Head of Country Programs

Position description

The Head of Country Programs will be a key leader of the Financing Alliance for Health. 

In collaboration with the CEO, the Head of Country Programs will develop and lead engagement with countries but will also have a broader strategy, visionary and leadership role within the executive team. In the true nature of a start-up, the Head of Country Programs, may be asked to support other activities on an ad-hoc basis. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Strategic leadership – 35% 

• Provide strategic, visionary, organizational leadership and ensure strategic program implementation in line with the 2023-2027 organizational strategy. 
• Lead, manage and coach the programmatic team, overseeing their professional development and capacity building as needed. 
• Oversee, manage, and monitor the annual programmatic budget. 
• Collaborate closely with the executive committee to formulate and execute strategic initiatives aligned with the organization’s goals and mission. 
• Participate in ex-co meetings to provide insights, recommendations, and reports on key operational and strategic matters, contributing to decision-making processes at the highest level. 

Country Engagement and Support – 35% 

• Work directly with key health and finance leaders (MOH, MOF, etc) from existing and potential country clients to define a financing ‘pathway’ that can sustainably support their community health programs. He or she will also engage closely with NGOs and other development partners (UNICEF, World Bank, EU, USAID, etc) involved in supporting countries’ health programs.
• The Head of Country Programs is expected to take a visionary leadership role in identifying potential client countries, assessing their core challenges and ‘readiness’ for FAH support (political will, partner engagement, etc) and determining the best model for FA support. 
• Provide strategic and technical backstop for Country Engagement programmatic work 
• Maintain relationships with existing and previous FAH countries. 
• Innovate and refine the Country Engagement operating model, service packages and tools 
• Define and curate thought leadership pieces that codifies our CE work and impact. 
• Develop training materials based on in country capability needs, to upskill our government clients on health financing. 
• Lead the organization on government engagements and support across past, exist and future priority countries. 

Partnership management, advocacy, and Communication – 10% 

• Identify, cultivate, and formalize partnerships with strategic institutional partners (Funders, knowledge partners, private sector/ investment partners, collaborators, etc.) 
• Assist the FAH in relevant advocacy engagements that would further advance our work. E.g., Communities at the heart of UHC, steering committees, technical working groups, regional and global events 
• Documenting and sharing FAH’s country work, including developing publicly shareable versions of in-country work by codifying country experiences (with MOH client permission) and sharing this work in appropriate forums and FAH’s quarterly dashboards. 
• Identify opportunities, provide guidance on and contribute to Country Engagement proposals and fundraising initiatives. 
• Represent the organization at high-level meetings, industry conferences, and panels, showcasing our vision, achievements, and thought leadership in key areas of expertise. 
• Serve as a spokesperson for the organization, articulating our values, priorities, and strategic direction to external stakeholders, partners, and the broader community. 
• Foster strong relationships with external partners, government officials, industry associations, and other stakeholders to advance the organization’s strategic agenda and objectives. 

Impact monitoring – 10% 

• Stay abreast of industry trends, market developments, and best practices, leveraging this knowledge to inform strategic decision-making and enhance the organization’s competitive position. 
• Tracking and highlighting FAH impact: Have institutionalized methods of tracking and highlighting FAH impact internally (dashboards/ checklists, etc.) and externally (website/ articles/ knowledge pieces/ newsletter/ annual reports). 
• Define process indicators for country engagement and support workstream to demonstrate the impact of FAH support. 

People Development/Talent Management – 10% 

•  Lead on both country engagement and support teams in talent management: e.g., recruitment, performance management, and coaching and mentorship. 
• Team capability building: Identify training needs and devise strategies to meet those needs. Develop an internal training calendar. 
• Oversee rewards and recognition in collaboration with the CEO to ensure the team is engaged and motivated. 
•  Refine the performance review templates and conduct performance reviews for the country engagement and support team.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS 

The Head of Country Programs will be a member of the Executive Committee (ExCo), and report directly to the Chief Executive Officer. The incumbent will work closely with the Africa Frontline First (AFF) Co-Executive Directors, Head of Strategy and Investments and Partnerships & Fundraising Manager. They will regularly collaborate closely with the program teams. 

CANDIDATE SPECIFICATION: KEY SELECTION CRITERIA 

The Financing Alliance for Health is seeking a highly skilled, multi-functional, strategic, visionary, and entrepreneurial leader with a passion for global health to serve as the Head of Country Programs. 

Key experience areas/competencies should include: 

• Strong visioning and strategic planning skills. 
• Strong Leadership: practical experience in leading organization, teams, strategy, and budget; or as a deputy leader in multi-functional, multi-cultural teams that are geographically spread. Strong organizational, wide executive leadership and strategic experience and demonstrated excellent inclusive leadership skills, including fostering teamwork, developing, and motivating teams, change management and conflict resolution. 
•  Global mindset and experience: international experience across multiple developing countries, especially in Africa. Have a performance track record in leading country expansion into multiple regions of Africa. 
•  Health systems: knowledge and practical work on health systems, and in particular primary/community health systems; experience working directly with/ embedment inministries of health and finance (and other government agencies) as well as major donor organizations critical for this role. 
• Private sector exposure and consulting background is an added advantage. 
• Proactive problem solver: you should also be a proactive-problem solver, flexible, effective at working independently, a self-starter, and able to build your own work plan. 
• Ability to manage multi – country programs, strong multi government exposure and engagement.
• Experience in drafting, implementing, monitoring and managing programmatic budget. 
• Tool development: broad experiences creating and refining analytical tools and approaches e.g. excel models, ROIs, scorecards, curricula etc. 
• Financing for health: understanding the core bottlenecks behind health financing, the key steps (costing, investment cases, resource mapping, gap analysis), and potential options for financing (traditional donors, national resources, corporate and capital markets sources etc.). Have practical experience in health financing, particularly in results-based financing and risk pooling.

You should feel comfortable engaging across the spectrum of stakeholders, from the ministries of finance and health (at the senior level) to NGO partners to members of the business and finance communities. You should also be an ‘out of the box’ thinker, comfortable with ambiguity, ready to fundraise and build the venture, and keen to work towards the broader mission of improving health outcomes and expanding access. 

In terms of background, you should have an advanced degree in business management, finance, health, public sector or other relevant field and 15+ years of experience in healthcare, international development, management consulting, private sector or another similar field. 

You will be expected to have excellent oral and written presentation skills, strong computer skills, including MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel. You will also be expected to have full proficiency in English. Additional language (French; Portuguese, Arabic) skills are an added advantage. 

You will be expected to travel 50+% of the time. 

Compensation 

This position offers a competitive compensation package linked to the background and experience of the candidate. 

Timing 

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis.

We expect the recruitment process to take about 8 weeks, with some steps running concurrently:

1. 1st interview with Human Resources

2. 2nd interview, including a presentation to the panel

3. 3rd interview with the CEO

4. Final interview with the FAH Board

5. Background/reference checks

6. Final Logistics conversation

7. Job offer and contracting 

We receive many applications for each vacant position, as a result only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. If you do not hear from our recruitment team within 6 weeks of application, please consider your application unsuccessful. 

FAH values the diversity of the people it hires and serves within the community. Our diversity is committed to fostering a work environment where individuals’ strengths and uniqueness are recognized, appreciated, respected and responded to in ways that fully develop their potential. 

FAH has a zero-tolerance approach to any harm to, or exploitation of, a vulnerable child or adult by any of our staff, partners or representatives. We are committed to preventing all undesirable behavior at work. This includes, child abuse and exploitation, sexual harassment and abuse.

Application instructions

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