Planning Officer

Health Care Support to the Poor of Northern Uplands and Central Highlands” (HEMA) is recruiting a senior Planning Officer. The position will be open from January 2011 for a two year period.

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR PLANNING OFFICER

BACKGROUND
The Health Care Support to the Poor of The Northern Uplands and Central Highlands (HEMA) is a European Commission project funded implemented by the Ministry of Health (2006 – 2010). From the total budget, an amount of €11.45 million is managed by the World Bank through a Trust Fund. The project aims to improve the health status of the poor and ethnic minorities in the Northern Uplands and Central Highlands regions. The specific objectives of the project are to increase coverage of essential health interventions especially at the commune level and to improve health service planning at the district level. The project will be implemented in the provinces of Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Kon Tum, and Gia Lai.
The main areas of intervention of the project focus on (1) Scaling up Essential Health Services; (2) Capacity Building, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Project Management. The implementation arrangement of the project is based on a decentralised approach in which the district and provincial entities have more autonomy on planning, budgeting and management of activities that meet their local needs.
A Central Project Management Unit is established within the Department of Planning and Finance at the Ministry of Health. The CPMU is responsible for the overall management in terms of coordination, guidance, monitoring the project implementation, ensuring timely disbursement of funds, and reporting on project performance.
A Province Project Management Unit is established within the provincial Department of Health; it is responsible for monitoring implementation at district level, ensuring timely disbursement of funds and assembling reports on performance achieved by the participating districts.
A District Project Management Unit is established within the District Health Services; it is responsible for project implementation in the district and in the selected communes, monitor and report on performance attained in health service delivery, ensure timely disbursement of funds to support health service delivery.
The following Terms of Reference describe the responsibilities of the Planning Officer of the CPMU.

2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF PLANNING OFFICER
2.1. Main responsibilities
To assist directly Project Director in preparing annual work plans to be submitted to WB, MoH EC for approval, and support the implementation of AWP.
2.2. Scope of work
Assist the Project Director to prepare the Project Annual Work Plans and Budgets (AWP) for the approval of the Executing Authority, WB and the EC;
Develop planning guidelines, tools and criteria for selecting activities to be implemented in the plan, and adjust the planning guidelines based on the practical experiences.
Ensure a training manual on planning, and take part in strengthening capacity of provincial and district staffs in area of planning activities.
Provide technical support to planners in provinces in developing their work plans.
Contribute to the preparation and update of the Operations Manual to the PPMU;
Provide up-to-date information on health policy and national objectives as well as technical support for implementation, in order to design appropriate health packages at District and Commune level in each Province;
Assist in implementing the annual work plans, in monitoring, supervising, evaluating and reporting of the work plan implementation;
Assist the Monitoring & Evaluation Officer in developing the reporting forms;
Assist the Project Director in preparing progress reports;
Conduct field visits to monitor, supervise and evaluate activities;
Support in preparing and disseminating relevant documents for meetings, trainings, and workshops.
2.3. Qualifications
University graduate degree in medical science or other relevant social sciences
Have at least 5 years of experiences in planning related work
Good network of technical relationships at central level with the MoH and institutions active in health service development, and with provinces
Familiar with the government budget cycle and health service planning practice
Professional experience of donor planning and donor funded management procedures is an advantage.
Knowledge of World Bank procedures and Government procedures relating to management of an ODA project.
Good computer skills and experience, especially in MS Office Excel and Word
Good knowledge of English and Vietnamese and the ability to clearly communicate and report in these languages.

Application procedures
Qualified candidates are invited to submit their application letter with detailed CV in English language, indicating “Application as Planning Officer” to:
HEMA Project Office, Attention: Ms. Pham Phuong Thao, Unit 201, Van Phuc Building, 2 Nui Truc Street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi. Email: [email protected]. Tel 04 37262792*102

The deadline for applications is February 21st 2011. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interview.