Counseling Trainers  

Background. The Advancing Universal Health Coverage (AUHC) Activity is a USAID-funded health initiative to assist the goals of the Government of Bangladesh to significantly expand access to safe, affordable and quality health services, while increasing financial protection for the poor. Specific project objectives are:

• Develop and implement a program to transform the Smiling Sun Network into a centrally managed, sustainable private social enterprise
• Adopt proven innovative approaches to create new strategies to expand access to and uptake of essential service packages
• Develop and implement sustainable financial systems to facilitate expanded coverage and ensure equitable access to health services
• Improve the quality of care
• Improve program strategies drawn from lessons learned (crosscutting)

Purpose. The AUHC project has transitioned the management of 369 Surjer Hashi Network (SHN) clinics that were previously managed by 25 different NGOs to a newly formed social enterprise. Now that SHN has responsibility for approximately 5,000 staff, it needs to ensure that all staff currently working in the 369 clinics have the basic knowledge and skills required to provide the Essential Services Package (ESP). An independent assessment conducted recently of the 369 clinics indicated that at least one person from approximately half of all the SHN clinics lacked training in one of the five core areas of family planning, antenatal care, safe labor and delivery, neonatal care, and integrated management of childhood illnesses (IMCI).

Because counseling cuts across all these areas, AUHC will prioritize counseling training. Our initial approach will be to hire and train several trainers who, after being trained in the AUHC approach, will conduct training for SHN staff. All counseling trainers must participate in the AUHC training of trainers’ workshop to ensure that they are familiar with the AUHC counseling approach. It is expected that this process will take approximately 9-12 months. These trainers will report to the AUHC Training Manager. These positions will last for 12 months, subject to renewal based upon project need.  

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Work closely with the AUHC Training Manager, SHN, and other AUHC staff and consultants. This includes but is not limited to AUHC Regional Quality Assurance Managers, SHN Regional Managers and SHN Clinic Managers;
• Facilitate basic counseling training (based on ToT) to service providers (doctors, paramedics) and counselors from the different classifications of SHN clinics (CEmOC, BEmOC and vital) in Bangladesh;
• Work in teams to provide training regionally as planned with the AUHC Training Manager;
• Prepare training completion report of each batch of training;
• Work closely with Training Manager for logistical support; and
• Hold meeting with trainer’s team at the end of the day to review the gaps, identify and fill up the gaps according to discussion.

Qualifications

• A minimum of a master’s degree in public health, international development, education, or another relevant field.
• At least 3 years of experience in providing counseling/reproductive health training.
• Previous experience working with health service providers and customer centered counseling.
• Technical knowledge of antenatal care, postnatal care, family planning, immunization, Tuberculosis is strongly preferred.
• Experience with adult training methods and approaches.  
• Excellent communication skills, the ability to coordinate across teams, flexibility, and ability to multitask.
• Bilingual in English and Bangla.
• Good analytical ability and writing skills.

Location of Assignment

The location of this assignment is Dhaka, Bangladesh, with periodic travel throughout the country required.

Application Instructions:  Please submit your CV to: bangladeshauhc@gmail.com by March 21, 2019. Please make the subject of your email:  “Counseling Trainers”. Candidates will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the positions are filled; early submission encouraged. No telephone inquiries please. Finalists will be contacted.