Program Manager, Health Financing at Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Kigali, Rwanda – DEADLINE: 17/04/2014

Program Manager, Health Financing at Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Kigali, Rwanda – DEADLINE: 17/04/2014

Founded in 2002 by President William J. Clinton, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems around the world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria and other illnesses.

Based on the premise that business oriented strategy can facilitate solutions to global health challenges, CHAI acts as a catalyst to mobilize new resources and optimize the impact of these resources to save lives, via improved organization of commodity markets and more effective local management. Unlike other implementers, CHAI does not operate stand-alone programs, nor does it build parallel health systems.

Rather, CHAI works at the invitation and in support of governments. Furthermore, we focus on large-scale impact and have secured lower pricing agreements for treatment options in more than 70 countries, including cutting the costs of Viral Load laboratory tests by 50% in South Africa. CHAI’s teams are working side-by-side with over 30 governments to tackle many of the largest barriers to effective health care.

At the request of our partner governments, CHAI has developed a health financing program in 8 countries. Currently, in developing countries, just 40% of the poor have access to basic health services, such as delivering babies in a safe environment.

While policymakers are committed to universal health coverage, past growth in funding for health is beginning to slow, resulting in difficult decisions and trade-offs. Our health financing teams work with policymakers in Ministries of Health and key stakeholders to remove financing as a barrier to increased coverage of life saving interventions.

We provide decision makers with the necessary programmatic and financial information for evidence-based planning and resource allocation. Furthermore, we help governments move towards a sustainable funding model that is increasingly nationally owned and managed.

Position Overview:

CHAI is looking for a country support program manager, to provide remote and on-the-ground assistance to the following CHAI health financing country teams: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

As the challenges faced by governments are constantly changing, the work is fast paced and diverse. Some of the technical focus areas include costing, strategic planning, resource tracking, public financial management and health systems reform.

The program manager will support country teams, governments and stakeholders by troubleshooting challenges, developing tools, providing assistance on the ground, conducting research and facilitating idea exchange across countries. The program manager will focus on 2-3 countries, and will be asked to bring expertise and lessons learned to other countries on an ad-hoc basis.

Operating with substantial independence, the program manager will:

Provide advice to country teams working with Ministries of Health to assess resource needs, available resources and potential financial and health systems reforms

Provide technical support to implementation of key projects, through remote and on the ground assistance in costing, planning and budgeting, resource tracking and key reforms, as well as other areas as they come up

Develop tools and resources for country teams to be applied across contexts
Evaluate health financing options to increase fiscal space, including through qualitative and quantitative analysis and modeling
Facilitate idea exchange across country and global teams at CHAI, including by documenting and sharing lessons learned across contexts
Build relationships with topic and country experts and key global stakeholders
Attend and represent CHAI at global meetings
Follow key trends in the global health financing landscape and rapidly build expertise in new trends and areas of work as they arise
Assist country teams in work planning, helping outline the direction and goals of the program and troubleshoot as needed
Support monitoring, evaluation and reporting
Given the nature of the program, and the entrepreneurial environment of CHAI, the program manager is expected to be self-motivated, flexible and able to deliver results quickly.

Minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience (e.g. in a research institution, government, bilateral or multilateral development agency, consulting firm, NGO or think tank)

An advanced degree in health economics, public policy, business, public health or other relevant discipline
Knowledge of and experience in health systems and health care financing (including health insurance schemes) and/or public sector financing

Structured thinker with excellent analytical skills and experience analyzing data
Strong writer, facilitator and oral communicator able to distil and explain complex concepts to varied audiences
Demonstrated ability to work independently, self-motivate and propose new initiatives
Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and set priorities
Exceptional diplomatic and interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships
High levels of proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint
Willingness to live and travel internationally
Advantages:

Experience working with government ministries (Ministries of Health and/or Finance)
Familiarity with epidemiological modeling and analysis
Advanced degree in health economics
Experience working in resource-limited settings and in a multicultural office environment
Travel will be frequent and as high as 50-70%.