Technical Advisor I, Technical Writer – Health and HIV

Requisition Number:	D657
Area of Interest:	Hiv/Aids
Position Type:	Full Time
Location:	United States/Baltimore
Job Description:	Job Title: Technical Advisor I, Technical Writer – Health and HIV Department/Location: Program Quality Support Department (PQSD)/Baltimore, MD Band: D FSLA: Exempt Reports To: Health & HIV Senior Technical Advisor Background: Located within the Program Quality Support Department (PQSD), the Health and HIV Unit supports CRS country programs to develop and implement high quality health and HIV projects in a wide range of areas including, but not limited to, health system strengthening, HIV care and treatment, nutrition, tuberculosis, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases. CRS works in close partnership with local stakeholders to prioritize local ownership, leadership and sustainability. Interventions follow CRS’ Integral Human Development model and focus on the most vulnerable populations. PQSD technical advisors work closely with country program staff to identify and document promising practices, manage and share technical information with the field, represent the interests of CRS’ Health and HIV Unit internally and externally, and provide assistance to field programs prior to and during the proposal development process to ensure only high quality and competitive proposals are submitted. To support resource acquisition, PQSD Technical Advisors coordinate with: · Business Development Team (BDT) - responsible for identifying and developing new public donor relationships and increasing the agency’s capacity to respond to funding opportunities from various public donors; · Special Grants Unit - responsible for supporting country programs in developing and managing grants from the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM); · Corporation and Foundations - responsible for building and maintaining relationships with corporations and foundations to support CRS overseas programming; · Regional and country program staff - responsible for program development and implementation within CRS’ decentralized management structure; · PQSD sectoral teams - responsible for supporting and promoting CRS technical excellence in core program areas; and · Strategic Issues Advisors - responsible for policy analysis and advocacy on key issues including global hunger. Primary Functions: The Technical Writer for Health and HIV will support the development of public and private donor proposals in diverse areas of health and HIV programming. S/he will contribute to the design and writing of technical proposal narratives and related proposal content to ensure the highest quality standards and competitiveness. S/he will lead and support internal learning processes that produce innovative and evidence-based project design elements. As a member of the Health and HIV Unit and the agency’s broader program quality community of practice, s/he will also provide field and headquarters (HQ) staff with information, formal and informal training to improve their skills in proposal development, representation to donor and partner organizations, donor and partner intelligence-gathering, and marketing of CRS’ capacities to enhance competitiveness. Job Responsibilities: 1. Provide direct support to field and HQ staff in development and production of proposals, in and on-the-job training capacity. 2. Serve as Technical Lead Writer, when deemed strategic by HQ, regional and country program senior managers. Liaise with technical experts in the Health and HIV Unit for support as needed. 3. Coordinate processes and mentor staff to ensure timely submission of high quality proposals that are responsive to and compliant with donor requirements and with CRS technical application and cost application standards. 4. Promote technical programming priorities, promising innovations, best practice guidelines, and emerging issues in major health and HIV donor agencies, including CDC, USAID, and the GFATM. 5. Collaborate with other members of the Health and HIV Unit to document innovative and promising practices. 6. Collaborate closely with members of the Health and HIV Unit, country programs, regional offices, and the business development community to support and document technical learning within CRS, specifically for use in future project designs and technical proposal narratives. Information may be gleaned from project reports, evaluations and operations research findings. 7. Lead and support internal learning events to generate and disseminate knowledge that strengthens the technical quality of CRS’ health and HIV proposals. 8. Lead and support the Health and HIV Unit’s collaboration with the HQ-based Business Development Team (BDT) and staff overseas to develop future proposal content, update capacity statements and past performance references, and design tools and resources reflecting evidence-based project design elements and implementation methodologies in areas including health system strengthening, HIV, malaria and TB. 9. Monitor relevant regulatory revisions, proposal guidelines, and application requirements for priority health and HIV donors, together with the Overseas Department (OSD) and overseas compliance staff. Ensure HQ and field staff involved in health and HIV proposals are aware of these requirements and that technical proposal narratives adhere to them. 10. Together with OSD and BDT, monitor the technical dimensions of new donor-driven initiatives, such as the Global Health Initiative, and help articulate and represent CRS’ technical expertise within the context of these initiatives. 11. Support field and HQ staff in negotiating consortium arrangements based on lessons from similar experience. Coordinate closely with BDT, OSD, and field staff to identify new and non-traditional partnerships, including universities, for-profit companies, research institutes and other actors. Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff): These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results. · Serves with Integrity · Models Stewardship · Cultivates Constructive Relationships · Promotes Learning Key Working Relationships: INTERNAL: Health and HIV Unit; Overseas Support Department; Business Development Team; Country Representatives and Heads of Programming, country and regional technical and business development staff. EXTERNAL: Public donor representatives; business development officials of collaborating partner organizations. Qualifications: 1. Masters Degree in Public Health, Nursing, or related field. 2. Five plus years of international development experience, including at least two years in a developing country. 3. Experience with USG proposal development; experience with RFAs and/or RFPs required. 4. Experience with GFATM proposal development as a prime and sub-recipient preferred. 5. Familiarity with the funding mechanisms and technical programming priorities of USAID, CDC, and the GFATM required. Familiarity with Global Health Initiative including PEPFAR and President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) desirable. 6. Project management experience in health or HIV. 7. Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural oral and written communication and negotiation skills. 8. Demonstrated experience managing people and processes, leading teams to produce deliverables under tight deadlines and at exceptional quality. 9. Exceptional writing ability. 10. Strong analytical skills. 11. Ability to articulate the Agency’s principles, including respect for and willingness to work within CRS HIV/AIDS policy and Catholic Social Teaching. 12. Knowledge of CRS programs, justice agenda and Catholic Social Teaching principles a plus. 13. Knowledge of Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, Outlook, and Internet) required; experience with Access or other data base programs a plus. 14. Ability and willingness to travel overseas as needed, up to 50% of job time. 15. Fluency in English required; professional proficiency in French required. This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skills, efforts, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position. NOTE: All interested applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. at the time of application. EOE/M/F/D/V

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