Country Support Manager, Vaccines Market Team at Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)

Overview

• In 2010, CHAI launched a vaccine program to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with vaccine preventable diseases by improving access to immunization services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). One of the core pillars of this program was improving the availability and functionality of cold chain equipment (including solar-powered options) to increase the reach of cold chain networks and make substantial gains in vaccine equity.
• Recently, CHAI has expanded the scope of this work to include solarization of the full health facility to further enhance patient impact. Today, over 25% of primary health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa report having no access to power.
• This results in reduced operating hours, poor staff retention, limited service provision, and unsafe environments for nighttime deliveries; all of which contribute to unnecessary morbidity and mortality. A clean energy source that is increasingly fast and affordable to deploy, health facility solarization can have an outsized impact on the quality and availability of service delivery in LMICs.
• HFSE is at a critical juncture as it transitions from small-scale pilots to broader initiatives aiming to solarize tens of thousands of facilities in sub-Saharan Africa by 2025. As a result, there is need to conduct global and country-level research to generate an evidence base that will contribute toward strengthening HFSE strategic planning, implementation, and long-term sustainability.

Position Overview

• CHAI is seeking a Country Support Manager to landscape the HFSE ecosystem in 3-4 focal countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which will help inform the development of CHAI’s new program.
• This role will function as a core member of CHAI’s cross cutting HFSE team (currently housed within the broader Vaccines Markets Team) and will work alongside country teams to develop and lead this research.
• Broadly, these ecosystem analyses will entail desk research and secondary data compilation to landscape each country; on-the-ground research that seeks to uncover government, development partner, and private sectors capabilities, barriers, and opportunities within HFSE; and health facility assessments.
• This individual will be responsible for transforming these findings into a robust and succinct evidence base that will be publicly disseminated.
• The individual will be expected to manage senior-level internal and external relationships, work with CHAI's country and technical teams to devise evidence-based strategic plans and provide effective project management to execute high-impact research.
• The candidate will have substantial opportunity to shape CHAI’s approach in developing these programs across focus countries.
• We are seeking a highly motivated individual with outstanding leadership and project management skills.
• The candidate must be able to drive the development and implementation of this program with significant autonomy, have deep personal commitment to producing high-quality results, and have the ability to lead in a challenging and multi-cultural professional environment.

Responsibilities
Research design & planning:

• Work with the team to develop an ecosystem analysis approach for a multi-country deep dive into the local health facility solar electrification ecosystem
• Conduct secondary research that spans health and energy policy government structures, strategies, and plans; partner and intervention mapping; and the private sector market
• Develop interview questionnaires and data collection tools

Ecosystem Analysis Implementation:

• Engage multiple government ministries to understand their knowledge, capacity, and prioritization for HFSE
• Landscape local service providers (LSPs) and evaluate their offerings against government HFSE needs, capabilities, and priority areas
• Landscape current areas of public-private partnership and collaboration within the national health and energy systems; identify challenges, best practices, and opportunities

Consolidation, Analysis, and Dissemination:

• Design structured output of ecosystem analysis findings and implications on broader HFSE Program
• Collate country health, cold chain equipment, and energy data and analyse for strategy development (e.g., for country profiles and prioritisation)
• Formally synthesise findings per country and across regions to inform HFSE strategy
• Disseminate findings internally and externally as needed 

Leadership, Communication, and Coordination:

• Nurture strategic relationships with development and private sector partners to foster collaboration and optimize the impact of HFSE and related interventions
• Share country updates across teams to inform focal country HFSE priorities and keep teams current on ongoing areas of support
• Collect, consolidate, and share lessons learned and best practices (strategies, tools, and experience) internally and externally to maximize impact of learnings
• Provide support on crosscutting country / global work streams, including internal and external reporting

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree and at least 6 years of working experience in the private or public sector, with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership
• At least 3 years of program management experience with wider portfolio of technical areas or program countries
• Demonstrated experience managing complex projects involving multiple teams, including priority setting, planning, budgeting, performance review and management; and influencing with limited authority
• Strong experience in developing new research approaches and conducting primary and secondary research
• Exceptional problem-solving solving skills and analytical capabilities
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including ability to create persuasive presentations and written reports
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, set priorities, and work independently
• Strong interpersonal skills and proven ability to build and maintain strong relationships in a complex and multicultural environment
• High emotional intelligence, patience, and thoughtfulness even in high-pressure, stressful situations
• Strong organizational abilities
• Proactive, adaptable, and comfortable paving the way in new programmatic areas
• Ability to travel, mainly to CHAI focus countries and other global/regional engagements (approximately 40% of the time)

Advantages:

• Previous experience working on a CHAI country team
• Previous experience working in public health, especially in governance, systems strengthening, financing and /or management of operations at sub-national level, or similar fast-paced, output-oriented environments
• Strong experience of engaging with government officials and multilateral organizations in developing countries
• Professional proficiency in a second language of a CHAI vaccine program country, particularly French
• Knowledge of energy/solar market, health systems strengthening, and/or health financing