Regional HUB & Country Director, West-Central Africa at PATH

Job Requisition ID: JR2636

Description

• The West-Central Africa Regional HUB consists of Country Offices in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Project offices in Ghana and Senegal. The Hub also has on-going registration in Burkina Faso, Burundi and Central Africa Republic.
• For two decades, PATH has been assisting the West-Central Africa region’s health sector through partnerships with local and national governments, community organizations, civil societies and the private sector to build capacity to improve health and wellbeing.
• We built our core strengths in Malaria, HIV/TB, Epidemic Preparedness and Response, Vaccines and Immunization, Digital, Data and AI and other health programs. Other strategic objectives include improved health outcomes for women and children, strengthening implementation science around selected programs, strengthening health information systems in-country, as well as addressing digital health and other new technologies for health systems.
• PATH is recruiting a director to lead our West and Central Africa Regional HUB and Nigeria country office. PATH is looking for a strong leader who will work closely with the Chief of Africa Region, regional leadership and program leaders to contribute to PATH’s commitment to Advancing health innovation for the people who need them most.
• Ideal candidates will have a proven track record of program expertise, leadership, representation, team building and business development.

Overview

• The Regional HUB & Country Director will provide overall leadership and is responsible for people, program oversight as well as business development to enable a diversified and sustainable portfolio and for quality execution of solutions and projects across all of PATH’s platforms. 
• He/she will also develop and nurture partnerships to ensure regional, local, and global impact as appropriate. 
• This role will represent PATH regionally, locally, and internationally and elevate our standing as the leading NGO in global health innovation, especially in the development of program services.
• The Regional HUB & Country Director mobilizes the technical, programmatic, and operational resources and expertise to meet the needs of the countries in the region.
• They are responsible for PATH’s organizational strategy to harness strengths across teams to maximize our impact and value at the regional and country level.
• They will also lead the development of a strong agenda on knowledge management and shared learning to achieve scale and impact of our work.
• This will be accomplished through strong leadership to ensure programs are executed with the highest quality, have a sustainable program design, demonstrate value for money, and ultimately improve the health of targeted populations.
• Reporting to the Chief of Africa Region, the Regional HUB & Country Director is located in the Abuja office and has accountability for the performance of regional program portfolios in regional Hub and other countries where PATH may establish presence within the HUB, providing strategic leadership, advice and managerial oversight of country-specific revenue centers.
• Regional HUB & Country Director will direct line manager for the senior leadership team in the Nigeria office as well as the Country Representatives or Country Directors in the respective Hub project or Country Program offices.

Responsibilities
The core functions of the Regional Hub & Country Director are to:

• Establish priorities for focused development of the country portfolios in the HUB.
• Ensure achievement and reporting on contributions to partners’ sustainable results, and external communication of achievements.
• Oversee management of programs and ensure results and targets are achieved.
• Oversee the development of country portfolios and leverage the technical expertise of program teams and the business development functions to ensure successful outcomes.

The Regional HUB & Country Director is responsible for business development and external relations for the Hubs including:

• Providing support for the development of engagements with local partners.
• Coaching and developing country teams in relation to identifying and developing opportunities in collaboration with local partners, as well as preparing and negotiating proposals.
• Ensuring operationalization of PATH’s Strategic Plan through implementation of business development strategies and the improvement of operational capabilities.
• Helping build PATH’s brand through showcasing capabilities and enhancing the understanding of PATH’s value-add.
• Champion business development efforts, including donor mapping and fundraising strategies. Ensure alignment with programmatic needs and sustainable growth objectives.
• Working with Business Development, ensure proposal design, development, planning, and budgeting by program staff to enable timely submission of grants and contract agreements.
• Identify and participate in key fora, events, and representation opportunities to raise organizational visibility and facilitate networking / strategic engagements with funders and partners.
• Expand revenue generating and fundraising activities to support existing programs and the growth of the organization; cultivate existing relationships and develop new funder relationships.
• Building and maintaining partnerships with international organizations, governments, and stakeholders.

The Regional HUB & Country Director is responsible for the delivery of HUB and country portfolios, ultimately ensuring quality, partner satisfaction, and financial sustainability. This includes:

• Overseeing and enabling efficient and effective delivery of services and support to PATH partners in line with the strategy and within a risk management framework.
• Ensuring coordinated and integrated approaches to the delivery of various country portfolios of projects and services.
• Conducting recurrent reviews of country portfolios to ensure business development and delivery are reinforcing each other, and that correction is applied when needed.
• Leveraging management information systems and reports in order to monitor and oversee the efficient and effective delivery of the country portfolios.
• Maintaining appropriate modalities for decision-making, coordination, and integration across multiple countries in the region.
• Ensuring timely quality assurance and support, as well as appropriate and diligent execution of approvals and other transactional controls at all levels.
• Identifying opportunities for increased impact, improved efficiency and cost-effectiveness to ensure the best value for money.
• Helping ensure the effective use and coordination of donor resources and the compliance of financial systems and controls with relevant donor standards.
• Monitoring program results and ensuring programs provide high-quality technical services, meeting annual targets.
• Engaging in knowledge sharing with peers in other regional/portfolio teams as well as in PATH practices, to enable coordinated delivery of services and leverage of potential synergies.
• Fulfilling designated safety and security responsibilities (as country representative and/or security focal point).
• Facilitate Cross-Country Learning: Establish communities of practice and platforms for sharing technical, operational, and financial insights across countries.

