Program Manager - Mental Health and Nurse Education Finance at Amref Kenya

JOB SUMMARY

The Program Manager, Mental Health and Nurse Education Finance will provide strategic, technical, clinical, and programmatic leadership for a multi-county public health programme focused on integrating mental health into primary health care, strengthening referral and continuum-of-care systems, and supporting sustainable nurse education financing. The role requires a medical doctor or senior clinical/public health professional with strong expertise in mental health and psychiatry, strong programme management experience, and a good understanding of Ministry of Health systems, county government structures, health workforce development, and public health implementation. The Program Manager will work closely with the Ministry of Health, county governments, the Council of Governors, training institutions, the Higher Education Loans Board, public and private health facilities, faith-based facilities, donors, and consortium partners.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Programme Leadership and Implementation

• Lead planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and delivery of programme activities across multiple counties, partners, and service delivery platforms.
• Ensure activities align with Ministry of Health priorities, county health strategies, primary care networks, national mental health frameworks, and health workforce priorities.
• Track tasks, review performance, follow up on agreed actions, and address implementation gaps to support timely delivery.
• Support integration of mental health and related non-communicable disease interventions into primary health care and other Ministry of Health-aligned programmes.

Mental Health Technical Leadership

• Provide technical guidance on mental health and psychiatry interventions across primary care, referral, and community health systems.
• Lead implementation of Mental Health Gap Action Programme training for health workers across target facilities and counties.
• Oversee mental health outreaches and in-reaches to improve screening, diagnosis, treatment, referral, follow-up, and continuity of care.
• Support integration of mental health services into primary health care facilities, primary care networks, and underserved service delivery points.

Data, Referral, and Continuum-of-Care Strengthening

• Strengthen mental health data systems by integrating mental health indicators into primary care network dashboards and routine monitoring tools.
• Improve referral tracking across facilities and levels of care, from screening and referral to treatment and follow-up.
• Promote use of data for decision-making, quality improvement, performance monitoring, county accountability, and reporting.

Government, Stakeholder, and Partner Engagement

• Serve as a key liaison with the Ministry of Health, county governments, the Council of Governors, training institutions, the Higher Education Loans Board, donors, and other stakeholders.
• Support intergovernmental coordination, policy alignment, county ownership, sustainability planning, and participation in technical working groups. 
• Coordinate consortium partners by clarifying expectations, tracking deliverables, supporting work planning, identifying gaps, and following up on corrective actions.
• Support collaboration with training institutions and financing partners on nurse education, workforce development, and sustainable health workforce financing.

Clinical Study and Research Coordination

• Oversee coordination of the clinical study at Mathari Mental Hospital in collaboration with clinical, research, and facility teams.
• Ensure study activities comply with approved protocols, ethical requirements, regulatory standards, institutional procedures, quality assurance standards, and reporting timelines.

KEY DELIVERABLES

• Mental Health Gap Action Programme training implemented across target facilities and counties.
• Mental health outreaches, in-reaches, screening, referral, treatment, and follow-up systems strengthened.
• Mental health services integrated into primary health care and primary care networks.
• Mental health indicators incorporated into dashboards and routine monitoring systems.
• Referral tracking and patient follow-up improved across the continuum of care.
• Public, private, and faith-based facilities effectively coordinated.
• Consortium partners, training institutions, county governments, and financing partners effectively engaged.
• Clinical study at Mathari Mental Hospital coordinated in line with protocol and ethical requirements.
• High-quality programme reports, donor updates, dashboards, and implementation lessons submitted on time.
• Amref effectively represented in strategic engagements with government, donors, and partners.

Qualifications

EXPERIENCE AND BACKGROUND 

• Medical doctor with relevant clinical training and strong technical expertise in mental health and psychiatry.
• Advanced qualification in public health, psychiatry, health systems, or a related field is an added advantage.
• Minimum of 10 years’ progressive experience in public health programme implementation, including management of complex, multi-county health programmes.
• Demonstrated experience in mental health programming, primary health care integration, referral systems, health systems strengthening, and data-driven programme management.
• Strong understanding of Ministry of Health systems, county government structures, public sector engagement, intergovernmental coordination, and health governance.
• Experience working with national government, county governments, training institutions, health workforce programmes, and public, private, or faith-based health facilities.
• Experience managing consortium partners, donor-funded programmes, complex financing mechanisms, or nurse education finance initiatives is highly desirable.
• Experience coordinating clinical studies or research implementation in health facility settings is an added advantage.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Strong clinical and technical expertise in mental health, psychiatry, primary health care integration, and health systems strengthening.
• Excellent programme management, planning, implementation, reporting, and performance monitoring skills.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, government relations, partner coordination, negotiation, and representation skills.
• Ability to manage multi-county implementation, multi-partner consortiums, and complex service delivery platforms.
• Competence in data use, dashboard integration, referral tracking, quality improvement, and results-based management.
• Excellent communication, leadership, coordination, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Results-oriented, structured, accountable, and able to deliver in complex implementation environments.