Deputy Director – Regional Policy and Advocacy

Reports to: Director of Global Advocacy.

Location: Nairobi – Kenya OR Kampala – Uganda.

The Deputy Director, Regional Policy and Advocacy will be an influencer and thought leader, championing and shaping agendas surrounding community health in the African region. The Deputy Director, Regional Policy and Advocacy will lead the organization’s advocacy strategy in Africa to influence decision-makers to increase the prioritization and financing of community health and to increase the quantity and quality of community health workers.

You will help Living Goods (LG) to advance policy change and build regional awareness and support for community health and community health workers. You will also work closely with and provide support to our advocacy teams in the countries in which we operate (Kenya, Uganda, Burkina Faso) to advance their country and regional-focused policy and advocacy efforts. You will use your expertise in policy and advocacy to build and execute strategies that ensure the prioritization of community health in the policies, guidelines, frameworks, and financing of governments, donors, and other key stakeholders.

You will serve as a regional ambassador, for both the organization and the community health sector more broadly. You will build and sustain collaborative relationships with decision makers and partners, develop and execute effective advocacy strategies, inform regional health and development agendas, and champion universal health coverage and primary health care.

Key Responsibilities will include:

• Leading the execution of Living Goods’ advocacy initiatives in the African region. Define advocacy priorities, targets, and strategies at the regional level with a focus on advancing policy change, raising awareness of Living Goods work, and influencing decision-makers to prioritize high-quality community health services.
• Collaborating closely with global and country-based Advocacy, Program, Business Development, and Communications teams in a highly matrixed and collaborative fashion to create a strong enabling environment for community health programs in the African region.
• Supporting country-level advocacy initiatives in our current countries of operation (Kenya, Uganda, Burkina Faso), alongside efforts in new countries.
• Focusing on strategic engagement with key stakeholders including leadership in the African Union, Africa CDC, WHO regional offices, and other technical bodies, funders, NGOs, and CSOs in the region.
• Reviewing and providing technical input into the policies, practices, and budgets of key stakeholders.
• Building and managing regional partnerships, coalitions, and alliances to advance the organization’s advocacy goals.
• Identifying and managing opportunities for high-profile engagements throughout the African region to increase visibility and buy-in on the importance of effective community health programs.
• As an external ambassador of the organization, representing Living Goods to key external constituencies. This includes both formal and informal presentations such as speaking at conferences and other high-level gatherings.
• Gathering and analyzing intel and trends, conducting situational and policy analyses, and disseminating regular updates across key internal stakeholders, including intel and analysis on new countries for expansion.
• Advising on the development of communication and advocacy messages and materials.
• Support staff to strengthen their skills and abilities in advocacy.

Essential Qualifications, Experience & Attributes

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field, or a combination of education and experience that yields the required competencies. Master’s degree preferred.
• At least 10 years of experience working in advocacy and/or public affairs aimed at influencing policy change in the African region, including the development of effective advocacy strategies.
• Knowledge of global health and development issues and hands-on experience in advocacy related to primary health care, health workforce, universal health coverage, and/or community health is strongly preferred.
• Ability to work autonomously combined with experience working remotely and with global staff.
• Experience developing and managing advocacy initiatives to influence policymakers, institutional funders, and other external stakeholders like Africa CDC and WHO regional offices, while forming and sustaining collaborative relationships.
• Strong analytical, writing, editing, and verbal skills for communicating with broad and diverse stakeholders.
• Effective as a collaborator in complex internal and external organizations.
• Proven ability to build and cultivate strong relationships.
• Bilingual with French as a desirable language.

Location and Travel

This position will ideally be based in East Africa. The successful candidate can expect to travel approximately 15 percent of the time post-COVID 19 limitations.