mHealth Project Design Consultant, Sierra Leone

Location:              Freetown, Sierra Leone

Reports to:           Senior Projects Manager Sierra Leone           

Duration:              3 months (with possibility of extension)

Start date:            June 2015

Application instructions: 

Candidates should send their CV and a cover letter which outlines their experience and suitability for the role by email to: sierraleone@bbcmediaaction.org with the title of the position applied for in the subject line or in person to the BBC Media Action office at 41i Derek Drive, off Spur Road, Freetown.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Application deadline:  Friday 29 May 2015

BBC Media Action:

BBC Media Action uses media and communications to reduce poverty and promote human rights in developing countries. To achieve this, it partners with civil society, local media and governments to:

• Produce creative programmes in multi-media formats that inform and engage audiences around key development issues.
• Strengthen the media sector through building professional capacity and infrastructure.

We promote development and human rights through three main thematic areas of health, governance and rights, and resilience. 

BBC Media Action has been operating in Sierra Leone since 2007.  At present, the country office has several projects addressing issues of health, governance, and livelihoods through a variety of outputs including radio content production, capacity building of partner radio stations and social mobilization activities. We remain active in the Ebola response and are also contributing to the emerging focus on recovery. We recently launched a WhatsApp service that has grown rapidly to 10,000 subscribers. 

BBC Media Action has secured funding to design and deliver a mobile scoping study in Sierra Leone. Specifically, the purpose of the study is to explore how mobile phones can be used as a platform to shape demand for health services and improve communications between health practitioners and communities in Sierra Leone. 

Job purpose: 

This position will provide technical direction and insight on the design of mobile audience and market research activities, as well as the development of mobile solutions to contribute to the post-Ebola response efforts in Sierra Leone. Our mHealth interventions need to play to the strengths of BBC Media Action, which include producing creative content that motivates health professionals and communities alike to take positive action. 

The duties will focus on establishing relationships with the stakeholders necessary to make any mobile solution a success. These stakeholders include the Ministry of Health, administrative bodies such as NATCOM, local and international organisations contributing to implementing mobile health solutions, telecommunication companies and technology providers.

The purpose of the job is to establish what are the most appropriate mobile health solutions for BBC Media Action to implement, by making recommendations of what a project would entail, including partnerships and technology specifications, and initial pretesting those solutions with most potential in order to help demonstrate proof of concept to secure funds to implement the solutions at scale. Core to the feasibility study will be a range of audience and market research activities which the consultant will help to design and deliver along with the country-based project team. 

This will be the first substantive initiative of its kind in Sierra Leone and thus the post holder will need to work with colleagues to support their understanding of how mobiles can be integrated into wider country plans and complement existing relevant communication approaches. S/he may also be expected to contribute to the organisation’s international mHealth strategy. 

We require a dynamic individual with experience designing impactful mobile health initiatives that are in partnership with government health departments. S/he needs to be a strategic thinker who understands the commercial mobile industry in countries such as Sierra Leone, and ideally the media and development field. The role requires a professional working to a high level where diplomacy and good interpersonal skills are essential. Experience working with government agencies, partners and sub-contractors is essential. S/he will work closely with research colleagues, content producers and senior management in Sierra Leone and UK.  

Background: 

The Ebola outbreak highlighted the vulnerability of the Sierra Leonean Health System and exacerbated pre-existing insufficiencies. There is global recognition for the need to invest in the health system, via governments and existing community structures, to strengthen healthy systems and frontline care. 

Building on the learnings and success of BBC Media Action’s mHealth services in India, which were designed to equip and train frontline health workers to be more effective communicators of essential health information, we would like to explore developing similar mHealth services for health workers in Sierra Leone. In India, BBC Media Action created a job aid, called Mobile Kunji, and a training course, called Mobile Academy. Both were accessible from simple handsets owned by frontline health workers (FLWs) to assist their communication with communities. Central to this idea is that FLWs play a critical role in delivering critical health information to families and promoting the adoption of life-saving behaviours, complimented by mass media content. 

We propose assessing whether the tools described above, or perhaps simpler products such as repurposing of radio outputs from the Sierra Leone team, could be implemented within the context of Sierra Leone’s health systems. This would have to be in partnership with relevant government and local and international organizations that are using mobile phones to strengthen the capacity of the health system to ensure complementarity, interoperability, sustainability and scale.  

