National Professional Officer (Health Financing)

The National Professional Officer (Health Financing) leads WHO's health financing work in Ukraine, providing technical advice to national counterparts on health financing policy and reform to advance Universal Health Coverage and reduce financial hardship. The role involves coordinating health financing activities, providing policy advice, overseeing evidence generation, and strengthening national capacity in health financing.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and provide technical leadership for the design, implementation and monitoring of WHO's health financing workstream, as programmed in the Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) Biennial Collaborative Agreement (BCA), including WHO's contribution to health sector coordination and national policy dialogue.
• Provide technical advice to the Ministry of Health, the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU) and other national partners on the development, implementation and evaluation of health financing policies and reforms at national and subnational levels, including strategic purchasing, the design of the Programme of Medical Guarantees, public financial management, to improve health system performance, including financial protection and progress towards universal health coverage.
• Identify and guide priority areas for collaboration, capacity development and technical assistance in health financing, and translate these priorities into deliverable and costed workplans under the CCS BCA and donor-financed projects.
• Lead and oversee the generation and use of evidence to support health financing policy and reform. This includes overseeing the analysis of health financing data and the planning, commissioning and quality assurance of studies, policy briefs, situation analyses, reports and other technical products on health financing, health system performance, service coverage and aid effectiveness.
• Work closely with WHO technical programmes to ensure that evidence generated is used to inform policy advice and dialogue, as well as the monitoring and evaluation of health financing reforms.
• Lead and oversee the effective and high-quality implementation of health financing activities under donor-financed initiatives and agreed partnerships at country level.
• Provide technical direction for technical assistance, policy dialogue and capacity development, ensuring that activities are aligned with agreed objectives, priorities and deliverables.
• Monitor implementation and results and ensure timely and appropriate reporting to relevant stakeholders and donors.
• Represent WHO, as appropriate, in discussions with national authorities, development partners and other stakeholders on health financing.
• Lead and contribute to technical discussions, coordination mechanisms and policy dialogue, and strengthen collaboration among partners to support coherent implementation of health financing reforms.
• Supervise and provide technical direction to the staff working on health financing.
• Assign and prioritize work, clarify responsibilities, review the quality and timeliness of technical outputs, provide feedback and guidance, and support their performance and professional development.
• Ensure effective coordination between their respective areas of work and coherence across the health financing portfolio.
• Contribute to strengthening national capacity in health financing through technical guidance, knowledge sharing and capacity development activities, in collaboration with national institutions and relevant partners.
• Organize and substantively support WHO missions, visits and high-level engagements on health financing, and follow up on agreed recommendations and actions to ensure appropriate implementation.

Requirements

• A university degree (Bachelor's level) in business administration, management, economics or health economics, health policy, public health, social and political sciences, with concentration in health financing.
• Master's degree or postgraduate degree in any of the above fields (desirable).
• At least five years of professional experience in health systems strengthening, including substantial experience in health financing.
• Experience working with national health authorities, purchasing agencies, academic institutions, international organizations and/or non-governmental organizations.
• Demonstrated experience contributing to or providing technical input to national health financing policy processes and policy dialogue.
• Experience in WHO/UN and international agencies (desirable).
• Experience providing policy advice on health systems strengthening, health financing and health sector reform, particularly in transition, reform or post-crisis settings (desirable).
• Demonstrated knowledge of health systems and health financing policy in the countries of the WHO European Region, including purchasing, benefit package design, public financial management and financial protection monitoring.
• Proven ability to translate technical analysis into policy advice for senior decision-makers and to formulate technical positions independently.
• Ability to interact appropriately and with credibility with high-level stakeholders, including senior officials and ministers.
• Ability to lead high performing teams.
• Ability to work within significant uncertainties in a rapidly changing environment and to set priorities with limited supervision.
• Data management and data analysis skills.
• Good computer skills (word processing, spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentations).
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including drafting for policy audiences.
• Emotional intelligence: ability to identify and manage one's own emotions, as well as helping others to do the same.
• Expert knowledge of English.
• Expert knowledge of Ukrainian.
• Intermediate knowledge of any other UN language (desirable).

Skills

• Health Financing
• Public Health Systems Strengthening
• Health Financing Policy Analysis
• Policy Advice
• Health Sector Reforms
• Data Management
• Data Analysis
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Team Leadership
• Public Financial Management
• Benefit Package Design
• Financial Protection Monitoring
• Technical Policy Input
• Drafting for Policy Audiences
• Word Processing
• Spreadsheets
• Power Point
• English Language
• Ukrainian Language

Languages

English, Ukrainian