National Technical Advisor - Integrated Innovation Highway, IIH

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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 (MoH), Regional Health Bureaus (RHBs), public health institutes, health facilities, local organizations, and development partners to strengthen health systems and expand access to high-quality, equitable health services.

Project Overview

The Integrated Innovation Highway (IIH) is a Gates Foundation-funded initiative supporting the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) and the Ministry of Health to establish a government-owned platform that systematically identifies health system needs, prioritizes innovations, assesses evidence and readiness, and supports the introduction, transition, and scale-up of innovations within the Ethiopian health system.

The IIH promotes an integrated approach across six innovation highways:

• Medical devices
• Diagnostics
• Therapeutics, family planning, and nutrition products
• Vaccines
• Technology, including digital health, artificial intelligence (AI), and biotechnology
• Bundled and systems innovations

Phase 1 will focus on three tracer products across two highways: AI-enabled point-of-care ultrasound (AI-POCUS) under medical devices, and near-point-of-care TB PlusLife and Ebola diagnostics under diagnostics.

The project will work closely with the MoH, RHBs, public health institutes, universities, health facilities, innovators, development partners, and other stakeholders to strengthen innovation governance and establish practical pathways for evaluating, introducing, transitioning, and scaling priority health innovations.

A central element of the IIH approach is strengthening government leadership, institutional coordination, and sustainable mechanisms for identifying, evaluating, adopting, and scaling health innovations. The establishment and operationalization of Innovation Hubs will contribute to creating an enabling environment for health innovation, collaboration, evidence generation, and institutional learning.

Position Summary

The National Technical Advisor will serve as the principal liaison and coordination focal point between PATH/IIH and the Federal Ministry of Health, providing strategic, technical, and operational support to strengthen government ownership and implementation of the Integrated Innovation Highway initiative.

The Advisor will work closely with Minister and state minister offices and relevant MoH directorates, executive offices (CEOs), technical teams, and leadership, particularly those responsible for Health System Innovation and Quality Improvement, the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP), Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH), Pharmaceutical and Medical Equipment Directorate (PMED), and Digital Health. The Advisor will also facilitate coordination and collaboration with EPHI, AHRI, Regional Health Bureaus, local sub-awardees, universities, and other relevant stakeholders.

The Advisor will proactively identify, assess, and facilitate resolution of institutional, technical, operational, and coordination bottlenecks affecting IIH implementation across the MoH, RHBs, EPHI, AHRI, and local implementing partners. The position will facilitate effective collaboration, strengthen institutional partnerships, and support timely decision-making and follow-through on agreed actions.

A major responsibility will be to lead and support the establishment, institutionalization, and operationalization of Innovation Hubs in collaboration with the MoH and relevant stakeholders. The Advisor will support the development of governance and operational arrangements, stakeholder engagement mechanisms, technical working structures, innovation assessment processes, and sustainable institutional ownership of these platforms.

Working under the supervision of the IIH Project Director and in close coordination with national technical leads for medical devices, diagnostics, AI and innovation, and monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL), the Advisor will ensure effective coordination between PATH, government institutions, and implementing partners and contribute to the successful delivery and transition-to-scale of priority innovations.

Duty Station: -PATH Ethiopia- Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with frequent attendance at the PATH Ethiopia office and regular travel to implementation regions, and work with EPHI, AHRI, and local sub-awardees.

Reports to: IIH Project Director, PATH

Institutional Placement: PATH Ethiopia -seconded to the MOH

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Government Engagement and National Coordination

• Serve as the primary technical and operational liaison between PATH/IIH and the MOH, strengthening day-to-day engagement, communication, and coordination.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with relevant MoH leadership, directorates, executive offices (CEOs), technical teams, and designated focal persons.
• Facilitate structured engagement with the Health System Innovation and Quality Improvement function, National Tuberculosis Program, MNCH, PMED, Digital Health leadership and other relevant MoH departments.
• Support alignment of IIH objectives, annual work plans, implementation priorities, and deliverables with national health sector strategies, policies, plans, and institutional priorities.
• Facilitate regular coordination and technical review meetings between PATH/IIH and relevant MoH departments to review progress, address implementation challenges, and agree on follow-up actions.
• Support the integration of IIH activities into existing MoH coordination structures, technical working groups, planning processes, and institutional mechanisms.
• Ensure timely communication of project priorities, technical updates, implementation progress, and emerging issues between the MoH and PATH/IIH leadership.

Establishment and Operationalization of Innovation Hubs

• Lead and provide technical and coordination support for the establishment and operationalization of national Innovation Hubs in collaboration with the MoH and relevant stakeholders.
• Facilitate agreement on the mandate, objectives, governance arrangements, institutional hosting, membership, roles, and responsibilities of Innovation Hubs.
• Support the development of operational frameworks, terms of reference, standard operating procedures, annual work plans, and performance monitoring mechanisms for Innovation Hubs.
• Facilitate the establishment and strengthening of innovation identification, prioritization, assessment, validation, and decision-making processes.
• Facilitate engagement of government institutions, public health institutes, universities, innovators, private sector partners, professional associations, and development partners in Innovation Hub activities.
• Promote collaboration, knowledge exchange, and learning among Innovation Hubs and relevant innovation stakeholders.
• Support institutionalization and long-term sustainability of Innovation Hubs within government structures, including resource mobilization, domestic financing, and institutional capacity development.
• Monitor the functionality and performance of Innovation Hubs and recommend actions to strengthen their effectiveness and sustainability.

