AI and Digital Health Specialist

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PATH is a global nonprofit advancing health innovations for the people who need them most. With 50 years of experience, a global team of experts, and trusted partnerships spanning 70+ countries, PATH turns breakthroughs into better health for millions every single year.

PATH combines scientific and public health expertise, implementation experience, innovation, and strong partnerships with governments, communities, civil society, and development partners. In Ethiopia, PATH works closely with the Federal Ministry of Health, Regional Health Bureaus, health facilities, communities, local organizations, and development partners to strengthen health systems and expand access to high-quality, equitable health services.

PATH Ethiopia implements and supports health programs across multiple regions and city administrations, with a strong focus on maternal, newborn and child health, immunization, malaria, health systems strengthening, digital health, and other priority areas of the national health agenda.

Project overview

The Integrated Innovation Highway (IIH) is a Gates Foundation-funded initiative supporting the Government of Ethiopia and the Ministry of Health (MOH) to establish a government-owned platform for identifying health system needs, prioritizing innovations, assessing evidence, and moving proven solutions into routine use at scale. It covers six innovation areas, including medical devices, diagnostics, vaccines, digital health, artificial intelligence, and other health products and system innovations.

Through four functional hubs, the IIH will use AI-assisted tools to strengthen intelligence, evidence assessment, planning, and implementation. AI-enabled point-of-care ultrasound (AI-POCUS), Pluslife tuberculosis testing, and Ebola diagnostics serve as tracer innovations, with a focus on deploying and operationalizing 50 obstetric AI-enabled ultrasound units in selected primary health care facilities in Oromia, Sidama, and Somali regions. This includes strengthening facility readiness, workforce capacity, digital data integration, referral pathways, and government ownership to support sustainable adoption and scale-up.

Position purpose

The AI and Digital Health Specialist will provide in-country technical coordination, stakeholder engagement, and implementation support for digital and AI-enabled activities under Ethiopia’s Integrated Innovation Highway (IIH).

The Specialist will work closely with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), the Health System Innovation and Quality (HSIQ) Lead Executive Office, Strategic Affairs, relevant national institutions such as Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute and INSA, Ethiopian technology partners, and PATH project and technical teams. Key responsibilities include identifying practical needs, coordinating technical inputs, supporting implementation and learning, and promoting alignment with national systems and government priorities.

The Specialist will also coordinate private software development partners, support interoperability standards such as HL7/FHIR and DHIS2, and facilitate field deployments. Responsibility for solution development, technical assurance, regulatory decisions, and approvals will remain with the designated project teams, competent authorities, and relevant specialists.

Key roles and responsibilities

• Digital and AI solution design, strategy and technical support

• Provide technical leadership, advisory support, in country coordination on digital health and artificial intelligence (AI) implementation under the Ethiopia’s Integrated Innovation Highway (IIH).
• Support project teams and government counterparts in gathering user requirements, mapping workflows, consulting stakeholders, documenting specifications for prioritized digital and AI-enabled use cases, including AI-enabled point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) for obstetric (OB) services.
• Contribute to discussions and practical assessments of whether proposed AI tools offer value over simpler digital or non-AI approaches, considering accuracy, timeliness, usability, cost, and feasibility.
• Liaise with Ethiopian AI firms, developers, and other technology partners; coordinate consultations, prototyping, user feedback, testing, documentation, and iterative refinements.

• Interoperability, data architecture, and infrastructure

• Support the integration of AI-enabled obstetric POCUS data into the District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) and assess alignment with Ethiopia’s digital health architecture and opportunities for interoperability with relevant systems, including eCHIS, EMRs, and surveillance platforms.
• Collaborate with FMOH data owners, relevant project specialists, and technology providers to establish data exchange workflows, interoperability standards (e.g., HL7/FHIR), and reporting mechanisms, seeking to minimize duplicative reporting.
• Support the establishment and configuration of server infrastructure for secure storage, management, retrieval, and sharing of AI POCUS images and reports, defining technical requirements for image archiving, data backup, system availability, access control, and disaster recovery.
• Contribute to the development, review, and use of dashboards or analytics products to inform implementation monitoring, data quality, completeness, and evidence-based decision-making.

• Responsible AI, cybersecurity, and clinical governance

• Work with designated AI, clinical, data governance, and cybersecurity specialists to support the coordination and documentation of proportionate risk assessments, validation activities, human-oversight arrangements, and escalation procedures, and performance monitoring.
• Facilitate consultation with FMOH and relevant institutions, including the Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute (EAII) and INSA, on hosting, privacy, data sovereignty, security, and model deployment options.
• Promote patient data privacy, confidentiality, cybersecurity, and compliance with applicable digital health standards and regulatory requirements.
• Support the relevant clinical and regulatory teams by compiling technical information for AI-POCUS evaluation and safety documentation, ensuring formal clinical and regulatory assessments remain the responsibility of qualified specialists and competent authorities.

