POSITION AVAILABLE:
PROGRAM OFFICER
PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAM
(Community monitoring, Public Health Watch project)
NEW YORK
December 2009
The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. Open societies are characterized by the rule of law; respect for human rights, minorities, and a diversity of opinions; democratically elected governments; market economies in which business and government are separate; and a civil society that helps keep government power in check. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places high priority on protecting and improving the lives of marginalized people and communities.
Investor and philanthropist George Soros in 1993 created OSI as a private operating and grantmaking foundation to support his foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Those foundations were established, starting in 1984, to help countries make the transition from communism. OSI has expanded the activities of the Soros foundations network to encompass the United States and more than 60 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Each national foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities.
The Open Society Institute’s Public Health Program aims to build societies committed to inclusion, human rights, and justice, in which health-related laws, policies, and practices reflect these values and are based on evidence. The program works to advance the health and human rights of marginalized people1 by building the capacity of civil society leaders and organizations, and by advocating for greater accountability and transparency in health policy and practice. The Public Health Program engages in five core strategies to advance its mission and goals: grantmaking, capacity building, advocacy, strategic convening, and mobilizing and leveraging funding. The Public Health Program works in Central and Eastern Europe, Southern and Eastern Africa, Southeast Asia, and China.
For further information on the PHP, please visit our website: http://www.soros.org/health
The Open Society Institute (OSI) seeks a full-time Program Officer in its New York office to work with the Public Health Watch Project of the PHP.
Founded in 2004, the Public Health Watch Project (PHW) works to strengthen meaningful and sustained engagement by affected communities in the development, implementation, and monitoring of health policies, programs and practices. Specifically, PHW supports the capacity development or strengthening of civil society groups to effectively and strategically use monitoring as a mechanism for accountability at the national, regional and global levels. PHW is particularly interested in supporting community monitoring efforts such as citizen monitoring and evaluation of public policies and services and participatory public policy-making. PHW collaborates with PHP’s Health Budget Monitoring and Advocacy Project on community monitoring efforts that include budget monitoring and expenditure tracking.
Community-led monitoring and advocacy related to health services is increasingly important in the era of decreased financial resources for health and the push for broader health systems strengthening, trends that have the potential to further negatively impact marginalized groups. PHW believes that providing affected groups and communities with the tools, resources, and capacity to effectively monitor and advocate on health policies and programs with policy and decision-makers is critical to ensuring that their health needs and rights are met.
PHW works primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Southeast Asia.
Responsibilities
The Program Officer, who will report to PHW’s Director, will be responsible for:
Supporting the development of the field of community monitoring for health
Maintain current knowledge of the community monitoring field, as well as situations and needs in PHW and PHP’s focus countries and regions. Identify and analyze major frameworks, methods, approaches, tools for community monitoring and assess their applicability for the Public Health Program’s (PHP) work. Identify gaps in methods, approaches and tools and develop strategies for filling these gaps. Identify key players that can be supported to strengthen the field. Develop requests for proposals and coordinate grant competitions. Review proposals and organize their review by other PHW and PHP staff and external reviewers. Monitor grant implementation, including through visits and reviewing reports. Represent PHW in meetings and other fora.
Developing collaborations within the PHP and OSI
Support PHW colleagues and from other PHP projects, and colleagues at Soros National Foundations, in developing and implementing community monitoring efforts. Participate in joint planning processes and development of campaigns and events of the PHP that involve community or civil society monitoring. Where necessary, coordinate grant-making, capacity-building, advocacy, and other activities with other initiatives within the PHP and OSI.
Documentation and advocacy
Coordinate and edit documentation of promising and proven practices in community monitoring. Disseminate information on best practices at national, regional and international levels. Assist grantees and partners in presenting the results of their work. Organize events to discuss and publicize issues relevant to PHW’s work.
General program development and administration
Contribute to the development of PHW’s program strategy, work planning and implementation of long-term plans. Contribute to the general administration of PHW and the PHP. Participate in meetings and workshops and help organize conferences and events.
Qualifications
The ideal candidate will have the qualifications below. Though it is not expected that a single person will possess every one of these, substantive knowledge of the field as described below is essential:
- Master’s degree in a social science e.g. public health, international or public policy.
- Substantive knowledge and experience in the field of community monitoring, including knowledge of different methods and tools (e.g. citizen report cards, community score cards, social audits, shadow reports, and other relevant methodologies) as well as familiarity with organizations working in the field.
- Understanding of policy-making and budgetary processes in a range of countries.
- 3-5 years work experience in community monitoring or a related field.
- Experience developing learning materials such as toolkits and sourcebooks.
- Experience in working with community and/or advocacy organizations
- Excellent analytical and organizational skills.
- Excellent oral and written English. Familiarity with Russian a plus.
- Ability to effectively manage several projects simultaneously in a fast-paced working environment.
- Experience in project management, including managing consultants, and developing and managing budgets. Grantmaking experience a plus.
- Experience working internationally, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and/or Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
- Ability to listen and communicate clearly and effectively with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
- Ability to work as a team member and independently, with a high level of self-motivation.
- Ability and willingness to travel internationally on a frequent basis.
Salary: Commensurate with experience, with excellent benefits.
To Apply
Please email resume and cover letter with salary requirements before January 31, 2010, to: humanresources@sorosny.org
**You must include job code in subject line: PO-PHW
OR
Open Society Institute
Human Resources – Code PO-PHW
400 West 59th Street
New York, New York 10019
FAX: 212.548.4675
No phone calls, please. The Open Society Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