Implementation Bottleneck Identification and Resolution

• Proactively identify institutional, technical, administrative, operational, and coordination bottlenecks affecting IIH implementation at the MoH, RHBs, EPHI, AHRI, and local implementing partner levels.
• Facilitate timely escalation of issues requiring senior management or institutional leadership decisions.
• Track agreed actions and commitments to ensure timely follow-up and accountability.
• Facilitate dialogue between government institutions and implementing partners to address operational challenges and prevent duplication or delays.
• Provide regular updates to the IIH Project Director on emerging risks, unresolved bottlenecks, institutional dependencies, and recommended corrective actions.
• Promote adaptive management and practical problem-solving to maintain implementation momentum.

National Innovation Introduction and Transition-to-Scale Support

• Support the alignment of innovation introduction processes with national health priorities, technical standards, policies, regulatory requirements, and service-delivery strategies.
• Facilitate national-level readiness assessments and institutional engagement for the implementation of AI-POCUS, TB PlusLife, and Ebola diagnostics, in accordance with approved project plans.
• Coordinate with the relevant MoH technical departments and national IIH technical leads to address policy, institutional, technical, and operational requirements for innovation introduction.
• Support the integration of priority innovations into national guidelines, protocols, standard operating procedures, health programs, and relevant service-delivery platforms.
• Facilitate coordination of implementation readiness, workforce capacity development, equipment deployment, quality assurance, maintenance, supply chain, and data reporting arrangements.
• Support the development of transition-to-scale pathways, including government ownership, institutionalization, domestic financing, procurement, workforce sustainability, and long-term maintenance.

Technical Coordination Across Priority Innovation Workstreams

• Facilitate engagement with the MNCH technical team and relevant stakeholders on the integration of AI-enabled point-of-care ultrasound into maternal and other relevant health services.
• Coordinate with the National Tuberculosis Program and relevant technical departments on the introduction and implementation of TB PlusLife diagnostics.
• Facilitate coordination with relevant MoH departments, EPHI, AHRI, and other stakeholders on Ebola diagnostic readiness and implementation, as applicable.
• Work with PMED and other relevant institutions to facilitate alignment on medical equipment and device-related requirements, including procurement, deployment, regulatory considerations, maintenance, and sustainability.
• Coordinate with Digital Health leadership on digital health integration, connectivity, interoperability, health information systems, and responsible use of AI-enabled technologies, as applicable.

Support to Local Sub-awardees and Implementing Partners

• Serve as the key coordination interface between PATH/IIH, relevant government institutions, and local sub-awardees.
• Facilitate alignment of sub-awardee implementation plans and activities with national priorities, MoH technical guidance, and IIH objectives.
• Maintain regular engagement with local implementing partners to identify implementation challenges, technical support needs, and institutional dependencies.
• Participate in joint implementation reviews, field monitoring visits, and stakeholder coordination meetings.
• Promote collaboration, information-sharing, and learning across implementing partners and government institutions.
• Support documentation and dissemination of promising practices, implementation experiences, and lessons learned.

Communication, Reporting, Compliance, and Risk Management

• Prepare timely and accurate reports on national coordination, government engagement, partnership activities, implementation progress, and bottleneck resolution.
• Provide regular updates to the IIH Project Director and national technical leads on progress, key achievements, risks, dependencies, and required management actions.
• Contribute to quarterly and annual project reports, donor reporting, strategic reviews, and other project deliverables.
• Maintain appropriate documentation of meetings, institutional commitments, decisions, action points, and follow-up activities.
• Promote responsible use of digital tools and AI-enabled technologies, including confidentiality, data privacy, information security, and responsible data management.
• Identify and communicate institutional, operational, reputational, and implementation risks and recommend appropriate mitigation measures.

Qualifications and Experience

Required Qualifications

• Master's degree in Public Health, Health Systems Management, Health Policy, Health Administration, Health Informatics, Biomedical Sciences, Innovation Management, or another relevant discipline.

Required Experience and Competencies

• At least 8 years of relevant professional experience in public health, health systems strengthening, health innovation, health program management, or related fields, including significant experience working with government health institutions.
• Demonstrated experience engaging and coordinating with the Federal Ministry of Health, Regional Health Bureaus, public health institutes, and other government institutions in Ethiopia.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and address institutional, technical, and operational bottlenecks and facilitate solutions involving multiple stakeholders.
• Experience supporting the introduction, implementation, institutionalization, or scale-up of health innovations, technologies, or public health interventions.
• Experience working with donor-funded public health programs, preferably those funded by the Gates Foundation or other major international donors.
• Familiarity with health system innovation, quality improvement, medical devices, digital health, AI-enabled technologies, diagnostic innovations, tuberculosis programs, or MNCH services.
• Experience supporting the establishment or operationalization of institutional platforms, innovation hubs, technical working groups, or multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms is an advantage.
• Demonstrated experience working with local implementing partners, sub-awardees, research institutions, and development partners.
• Strong understanding of Ethiopia's health system, institutional structures, national health priorities, and government coordination mechanisms.