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.

CHAI Lao PDR Program Overview

CHAI commenced in 2018 working with National Immunization Program (NIP)/Maternal and Child Health Center (MCHC) within the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Lao PDR, to strengthen and sustain immunization services in the context of declining external resources and transition from Gavi support at end 2025.

CHAI’s work with the NIP/NMCHC focuses on three areas:

• Institutional strengthening at national and sub-national levels to plan, budget, manage, review and adapt the immunization program towards sustained improvements in immunization outcomes, including coverage and equity. This includes provision of on-the-job operational support to the NIP/NMCH and priority provinces to plan, implement and monitor routine EPI;
• Sustainable financing of the immunization program in the context of health sector and service delivery reforms. This includes supporting NIP / NMCHC to identify domestic resources for NIP and achieve efficiencies / savings including through resource mapping to better understand fund availability, flow and use; and
• Supply chain strengthening, with focus on improving data visibility and ability to address supply chain management issues across the health system and improving distribution systems particularly at the sub-national level. This includes supporting NIP/NMCHC scaling integrated distribution of vaccines and other commodities in additional priority provinces, and improved stock management through data review and corrective action to address root causes of stock outs and wastage.

A focus is on supporting MoH / NMCHC to improve and sustain immunization coverage through more integrated, patient-centered maternal and child health, and in and vision for strengthening primary health care and moving towards universal health coverage by 2030.

Based in Vientiane Capital; the Program Manager (PM) will oversee and provide strategic guidance to the country vaccines team as well as leading implementation of the CHAI vaccines support to the government at the national and sub-national levels. The PM will report to the Director – Primary Health Care.

CHAI is seeking a highly motivated individual with excellent grounding and experience in vaccine delivery, preferably in low-middle-income country settings, analytical ability, and communication skills. The candidate must be self-driven, adaptable and have a high level of comfort with fast-paced work. They must be self-assured, a fast learner, resilient, and a strong team player.  They should have proven ability at capacity building others as this will be an integral part of the role. CHAI places great value on relevant personal qualities: resourcefulness, responsibility, tenacity, independence, and work ethic. Travel will be required within Lao PDR up to 20% of the time.   

Major Responsibilities

• Lead and manage overall implementation of the Lao PDR vaccines program strategy including the development of assessments, budgets, dashboards, training and other program materials according to work plan;
• Provide strategic and technical leadership for the country vaccines program in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, in country development partners and donors;
• Drive internal strategic planning and budgeting processes related to the program work streams and oversee performance against work plans and budgets;
• Serve as the primary point person to the National Immunization Program (NIP)
• Maintain and build strong working relationships and collaboration with NIP, MOH and key stakeholders in government, international partners, donors and NGOs, to leverage opportunities for synergies and enhance program impact;
• Produce high-quality reports for donors and government counterparts, ensuring the appropriate data is collected during project periods to support adequate reporting and assessment;
• Manage the vaccines team comprised of national and sub-national staff on a day-to-day basis including activity planning, provide mentoring and feedback, and encourage innovative, sound approaches to achieving program results;
• Working closely with the CHAI Global Vaccines Team and others to enlist support, capture emerging best practices and ensure alignment with global standards;
• Take a leading role in guiding future program development.
• Lead in development of innovative approaches and tools as well as documentation and dissemination of best practices; and
• Perform other tasks as necessary.

• Master's degree in a scientific or health related discipline with at least 5 years relevant work experience
• Experience in health systems and public health, preferably with solid experience in health service delivery work in developing country setting or related field. Experience in vaccines, integrated health services and/or health financing preferred.
• Proven program management skills, based on several years of experience in strategic, operational, and/or financial management of complex, multi-stakeholder programs/projects
• Proven track records in the planning and execution of large-scale projects; including budgeting and activity planning
• Excellent problem solving, analytical and quantitative skills
• Ability to navigate complex government processes and influence decision-making in a professional and collaborative manner.
• Ability to work independently and effectively in high-pressure, fast-paced environment and handle multiple tasks simultaneously whilst mentoring a team to perform consistently
• Exceptional diplomatic and interpersonal skills, and ability to build strong professional relationships with a range of stakeholders in a challenging, multi-cultural environment
• High levels of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, Word
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including the ability to prepare and present compelling presentations and program planning and memo documents in English

Advantages

• Fluency in Lao