The Regional HUB & Country Director is responsible for organizational, team, and people development. This includes:

• Supporting PATH’s approach to organizational excellence by role-modeling quality and sustainable development improvements.
• Planning, recruiting, managing, and developing flexible teams with the skills and competencies needed to ensure optimum performance, gender, and geographical diversity.
• Promoting teamwork, collaboration, and diversity by providing clear direction, objectives, and guidance to enable teams to perform their duties responsibly, effectively, and efficiently in line with PATH values.
• Encouraging contributions to the development of management policies, ensuring that requirements and potential solutions for new or improved policies, instructions, guidance, and tools are channeled to the relevant countries and programs.
• Ensuring, in coordination with relevant Programs, that the knowledge, skill and experience of country practitioners is applied in support of PATH’s Operational Effectiveness and Quality initiatives and continuously improved through employee development and training.
• Ensuring that structural arrangements at all levels of the country are appropriate, maintained, and documented.
• Encouraging innovation and creativity in the delivery of the country portfolio.

The Regional HUB & Country Director is responsible for Operational Leadership that includes:

• In collaboration with Regional Operations Director, ensure that country operations are consistent with PATH values and management policies and guidelines, and that functions are operated to guarantee timely and cost-effective execution.
• Ensure strong financial stewardship, compliance, and cost-effective operations, lead risk management, safeguarding, and security to protect staff and assets and maintain fit-for-purpose systems and structures aligned with organizational growth
• Lead change initiatives in collaboration with regional and country teams, promoting organizational agility and distributed leadership. Drive structural enhancements to optimize operational models.
• Supporting the implementation of PATH’s Operational Effectiveness and Quality initiatives and overall Strategic Plan.
• Establishing priorities and supervising the implementation of programs and projects, managing the strategic and operational risks associated with the regional portfolio of engagements.
• In collaboration with the Chief of Africa region, regional leadership and Country Directors, establish annual objectives and targets, performance measurements, standards in order to ensure timely execution of regional strategy.
• Drive continuous improvement in program quality and support strengthening capacity, operations, and results across the region to ensure ongoing programmatic excellence
• Monitoring implementation and overseeing progress toward annual objectives and to ensure the delivery of results.
• Planning and allocating resources to achieve goals and ensuring financial sustainability in accordance with PATH’s standards of ethics, integrity, and accountability framework.
• Partnering with Global Facility Travel and Security to oversee, monitor, and direct appropriate measures to maintain the safety and security of team members as well as our assets, property, and competitive intelligence.
• Organizing and implementing operation support in partnership with the Global Business & Financial Operations Team.
• Leading by example, reinforcing appropriate behavior and motivating teams.

Required Skills and Experience

• Advanced Degree in Public Health, Medicine, Business or related fields preferred, relevant experience in lieu of degrees would be considered.
• 15 years in a leadership role with progressive responsibility leading teams and regional programs in international development or humanitarian operations, including a minimum of 8 years in developing countries.
• Demonstrated experience leading and empowering a diverse, cross-cultural senior management team with an emphasis on collaboration and accountability.
• Demonstrated experience in establishing strategic partnerships and alliances and serving in a senior representation role.
• Proven ability to support resource mobilization efforts in a competitive landscape and a track record of leading teams in strategy development and implementation, delivery of high-quality programs with demonstrated impact and results.
• Ability to work under pressure, provide sound judgment, to inspire and lead people, enable teamwork, and collaborate, ensuring excellent team performance and sustained momentum.
• Ability to successfully mentor global health professionals at different career stages.
• Proven ability to oversee leaders that are responsible for the conceptualization and design of projects from proposal development and fundraising strategies to program delivery and monitoring and evaluation.
• Proven ability to develop a business and organizational vision and implement a strategic roadmap.
• Record of accomplishment in successful networking as well as effective interactions with donors and collaborating agencies, including private, public, government and non-profit entities.
• Knowledge in development of new health technologies and implementation of programs in low resource settings, as well as knowledge of in-country needs and opportunities is an added advantage.
• Ability to effectively scope problems, anticipate and pre-empt emerging issues and make decisions with conviction even in highly ambiguous contexts.
• Reputation as a flexible team player with the ability to forge alignment in a matrix organization and effectively collaborate across boundaries and teams.
• Client service orientation with good understanding of PATH’s business, its operational environment and its partners, their mandates and the broader principles is an added advantage.
• Global mind-set with sensitivity to diverse culture/workforce and a high level of energy and enthusiasm
• Demonstrated emotional intelligence, discretion, and agility.
• Fluent in English with excellent written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills. Knowledge of French language is an added advantage.
• Willing to travel regionally and internationally up to 30 %.
• PATH seeks to employ a workforce that reflects the communities it serves; ideal candidates will be residents of countries that PATH operates in within the West and Central Africa region.

Leadership Competencies:

• Decision Quality: Making good and timely decisions that keep the organization moving forward.
• Global Perspective: Taking a broad view when approaching issues, using a global lens.
• Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.
• Resourcefulness: Securing and deploying resources effectively and efficiently.
• Plans & Aligns (Prioritization): Planning and prioritizing work to meet commitments aligned with organizational needs.
• Drives Results: Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Collaborates: Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Builds Effective Teams: Building strong teams that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.
• Values Differences: Recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to the organization.
• Instills Trust: Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Situational Adaptability (Agile and flexible): Adapting approach in real-time to match the shifting demands of different situations.
• Courage: Stepping up to address difficult issues, saying what needs to be said.