Program Manager

CHAI RWANDA

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Title: Program Manager

Program: Health System Strengthening

Job Location: Kigali

Start date: at the earliest

Type of Assignment: Full-Time Paid

Organization 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 in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as, 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, health financing, diagnostics and pandemic preparedness and response. 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 skillsets 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 Government of Rwanda (GoR) strives to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by enabling equitable access to quality health services for the population as outlined in the Fourth Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP IV). This commitment has been made against a backdrop of rising health care costs, funding landscape changes and calls for improved health sector sustainability. Acknowledging this, the Government aims to employ effective, equitable, efficient, and sustainable health care financing and systems strengthening, putting an emphasis on primary health care as the cornerstone of a strong and sustainable health system.

CHAI Rwanda’s Health System Strengthening (HSS) programs work on a day-to-day basis with Government leadership in the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB). The goal of those programs is to support the Government to accelerate progress towards UHC by ensuring the sustainable delivery of quality, essential health services. This includes work to design and implement national Primary Health Care (PHC) reforms from health center level down to community health, to increase health workforce availability, to prioritize and sustainably finance essential services, and to support improved management, financing, and delivery of quality primary health care.

Position Overview

CHAI seeks a Program Manager to lead CHAI Rwanda’s health system strengthening program programs. In this role, the Program manager will shape and drive the implementation of CHAI support to the Government of Rwanda working closely with key decision makers of the Ministry of Health, the Rwanda Social Security Board and leading a team of analysts, associates, and senior associates. This will include support to various PHC reforms including the design and implementation of community health program reform, the expansion of Rwanda health workforce, and the roll out a provider payment reform for PHC, among others. CHAI is seeking a highly motivated individual with outstanding technical skills to support in strategy, implementation, and monitoring. This role requires managerial capabilities to manage day-to-day CHAI team program activities; and play a key role in relationship building with key stakeholders across the Rwandan government, INGOs, and academic partners. The Program Manager should have the technical skills to advise, design, oversee, co-implement and directly provide technical assistance.

The Program Manager will report to the Associate Director for Health Systems Strengthening and will work closely with other CHAI teams at the country and global level, including in Health Financing; Health System Strengthening; Health Workforce; and others. He or she will play a key role in shaping CHAI health system strengthening portfolio based on the technical support needs of the Rwanda government.

Responsibilities

The program manager will manage Rwanda health system strengthening programs mainly health financing and health workforce. Specific responsibilities include the following:

Technical advisory:

• Act as a key advisor to government leadership in the design and implementation of health financing and Human Resources for Health interventions and reforms. Those will include, and not be limited to, the following:
  • An ambitious provider payment reforms for primary health care providers. This will involve support to the government at central and subnational levels for the roll out of the payment reform.
  • The institutionalization of an evidence-based process to revise CBHI health benefit package and ensure essential services are covered by the scheme.
  • The strengthening of donor coordination to support domestic resource mobilization and a sustainable transition towards greater self-reliance.
  • Resource mobilization, implementation, and monitoring of the MoH’s ‘4×4’ health workforce development reform
  • Implementation of the Community Health Program (CHP) reform
  • Strengthening quality assurance mechanisms and related systems for health workforce development
• Structure CHAI HSS team support to best respond to government technical assistance needs.
• Provide technical advisory to senior government officials at partners institutions as an individual contributor through participation in meetings, and contributions to work products;
• Leverage CHAI matrix and ensure that government stakeholders have access to CHAI expertise in relevant topics; this entail engaging the right people from CHAI including from country and global teams, connecting governments with experts including other governments where relevant, and sharing documentation;

Team management:

• Provide technical advice and oversight on the work and quality of deliverables and ensure that communications and work products that are shared externally meet CHAI standards.
• Facilitate open and transparent communication within the team, encourage teamwork and collaboration by fostering a culture of mutual respect, trust, and inclusivity. This involves regularly sharing relevant information, encouraging team discussions, and ensuring that all team members feel heard and understood.
• Clearly define team goals, individual roles, and expectations. This involves aligning team objectives with program goals and ensuring every team member understands their contributions towards these objectives.
• Create an environment where team members feel empowered to bring new ideas, innovate, and take calculated risks. This involves providing opportunities for brainstorming, encouraging constructive feedback, and recognizing innovative contributions.
• Identify skill gaps within the team and provide opportunities for learning and growth. This could include formal training programs, mentoring, or on-the-job learning experiences to enhance team and individual capabilities.

Grant management

• Identify potential grant opportunities that respond to government support needs and align with the organization’s mission and strategic goals and develop proposals;
• Develop accurate budgets for grant proposals and managing grant funds. Responsibilities include forecasting project costs, monitoring expenditures, ensuring compliance with the funder’s budgetary guidelines, and adjusting budgets as necessary.
• Develop donor reports and other donor communications and lead on communications with donors together with AD HSS, CD
• Oversee program activities to ensure programs are implemented effectively and achieve the desired outcomes. This includes project planning, setting timelines, assigning tasks, and monitoring progress with the team.

Stakeholder management

• Manage relationships with key government and external partners. This includes conducting regular discussions with key partners in government to discuss progress on key activities and potential challenges, as well as brainstorm on support avenues for new requests.
• Pursue opportunities for collaboration with other CHAI teams, helping to build a cross-cutting community of practice within the country, region and organization.

Other responsibilities as assigned by supervisor.

Qualifications

• Masters’ Degree or equivalent in Public Health or another related field
• At least 6-8 years of experience in a demanding environment, ideally in health systems strengthening, or health financing with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership. Experience in Sub Saharan Africa is highly preferred.
• Strong program and team management experience, working end to end from strategy development to proposal development, through implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting, as well as program budgeting and operations.
• Strong demonstrated project and team management skills and a passion for mentoring and coaching team members.
• Excellent relationship management skills, including experience in developing and managing government relations at leadership levels. Strong ability to build consensus among diverse multi-stakeholder groups and the ability to work in a multi-cultural environment.
• Self-starter with proven experience in launching new projects or initiatives and strong analytical skills.
• Excellent organizational and management skills, including time management and project management.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously and prioritize and manage projects under pressure.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills including proficiency in MS Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
• Strong communication skills- both written and presentation skills
• Strong work ethic, humility, and integrity.
• Excellent working command of English language.

Advantages

• Experience in Health system strengthening, health financing, health workforce and/or management consulting.
• Experience working with government officials in developing countries, with experience in sub-Saharan Africa and ideally in Rwanda;
• Experience working in public health and with international organizations;
• Familiarity with a broad range of key global health issues, including Primary healthcare, health systems or health financing challenges in developing countries.
• Fluency in French and/or Kinyarwanda.

Application procedure

Interested candidates should apply through Program Manager, Health System Strengthening in Kigali | Careers at Clinton Health Access Initiative (icims.com) June 28th, 2024.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

In compliance with the data protection law of Rwanda, your submission of an application for this position constitutes your consent for the Clinton Health Access Initiative to gather and utilize your personal data solely for the recruitment process.