• Clinical workflow integration: Referrals, Mentorship, and Implementation

• Support the development and optimization of digital referral workflows linking spoke facilities with hub hospitals.
• Support the establishment of remote mentorship systems for healthcare professionals, facilitating virtual case discussions, image reviews, and ongoing technical support to strengthen skills in POCUS utilization.
• Support implementation planning, technical documentation, system testing, deployment, and troubleshooting of digital health solutions, monitoring system functionality, user adoption, and referral workflows.
• Coordinate with health authorities, implementing partners, and facility teams to address implementation challenges and ensure digital referral mechanisms are integrated into existing maternal and newborn health service delivery pathways.

• Management and oversight of technology partners
• Lead, supervise, and provide technical direction to locally contracted AI companies and software development partners responsible for developing, customizing, deploying, and maintaining AI-enabled POCUS and related digital health solutions.
• Translate project requirements into clear technical specifications, scopes of work, implementation plans, milestones, and measurable deliverables.
• Review and validate technical proposals, system designs, software configurations, and interoperability approaches to ensure alignment with project objectives and applicable digital health standards.
• Monitor the performance of contracted companies against contractual obligations, review and verify deliverables, and convene regular technical review meetings to document progress and follow up on corrective actions.
• Promote knowledge transfer, technical documentation, and local capacity development to ensure sustainable handover arrangements.
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• Digital health and AI governance

• Support the development and operationalization of data and AI governance frameworks, ensuring alignment with national policies, FMOH guidelines, and ethical AI principles.

• Facilitate the establishment of technical and clinical governance structures or working groups involving FMOH, EAII, INSA, and PATH to oversee data sharing, AI model deployment, and system interoperability.
• Ensure that all digital health solutions adhere to national data governance regulations, data sovereignty requirements, and privacy standards.
• Coordinate with designated clinical and regulatory specialists to ensure appropriate governance oversight, human-in-the-loop mechanisms, and escalation procedures are documented and implemented for AI-enabled tools.
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• Cross-functional coordination, capacity strengthening, and sustainability

• Work closely with the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH), Digital Health, PMED, HSIQ, and LEO teams to ensure coordinated implementation of digital health and AI interventions under the IIH project.
• Collaborate with relevant government health authorities, (ministry of Innovation and Technology) implementing partners, hub and spoke facilities, clinical specialists, monitoring and evaluation teams, and technology providers.
• Facilitate joint planning, technical reviews, implementation monitoring, problem-solving, and continuous quality improvement across participating teams.
• Contribute information for lifecycle-cost estimates and sustainability discussions—including hosting, connectivity, maintenance, software support, and cybersecurity—in consultation with project finance, procurement, and technical colleagues; support documentation and handover planning.
• Support government and partner capacity-strengthening activities through coordination of coaching, training sessions, practical guidance, and documentation, drawing on subject-matter experts as needed.

• Work planning, monitoring, and reporting
• Contribute to the AI/digital components of the project work plan and support tracking of agreed milestones, dependencies, risks, and periodic progress updates.
• Support baseline reviews and feasible monitoring activities related to tool usability, adoption, data quality, and implementation readiness, using indicators agreed with the MEL and technical teams.
• Develop performance indicators and provide technical input for progress reports, technical updates, and continuous quality improvement.

Reporting, coordination, and accountability

The Digital Health and AI Specialist will report directly to the IIH Project Director, working under PATH Ethiopia management and collaborating closely with IIH project teams, regional technical advisors, and PATH’s Africa AI, Data, and Digital leadership for technical guidance.

This role is designed to facilitate and support agreed activities rather than independently own all technical workstreams or approve specialist outputs. Government institutions retain ultimate policy, regulatory, clinical, and data-governance authority. Where advanced expertise in AI, regulatory compliance, clinical safety, cybersecurity, or systems architecture is required, the Specialist will consult and coordinate with appropriately qualified experts, partners, and competent authorities.

Illustrative deliverables

• Contributions to documented user requirements, workflow assessments, technical specifications, and data governance discussions for agreed priority activities.
• Coordinated user feedback, testing records, and implementation notes for selected digital or AI-enabled tools, in collaboration with their technical owners.
• Inputs to responsible AI risk and validation documentation, with review and approval by designated technical specialists and government counterparts.
• Technical coordination notes and supporting documentation for AI-POCUS or other priority tracer activities, as requested by relevant project leads.
• Periodic progress summaries, training and knowledge-sharing materials, and contributions to sustainability and handover documentation, as agreed in the workplan.

Required qualifications and experience

• Master’s degree in health informatics, computer science, data science, software engineering, information systems, biomedical engineering, or related field.
• At least five to seven years of relevant experience in digital health, health information systems, applied data/AI, or related implementation and coordination work, preferably in Ethiopia.
• Familiarity with health information systems, data exchange, analytics, user requirements, solution testing, or implementation support; direct hands-on experience in all these areas is not required.
• Working understanding of practical AI use cases, their limitations, and responsible use considerations, with willingness to engage specialized experts when needed.
• Experience collaborating with government health institutions, software vendors, multidisciplinary teams, and health program implementers.
• Strong technical writing, facilitation, stakeholder management, and English communication skills; proficiency in Amharic or another relevant Ethiopian language is an advantage.

Preferred qualifications

• Exposure to DHIS2, eCHIS, EMR interoperability, FHIR or other health data standards; AI-enabled medical devices; data protection; digital infrastructure; public-sector digital transformation; or government capacity strengthening would be an advantage.