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 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 and Finance 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. This work often plays a key role in supporting and enabling teams across CHAI including Infectious Diseases, Non-Communicable Diseases and Assistive Technologies, Maternal and Newborn Health and Child Health.

Governments today face growing pressure to do more with less. Economic constraints, inflation, and rising health needs are straining budgets, while donor funding — including foreign assistance from major bilateral partners — is stagnating or declining in many countries. These challenges are creating serious gaps in service coverage and threatening hard-won gains in health.

In this context, the CHAI HSS team is supporting governments to rethink how resources are mobilized, allocated, and managed. This includes working with Ministries of Health and Finance to raise new resources for health and optimize available funding for greater value for money, as well as to strengthen the national systems that fund and deliver care. This work spans efforts to expand and optimize the health workforce — ensuring the right skill mix and equitable distribution of providers — as well as strengthening integrated supply chains and designing national digital systems that improve how services are planned, tracked, and delivered across all levels of care. In the wake of recent USG cuts, this support is more important than ever. CHAI is working alongside governments to quantify and address urgent gaps while paving the way for government adoption of often fragmented systems and longer-term reforms towards sustainability.

By working side-by-side with government institutions — often embedded within ministries — CHAI helps countries take practical steps to strengthen their health systems and sustainably expand access to essential services.

Position Overview

CHAI’s Health Systems Strengthening team is seeking a Country Support Associate with strong program management and analytical skills to be based in the East Africa region. The Country Support Senior Associate will work across a portfolio of high-priority initiatives in CHAI countries in East Africa and support CHAI country teams to help governments respond to the changing aid landscape. They will also develop innovative financing and service delivery strategies, and implement core health system reforms. This is a challenging, fast-paced, and rewarding position offering a unique opportunity to help turn an aid funding crisis into a platform for lasting, systemic change — working with governments to reimagine more resilient, efficient, and country-led health systems.

The Country Support Senior Associate will report to the Associate Director of Country Support on the Global Health Systems Strengthening team and will work closely with the HSS global team and CHAI country teams. In this role, the Senior Associate will act as a key liaison for country teams: facilitating knowledge sharing, supporting key workstreams, advancing strategy development and fundraising efforts, and ensuring timely monitoring, reporting, and learning across workstreams.

The ideal candidate will be a strategic thinker who is analytical and self-motivated, with strong cultural sensitivity and the ability to work effectively in diverse, multicultural settings with government and global stakeholders. They will be proactive, organized, and able to communicate complex ideas clearly. The candidate will thrive in fast-paced environments, juggling multiple priorities and contributing across a range of tasks—from high-level policy support to operational problem-solving.

Strategic and Technical Support

• Collaborate closely with the HSS country support team and regional focal points to align technical and operational support to country needs.
• Assist CHAI’s health systems strengthening (HSS) workstreams in priority countries by working along CHAI country teams to support governments to manage donor transitions, identify financing gaps, and develop strategies for sustainable and resilient health systems.
• Support CHAI country teams in designing and implementing cross-cutting system reforms, such as new financing approaches, workforce planning and optimization, integration of services or systems, and improvements to service delivery models — ensuring that work is grounded in evidence and country context.
• Contribute to analytical projects by preparing inputs for gap analyses, costing exercises, commodities forecasting, efficiency assessments, and other studies that inform policy and investment decisions.
• Strengthen the use of data and analytics by helping CHAI teams develop tools, prepare presentations, and communicate findings that inform planning and decision-making with government counterparts.

Cross Team Coordination & Grant Management

• Act as the primary liaison for a set of CHAI country teams in East Africa, supporting communication and coordination.
• Support grant management functions, including donor reporting, communications, and compliance with funding requirements.
• Prepare agendas, materials, and follow-ups for meetings with teams, donors, and partners.
• Support monitoring and evaluation follow-up, including coordination of country-level progress tracking on a quarterly basis; identifying areas that require additional attention.
• Support country teams to quantify the impact of HSS initiatives, for example, through costing, budget impact analysis, efficiency gains, service delivery metrics, or modeling long-term system effects.

Knowledge Management & Communication

• Capture and synthesize lessons from CHAI’s HSS work across countries to inform internal strategy and contribute to knowledge sharing efforts and strengthen CHAI’s technical approach.
• Support development of knowledge products, including case studies, impact narratives, and technical briefs that demonstrate impact for internal learning and external advocacy with donors and partners.
• Support global communication efforts by contributing to program updates, success stories, impact reports, and talking points that highlight CHAI’s impact and lessons learned.

• Bachelor’s degree in public health, economics, international development, or a related field; Master’s is an advantage.
• 4+ years of professional experience in global health, health systems strengthening, or international development
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, including cultural competency and experience in multicultural settings
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills; able to manage multiple priorities in fast-paced environments.
• Strong analytical skills and high proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint for analysis, modeling, and executive level presentations.  
• Experience in monitoring, evaluation, or knowledge management is an advantage.
• Prior experience working directly with governments in low- and middle-income countries is an advantage.

#jobreference2 #region3