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 skill sets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with the 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 and Position Overview:

CHAI’s Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) team works with governments to build stronger, more resilient, and more equitable health systems, ensuring that everyone, especially the most vulnerable, can access high-quality primary health care. We support Ministries of Health to increase and optimize health spending, strengthen national systems (e.g., workforce, digital infrastructure, supply chains), and implement cross-cutting reforms that drive long-term improvements in service delivery and health outcomes. This includes work to improve the efficiency, equity, and impact of health financing systems –

from resource mobilization and budgeting to strategic purchasing and public financial management. It also includes complementary work to strengthen the health workforce, including critical reforms to optimize workforce education/training, deployment, regulation, and performance management systems.

The Malawi Ministry of Health (MoH) launched the Health Sector Strategic Plan III (HSSP III), which articulates the Government of Malawi’s bold vision for reforming the country’s health system and accelerating progress towards UHC. The HSSP III proposes a transition to strengthened aid coordination through the “One Plan, One Budget, One Report” model, under which the HSSP III will be the overall guiding document for all government and donor investments until 2030. Furthermore, the HSSP III proposes a transition towards integrated Health Service Packages, which will move away from the current verticalized service delivery models and instead seek to provide high-quality, patient-centered care across the full range of health conditions that patients might face. This is in line with the Lusaka Agenda, which aims to support strategic and operational coherence across key global health donors in order to sustain UHC through strong and resilient health systems.

The CHAI Malawi HSS team works closely with the MoH and District Councils to sustainably advance this agenda of aid alignment and health systems strengthening at the national, district, and facility levels. This also includes support to the MoH to respond to the growing pressures of shrinking aid budgets, including recent U.S. government funding reductions and broader global transitions in donor support — helping the MoH navigate immediate funding challenges while advancing long-term health system reform, integration, and sustainability.

CHAI is seeking a Program Manager based in Lilongwe, Malawi, who will lead a team that works closely with the Government of Malawi to advance critical health financing and governance reforms in alignment with the HSSP III and the Lusaka Agenda. The Program Manager will report to the Senior Program Manager, Health Financing and Health Workforce.

This is a challenging but rewarding position which will directly impact the government’s capacity to deliver improved health services for the population of Malawi. It presents an opportunity to work closely with a government that is committed to finding opportunities to deliver a stronger health system for the people of Malawi.

Management responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of health systems strengthening grants from a range of donors, with a primary focus on advancing critical health financing and governance reforms in the HSSP III and transitioning Malawi towards a sustainable, integrated, and resilient health system

• Manage and supervise a project team consisting of a mix of professionals and including both seconded and non-seconded staff, enabling high performance and professional growth

• Lead the team by fostering a culture of high performance and continuous improvement, including by providing mentorship support, establishing feedback culture, and resolving challenges for team members

• Develop and maintain work plans, mapping tasks to project milestones. Oversee regular check-ins, team meetings, and feedback processes to ensure accountability, streamline workflows, and improve team performance

• Monitor the program progress and deliverables against the work plan in order to ensure overall program targets are being met

• Manage project budget formulation, re-forecasting, and annual work planning exercises across all grants in the portfolio

• Coordinate and manage reporting and documentation requirements and timelines (narrative, financial, and M&E)

• Proactively support in fundraising efforts for the health systems strengthening portfolio, backstopped by the CHAI senior management

• Support conceptualization of future HSS programming in Malawi, and identify new strategies for HSS program implementation, including potential partnerships with donors

Technical responsibilities

• Supervise the provision of technical assistance to the MoH on a broad range of health financing and health systems strengthening topics. Examples of the projects that this position will oversee include: supporting aid alignment towards the HSSP III as part of the “One Plan, One Budget, One Report” approach; advancing priorities of the Lusaka Agenda by enhancing strategic and operational coherence across key global health donors; and mitigating the impact of shrinking aid budgets by supporting the government to transition towards a sustainable, integrated, and resilient health system

• Provide technical oversight and guidance to key program deliverables, including thought leadership to resolve program implementation challenges, in order to ensure that evidence is translated into policy and practice

• Facilitate meetings with government, donors and external stakeholders to drive key strategic and operational reforms, including documenting and presenting policy recommendations to the MoH and other stakeholders in presentations, policy briefs, and reports

• Build the capacity and skills of the MoH to ensure local leadership and sustainability of the HSSP III reforms

• Coordinate network-building efforts of CHAI with both the government and external partners

• Perform any other relevant duties as assigned by the CHAI Malawi office leadership and the government

• Master’s degree in economics, health economics, health systems, public health, health sciences, global health, development studies, public policy, or similar relevant subjects preferred; bachelor’s degree with relevant experience will also be considered

• Minimum of four years of professional experience for master’s degree holders and six years of experience for bachelor’s degree holders, preferably in health systems strengthening, health economics, health financing, health workforce, public health, public policy, public sector finance, consulting, or other relevant experience

• Knowledge and experience in health systems and health financing, particularly in low- and middle-income countries

• Strong program management experience including managing and recruiting teams, developing and executing budgets, creating and implementing work plans, and monitoring both program and staff performance

• Demonstrated fundraising experience, including building trusted donor relationships and effectively mobilizing funds towards key program priorities

• Outstanding analytical skills and advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint

• Strategically minded and able to think creatively about long-term program goals and objectives, and the detailed steps necessary to achieve these goals

• Structured thinker with translating complex information into actionable options for decision-makers

• Strong diplomatic and interpersonal skills and ability to build strategic relationships with government partners, donors and other stakeholders

• Demonstrated ability to deliver excellence in high-pressure situations, set priorities, and adapt to rapidly changing environments

• Excellent organizational and problem-solving skills without need for extensive structural or operational support

• Strong writer, facilitator, and oral communicator, able to distil and explain complex concepts to varied audiences

Advantages:

• Experience supporting governments and donors to make health policy decisions, particularly for health financing

• Experience working in resource-limited settings and a multicultural office environment, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Demonstrated experience successfully managing teams of 5–10 people through direct and indirect reporting lines

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