Program Officer - Market Shaping at Results for Development (R4D)

Job Description

Results for Development (R4D) is seeking a highly motivated and dynamic Program Officer to play a role in supporting the Market Shaping practice’s Nigeria-based team. The Market Shaping Practice (MSP) is dedicated to transforming access to and improving the appropriate use of essential and life-saving products in a holistic and sustainable manner. We develop, iterate on, and support the catalytic implementation of long-lasting solutions at the global and country levels to address challenges identified by country partners and backed by rigorous analyses. We’ve applied our expertise to achieve more than a billion dollars in savings in countries and supported improved access to high-quality products in health (spanning the HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, maternal, newborn, and child health markets) as well as in nutrition and education.

MSP projects include:

• Transforming markets for maternal, newborn, and child health medicines and devices
• Identifying underlying market challenges and opportunities to address severe acute malnutrition
• Co-creating advocacy and market-shaping roadmaps to scale up multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) for improved maternal nutrition and reduced risks of adverse birth outcomes.

This position is based in Abuja, Nigeria and will report to the Market Shaping Senior Program Officer based in Nigeria.

About the Market Shaping Practice:

How do we increase access to a cheap drug that could save millions of children’s lives yet remains widely unavailable in certain markets? This is among the unique and powerful questions R4D’s Market Shaping practice answers on a daily basis. Using practical and business-driven approaches -- from increasing market transparency to increase manufacturers’ engagement, to improving demand forecasting to prevent stockouts, to increasing competition to lower prices, to developing purchasing and value chain strategies, and to crafting cost-effectiveness and financing gap analyses -- our work ensures that millions of lives are saved and improved in a sustainable manner through more efficient markets essential health, nutrition and education products.

If our work ignites your imagination, we’d love to tell you more and explore how we can work together!

As a Market Shaping Program Officer on this high-impact team, you will

Provide day-to-day project support

Internal and external project engagement

You’re a great fit if you are:

Your experience should include:

• Conduct in-depth qualitative and quantitative research and analyses, including critical review of literature and interviews with experts, to identify bottlenecks in public and private essential commodity markets primarily in Nigeria
• Heavily support the structuring of analytical problems and the development of technical qualitative and quantitative analytical methodologies and products
• Draw insights from analyses and support development of high quality and actionable government, donor and partner-facing documents
• Lead the design of market shaping solutions via a hypothesis-driven approach to develop recommendations for stakeholders
• Foster and engage extensively and effectively with diverse stakeholders, including government agencies, procurers, policymakers, healthcare providers, implementing partners and private sector entities
• Operational Leadership
• Help identify creative ways to expand current work in Nigeria and support the development of relevant products, in close coordination with the rest of the Nigeria team
• Support budget management to ensure sound fiscal management across project work
• Help to operationalize and oversee project work plans and timely execution of project activities
• Genuinely passionate about markets-based approaches to drive sustainable impact
• A strong communicator with excellent interpersonal skills, able to vary one’s style based on the audience and distill complex concepts into clear messaging,
• Energized by working on complex projects in global contexts, particularly in low- and middle-income countries
• Highly analytical, and a structured and creative problem solver
• Enthusiastic about working within a culturally diverse team
• Collaborative, approachable, and invested in enabling a positive working environment
• Willing to travel domestically and internationally, per project need
• Master’s degree in health commodities, pharmacy, public health, market dynamics, public/social policy, public administration, business or other related advanced degree
• Minimum three years of work experience or bachelor’s degree with five years of experience required. Preference is given to candidates with experience conducting market analysis, developing product introduction/scale-up strategies, and/or expanding access to healthcare, specifically in low- and middle-income countries
• Public, non-profit, or private sector experience in health / nutrition commodity supply, quantification, procurement, financing, or regulation preferred, but not required.
• Demonstrated track record of analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, and independently developing analytical products.
• Ability to think and solve problems in a structured and logical manner.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders in multicultural environments.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including demonstrated ability to develop compelling presentations and written reports.
• Significant experience in Nigeria strongly preferred, including experience working at state-level Nigerian public health / nutrition sector such as the Federal and State Ministries of Health, State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA) or equivalent, Drugs and Medical Consumables Supply Agency (DMCSA), State Committee on Food and Nutrition (SCFN), or similar.
• Previous experience monitoring supply of commodities in the public-sector health/nutrition system, and/or experience in national quantification activities is preferred.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a team, and deliver high-quality results within a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.