Country

Cameroon

City

Yaounde

Type

Full Time

Program (Division)

Country Programs - Cameroon

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries, while strengthening the capabilities of governments and the private sector in those countries to create and sustain high-quality health systems that can succeed without our assistance. For more information, please visit: 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.

Cameroon Programs Overview

CHAI started working in Cameroon in 2007 with a focus on improving access to HIV diagnosis, care, and treatment. We are helping to increase access to pediatric and second line antiretrovirals as well as strengthening HIV laboratory systems to better diagnose the disease. Since then, our partnership with the government of Cameroon has evolved to include cross-cutting health system strengthening efforts, including supporting the roll out of universal health coverage. We are also working to strengthen the health product supply chain, introduce and roll out innovative point-of-care technologies and cold chain equipment to ensure the potency and delivery of lifesaving vaccinations. CHAI has also supported the government in its efforts to save the lives of women and infants through mentoring of healthcare workers, increasing access to long-acting contraceptives, and introducing new and improved vaccines for diseases such as cancer-causing human papilloma virus (HPV), rotavirus, diarrhea, and poliomyelitis.

CHAI is equally supporting the government to improve access to medical oxygen and the national public health laboratory to decentralize COVID-19 testing. In addition, we are collaborating with the ministry of health to improve access to cancer treatment by lowering prices and enabling procurement of key chemotherapy drugs. Furthermore, we are working with the government through its National Malaria Control Program (NMCP), to build sustainable access to timely and high-quality information across relevant levels of the health system and help programs to routinely use data and generated analytics to inform programmatic and strategic planning and operations.

CHAI recently initiated engagement with the Cameroon Ministry of Public Health (MoH) to strengthen the clinical research ecosystem in Cameroon, the Central African Sub-region and Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. Through this engagement, CHAI in collaboration with the Design Analyze and Communicate (DAC) arm of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, seeks to promote an enabling environment for the conduct of clinical research in Cameroon and the African continent, with informativeness as a core guiding principle and foundational value for planning and running clinical research projects. The project seeks to help investigators to optimize their studies for informativeness and impact by building their capacity to integrate the 16 DAC best practices for clinical research in their research protocols, as well as the use of other novel tools such as the open-source clinical trial simulation software, target policy profile, statistical analysis and communication plan templates amongst others. Towards this vision, the DAC-Africa (DAC-A) Pilot will establish a local presence in Cameroon, with the vision of constructing an Africa-based network of clinical research experts to customize and apply DAC processes and tools for the African context.

Overview of Role

CHAI is seeking a motivated, independent, and technical individual for the position of Program Manager, DAC-A pilot. The Program Manager will occupy a leadership role focused on establishing operational excellence for the implementation of DAC-A priorities and processes, through the provision of technical, coordination, administration and operations leadership and support for all DAC-A pilot related activities. The Program Manager will equally contribute to the development and management of DAC-A budget, investment and staffing plans, as well as lead DAC-A fundraising efforts through engagement with various stakeholders and funders at national, continental and intercontinental levels.

Reporting to CHAI Cameroon’s Country Director, the successful candidate will work with team members across CHAI, DAC-A leadership and steering committee, and with BMGF strategic and program teams to meet program-specific objectives and milestones within stipulated timeframes. The candidate will therefore need to possess excellent communication, organizational, and management skills, as well as have a strong commitment to producing high quality work by working proactively and independently with minimal oversight.

This position will be based in Yaoundé – Cameroon with 20 – 30% of domestic travel envisaged.

Coordination and resource mobilization

• Provide overall coordination support for the implementation of DAC-A program activities; facilitate communication among team members, knowledge management, work planning, and communication with CHAI teams, DAC-A leadership and steering committee, and funding partners.
• Build excellent working relationships with various MOH departments, other government agencies, NGOs and international multilateral organizations.
• Lead DAC-A advocacy and resource mobilization efforts through active identification and engagement with various clinical research stakeholders and sponsors, and the development of convincing, high-quality pitches, grant proposals, concept notes, presentations and budgets.
• Lead the development of a three-year DAC-A strategic plan coupled with DAC-A business processes and guidelines.
• Coordinate DAC-A protocol reviews ensuring efficient use of DAC-A resources, and alignment with DAC best practices for clinical research.
• Coordinate the award of Trial Planning Grants (TPG), manage internal and external relationships to monitor TPG projects progress and ensure successful and timely completion.
• Serve as a thought partner to DAC-A leadership and steering committee.

Program implementation

• Plan and execute high-quality and effective technical meetings, capacity building workshops, stakeholder and funder consultations.
• Lead the development of high-quality technical documents, including but not limited to presentations, training reports, briefing notes, budgets, guidelines, strategic plans and business processes.
• Lead the development of manuscripts outlining learnings and best practices from DAC-A related activities, for publication in peer review journals.
• Advocate for the inclusion of new technologies for the review of clinical research protocols and storage of patient medical records; support the development and piloting of relevant tools and processes.
• Lead routine program monitoring & evaluation activities and donor reporting.
• Plan and facilitate monthly and weekly team meetings to review project progress, identify bottlenecks and develop mitigation strategies.
• Onboard, manage and provide technical support to DAC-A implementation team members in the development of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems, guidelines, workplans, budgets and other materials for key activities, to ensure program implementation goals and quality standards are achieved.
• Carry out independent problem-solving and perform any other tasks that may be assigned by the Senior Program Leadership, DAC-A review and steering committees.

• Master’s degree in public health, health policy & management, development, business or related field (MBA and/or MPH preferred).
• 6+ years working experience as product or program manager in the healthcare or pharmaceutical industry, or related positions with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership.
• Demonstrated complex program and project planning, management, and implementation experience, with a track record of successfully leading or managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, including strong technical ability to prepare high-quality professional documents, and proficienct in French.
• High levels of proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• High attention to detail and very strong organization and time management skills.
• Experience working in development settings with government and international partners, and with demonstrated cultural sensitivity.
• Ability to quickly learn new subject matters to support new business development and program implementation.
• Highly motivated, self-starter with eagerness to work in a dynamic, diverse, and fast-paced environment.

Advantages:

• Management consulting experience.
• Operations experience in start-up health setting.
• Experience living or working in resource-limited settings.
• Research experience attested by a history of peer-reviewed publications.

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