Associate Programs Director (APD) at HealthRight International

REPORTS TO: Country Director

DIRECT REPORTS: Program staffs

BASED IN: Nairobi (with frequent travel to program areas across the country)

CLASSIFICATION: Full Time Employee 

PRIMARY ROLE: Reporting to the Country Director and working closely with leadership and technical teams at HQ, the Director of Programs provides technical guidance and leadership and oversees the overall design, planning, implementation, management and evaluation of HealthRight’s projects in Kenya. The APD will be dedicated to ensuring country projects are strengthening local health systems and empowering marginalized communities. This position reports directly to the HealthRight Kenya’s Country Director (Nairobi), is a member is the country Senior Management Team (SMT) and works collaboratively with the technical and leadership team at the HQ in NYC. S/he will deputize the Country Director in his/her absence and will be based in Nairobi with frequent travels to all HealthRight program locations across the country.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Program Leadership

· Maintain positive, effective working relationships with project partners, including local Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) and Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs), Ministry of Health (MOH), and County Health Management Teams (CHMTs) as well as other implementing agencies and donor representatives in the in collaboration with the Country Director.

· Work closely with CHMTs to develop agreements and work plans and foster collaboration for programs in line with policies and priorities set by County Governments, MOH and HealthRight funders.

· Serve as primary liaison to the MOH Technical Working Groups and Ethics Committee to facilitate project implementation and advance all HealthRight program priorities at the county and national levels in close coordination with the Country Director.

Operations Management

· Provide technical leadership and oversight for Kenya projects’ implementation to ensure quality of programming and monitor program reporting for all country projects as required by HealthRight, donors and partners.

• Ensure that the project adheres to all Ministry of Health protocols at the health facility and county levels, in collaboration with the County Health Management Teams.
• Maintain compliance with all project donors, government and HealthRight’s finance, logistics, procurement, and personnel policies.
• Provide technical guidance on the design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and dissemination of new research projects.
• Update the Country Director on all security and other relevant issues that may affect the work of Healthright- Kenya in the country especially in counties of operation.
• Business Development
  • Work with HealthRight headquarters Program Directors on new business development (concept notes, proposals etc), program quality, and technical depth based on best practices, context, effectiveness, and sustainability of impact.
  • Support country portfolio growth by providing leadership in development of new project proposals in line with business development plans and targets set by the Director of Global Business Development.
  • Facilitate regular updating of the fluxx system to ensure effective tracking of grants in support of global business development efforts and systems.
  • Ensure that projects are documented and models developed to support business development efforts.
  • Lead the process of country-level business development analysis and data management on donor trends, opportunities and partnerships.
• Team leadership/Human Resources;
  • Directly line manage all key project managers.
  • Work with the Country Director to ensure best human resource practices in managing, mentoring and building a highly motivated and supported program teams.
  • In partnership with the Country Director, ensure efficient cross-functional synergies to facilitate first rated integrated management of HealthRight programs, budgets, human resources and relationships.
• Communications and Advocacy
  • Present the work of Healthright - Kenya in technical public fora (i.e. national, regional and global conferences) as needed.
  • Identify opportunities to share HealthRight Kenya’s program successes, including data, with local, Provincial and national partners regularly (i.e. journal manuscripts, meetings, etc.)
  • Represent HealthRight Kenya in national-level technical working groups, HENNET, and government, NGO, and donor technical convenings relevant to HealthRight’s work.
  • Spearhead documentation of program learnings and best practices to generate evidence for policy advocacy.
• Monitoring and Evaluation
  • Provide oversight for all donor reports, evaluation reports and other reports emanating from the programme and projects to ensure timeliness and quality.
  • Administrative &Financial oversight
  • Review operational budgets in conjunction with Program and Finance Managers to ensure value for money
  • Providing support to project teams in reviewing operations financial performance against set targets and implementation of remedial actions.
  • Operations Research and Knowledge Management
  • Provide leadership in the identification, development and implementation of relevant operations research within the programme, drawing on support from Healthright HQ/New York University.
• Policy Advocacy and Networking
  • Provide leadership in identification of relevant policy issues in the programme and supporting policy advocacy action/process
  • Strategic leadership:
  • Participation in the Country Senior Management Team (SMT) and providing overall leadership to the country programme providing clear vision, and inspiring confidence and team spirit among programme staff in under the supervision of the Country Director.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE:

• MD, Master of Nursing with Midwifery; MPH strongly preferred
• Minimum of 10 years of experience working with an international NGO implementing public health programs in Kenya, including experience managing public health programs in rural settings
• Prior experience leading community research projects an added advantage
• Commitment to HealthRight mission and values.
• An innovative self-starter able to operate independently and to seek and incorporate guidance and feedback.

REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Proven ability to write winning grant proposals
• Demonstrated ability and track record of partnering with donors, MOH institutions, NGOs, communities and health development partners.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated experience of writing strong project and technical reports.
• Excellent conceptual and analytical skills.
• Proven experience of functioning as an effective team player in a matrixed management culture.
• A self-starter with demonstrated creativity and flexibility in problem-solving
• Prior experience of developing and managing project budgets.
• Proven skills in generating technical data and evidence base inform programming quality and policy advocacy.
• Excellent project cycle management skills and experience.
• Ability to focus on details while keeping an eye on the bigger picture and results-based project delivery.
• Commitment to learning from project challenges and successes.
• Fluency in spoken and written English and Kiswahili.
• A proven team player and leader with superior diplomatic tact.
• Demonstrated experience building, mentoring and developing a happy, motivated and productive team.