to communicate clearly, accurately and concisely, both verbally and in writing
• Strong attention to detail and thoroughness in work product
• Ability to multitask
• Ability to work in a team and independently with minimal supervision
• Fast learning, resourceful, and excellent computer skills.
• Ability to work with tight deadlines and deliver exceptional results.
• Knowledge of the GOJ and IBRD procurement rules will be an asset

 

MINIMUM REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• First Degree in the fields of Social Sciences or Arts/Humanities with a major in Management Studies, Public Administration, Business Administration or any other related field.
• Three (3) years working experience in general administration including working in a project environment.
• Knowledge of Government of Jamaica and/or International Funding Institutions (particularly the IDB) procurement procedures.

 

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ASSIGNMENT

Reporting Relationships:	The Project Assistant will report directly to the Project Manager and indirectly to the Coordinator/ Civil Engineer Construction Specialist. All deliverables and/or reports will be reviewed and approved by the Project Manager.
Nature of the Assignment:	The assignment is on purely contractual basis. The tenure will be co-terminus with the project duration. The contract will be for the duration shown below in the first instance, and extended based on satisfactory performance.
Level of effort:	Full time level of effort with full days Monday through Friday, operating normally within a professional office environment. Some weekend or evening hours may be necessary. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.
Duration of contract:	Twenty-Four (24) months (subject to renewal)
Location:	Kingston, Jamaica | Travel may be required to other Government entities within and outside the Kingston Metropolitan Area.
Type of Consultancy:	Individual
Type of contract:	Lump-sum payments based on scheduled deliverables.
Financing Agreements:	Consultancy payments will be made through the Ministry of Health.