Digital Health Advisor (Team Leader)

LonAdd HR Consultancy Plc (www.lonadd.com) is a Recruitment & Outsourcing Company based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with branch offices in Dukem, Hawassa and Bahir Dar. We are looking to recruit a qualified candidate on behalf of our client. Location    Ethiopian Health Insurance Service office (EHIS) No. Required

• 1 (One) Contract Duration: - One years with possibility of extension  Start date
• as soon as possible  Introduction  Ethiopia has pursued major health care financing reforms since 1998, with the most recent strategy revision completed in 2022/23. A key priority is expanding domestic resource mobilization, especially through the scale up of health insurance. The country implements two main schemes under the Ethiopian Health Insurance Service (EHIS): Social Health Insurance (SHI) for formal workers and Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) for the large informal sector. CBHI, introduced in 2006, has grown rapidly and now covers almost the entire country. By EFY 2017, 91% of woredas were implementing CBHI, and membership enrolment and renewal rates had significantly improved. Preparations for SHI rollout are also underway, including data collection on eligible formal sector employees and recruitment for the newly structured EHIS. To modernize financial systems, EHIS is shifting from manual, paper based premium collection to digital payment systems, in line with Ethiopia’s National Digital Payments Strategy (2026–2030) and the Ministry of Health’s mandate requiring digital payments across all public and private hospitals. This supports increased transparency, efficiency, and reduced cash handling. A new interoperable digital payment platform is being developed for EHIS, designed to link with national systems such as Digital Financial Services, the Digital National ID (Fayda), DHIS2/HMIS, and electronic medical records. This unified digital architecture aims to streamline enrolment, improve equity and coverage management, support electronic claims processing, enhance data quality, and strengthen decision making. Overall, these reforms contribute to Ethiopia’s goal of achieving universal health coverage within a digitally enabled health system. As part of this national agenda, Client Ethiopia, with EU financial support and in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and EHIS, including the following key components: Digitalization of Core Health Insurance Processes: Modernizing and automating core business processes for both Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI) and Social Health Insurance (SHI) to enhance operational efficiency, improve transparency, and strengthen service delivery. Strengthening Data Systems and Digital Infrastructure: Upgrading data management systems and digital infrastructure to enable evidence-based decision-making, ensure interoperability with Ethiopia’s national digital ID system (FAYDA), and facilitate seamless integration with digital payment platforms.  Institutional Capacity Building: Developing the capacity of institutions at national and subnational levels to sustain, manage, and scale digital health financing reforms, ensuring long-term system resilience and continuity  In order to implement those three major thematic areas, Client together with EHIS would like to recruit the following key experts Background & Purpose of the position: Purpose of the Assignment The Digital Health Advisor (Team Leader) provides strategic and technical leadership for the design, development, and nationwide implementation of Ethiopia’s digital health insurance ecosystem. The Advisor will drive the architecture and rollout of a centralized aggregator platform that seamlessly integrates multiple CBHI systems and interoperates with national platforms such as the National Digital ID (Fayda), electronic medical records (EMR), digital payments, and other health and civil systems. This role ensures adherence to rigorous software engineering standards, robust data governance, and cybersecurity best practices. As team leader, the Advisor will coordinate multisectoral partners, supervise technical teams, and build the technical capacity of EHIS staff and regional IT units. The position is pivotal in advancing Ethiopia’s digital health insurance roadmap and strengthening the efficiency, transparency, and equity of the national health financing system. Overall Objective To provide strategic leadership and high-level technical guidance for the design, development, integration, and nationwide implementation of Ethiopia’s digital health insurance ecosystem ensuring the system is interoperable, secure, scalable, and aligned with national digital health and health financing strategies. Specific objectives  The scope encompasses full leadership and accountability for the end-to-end technical design, development, integration, and deployment of Ethiopia’s national digital health insurance system. With emphasis on:  Strengthening and scaling the existing EHIS digital CBHI platform to prioritize schemes. Establishing and piloting SHI core capabilities on the same platform; and Implementing a standards-based interoperability layer (“aggregator” functions where applicable) to connect with national systems (FAYDA ID, DHIS2, EMR where available, and MoH digital payments). Scope of work Programme leadership & governance Provide day-to-day technical leadership across CBHI scale-up and SHI readiness/rollout while ensuring alignment to EHIS/MoH priorities and approved roadmap. Serve technical focal points for the Technical Working Group (TWG) and participate by preparing agendas, implementation updates, challenges, and action tracking. Maintain a consolidated implementation plan including releases, dependencies, risks, and mitigation actions. Architecture, interoperability, and data governance  Lead architecture decisions and enforce design standards for the platform and interoperability layer, including integration patterns, API versioning, data contracts, and error-handling. Lead definition and approval of technical specifications for integration with: FAYDA : identity verification, matching rules, and exception handling. DHIS2 : agreed exchange datasets and facility references. EMR   where present: minimal datasets and readiness criteria to support claims workflows. MoH DHPI/digital payments : payment and reconciliation workflows. Establish and implement master data governance (facility/scheme registries, member identifiers), data quality rules, and role-based data access. Security,, and resilience (Disaster Recovery) Coordinate