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

CHAI established presence in Sierra Leone in 2015. While CHAI’s original intent was to provide assistance related to the Ebola response, it became clear based on preliminary conversations with the government that the real need for partner support was in the realm of health systems strengthening. CHAI in response to the government need developed a scope of work focusing on Human Resources for Health and Supply Chain, supporting the HRH Directorate within the Ministry Of Health and the National Pharmaceutical Procurement Unit (NPPU) respectively.

CHAI made significant progress in both areas of focus and was able to build trust and establish strong relationships with the government. In recent years CHAI has expanded its support to the Government to include programs on sexual and reproductive health, vaccines delivery, assistive technology, geospatial data use (GRID3), and medical oxygen. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that the government of Sierra Leone lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.  

CHAI recently initiated support to the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) of the MOH and has spent its initial months seeking to understand the strengths and areas for improvement within the malaria program, the broader health system, and the partner and donor engagement with it. Through a set of technical and operational assessments, CHAI is identifying potential areas of work and prioritizing them based on impact and feasibility. We anticipate our initial focus to be on strengthening data reporting, data analysis, and disease surveillance based on the results of an in-progress surveillance assessment and epidemiological stratification. CHAI is also positioned to provide strategic and financing support to the national malaria control program, following successful costing of the malaria Operational Plan and application to the Global Fund.  CHAI will continue to consult with government and non-government partners in country to evaluate how it can best add value to ongoing efforts.

Position Overview

Reporting to the Country Director Sierra Leone, the Malaria Program Manager will help shape CHAI’s overall malaria strategy for the country, develop clear operational plans for execution, and continually identify opportunities for CHAI to add value and maximize impact. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of ongoing effort to build up a targeted, impact-driven CHAI malaria program in Sierra Leone.

The successful candidate will manage all operational and programmatic aspects of CHAI Sierra Leone’s malaria work, act as a trusted partner to government health officials and partners and facilitate the involvement of CHAI’s regional technical teams in execution of high-impact programs designed to reduce malaria mortality and morbidity. S/he will have deep personal commitment to producing results, the skills to navigate political situations, and patience and optimism even in the face of daunting challenges. The Program Manager must be a highly motivated, entrepreneurial individual with outstanding people and program management, problem-solving, analytical, and communication skills. S/he must be fluent in English and have excellent relationship building and communication skills. S/he must also be able to function independently with minimal oversight and have a strong commitment to excellence with a keen attention to detail. 

CHAI places great value on relevant personal qualities including resourcefulness, tenacity, independence, patience, humility, and strong work ethic.

• In close collaboration with CHAI’s country and regional management as well as technical teams, oversee and implement CHAI’s overall malaria strategy in Sierra Leone
• Develop clear annual country work plans and ensure strong execution of the country program to make sure that CHAI achieves intended results
• Assist NMCP to successfully plan and build the necessary systems and processes to effectively execute the national malaria strategy; identify key impediments and mobilize CHAI and partner resources to develop solutions to rapidly address bottlenecks. Specific activities may include leading CHAI’s effort to:
• Strengthen the surveillance system, with the goal of ensuring timely and accurate reporting of malaria data from health facilities and community health care workers and that all data is appropriately stored and managed to inform an effective response
• Strengthen the execution of vector control and other active interventions
• Strengthen malaria case management systems to ensure that all suspected cases are rapidly diagnosed and appropriately treated (in public and private sectors)
• Update guidelines, policies, and plans to align with global technical recommendations
• Update operational plans and associated training materials to build government capacity and support effective execution of malaria interventions
• Continually identify new opportunities together with the NMCP for CHAI to add value and maximize impact
• Demonstrate leadership and directly manage all malaria program team members in country, including supporting recruitment.
• Coordinate efforts with malaria partners, and identify and establish additional partnerships as appropriate
• Assist NMCP to identify potential sources and mobilization of additional funding to address any potential gaps preventing robust implementation of national malaria strategic plan
• Develop compelling communication materials including reports and PowerPoint presentations and represent CHAI at public forums and partner meetings
• In close coordination with CHAI’s malaria global team, draft quarterly country progress reports for donors and internal leadership
• Oversee the financial management of the country program, including budget planning and management
• Any other tasks as identified by the country leadership.

Experience:

• Master's Degree in Public Health, Business Administration or related field strongly preferred; or Bachelor’s degree with 5+ years of work experience with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership
• Experience planning and executing complex programs or projects with verifiable results
• Experience in strategy development, planning, and project implementation
• Experience working and communicating with government officials and multilateral organizations

Skills:

• Exceptional strategic thinking, problem-solving, team building and interpersonal skills
• Comfortable in peer relationships with senior managers and leadership at the Ministry of Health, including civil servants and other senior government officials
• Ability to navigate complex government processes
• Ability to favorably influence decision making processes in a diplomatic and collaborative manner
• Ability to work independently without extensive structural or operational support from line manager
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, set priorities, delegate and work independently
• Ability to be effective in high-pressure situations and work in a fast-paced, multicultural environment
• Ability be patient and to achieve maximum efficiency and impact with limited human and financial resources
• Strong mentor, manager, role model and team player who demands 100% performance from self and entire team
• Excellent business-oriented oral and written communication skills
• Willingness and ability to travel as needed
• Fluency in English language, both written and oral

Advantages

• Knowledge of malaria or other global infectious diseases
• Experience living or working in West Africa
• Previous CHAI experience
• Fluency in Krio or other local languages of Sierra Leone

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