Country Director, Malaria at ABT Associates

Opportunity

Abt Associates seeks a Country Director for an upcoming USAID-funded Malaria control project in Nigeria. The project will focus on four core interventions: (1) Malaria case management, including malaria diagnosis and treatment for uncomplicated and severe malaria, and iCCM; (2) Prevention of MIP, including community IPTp (c-IPTp); (3) National and state health system strengthening; and (4) monitoring and evaluation, including malaria surveillance, HMIS, and operational research.

The Country Director provides leadership, management, and strategic direction for the entire project.  This position is responsible for guiding senior technical staff and for ensuring the responsiveness and quality of work along with efficient use of resources and achievement of results.  The Country Director has the final authority within the project team for decisions related to technical, management, resource allocation and personnel issues. The Country will be accountable for the successful implementation of all aspects of the project. In carrying out these responsibilities the Country Director works in partnership with USAID, national, state and local government agencies and officials, local and community organizations, other partners, and project staff.

Key responsibilities

• Provide overall strategic leadership and oversight of the project, including overseeing the implementation of all Task Orders
• Provides strategic direction and technical leadership to produce project results and deliverables, and overall management of the operational, financial, and administrative aspects of the project
• Functions as the primary liaison between USAID, federal and state ministries of health,  and other partners and stakeholders
• Creates management systems in line with Abt standard operating procedures consistent with the needs of the project
• Designs and oversees an annual project cycle in accordance with the USAID annual planning cycle
• Works with staff and partners to translate project goals and objectives into implementable strategies and plans
• Directs and oversees planning and budgeting processes. Prepares quarterly and annual project activity reports as specified in the contract;
• Monitors the progress and pace of project implementation, assuring that the full potential of the program is realized through the promotion of high quality work and internal control
• Supervises the work and assesses the performance of all long term and short term advisors, consultants and staff
• Clarifies roles, delegates responsibilities to senior staff, and clearly communicates expectations for staff contribution to project activities
• Manages and supervises project staff and partners in the identification of all the project’s technical assistance needs, development of suitable scopes of work, recruitment of consultants, and execution of technical assistance contracts

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Public Health, international development, or another related field
• At least 15 years of demonstrated progressive experience in public health with the ability to negotiate, collaborate and coordinate with a range of stakeholders in context of complex and shifting priorities
• Demonstrated management capacity in Malaria programs with proven ability to oversee multiple projects simultaneously in multiple locations
• Prior experience successfully implementing donor-funded programs with wide geographic reach.
• Significant experience in Nigeria, including thorough knowledge of specific health priorities, is required
• Deep knowledge of geo-political, ethnic, cultural, and other factors affecting programming in Nigeria
• Ability to liaise effectively with and develop consensus among key stakeholders, including USAID, national and local officials, public, private and civil society partners to assure effective collaboration among stakeholders
• Experience developing project vision, aligning key stakeholders around that vision, and assuring that the vision is translated into implementable strategies
• Excellent organizational, leadership, analytical, supervisory and team-building skills
• Experience building organizational capacity and service delivery