New Country start-up lead at Living Goods

The Opportunity

Living Goods is looking to scale the impact of its proven community health model throughout the developing world. To transform community health and achieve our mission, Living Goods cannot go it alone. Success in scaling our impact will require us to partner with government and in some cases other local and international NGOs. In addition, we must create innovative relationships with institutional funders, corporations and other stakeholders to transform and sustain change in community health. We are building a team to do just that and now have an exciting new opportunity for an innovative and dynamic professional to join the Community Health Strengthening team

The New country start-up lead will join other members of our Community Health Strengthen Team team in pioneering, developing and managing the successful launch of partnerships and operations in new countries. This role will lead the development of a program in a new country and therefore, will be central to finalising program design, government relations, recruiting new staff, and setting up operations. Interventions in new countries will vary substantially depending on the needs of the country government. As a result, the duration of an in-country start-up may vary substantially from 6 months where we are setting up direct operations to 1 month when we are providing light-touch technical assistance to the government.

Aside from new country set-up, the role will assist with exploring new opportunities, working with governments to identify their needs, building relationships with potential implementering partners, including technology partners. This is a flexible, exciting role and one that is squarely positioned both at the heart of Living Goods’ strategy, and at the leading edge of our drive towards transformative change. As Living Goods is growing rapidly, this role will continue to evolve with the needs of the organization.

The ideal candidate is a resourceful, results-focused professional with vision and entrepreneurial spirit. This is a full-time role, based in either Nairobi, Kenya or Kampala, Uganda. You will be part of the CHST, and can expect up to 75% travel within the region and beyond.

Responsibilities

• Manage Living Goods’ entrance into a new country, developing and cementing relationships with key stakeholders in the government and NGO sector at the national and district level.
• Create detailed implementation and resource plans aligned to budgets to ensure smooth implementation.
• Work with donor/ funder to set up relevant reporting and payment systems.
• Responsible for finding premises, hiring staff and doing the necessary groundwork for Living Goods to be able to operate in-country legally and is set up for success, under tight timelines.
• Provide necessary support to back-office functions such as HR, finance etc. while team is being hired.
• Develop transition plans and oversee transition to permanent staff.
• Support scoping opportunities with new partners and in new countries.

Qualifications and Experience

• A minimum of 10 years professional experience. 5 years of which are relevant to the role, i.e. setting up new operations, scoping new opportunities, strategic partnerships etc.
• Adept at managing operations ideally in the health sector.
• Proven success working closely with government and building lasting relationships.
• Professional experience in emerging markets, preferably in Sub Saharan Africa
• Proven success in setting up new initiatives in developing countries with limited support and infrastructure
• Ability to learn quickly and adapt. Must be comfortable with ambiquity.
• Superior quantitative and qualitative analytical skills
• Competent in managing budgets and resource planning
• Project leadership and management experience
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact effectively at a senior level of Government and diverse spectrum of stakeholders
• Management consulting and public health experience, a plus

Compensation

A competitive salary and benefits package commensurate with experience including health insurance and bonus opportunity. The opportunity to be your best while making lives better for those in need.

Life at Living Goods

Living Goods is aiming to make disruptive changes, dramatically improving the lives of underserved communities. We think big, but we operate small and nimble. At Living Goods, you will have the chance to use your creativity and work with your teammates to conceive and test new ideas every day. If you work well in a dynamic, highly collaborative culture, if you set high standards for yourself and your colleagues, if you know how to fail fast and learn fast, if you meet challenges with calm determination and a sense of humor, you will thrive at Living Goods.