Manager, Program & Operations, Women’s and Newborn Health

Overview

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication, and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skill sets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with the majority of our staff based in program countries. Learn more about our exciting work: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion, and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experience, backgrounds, and culture.

Program Overview

The Women's & Newborn Health (WNH) Cluster at CHAI aims to reduce unintended pregnancies, maternal and neonatal deaths, and stillbirths by ensuring all individuals are able and empowered to access information, products, and services that meet their sexual, reproductive, maternal, and newborn health (SRMNH) needs.

We pursue global and country-focused market-shaping opportunities for SRMNH products to create an enabling environment for the introduction and scale-up of quality-assured products and services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). At the global level, we work to ensure that a diversified supplier base can meet demand for key products and ensure commodities are affordable and of high quality. We also coordinate donors and partners around global product strategies. At the country level, CHAI works with governments to steward SRMNH markets and address market imbalances contributing to unequal access to health commodities and services. We support governments to develop national SRMNH scale-up plans with clear targets; use data to coordinate partner resources against the plan and achieve targets; strengthen national forecasting and quantification; address supply chain bottlenecks; strengthen health worker capacity building; and strengthen performance management for the health system.

The WNH Cluster supports the application of global learning and best practices. The team provides thought-partnership and technical assistance to programs implemented by in-country teams who lead CHAI’s valued relationships with partner governments and who possess critical knowledge of local context and operating conditions. Underlying our approach is a commitment to achieving sustainable, transformational change at scale by working in a way that strengthens health systems and government capabilities to improve SRMNH outcomes.

Position Overview

Globally, an estimated 712 women die each day from complications of pregnancy and childbirth and 6,300 newborns die each day with the large majority of these deaths occurring in LMICs. A key reason for these preventable deaths is the lack of diagnostics to identify complex pregnancies and the lack of healthcare worker capacity to manage them accordingly. CHAI is leading an ambitious effort to close this gap by revolutionizing care for pregnant women and paving the way to artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled healthcare in LMICs. This initiative involves supporting governments to expand access to AI-enabled point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) and other digitally enabled innovations that broaden capacity for risk assessment and clinical decision-making in the antenatal and intrapartum period. The Manager will support this vision by driving the sustainable introduction of medical devices that are ready for deployment as well as delivering quality inputs to the broader vision for connected devices.

The Manager will be expected to work with limited supervision to ensure successful implementation of activities in focal countries. The Manager will also be expected to proactively contribute to global-level project goals and organizational strategy around this important technology area. The ideal candidate will have strong technical, analytical, project management, and stakeholder engagement skills, be comfortable managing a range of strategic and operational priorities and thrive in a dynamic environment. The person in this role will also serve as a “focal point” for select countries and should maintain an in-depth understanding of their programs, providing input into strategy and supporting implementation.

This position will report to the Senior Program Manager, Women’s and Newborn Health and work in close collaboration with other CHAI teams including country teams, AI Team, and Market Shaping Cluster. This position will also involve frequent strategic engagement with global and in-country partners including the ministry of health.

The individual in this role must be based in Nigeria, Rwanda, or another CHAI program country in Africa, and must be willing to travel frequently and for extended periods to the focal countries. This role will require work across time zones with a geographically dispersed team. The exact split of time between different responsibilities may vary depending on the country and stage of the program, and responsibilities may change over time as the program evolves.

Responsibilities

Support In-Country Program Delivery (30%)

• Cultivate technical expertise on POCUS and AI in maternal and newborn health and become a trusted advisor providing technical support to the CHAI country teams, the ministry of health, and other national stakeholders responsible for day-to-day project implementation
• Stay current on emerging evidence, partner activities, and best practices relevant to the use of AI-enabled tools in maternal and newborn health
• Understand and translate CHAI’s market stewardship approach into practical implementation strategies in partnership with CHAI country teams
• Develop an in-depth understanding of country context, priorities, and implementation plans related to maternal and newborn health and AI
• Support data-driven program strategy and implementation, including synthesizing evidence to inform policymaking, service delivery models, research priorities, and AI development
• Lead development of tools to support sustainable program delivery e.g. assessment tools, procurement specifications, costing models, quantification tools, data dashboards, etc.

Project Management (30%)

• Independently structure and execute on multifaceted, multistakeholder project workstreams, seeking strategic guidance from manager as needed
• Work with country teams to ensure quality, timely execution of project activities in the assigned focal countries, identifying and mitigating risks where needed
• Advise on country-level project work planning and strategy to ensure alignment with the goals and commitments of the grant
• Track program progress against project milestones, proactively escalating and communicating risks
• Prepare donor reports, presentations, and technical briefs summarizing program progress, learnings, and risks and ensure deliverables meet stakeholder expectations
• Compile, review, and rationalize funding requests including work plans and budgets
• Execute other tasks as requested based on need and project priorities

Cross-Country Coordination, Market Shaping, and Global Strategy Support (20%)

• Contribute to case studies, guidance documents, and other knowledge products on implementation of POCUS and AI for women’s and newborn health to support cross-country learning
• Contribute to manufacturer engagement processes, including identifying key trends and consolidating market intelligence to support market stewardship and product access
• Support CHAI's global multi-donor coordination platform by identifying priority implementation bottlenecks or opportunities for discussion, helping align funders, manufacturers, and implementing partners around a shared strategy
• Contribute to strategic discussions and knowledge-sharing as relevant, including identifying linkages with other WNH and country-level work and ensuring project plans are integrated with other team priorities

Stakeholder and Relationship Management (20%)

• Serve as a point of contact and go-to expert for project partners (including AI developers, research partners, global CHAI teams, etc.) on in-country maternal and newborn health context and project work
• Represent CHAI in global and in-country technical working groups and coordination meetings related to POCUS and other relevant technologies for maternal and newborn health
• Cultivate relationships with key stakeholders, ensuring project success and elevating CHAI’s role in the sector
• Shape materials, deliverables, and key messages for senior internal and external stakeholders
• Model CHAI's values and actively contribute to team culture-building initiatives, including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field with a minimum of six years of experience in a demanding, fast-paced environment (such as management consulting, global health, or investment banking), or a master's degree in a related field with a minimum of four years of such experience
• Experience working directly with government counterparts, such as ministries of health, on health systems strengthening, digital health, or new product introduction is strongly preferred
• Knowledge of maternal and newborn health clinical management and service delivery, ultrasound and imaging technology, and/or medical device regulatory pathways is an asset
• Experience working in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Nigeria or Rwanda, is strongly preferred
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to use data to inform program strategy and implementation
• Demonstrated project management skills, including experience managing multiple workstreams, budgets, and timelines with minimal supervision
• Demonstrated capacity to synthesize information into actionable recommendations and effective communications for a range of audiences, including government and donor stakeholders
• Excellent written and oral English communication skills
• Excellent Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, and Word skills
• Fluency with artificial intelligence
• Based in Nigeria, Rwanda, or another CHAI program country in Africa and willing to travel frequently and for extended periods focal countries
• Ability to be effective, calm, and flexible in a fast-paced environment, to manage multiple priorities simultaneously, and to adjust to shifting timelines and priorities
• Ability to work collaboratively and productively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, including government officials, regulators, and technology partners
• Willingness to work with a geographically dispersed, matrixed team across multiple time zones
• Respectful of cultural differences; exceptional diplomatic and interpersonal skills; ability to manage challenging multicultural, multi-stakeholder situations to achieve intended results
• Self-motivated and comfortable working independently
• Strong work ethic, integrity, credibility, and dedication to CHAI's mission
• Strong commitment to principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion

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