Country

United States

City

or CHAI Program Country

Type

Full Time

Program (Division)

Women's and Newborn Health

Additional Location Description

Flexible and preference to be based in of CHAI’s program countries, subject to country leadership approval and ability to obtain work authorization.

Telecommute

Yes

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 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

Beyond 250 million women who want to avoid pregnancy are not using a modern contraceptive method. In addition, an estimated 260,000 women die each year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, 2.3 million newborns die in their first month of life, and a further 1.9 million babies are stillborn. The burden is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for roughly 70% of maternal deaths and more than half of neonatal deaths, and where a newborn faces roughly ten times the risk of death of one born in a high-income country. Proven, cost-effective interventions exist across this continuum, from contraception through pregnancy, childbirth, and the newborn period. The barriers are gaps in policy, systems, supply, and workforce that keep effective care from reaching women and babies at the moments that matter most.

The Women’s and Newborn Health Cluster at CHAI is focused on reducing unintended pregnancies, maternal and neonatal deaths, and stillbirths. We accelerate access to innovations, using our market-shaping expertise to lower prices and roll out new products. We scale evidence-based best practices by supporting guideline updates, health worker training and mentoring, and commodity availability. And we strengthen public and private sector service delivery to better reach women and babies with high-quality care.

Routine availability of quality, affordable commodities is critical to achieving our goals. Yet, the environment for reproductive, maternal, and newborn commodities is fragile and shifting. The collapse of USAID funding has created acute gaps in the supply of contraceptives, oxytocin, misoprostol, and other life-saving commodities across CHAI’s program countries. Donor financing that was once assumed is now uncertain, and the systems built around it are under strain. Governments are being asked to take on more of the cost, new financing partners are emerging, and the need for building durable, country-owned commodity financing and delivery systems is clear.

Position Overview

We are looking for a Director who combines substantive technical expertise in commodity financing, procurement, or supply chain with strong strategic and program management capabilities. The right candidate will be comfortable working at both global and country levels: shaping strategy and engaging donors and partners globally, and providing grounded technical support to country teams working in complex procurement environments and government financing systems.

This person will lead CHAI’s commodity security and financing strategy within WNH, anchor the workstream within our FCDO-funded CHOICES program and our broader portfolio, and build the external presence and partnerships needed to influence how the sector addresses commodity financing, procurement, and distribution in LMICs. The role goes beyond analysis and advisory work: the Director will work directly with governments and procurement bodies in-country to make measurable improvements in how commodities are financed and secured.

In the near term, the Director may contribute to two time-bound technical support assignments currently underway within WNH: a review and update of the UNFPA Supplies Partnership’s risk and performance measurement frameworks, and a landscaping and convening exercise to map family planning sector organizational capabilities and coordination models for country-level commodity access. These assignments would give the Director early entry into commodity security work and key stakeholder relationships.

Set strategy

• Define and evolve CHAI’s commodity security and financing strategy within WNH, in close collaboration with the VP, country teams, and WNH colleagues. This includes identifying where to focus, where CHAI adds distinctive value, and how to sequence investment as the financing environment changes.
• Develop a clear theory of change for how improved commodity financing, procurement, and distribution can drive sustainable gains in MNH and family planning access, grounded in evidence and country realities.
• Keep current on developments in commodity security, including procurement platform innovations, domestic financing mechanisms, and supply chain financing approaches, and bring relevant insights into CHAI’s programming.
• Review the strategy at regular intervals and decide whether to expand, continue, or redirect work as evidence and conditions change.

Execute programs and support country teams

• Lead execution of commodity security and financing workstreams, with responsibility for technical quality, country relevance, and measurable results.
• Provide hands-on technical support to country teams, working with and through the Country Support Team, on procurement planning, commodity financing, government budget execution, demand forecasting, and supply chain management.
• Work with governments and procurement bodies to strengthen domestic financing systems for MNH and family planning commodities, and support governments as they implement and refine financing mechanisms.
• Help country teams respond to changes in the procurement environment, including the effects of USAID funding reductions on commodity supply, procurement channel options, and financing gaps.
• Identify and develop new programmatic opportunities where CHAI can add distinctive value, and build the evidence needed to make a compelling case to governments and funders.
• Use data, analytics, and digital approaches to strengthen commodity visibility and decision-making at country and global levels.