DPIA and ensure disaster recovery readiness: backup/restore testing, recovery procedures, and periodic simulation drills with EHIS ICT and relevant partners; track corrective actions to closure. Operational readiness and scale-up Oversee scheme readiness assessments and sequencing for rollouts ( 150 schemes and 179 readiness support ). Lead schemes go-live governance: planning, escalation pathways, and post-deployment reviews. Institutionalize a sustainable support model (Tier 1-3 service desk, SLAs, knowledge base) integrated into EHIS operations. Capacity strengthening and institutionalization Coordinate production, review, and approval of SOPs, user guides, and job aids under version control; ensure alignment to system configuration and support model. Provide technical input to training design (ToT/cascade) for enrolment staff and claims processors, including practical workflows, controls, and data quality requirements. Key Responsibilities Lead the technical design of the CBHI-SHI platform including aggregator functions required for interoperability. Provide technical direction to system analysts and software development teams, and vendors, ensuring adherence to modern software engineering standards, timelines and quality. Oversee interoperability with national systems including National Digital ID, Digital Payments, Civil Registration, DHIS2/HMIS, and EMR platforms. Define and enforce digital policies and standards across architecture, APIs, data models, governance and support operations. Supervise system enhancements, conduct periodic security audits, and ensure full compliance with national data governance and protection requirements. Coordinate with government agencies, private sector vendors, and international partners to align implementation with national digital health strategies. Lead capacity building of EHIS and regional teams to ensure sustainability and ownership of the digital health insurance ecosystem. Report implementation progress and risks to EHIS leadership and TWG; maintain clear documentation of decisions and changes. Key Deliverables Task/ Milestone & Activity  Inception:  confirm implementation approach and delivery model; validate stakeholder map and coordination mechanisms; coordinate TWG/Steering routines; consolidate detailed workplan, timeline, dependencies, risks and reporting cadence. Landscape assessment: conduct desk review, stakeholder interviews and representative site visits; map end-to-end processes (enrolment, renewals, payments, claims); document data flows, infrastructure readiness, and current pain points; review cybersecurity posture and policy/standards gaps. Costed CBHI–SHI roadmap development and validation/endorsement: lead and coordinate the contracted vendor/consultant; define rollout sequencing/waves and readiness gates; develop TCO and budget scenarios; translate findings into a prioritized backlog and release calendar; facilitate national/regional validation workshops and incorporate feedback to secure formal endorsement. /security compliance: oversee DPIA and security posture review; agree minimum security baseline (access control, logging, encryption, backups/restore, vulnerability management); confirm ownership and timelines for remediation actions; integrate controls into rollout readiness checks. Interoperability design, build & validation: define and sign off integration specifications and test approach; supervise implementation with technical teams; validate exchanges end-to-end in sandbox and/or production (as feasible); document versioned API/interface specifications for each connection. Integration governance: Define roles and service standards across EHIS/MoH; confirm data-sharing/access; agree change approval and escalation paths for integrations and releases. Interoperability design & implementation: Lead specifications and implementation for connections with national systems; validate exchanges in test and/or production as feasible. CBHI scale deployment (150 schemes): oversee readiness, coordinate configuration, migration and go-live activities; manage incidents and ensure deployments follow agreed SOPs, security baselines, and release calendar. SOPs and user materials: Produce and approve version-controlled SOPs/job aids; align to workflows for enrolment, renewals, waivers, payments, claims, data quality, and escalation. Workforce capacity building: Coordinate ToT/cascade design and delivery; ensure training records and quality checks; support mentoring. Readiness support (179 schemes): conduct site readiness assessments; produce scheme-specific readiness reports and gap-closure actions; provide orientation to scheme leadership/staff on digital transition and SOPs; confirm go/no-go status for future rollout waves. Monitoring, reporting & coordination: Facilitate routine Technical Working Group (TWG) meetings; track actions, dependencies, and decisions; maintain risk/issue tracking and compliance registers; consolidate monthly/quarterly implementation updates (progress, performance, budget utilisation, and escalations) for EHIS/MoH/Client decision-making. Deliverables/ Outputs Inception report approve including implementation plan/workplan, governance set-up, stakeholder map, KPI/baseline plan (validation-ready). CBHI/SHI digital landscape assessment report: data flows; current integrations (NID / payments / CRVS / DHIS2 / EMR); infrastructure readiness; cybersecurity posture; policy/standards gaps. Final roadmap endorsed and workshop minutes and endorsement note. DPIA and security posture completed with a tracked action plan for implementation. Four system connections delivered with versioned specifications and validated exchanges/interfaces for FAYDA, DHIS2/HMIS, EMR (where available), MoH digital payments/DHPI. EHIS–MoH integration MoU signed (1) (roles, service levels, change approvals, data-sharing). 4 systems connected (versioned specifications, working interfaces / validated exchanges) for FAYDA, DHIS2, EMR (where available), MoH digital payments/DHPI. CBHI deployed in 150 schemes and SOPs/user materials package approved SOPs/user materials package approved (1 set) (version-controlled). 11,319 staff trained (training reports and attendance registers). Readiness support reports (including gaps) completed for 179 schemes site. SHI pilot package delivered: configured SHI core modules, pilot report and SHI scale-up plan. Service desk operational with SLAs (ticketing, SLA dashboard, monthly reports). Monthly progress report and quarterly performance update, updated compliance/security register, and and TWG minutes with decisions, and action tracker.