Regional Deputy Director, Africa, Vision Access Program at Kipawa

Job Purpose:

• The Regional Deputy Director, Africa, Vision Access Program will provide strategic leadership and oversight for the implementation of the Vision Access program across participating countries in Africa. This role will oversee the regional country portfolio, directly manage a portfolio of selected countries, and supervise several regional staff responsible for supporting additional countries. The role will ensure that implementation is aligned with program objectives, government priorities, and agreed milestones.
• The role will serve as a key relationship manager for government counterparts, provide strategic and operational guidance to country teams, and ensure the timely identification and resolution of implementation challenges ensuring commitments result in sustainable policies, systems, and services for primary eye care and near-vision correction.
• Working closely with government focal points, the Policy Director, and global program and operational teams, this role will coordinate technical assistance, oversee implementation, monitor progress, manage regional risks, facilitate cross-country learning, and oversee programmatic operations.

Position Location and Additional Considerations:

• This is a new full-time position preferably based in Nairobi, Kenya or Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Candidates from Abuja or Lagos, Nigeria will strongly be considered too.
• We offer highly competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits based on benchmarking in the local market. Candidates hired in Kenya or Nigeria will be employed through Vital’s Employer of Record. The position will require collaboration across multiple time zones and regular regional and international travel.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Regional Leadership and Country Portfolio Management -

• Provide strategic oversight of the Vision Access country portfolio in Africa, including direct project management of approximately 3 to 4 countries, ensuring alignment with program objectives, government commitments, implementation priorities, and agreed milestones.
• Work closely with government focal points and implementing partners to develop country-specific goals, budgets, timelines, milestones, and implementation plans.
• Monitor implementation progress across the regional portfolio, track achievement of milestones and objectives, and ensure timely reporting on progress, results, challenges, and accomplishments.
• Proactively identify implementation risks, bottlenecks, and delays, and work with government counterparts, implementing partners, and technical teams to develop and implement mitigation strategies.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with government counterparts and other key stakeholders to promote government ownership and support sustainable implementation.
• Ensure effective coordination across the regional portfolio, promoting consistent implementation approaches while allowing flexibility to respond to different country contexts and levels of implementation readiness.

Technical Assistance -

• Identify and prioritize country technical assistance needs and coordinate with the Policy Director, internal technical advisors, and external experts to ensure timely and effective technical support aligned with government priorities.
• Facilitate stakeholder consultations, technical discussions, and meetings with government counterparts and implementing partners, and deliver presentations as needed.
• Plan, coordinate, and facilitate regional workshops, webinars, peer-learning exchanges, other learning activities and documentation to promote the sharing of implementation experiences, lessons learned, tools, and effective practices across countries.

Program Operations -

• Oversee the development and regional management of contracts and agreements with local subgrantees, consultants, and vendors, in coordination with relevant operational teams and in accordance with organizational policies and donor requirements;
• Provide oversight and manage regional country-based consultants to ensure quality, accountability, and timely delivery of program activities;
• Coordinate and respond to programmatic information and technical assistance requests from the program team and donor ensuring timely and consistent support for program implementation;
• Monitor regional budgets, expenditures, and operational deliverables to support effective resource allocation, compliance, and timely implementation.
• Identify and address operational challenges and implementation risks, working collaboratively with program and operational teams to develop solutions and maintain progress toward program objectives.
• Supervise, mentor, and support regional program staff including setting priorities, overseeing workplans and deliverables, provide coaching and performance feedback, and support professional development.

Communications and Knowledge Management -

• Collaborate with program and communications teams to identify, develop, and leverage opportunities to showcase program impact and visibility;
• Manage the documentation and synthesis of program implementation progress, results, challenges, and lessons learned to inform evidence-based reporting, strategic communications, knowledge sharing, and continuous program improvement.

Cross-Program Collaboration -

• When able, participate in and/or contribute to cross-program collaborative initiatives that advance knowledge sharing and learning across the organization.

Qualifications:

Education and Degree -

• Minimum Master’s degree in public health, public policy, public administration, or a relevant field of study, or equivalent experience/education

Skills And Abilities -

• Strong understanding of government structures and policymaking in relevant geographies;
• Understanding of public health and related policy interventions;
• Strong English communication skills (writing and speaking) with French and Portuguese fluency preferred.
• Comprehensive project management skills, with the ability to set priorities, and make sound, informed decisions;
• Strong leadership and people management skills, with the ability to supervise and motivate multidisciplinary teams, foster collaboration, and ensure accountability for results.
• Excellent computer skills; proficient user of Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint);
• Ability to work with cross-cultural and cross-functional teams across various time zones;
• Strong interpersonal skills, with demonstrated ability to develop and maintain a collaborative relationship with internal and external partners as well as diplomatically address and resolve conflicts;
• Excellent organizational skills and strong attention to detail;
• Ability to produce deliverables within budget and on time in accordance with established workplans;
• Ability to travel to lead on-site engagement and facilitate in-person workshops;
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility, and dedication to the mission of Vital Strategies;
• Ability to build strong, ongoing, impactful relationships at all organizational levels and across a diverse range of cultural, generational, ethnic, racial, educational, and social backgrounds;
• Demonstrated commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.

Experience:

Required -

• Experience working programmatically across Africa
• Minimum of 8 years of progressive professional experience in public health and health system strengthening;
• Advancing policy reform at different levels of government
• Experience leading complex programs and/or projects in international public health;
• Minimum of four years of demonstrated experience managing the full project lifecycle, including work planning, budget management, implementation oversight, risk management, and performance reporting.
• Demonstrated experience managing and supervising multidisciplinary teams, including overseeing workplans, providing coaching and performance feedback, and supporting staff development.
• Demonstrated experience working directly with government ministries and senior public-sector officials to support policy development, program implementation, and institutional capacity strengthening.
• Experience managing multi-country or regional programs, including coordinating country teams, overseeing implementation progress, and managing operational and programmatic risks.

Preferred -

• Experience working with global teams in multiple time zones;
• Experience working remotely;
• Demonstrated representational experience in professional, regional and global settings, including public, external-facing engagements.
• Experience in vision and eye health preferred

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements:

• The position will require regular collaboration with colleagues and partners across multiple international time zones.
• International travel of approximately 20–50% may be required to support country implementation, government engagement, regional coordination, and program reviews.
• Must have eligibility to work in country at time of hire.