Joby George
Dunedin,OTA
Summary
Self-driven and result-oriented international health management executive with leadership experience in strengthening primary healthcare in developing countries. Spearheaded strategic planning, results-based program management, resource mobilization, technical advice, and humanitarian response for leading international development organizations. Orchestrated the design and implementation of large-scale programs focusing on strengthening national and district-level governance systems, integrated service delivery, and resilience building. Negotiated and forged partnerships with national and sub-national governments, local government bodies, non-government organizations, academia, community leaders, and civil society partners. Led complex, multicultural, and cross-functional teams to achieve significant health impacts. Conducted independent evaluations of large-scale health programs.
Overview
27
27
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Technical Advisor (Consultant)
Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International
12.2023 - Current
- Company Overview: RTI International is a nonprofit research institute that provides research, development, and technical services to government and commercial clients
- Website: https://www.rti.org
- Support the design of a US$60 Local health system strengthening project in Bangladesh, funded by the United States Agency for International Development
- Ongoing support for developing detailed operational plans and implementation strategies to improve health systems at the national and district levels
- RTI International is a nonprofit research institute that provides research, development, and technical services to government and commercial clients
- Website: https://www.rti.org
Consultant
Save the Children International
02.2023 - 03.2023
- Company Overview: Save the Children International is a global charity that promotes children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries
- Website: https://www.savethechildren.org
- Review and document the national scale-up of maternal and newborn care quality improvement and service quality accreditation by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Bangladesh
- USAID/MaMoni Maternal and Newborn Care Strengthening Project, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Save the Children International is a global charity that promotes children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries
- Website: https://www.savethechildren.org
Consultant
UNICEF
07.2022 - 08.2022
- Company Overview: UNICEF is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide
- Website: https://www.unicef.org
- Review and evaluate the project for Improvement of Healthcare Quality: Human Right-Embedded Pathway towards Universal Health Coverage, funded by the Australian NGO Cooperation Program, Government of Australia
- UNICEF is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide
- Website: https://www.unicef.org
Health & Nutrition Manager
UNICEF
07.2020 - 08.2021
- Company Overview: UNICEF is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide
- Website: https://www.unicef.org
- Led the health and nutrition sector programs of UNICEF in Somaliland, Somalia, providing technical and managerial oversight for programmes funded by GAVI, Global Fund, FCDO (UK), and others
- Served as officer-in-charge for the Field Office
- Led a team of ten health and nutrition experts
- Served as the field office focal person for multi-sectoral integration
- Facilitated integrated delivery of an essential package of health and nutrition services, WASH, health promotion and social and behaviour change communication
- Led and coordinated the multi-sectoral response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Somaliland, including the continuation of essential health and nutrition services along with emergency response in close coordination with WASH, Education and Child Protection sectors
- Supported the Ministry of Health to develop and implement an action plan to introduce new vaccines and strengthen routine immunisation
- Contributed to the development of the National Nutrition Strategy in Somaliland
- UNICEF is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide
- Website: https://www.unicef.org
Chief of Party
Save the Children Federation
11.2013 - 06.2020
- Company Overview: Save the Children is a global organization that works to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic opportunities
- Website: https://www.savethechildren.org
- Headed the design and implementation of two cycles of a US$50 million bilateral program funded by the United States Agency for International Development to strengthen the capacity of the Bangladesh national health system to deliver high-quality reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition services, promote optimal health and nutrition behaviours and strengthen health systems in Bangladesh
- Chaired and managed a consortium involving the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Johns Hopkins University (Jhpiego), icddr,b and other national organisations
- Supervised the senior leadership team of senior technical advisors; provided overall leadership to a team of over 100 employees and over 300 partner staff
- Managed annual budget of over US$ 13 million, established and managed subgrant partnerships with eight national organisations
- Significant contribution to developing the Health Population and Nutrition Sector Development Programme and several national strategies and action plans of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOH&FW)
- Made substantial contributions to developing Bangladesh Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP), National Newborn Health Strategy, National Maternal Health Strategy, National Strategy for Healthcare Quality, and National Health Workforce Strategy
- Led the national scale-up of several evidence-based maternal and newborn care interventions in support of the Bangladesh Every Newborn Action Plan
- Technical leadership to strengthen the national Quality Improvement Secretariat and to implement the WHO-led maternal and newborn care quality improvement learning network
- Championed the initiative led by the government to revitalise over 1,500 primary-level health facilities to provide high-quality integrated reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition services across the country
- Save the Children is a global organization that works to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic opportunities
- Website: https://www.savethechildren.org
Director Health
Save the Children International
01.2010 - 11.2013
- Company Overview: Save the Children International is a global charity that promotes children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries
- Website: https://www.savethechildren.org
- Led the development and implementation of a country strategic plan to support Malawi’s health and nutrition sector goals; technical and managerial oversight to a programme portfolio of over US$ 30 million
- Mobilised over US$30 million to fund the implementation of the national health and nutrition strategy
