Reporting Line: Technical Advisor – MNCH / Project Lead

Classification: Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Location: Abuja, Nigeria (On-site)

1. Position Overview

The Midwife Consultant serves as a specialized Subject Matter Expert (SME) within ACE Group’s MNCH portfolio. The primary mandate of this role is to provide clinical leadership and technical rigor in the design and implementation of maternal and newborn health interventions. The Consultant ensures that all client deliverables ranging from policy briefs to facility-level SOPs are evidence-based, operationally feasible, and aligned with global standards of Respectful Maternity Care (RMC).

2. Scope of Work & Technical Responsibilities

A. Technical Advisory & Strategic Content

• Clinical Validation: Serve as the technical lead for the development and review of clinical guidelines, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and policy briefs, ensuring 100% alignment with WHO standards and national protocols.
• Strategic Design: Provide frontline clinical insights to the Strategy team to inform the design of health system models, particularly regarding primary healthcare (PHC) and community-level midwifery.
• Proposal Engineering: Contribute specialized technical sections to bid submissions and concept notes, ensuring ACE Group’s business development pipeline is supported by clinically sound intervention logic.

B. Quality Improvement & Systems Assessment

• Facility Diagnostics: Lead facility readiness assessments and clinical audits to evaluate service delivery against national and international quality benchmarks.
• MPDSR Support: Provide technical expertise to Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) processes, translating clinical findings into actionable system-level recommendations for clients.
• Process Optimization: Identify bottlenecks in the “Continuum of Care” and propose evidence-based solutions to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes.

C. Capacity Building & Workforce Development

• Instructional Design: Design high-impact, competency-based training curricula for health workers, focusing on Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) and neonatal resuscitation.
• Technical Facilitation: Lead advanced clinical mentorship and Training-of-Trainers (ToT) sessions, ensuring the transfer of high-quality skills to frontline providers and partners.

D. Knowledge Management

• Technical Synthesis: Produce high-quality evidence summaries and technical reports that translate complex clinical outcomes into clear strategic insights for clients and donors.
• Data Utilization: Partner with the MERL team to ensure that clinical midwifery data is accurately captured and utilized for data-driven decision-making.

3. Qualifications & Experience

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree (BSc) in Midwifery or Nursing/Midwifery from a recognized institution. A Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) or International Development is a significant advantage.
• Licensing: Valid and current registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) or an equivalent regulatory body.
• Professional Experience: Minimum of 7 years of clinical experience, with at least 3 years in a consulting, advisory, or program management capacity within the development sector.
• Contextual Knowledge: Proven experience working with international donors (e.g., USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF) and a deep understanding of the Nigerian health landscape.

4. Core Competencies

• Clinical Mastery: Expert-level knowledge of EmONC, Respectful Maternity Care (RMC), and MNCH systems.
• Analytical Rigor: Ability to conduct facility assessments and synthesize data into professional, executive-level reports.
• Collaborative Mindset: Experience working alongside multidisciplinary teams (doctors, tech developers, and project managers) in a consulting environment.
• Professional Velocity: Ability to deliver high-quality technical outputs under tight consulting deadlines with minimal supervision.