Associate, Sustainable Access to Medical Oxygen

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems. 

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.  

At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skillsets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with majority of our staff based in program countries. Learn more about our exciting work: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion, and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experience, backgrounds, and culture.

Program Overview

Acute Respiratory Infections and pneumopathies are responsible for ~37% of under-5 deaths in Rwanda, for which hypoxemia (low levels of oxygen), is a severe complication that can increase the risk of death by up to 5.4 times. Access to medical oxygen is essential in a health system, not only needed to treat hypoxemia; it is also required to provide safe anesthesia and surgeries and in the treatment of a wide range of conditions, including pneumonia, malaria, obstructed labor, birth asphyxia, and covid-19. Availability of oxygen varies significantly and is often complicated by inadequate provider knowledge on the administration of oxygen therapy, scarcity of equipment, and suboptimal distribution. Newborns and young children are especially vulnerable, as at least 20% of neonate admissions and 13% of pediatric pneumonia cases require oxygen therapy.

CHAI is supporting the Government to develop a national strategy to increase access to medical oxygen in public hospitals and help prioritize actions for immediate attention. Some of the priorities identified include improving the access and optimal use of oxygen by leveraging off the available private and public hospital-based plants, sustainable financing for production, distribution, and equipment maintenance, and strengthening providers’ capacity to manage hypoxemia. As a key partner of the Rwandan Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) since 2004, CHAI is supporting the government accelerate the implementation of the prioritized activities outlined above, in a scalable and sustainable way.

Position Overview

CHAI seeks a highly motivated action-oriented individual with outstanding credentials, analytical ability, and communication skills in order to provide critical analytical and strategic support to the program. The candidate must be self-driven, adaptable and have high level of comfort with fast-paced work and a strong commitment to excellence. They must be self-assured, a fast learner, resilient, and a strong team player. The Associate must be able to function independently and flexibly as well as build strong relationships with government officials and partners. CHAI places great value on relevant personal qualities: resourcefulness, responsibility, tenacity, independence, energy, and work ethic.  

The Associate will work on the CHAI Rwanda sustainable health financing program to support relevant government institutions to achieve sustainable access to medical oxygen. The initial programmatic areas of support include working with the Ministry of Health to build sustainable financing models to improve oxygen production and distribution to meet the optimal national demand; taking into consideration Covid-19 needs and response strategy; support collaborative efforts between facilities and the central level and work with the government’s Biomedical Engineer and technicians experts to roll out improved systems and processes for the optimal and appropriate use, adequate repair and maintenance of oxygen equipment at health facilities. The Associate for sustainable access to medical oxygen will be based in Kigali, Rwanda with some domestic travels. The Associate will be reporting to the Program Manager, Sustainable Access to Medical Oxygen.  

• Closely collaborate with leadership to develop clear operational plans for execution
• Build and maintain trust based relationships with the government and other stakeholders
• Manage the integration and  implementation of oxygen and related commodities to the supply management tools and systems, propose different options of an adapted Supply Chain Management strategy to optimize the distribution of oxygen cylinders and related commodities, as needed
• Support the program in the development, coordination and implementation of trainings, conferences, and meetings
• Design KPIs to monitor the oxygen and related commodities supply operations efficiency
• Assist the development of programmatic reports by creating content, analyzing data, and synthesizing project activities
• Provide technical and capacity building assistance to the government staff
• Identify areas where support is needed, plan for and design the necessary programmatic support
• Support the Program Manager to identify and bridge gaps pertaining effective implementation of the program’s priorities
• Performs moderate to highly complex analyses and presents findings in a clear, concise manner
• Other responsibilities as needed

• Master’s degree in public health/ epidemiology or other related field
• 3-5 years of experience working with health programs including supply chain for health commodities
• Strong strategic development skills, ability to identify and pursue high impact strategies
• Analytical (quantitative and qualitative) skills
• Exceptional diplomatic and interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships
• Demonstrated effective and professional communication (written and verbal)
• Ability to identify key gaps and recommend practical, realistic interventions for operational improvement
• Practical project management skills in planning, executing and monitoring, with minimal oversight
• Ability to absorb and synthesize a broad range of information, including technical information, and prepare compelling presentations and reports
• Highly entrepreneurial with strong self-motivation
• Ability to be effective in high pressure situations, multicultural environment, handle multiple tasks simultaneously and set priorities
• Ability to work independently and proactively manage projects with minimal supervision
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word
• High level of confidentiality and knowledge of research ethics
• Performs routine tasks independently and ensures data integrity related to own job duties

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