- Contributed to developing and implementing the National Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy and the national plan for scaling up the integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) strategy
- Provided managerial oversight and technical support to multiple projects, implementing an essential package of health services, infant and young child nutrition, HIV/AIDS, malaria and health systems strengthening, and community empowerment
- Established community and facility-based models for integrated maternal newborn and child health services along the continuum of care for scale-up through the national health systems
- Save the Children International is a global charity that promotes children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries
- Website: https://www.savethechildren.org
Health and Nutrition Programme Manager
World Vision International
04.2007 - 01.2010
- Company Overview: World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to overcome poverty and injustice
- Website: https://www.worldvision.org
- Led the health and nutrition programs of World Vision in Cambodia, overseeing the design and implementation of maternal, newborn, and child health, nutrition, WASH, and health promotion and behaviour change interventions
- Provided technical support to the National Nutrition Programme (NNP) and led the drafting of the National Micronutrient Strategy in Cambodia
- Served as the Principal Investigator for a large national study on the determinants of childhood anemia to inform the national Micronutrient Strategy
- World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to overcome poverty and injustice
- Website: https://www.worldvision.org
Project Manager/ Programme Development Manager
CARE India
04.1999 - 04.2006
- Company Overview: CARE India is a non-profit organization that fights global poverty and provides disaster relief
- Website: https://www.careindia.org
- Reproductive and Child Health, Nutrition and HIV/AIDS (RACHNA) Programme – An integrated programme to strengthen the Government of India’s national and sub-national systems for the integrated delivery of maternal and child health, nutrition, and early childhood development services using the platform of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- Provided Support to the national core team for strategic planning and program development
- Led the Polio Eradication Initiative, engaging community-based organisations and the private sector
- CARE India is a non-profit organization that fights global poverty and provides disaster relief
- Website: https://www.careindia.org
MCH Officer
Catholic Relief Services (CRS– USCC)
05.1997 - 04.1999
- Company Overview: Catholic Relief Services is an international humanitarian agency that assists the poor and vulnerable overseas
- Website: https://www.crs.org
- Provided technical guidance to civil society organisations managing community-level MCH service delivery
- Provided technical and operational support to a network of not-for-profit private clinics that offer integrated maternal and child health, nutrition, and early childhood development services to disadvantaged communities in remote rural areas of Bihar and Jharkhand states of India
- Catholic Relief Services is an international humanitarian agency that assists the poor and vulnerable overseas
- Website: https://www.crs.org
Education
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - Health Sciences
University of Otago
08.2024
Master of Health Administration (MHA) -
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
01.1997
Bachelor of Science Nursing (BSc Nursing) -
Mahatma Gandhi University
01.1994
Skills
- Integrated primary healthcare
- Maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition
- Health and nutrition governance
- Community health systems
- Programme evaluations
- Stakeholder engagement and collaboration
- Cross-sectoral collaboration
- Systems thinking
- Results Orientation
- Cultural adaptivity
- Collaborative
- Compassionate leadership
- Training and mentoring
- Attention to Detail
- Decision-Making
Certification
- Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife, Kerala Nurses and Midwives Council, India
- Evaluating Public Health Programmes at Scale, Johns Hopkins University, 11/01/22
- Results-based Management (RBM) e-course, UNICEF, 04/01/20
Personal Information
Title: PhD, MHA
Publications
- Impact of health system governance on healthcare quality in low-income and middle-income countries: a scoping review, George, J., Jack, S., Gauld, R., Colbourn, T., & Stokes, T., BMJ Open, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073669
- Genetic haemoglobin disorders, infection, and deficiencies of iron and vitamin A determine anaemia in young Cambodian children, George, J., Yiannakis, M., Main, B., Devenish, R., Anderson, C., An, U. S., Williams, S. M., & Gibson, R. S., The Journal of Nutrition, 2012, https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.111.148189
- Engaging the private sector to deliver quality maternal and newborn health services for universal health coverage: lessons from policy dialogues, Lattof, S. R., Maliqi, B., Yaqub, N., Asiedu, E. K., Ukaire, B., Ojo, O., Goodman, C., Ross, S. R., Hailegebriel, T. D., Appleford, G., & George, J., BMJ Global Health, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2022-008939
Shorttermassignments
- Senior Technical Advisor (Consultant), Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, NC, USA, 12/01/23, Ongoing, Support the design of a US$60 Local health system strengthening project in Bangladesh.
- Consultant, UNICEF Timor Leste, Dili, Timor Leste, 07/01/22, 08/31/22, Review and evaluate the project for Improvement of Healthcare Quality.
- Consultant, Save the Children International, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 02/01/23, 03/31/23, Review and document the national scale-up of maternal and newborn care quality improvement.
Languages
English
Full Professional
Hindi
Native or Bilingual
Malayalam
Native or Bilingual
Bengali
Limited Working
Cambodian
Elementary
Tamil
Limited Working
Timeline
Senior Technical Advisor (Consultant)
Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International
12.2023 - Current
Consultant
Save the Children International
02.2023 - 03.2023
Consultant
UNICEF
07.2022 - 08.2022
Health & Nutrition Manager
UNICEF
07.2020 - 08.2021
Chief of Party
Save the Children Federation
11.2013 - 06.2020
Director Health
Save the Children International
01.2010 - 11.2013
Health and Nutrition Programme Manager
World Vision International
04.2007 - 01.2010
Project Manager/ Programme Development Manager
CARE India
04.1999 - 04.2006
MCH Officer
Catholic Relief Services (CRS– USCC)
05.1997 - 04.1999
Master of Health Administration (MHA) -
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Bachelor of Science Nursing (BSc Nursing) -
Mahatma Gandhi University
- Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife, Kerala Nurses and Midwives Council, India
- Evaluating Public Health Programmes at Scale, Johns Hopkins University, 11/01/22
- Results-based Management (RBM) e-course, UNICEF, 04/01/20
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - Health Sciences
University of Otago
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