Health Technical Advisor

The Opportunity

Under the leadership and management of the Program Development Manager, the Health Technical Advisor provides strategic and technical leadership to strengthen the quality, innovation, and impact of Save the Children Vietnam’s health programming. The role leads the development of evidence-based health interventions, with a focus on climate-sensitive health, health systems strengthening, health economics, mental health, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH). Working closely with government, partners, and communities, the position supports programme design and delivery, resource mobilization, and organizational readiness to respond to humanitarian emergencies.

I. KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategic Leadership in Health Programming

Lead the development and refinement of Save the Children Vietnam’s technical approach to climate-sensitive health, aligned with the Country Strategic Plan.
Contribute to the strategic direction of Save the Children Vietnam’s mental health and ASRH programming, ensuring these areas are well-positioned for future growth.
Provide strategic advice on where climate-health, equity and cost-effectiveness/value for money approaches are appropriate, based on evidence and feasibility.
Position Save the Children as a thought leader on climate-sensitive health, and where relevant, mental health and ASRH, for vulnerable children and communities in Vietnam.

Program Design and Technical Excellence

Provide technical leadership in designing high-quality health programs, including:
- Climate-sensitive disease surveillance and early warning systems
- Sustainable health system strengthening at provincial, district, and commune levels
- Health economics approaches for underserved populations
- Mental health and adolescent sexual and reproductive health programming
- Gender-sensitive and disability-inclusive health service design
Ensure all programs are child-focused, inclusive, evidence-based, and aligned with safeguarding and gender/disability inclusion principles.
Provide technical oversight and guidance to project implementation teams to ensure technical soundness, consistency with national and global strategies, and Save the Children Common Approaches.
Work with epidemiological, modelling, climate and data partners to ensure outputs respond to the needs of national and subnational decision-makers.
Support development and review of project protocols, technical guidance, training materials and implementation tools.
Monitor technical risks (eg uncertainty of predictive models, false alerts, delayed reporting, institutional capacity).

Resource Mobilization and Proposal Development

Lead development of high-quality concept notes and proposals across climate-sensitive health,, mental health, and ASRH.
Work in close collaboration with the Program Development Manager to mobilize USD 5 million annually through strategic fundraising efforts.
Work closely with the Program Development Manager to identify and pursue funding opportunities from institutional donors, private sector, foundations, and innovative finance mechanisms.
Collaborate with other teams to ensure strong, competitive proposals.

Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement

Build and maintain strategic partnerships with Ministry/Department of Health, mass organizations, private sector actors, and development partners relevant to each programme area.
Represent Save the Children in external technical forums, health sector coordination mechanisms, and networking bodies.
Facilitate multi-stakeholder collaboration to scale effective health solutions.

MEAL, Quality Assurance and Learning

Work with MEAL teams to ensure health programme components are technically sound and monitored against clear indicators.
Contribute to implementation research, feasibility assessments, baseline studies, and impact evaluations.
Capture and disseminate learning, best practices, and evidence to inform internal and external policy dialogue.

Capacity Building and Knowledge Management

Build capacity of Save the Children staff, partners, and health workforce across the role’s technical areas.
Provide coaching and mentoring to technical teams and project staff.

II. BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

Honest, encourages openness and transparency

III. QUALIFICATIONS

Master’s degree in Public Health, Health Sciences, or a related field.

IV. EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:

Experience

Minimum 5 years of experience in public health / international development, with strong expertise in providing technical support to health system strengthening and climate-sensitive health programming for vulnerable groups.
Experience in designing or supporting disease surveillance / early warning systems is desirable.
Experience relating to Dengue or other vector-bourne climate-sensitive disease is desirable.
Experience in applying health economic concepts to programme design, evaluation, or policy analysis, including costing, affordability, economic burden or cost-effectiveness, is desirable. Experience in maternal, child and adolescent mental health and adolescent sexual and reproductive health programming is desirable.
Demonstrated track record of proposal development and fundraising, including with institutional and private sector/corporate donors.
Experience working with government health authorities and mass organizations in Vietnam.
Experience integrating cross-cutting themes such as climate change, gender equality, and disability inclusion.
Experience working in multi-cultural and cross-functional environments.

Skills and Competencies

Strategic Thinking and Leadership

Strong ability to develop long-term strategies and translate them into actionable programs.
Ability to identify emerging trends and position programs accordingly.

Technical Expertise

Deep understanding of health systems and climate-sensitive health programming including vector-bourne disease.
Knowledge and technical expertise of maternal, child and adolescent mental health and ASRH programming is a strong asset.
Ability to identify relevant health-economic questions, ensure appropriate cost resource-use data are collected, interpret findings with specialist support, and translate evidence into programme and policy decisions – is also considered an asset.

Business Development

Excellent proposal writing and communication skills.
Strong ability to develop winning bids and donor engagement strategies.

Partnership and Networking

Strong relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills.
Ability to influence and negotiate with diverse partners.

Analytical and Problem-Solving

Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex data and systems.
Ability to design innovative and practical solutions.

Communication

Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Vietnamese.
Ability to communicate complex ideas clearly to different audiences.

Personal Attributes

Passion for improving the lives of children and vulnerable communities.
High level of integrity, accountability, and professionalism.
Self-driven, adaptable, and able to work under pressure.

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Level 2: either the post holder will have access to personal data about children and/or young people as part of their work; or the post holder will be working in a ‘regulated’ position (accountant, barrister, solicitor, legal executive); therefore a police check will be required (at ‘standard’ level in the UK or equivalent in other countries).

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.

The Organisation

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education, and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize children’s rights and ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
All children learn from quality basic education and that,
Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information

Please apply using a cover letter and up-to-date CV as a single document and use format. Please also include details of your current remuneration and salary expectations. A copy of the full role profile can be found at:

National only – Health Technical Advisor – SCI Career Site Careers

Full of JD – Health Technical Advisor

Location: 70-72 Ba Trieu, Cua Nam, Hanoi

Closing Date: 03 Sep 2026

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

All employees are expected to carry out their duties by our global anti-harassment policy.