Health Specialist

Responsibilities:

Partner Support and Capacity Strengthening

• Work closely with implementing partners throughout the project cycle and provide practical advice that strengthens delivery and results.
• Assess partners’ technical capacity and provide coaching, training and practical support to strengthen health systems, community health practices and programme quality.
• Facilitate trainings, mentoring and learning sessions for partner staff, community health workers, health volunteers and community stakeholders.
• Support partners to adapt health approaches to local contexts while maintaining clear standards for quality, safeguarding and evidence-based practice.
• Promote continuous learning and help partners identify implementation challenges and practical solutions.

Programme Quality and Design

• Lead the design and improvement of health initiatives through needs assessments, contextual analysis, programme design workshops and stakeholder consultations.
• Develop or review theories of change, logical frameworks, indicators, implementation strategies and health budgets.
• Provide guidance on community health, health promotion, nutrition, disease prevention, behaviour change, referral systems, maternal and child health, adolescent health, NCD prevention and WASH-related health risks.
• Ensure health interventions are evidence-based, adapted to local contexts and aligned with national policies, Suyana’s standards and its integrated development approach.
• Work closely with Suyana’s Education, Livelihoods and other technical specialists to ensure that health activities are well integrated with Suyana’s broader work on education, livelihoods, WASH, child wellbeing and household resilience.
• Maintain regular exchange with Suyana’s Health Specialist in Rwanda to promote practical collaboration, shared learning and coherence across the Uganda and Rwanda health portfolios.
• Contribute to concept notes, proposals, donor reports, fundraising initiatives and learning products.

Monitoring, Learning and Evidence Use

• Work with the MEL Officer to ensure health programmes have relevant indicators, monitoring tools and learning processes.
• Support the use of health data, assessments and feedback to improve programme quality and decision-making.
• Review monitoring reports, assessment findings and evaluations, identifying lessons, risks and options for adaptation.
• Contribute to baseline studies, evaluations, reviews, research activities and learning documentation where required.

Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration

• Build and maintain constructive relationships with government authorities, district health offices, health facilities, community health structures, local government and relevant networks.
• Represent Suyana in technical meetings, coordination forums and learning events.
• Support partners to strengthen their own stakeholder engagement.
• Monitor health sector priorities and trends, and identify opportunities for collaboration, partnership and future programme development.

Safeguarding

• Promote a strong safeguarding culture across all health activities.
• Support partners to apply safeguarding standards and report concerns through the appropriate channels.
• Ensure health activities prioritise the safety, dignity and wellbeing of children, young people and other participants.

Profile and Qualifications

We are looking for an experienced health professional who combines strong technical expertise with a collaborative and practical working style.

Personal attributes

• Dedicated and committed to improving community wellbeing.
• Hands-on attitude and willingness to work closely with partners, communities and local health actors.
• Strong interpersonal, communication and relationship-building skills.
• Empathy, cultural sensitivity and respect for diverse communities.
• Collaborative team player with excellent networking skills and the ability to build trusting relationships.
• Proactive, self-motivated and able to take initiative.
• Creative and solution-oriented.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Organised and able to manage several priorities.
• Adaptable and comfortable working in changing environments.
• Committed to continuous learning, quality improvement and safeguarding.

Technical qualifications

• Degree in Public Health, Community Health, Nursing, Clinical Medicine, Health Sciences or a related field.
• Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience in health programme design, implementation and technical advisory support.
• Strong knowledge of community health, health promotion, nutrition, disease prevention, behaviour change approaches and referral systems.
• Experience working with local partners, communities, government institutions and health- related stakeholders.
• Experience with project cycle management, monitoring and evaluation, and using evidence to improve programme quality.
• Experience contributing to proposal development, quality assurance and results-based programme design.
• Demonstrated commitment to safeguarding, dignity and inclusion in community health programming.
• Strong communication and report-writing skills in English. Knowledge of a Ugandan local language is highly desirable.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and relevant health data or reporting tools.

Desirable

• Master’s degree in Public Health, Community Health or a related field.
• Experience with integrated, multi-sectoral programmes, preferably in holistic community development contexts.
• Familiarity with Uganda’s health system, including district health structures, community health systems, referral pathways and relevant policy frameworks.
• Experience working in diverse cultural contexts within Uganda.
• Experience strengthening local partner organisations and their technical systems.