Main duties: 

• Direct engagement and participation in the public health and ICT for development networks in and about Sierra Leone, to contribute to developing a successful mHealth strategy for Sierra Leone;
• Establish, maintain and build strategic relationship with the Sierra Leonean government – particularly with the Ministry of Health– to obtain approvals for aspects of services when necessary;
• Attain a deep understanding of existing BBC Media Action mHealth services that could be adapted to the Sierra Leone context;
• Analyse the mobile landscape, including service operations, pricing, and market share, to inform project design and recommendations that are sustainable and scalable;
• Along with research colleagues, design and implement relevant research, such as frontline health worker mobile usage and pretesting of any solutions;
• Determine and develop the functional and technical specifications of any mobile intervention;
• When necessary, develop contractual relationships with all external suppliers, such as aggregators, mobile network operators, development agencies and research agencies, technical suppliers that meet project objectives, timelines and budgets and comply with BBC Editorial Policy;
• Keep abreast of technical and editorial developments in the field and within the BBC, feeding into and making best use of research, in conjunction with the senior project team, adopting new strategies and developing new outputs as technology develops;
• Represent the ICT elements of the project at external meetings;
• Help build the understanding and capacity of colleagues in using mobiles for development.

Skills, knowledge and experience:   

Essential:

• Experience designing and managing mobile health services for resource poor settings.
• A highly effective communicator and negotiator who is diplomatic and persuasive with a range of stakeholders from government officials, NGO partners and telecommunication companies.
• A deep understanding of working with the mobile industry in developing countries to design and develop Value Added Services (VAS) using technologies including IVR, SMS and USSD.
• Ability to manage the design and development of IVR and other mobile services in developing countries in a Product Management role.
• Strong background in user-centred product design with experience of designing and implementing audience and market research, user testing and impact assessments to inform the development and further refinement of mobile services.
• In-depth understanding of the infrastructure, technologies and approval processes required to launch IVR and other mobile services in developing countries.
• In-depth understanding of market dynamics and competition in the mobile/Telecom industries.
• A team member able to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of people and effectively share knowledge and experience with others.

Desirable: 

• Knowledge of the health sector, particularly familiarity with maternal and childhood health and infectious disease initiatives.
• Experience building relationships with senior management across the mobile industry and government regulators.
• Experience negotiating contracts with mobile operators and aggregators for VAS.
• Ability to design business cases and business models for new mobile services.
• Ability to manage procurement processes.
• Experience of working in Sierra Leone.
• Knowledge of BBC Editorial Guidelines.
• Knowledge of the media and communication for development field.

Key Competencies:

The following competencies (behaviours and characteristics) have been identified as key to success in the job. Successful candidates are expected to demonstrate these competencies.  

• Business management – Able to understand commercial imperatives and trading relationships, appropriately applies business principles in terms of costs, the market and added value and to develop business cases and business models for mobile services.
• Creative thinking – Able to transform creative ideas into practical reality.  Can look at existing situations and problems in novel ways and come up with creative solutions.
• Analytical thinking – Able to simplify complex problems, processes or projects into component parts, explore and evaluate them systematically. Able to identify causal relationships, and construct frameworks, for problem-solving and/or development.
• Decision making – Ready and able to take the initiative, originate action and be responsible for the consequences of the decision made.
• Planning and organisation - Able to think ahead in order to establish and efficient and appropriate course of action for self and others.  Prioritises and plans activities taking into account all the relevant issues and factors such as deadlines, staffing and resources.
• Communication - Able to get one’s message understood clearly by adopting a range of styles, tools and techniques appropriate to the audience and the nature of the information.  Highly-developed written and verbal skills. Listens, encourages discussions and two-way communication.
• Influencing and persuading - Able to present sound and well-reasoned arguments to convince others.  Can draw from a range of strategies to persuade people in a way that results in agreement or behaviour change.
• Managing relationships and team working - Able to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of people.  Works co-operatively with others to be part of a team, as opposed to working separately or competitively.
• Resilience - Manages personal effectiveness by managing emotions in the face of pressure, set-backs or when dealing with provocative situations. Demonstrates an approach to work that is characterised by commitment, motivation and energy.
• Flexibility - Adapts and works effectively with a variety of situations, individuals or groups.  Able to understand and appreciate different and opposing perspectives on an issue, to adapt an approach as the requirements of a situation change, and to change or easily accept changes in one’s own organisation or job requirements.
• Mentoring - Able to recognise potential (managerial, professional, artistic or otherwise) and is willing to foster the development of that potential. Creates a climate in which potential can be realised.