Senior Manager, Optimizing support to Country Programmes Delivery (Temp)

Group Company: GAVI

Position title: Senior Manager Optimizing support to Country Programmes Delivery (Temp) (JT_1538)

Office Location: Geneva

Position type:Temporary (one year from contract start date)

Purpose of the position:As part of Gavi’s ambitious Operational Excellence agenda, this newly created role will play a critical role in enabling efficient and effective delivery to Gavi-supported countries by optimizing collaboration on critical inputs from across the Secretariat through better business partnering. 

Department:Country Programmes Delivery

Reports to:Managing Director, Country Programmes Delivery

Career step level:4

Position description:

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership committed to saving children’s lives and protecting people’s health by increasing equitable use of vaccines in lower-income countries. The Vaccine Alliance brings together implementing country and donor governments, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. Gavi uses innovative finance mechanisms, including co-financing by recipient countries, to secure sustainable funding and adequate supply of quality vaccines. Since 2000, Gavi has contributed to the immunisation of more than 1 billion children and the prevention of more than 16 million future deaths.

Gavi’s strategy for the 2021-25 period (‘Gavi 5.0’, recently updated into ‘Gavi 5.1’) focuses on increasing equity of immunisation programmes by reaching marginalised children in the world’s poorest countries with the objective to save millions of lives. The strategy also includes a focus on ensuring continued success of immunisation programmes in former Gavi-eligible countries, and on providing access to Covid-19 vaccines to address the health and economic impacts of the largest pandemic in a century.

THE ROLE

Gavi has launched an ambitious Operational Excellence agenda – a prioritised pipeline of transformative initiatives supporting the Gavi leadership and Board in putting the key organisational enablers in place to accelerate the roll-out of Gavi 5.1. This multi-year change management process will build on our strengths while at the same time addressing weaknesses in our organizational set-up, processes, systems, and ways of working. We will integrate COVAX work, further simplify and streamline the Secretariat’s ways of working, and enhance its culture by fostering an engaged and motivated workforce to ensure we are as efficient and effective as possible to deliver on Gavi 5.1 and get ready for the next set of challenges in Gavi 6.0. The aspiration is for Operational Excellence to become part of the Secretariat’s culture and embedded in its DNA. 

It will transform how we support countries by creating a faster, more effective Gavi Secretariat that’s able to react better to country needs. Alliance health and Alliance ways of working will also be addressed through the work

This role will work to optimize the collaboration between Gavi’s Senior Country Managers/Programme Managers and other Secretariat teams working to support and to drive country engagement e.g., content support from teams specializing in aspects such as health systems, or functional support from teams in Finance, Legal to be defined. The work to address better business partnering is part of Gavi’s operational excellence agenda

Gavi’s Senior Country Managers, who typically focus on several countries within their assigned geographical region, ensure countries deploy Gavi’s vaccine and direct financial support strategically, effectively and transparently. They work with government, Alliance and expanded partners to design strategic programming for optimal impact.  Additionally, they manage the partnership, manage risks, help solve problems that hold back programme implementation, and monitor the performance of Gavi-funded programmes. To do this, the Senior Country Managers build and manage relationships with a wide range of representatives from governments, United Nations and donor agencies, and (i)NGOs, and Gavi’s Alliance partners. In this work, they collaborate with colleagues from various teams within the Gavi Secretariat who provide technical input, and who support specific functional tasks such as budgeting and contracting to name a few. Given the complicated nature of the work itself, the differences between support required for different countries and contexts, and the cyclical nature of the work, optimising the collaboration between Senior Country Managers and other teams – ensuring that the support provided to make Gavi’s support to countries is as efficient and effective as possible – is a complex challenge; this one-year initiative has been set up to review the status quo and to identify and operationalise improvements for optimal support.

MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

The Senior Manager, Optimizing support to Country Programmes Delivery will work with the Managing Director of Country Programmes Delivery, the Directors of different country segments, the Head, Performance and Transformation as well as other stakeholders across Gavi teams to provide clarity on the issues, to develop and operationalize changes to processes and ways of working to address this challenge.

Concrete activities will include:

•Lead detailed stock-take/diagnostics on the present state – the needs of Senior Country Managers and current gaps, differentiated by country segment, stage of the country in the support process, type of support, other relevant factors, e.g., through review of existing materials, selected interviews, surveys, focus groups;

•Perform gap analysis for the current situation and approach;

•Synthesise findings for discussion and refinement with different stakeholders, including initiative sponsor and lead; 

•Develop hypotheses and drafts on how to address the identified gaps through potential changes to country team setups and ways of working (e.g., regular check-ins on the service levels provided, embedding staff (differently) in a country team structure, matrix management);

•Discuss, test and refine suggestions with impacted teams;

•Together with Performance & Transformation team, select and refine final options to present for Senior Leadership Team approval;

•Prepare operationalisation by developing, with colleagues from the Performance and Transformation team, an appropriate change management approach, relevant materials, check-ins to ensure the successful operationalisation of the changes;

•Develop and implement a continuous learning & improvement modality.

Note: The essential functions listed in this section are not exhaustive of the job responsibilities; other duties may be assigned consistently with the department needs.

QUALIFICATIONS

ACADEMIC

•Advanced degree in business or public administration, economics, public health, medicine/science, public policy, international development or equivalent required.

WORK EXPERIENCE

•At least 8 years of professional experience in the field of organisation, and/or management preferably of international development institutions required;

•Significant grant-, project- and/or programme-management experience required, including in situations of considerable complexity and political sensitivity required;

•Experience implementing donor-funded projects and grants in country strongly preferred;

•Experience in bilateral and multilateral aid environments is an asset.

SKILLS/COMPETENCIES

•Structured strategic thinking;

•Solid people skills including relationship development at senior levels, and ability to influence outside of formal hierarchical structures;

•Excellent knowledge of Global Health;

•Excellent analytical and project management skills;

•Excellent writing, presentation and communication skills including proficiency in Microsoft Office (especially Power Point, Word, Excel);

•Ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish working relationships with multiple teams;

•Ability to work independently, under pressure, demonstrating initiative and flexibility. 

LANGUAGES

•Fluent English is required;

•French is an asset.

CONTACTS

•Directors of different country segments 

•Managing Director of Country Programmes Delivery; 

•Head, Performance & Transformation; 

•Frequent interactions (Senior) Country Managers and other members of Gavi’s “Country teams” as well as other teams supporting country delivery; 

•Collaboration with all teams in Gavi’s Secretariat.

If you wish to apply, please provide a cover letter and resume through our Careers webpage and apply by clicking on “Senior Manager, Optimizing support to Country Programmes Delivery (Temp)”. Deadline for applications is 5 February 2024. 

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In support of Gavi’s commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion, we hire globally and welcome applications regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, national origin, family status, sex, gender identity or expression, physical characteristics, race, religion, spirituality or sexual orientation. Gavi has zero tolerance towards sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse as well as any form of discrimination or harassment. Everyone at Gavi is expected to conduct themselves with integrity and respect towards each other. Gavi is committed to creating a work environment that is safe and professional, therefore all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference checks. Read more here.

Gavi brings together the public and private sectors to save lives and protect people’s health by increasing equitable and sustainable use of vaccines against 18 infectious diseases. You will be joining an organisation at the centre of the international COVID-19 response, at the most critical time in global health in a lifetime. You will work in a culturally diverse environment with over 70 nationalities. You will collaborate with partners such as WHO, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank – and from business, civil society and government. And you will work in the first global health organisation to receive equal gender salary certification. Your unique experience, skills and talents can help us achieve our vision of leaving no one behind without the life-saving power of vaccines.