Stakeholder engagement and sector influence

• Build and sustain trusted relationships with key stakeholders in the commodity security ecosystem.
• Represent CHAI in global forums on commodity security and financing, and help shape how the sector responds to the current funding transition.
• Provide technical input into partnership structures and multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms, including interorganizational role clarity and collaboration models for family planning commodity access.
• Engage with FCDO on commodity security strategy within CHOICES so that CHAI’s approach is well understood and appropriately supported.

Resource mobilization and donor management

• Engage funders to secure resources that match the workstream’s ambitions and to reduce its exposure to shifts in donor funding.
• Lead or contribute to the development of high-quality proposals for commodity security funding opportunities across CHAI’s donor portfolio.
• Manage relevant grant components, including high-quality reporting, proactive risk management, and disciplined use of resources.

Leadership and collaboration

• Provide leadership and direction for the commodity security and financing workstream within WNH, working closely with the VP, other WNH team leads, and country-based staff.
• Work closely with CHAI’s market-shaping and country teams so that global strategy is grounded in country insights and relationships.
• Collaborate with CHAI’s broader health systems strengthening programs, including health financing, supply chain, and digital health, and pursue integrated approaches where they improve results.
• Contribute to WNH team culture, operations, and organizational initiatives, including diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• Advanced degree in public health, economics, public policy, or related field.
• Ten or more years of progressive experience in global health, with increasing responsibility over time; experience in commodity security, procurement, health financing, or supply chain required.
• In-depth understanding of family planning and/or MNH commodities at global and country levels, including procurement systems, financing mechanisms, and supply chain dynamics.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute strategy in complex, ambiguous environments, including translating high-level goals into actionable plans and adjusting course as conditions change.
• Proven experience engaging with and influencing multilateral organizations, bilateral donors, and global health partners.
• Strong analytical skills and technical depth in at least one core area relevant to commodity security (procurement, financing, supply chain, or health economics).
• Excellent collaborator and bridge builder with demonstrated experience working with diverse external stakeholder groups toward a shared agenda.
• Exceptional communicator, able to distil complex technical and financial issues into clear narratives for audiences ranging from government counterparts to philanthropic funders.
• Strong work ethic, integrity, humility, and dedication to CHAI’s mission.
• Fluency in English required; French is a significant asset.

Advantages

• Experience working with UNFPA, the Gates Foundation, FCDO, Unitaid, or other major MNH or family planning donors.
• Prior experience developing or reviewing monitoring and evaluation frameworks or performance measurement systems for global health programs.
• Experience in stakeholder convening, multi-organizational coordination, or landscape mapping exercises.
• Demonstrated success in fundraising from major donor organizations for global health.
• Experience working remotely with a geographically dispersed team.
• Private-sector experience in LMICs relevant to health commodity markets.
• Experience living and working in sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia.

Attributes

• Entrepreneurial mindset: energized by building new work in a less-structured environment; focused on execution.
• Mission-driven: committed to ensuring that women and newborns in LMICs have consistent access to the commodities they need.
• Adaptable: comfortable building strategy while the financing environment is changing quickly; able to keep a long-term vision while adjusting tactics.
• CHAI fit: collaborative, humble, analytically rigorous, grounded in country realities, and committed to government ownership and sustainable impact.
• Strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence: builds trust across diverse contexts, cultures, and stakeholder groups.
• Intellectually curious and comfortable with ambiguity: the role will need to change as global health financing changes.
• Willingness to travel approximately 20–25 percent of the year to program countries and global convenings.

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