QI Acceleration Start up Officer (Maternal & Newborn Health)

Position:                    QI Acceleration Start up Officer (Maternal Health) – 5 (One per province)

                                   QI Acceleration Start up Officer (Newborn Health) – 5 (One per province)

Dept/Project  :           MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership (MCGL)

Location         :          Province based (Bagmati, Karnali, Koshi, Gandaki and Sudur Paschim)

Project End Date:     September 2026

Reporting to:            Senior QI and M&E Officer

MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership (MCGL), funded by the U.S. government, is a global mechanism that saves lives and improves access to quality, integrated health services by distributing life-saving commodities, medicines, and vaccines and providing critical health care services for pregnant mothers and children under five. The project provides safe childbirth for mothers and babies, vaccinates children, treats deadly illnesses and malnutrition, and controls disease outbreaks. Implementation of multi-site QI collaboratives, including district-level learning, review and reflections, are key interventions of the project and the most effective strategies for enhancing maternal and newborn survival. This approach aims to increase the reliability of life-saving interventions, reduce variability among facilities, strengthen systems and teamwork, improve data-driven decision-making, and accelerate the dissemination of effective practices. It promotes the development of local capacity and ownership while aligning improvement efforts with national maternal and newborn health (MNH) priorities. By identifying the root causes of quality-of-care issues and implementing local solutions, along with continuous monitoring of progress, the clinical decision-making process becomes evidence-based and practical.

The Quality Improvement (QI) Acceleration Startup Officer will work under the leadership of MCGL QI Advisor and direct supervision of provincial Senior QI and M&E officer, and play a key role in improving the quality of MNH services through shared learning at the provincial, district, and facility levels, strengthening the skills of MNH service providers and managers to identify root causes, making data-driven decision-making, and implementing the quality improvement cycles. S/he will work together with the MCGL Provincial team on the QI initiatives and promote a culture of continuous improvement and learning, including data quality, data use, and routine monitoring. S/he will support aligning facility-level QI work with provincial and federal priorities. S/he will also coordinate with QI teams to provide structured coaching, mentorship, and leadership engagement at each participating health facility.

Planning

• Support to organize provincial, district and facility level QI workshops/meetings and collaboratives in close coordination with the MCGL team, provincial health directorate, Health Office/s and hospital team.
• Support in developing a QI collaborative operational plan for district and each participating hospital.
• Support in developing site-specific initial MNH QI action plans in close collaboration with the MNH service team.
• Support to develop QI measurement plans in line with the menu of QI aims and indicators.
• Support to revise action plans based on learning at each participating hospital.
• Contribute to alignment of aims and indicators with major MNH clinical interventions.

Implementation

• Implement multi-site QI activities in close coordination with government and non-government agencies involved at different levels.
• Establish or strengthen facility-level QI committees (linked to MPDSR committees) to lead to the implementation of the improvement initiatives.
• Support in building models for improvement (e.g. PDSA) and address barriers and refine change ideas for improvement.
• Conduct testing of changes (e.g. PDSA cycles) in close collaboration with the participating hospitals.

Capacity building

• Participate in QI capacity building initiatives of MCGL.
• Orient QI team members working in MNH departments at participating hospitals in QI initiatives and approaches.
• Support to prepare learning materials & improvement package in close collaboration with government and non-government agencies involved in the process.
• Support in conducting practical hands-on QI capacity-strengthening exercises at MNH service delivery points.
• Conduct learning sessions based on priority aims on MNH.
• Conduct coaching and mentoring, data feedback, and peer learning at each participating hospital.

Monitoring, documentation, learning and sharing

• Provide structured field-level mentoring support to enable QI teams to conduct hands-on exercises and implement PDSA cycles.
• Support in sharing the results across sites including successful ideas.
• Prepare documentation of tested changes and capture qualitative learning as necessary.
• Support facility-level QI teams in collecting, plotting, and analyzing facility data in run charts, and strengthen data-driven improvement practices.

• Qualified health professional (public health graduate with clinical background or medical/nursing graduate) (preferably a master's in public health with clinical background), competent and experienced in MNH service provision/management in Nepal.
• 2-3 years of experience in planning and implementation of MNH projects at clinical sites.
• Trained in MNH-related training packages of the Government of Nepal.
• Oriented about HMIS/DHIS2, Quality improvement initiatives, QI tools, and indicators, are added advantages.
• Able to document project activities including collection, interpretation, and use of clinical data as needed.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate well, transfer knowledge and skills.
• Experienced in working closely with government hospitals and understanding how to work closely and effectively with them.
• Willing to be based in Province offices and travel at least 75% of the time