Managing Director, Policy, Programme Design & Delivery Support

Job Title Managing Director, Policy, Programme Design & Delivery Support

Location Geneva

Purpose of Position Gavi is looking for an experienced, passionate, and driven Managing Director to lead the Policy, Programme Design and Delivery Support department. The Managing Director reports into the Executive Office and provides leadership, strategic direction and overall management of Gavi’s Policy, Programme Design and Delivery Support department, focused on designing community-based, pro-equity, sustainability-focused policies and programmes to support implementing countries. The department is responsible for ensuring that the design of Gavi’s support meets the varied needs of implementing countries and is fit for purpose to achieve Gavi’s strategic goals and deliver measurable results.

Team Policy, Programme Design & Delivery Support

Reporting to Executive Office

Career Step Level 7

Job Description

Gavi support consists of vaccines, health systems strengthening support, and technical assistance across a portfolio of eligible countries (currently there are 57). In addition, Gavi provides catalytic, time-limited support to specific middle-income countries and countries that have transitioned out of Gavi support and/or have struggled to introduce new vaccines, leading to health inequities. The Policy, Programme Design and Delivery Support department is responsible for ensuring that Gavi’s policies and programme design are grounded in a thorough understanding of the political economy and health care systems in lower-income countries. This should include an appreciation of communities, gender, demand and equity barriers, and an understanding of the role of governance. Gavi’s policy and programme design should be sufficiently agile and differentiated in responding to the highly heterogeneous country contexts the Alliance serves, and also to sub-national disparities within countries. The department is also responsible for measurement of results, synthesis and sharing of learnings, as well as independent evaluations of the relevance and effectiveness of Gavi’s policies and programmes.

The Policy, Programme Design and Delivery Support department is made up of over 50 people across five key teams:

• Vaccine Programmes: responsible for the design and operationalisation of existing and new vaccine programmes as well as strategies to close the immunity gaps to reduce disease, deaths, outbreaks and medical impoverishment. The team works closely with the market shaping team on optimising products, health systems team on equitable vaccine uptake strategies, policy team on incentives and financing and provides support to the country delivery team in efficiently planning, rolling out and scaling up vaccine programmes as well as prioritising the highest risk populations.
• Health Systems & Immunisation Strengthening (HSIS): responsible for the design and operationalisation of Gavi’s HSIS support to bolster country capacities to address systemic gaps, increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their health systems, institute performance-based financing and encourage community based and pro-equity approaches to reach zero-dose children and missed communities;
• Immunisation Financing & Sustainability (IF&S): responsible for the design and operationalisation of Gavi’s approach to sustainable financing including co-financing of vaccines, criteria for determining eligibility for, and transition out of, Gavi support with a key focus on country ownership and sustainability;
• Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL): responsible for ensuring there is a holistic and coherent measurement framework and learning system in place so that data is available to inform decisions; there is continuous improvement of policies and programme design informed by learnings; independent evaluations are systematically undertaken to assess the effectiveness of Gavi’s policies and programmatic support; and results are rigorously quantified and reported.
• Policy: responsible for the design of evidence-based policies which are dynamic and sufficiently flexible to respond to countries’ heterogeneous needs and take into account the role of community, gender, demand and equity barriers.

Main Duties/Responsibilities

• Provide leadership, strategic direction and overall management to the Policy, Programme Design and Delivery Support department, and to ensure the successful delivery of the department’s objectives;
• Embrace and drive change in the design of Gavi’s policies and programmes, including the adoption of data and evidence in decision-making, with a clear focus on community, gender, demand and equity barriers;
• Drive policies and programme design that allow for differentiated, tailored, targeted strategies to suit variegated national and subnational contexts with agility and flexibility;
• Encourage innovation throughout the department, bringing in enhancements and best practices from both public and private sectors and the broader global health ecosystem;
• Manage strategic risks in accordance with Gavi’s risk appetite statement;
• Ensure the collaboration of the Policy, Programme Design and Delivery Support department with other Gavi departments in order to achieve the organisation’s goals;
• Manage relationships and carry out effective dialogue and collaboration with governments, civil society and private sector partners in countries, as well as with Alliance partners (including UNICEF, WHO, World Bank and other key stakeholders of the Alliance) and other global financing institutions such as the Global Fund and Global Financing Facility (GFF);
• Share overall management and decision-making as one of seven Managing Directors who, together with the CEO, Deputy CEO and COO, comprise the Gavi Senior Management Team (SMT), to ensure the successful operation of the Gavi Secretariat, and its role in supporting the broader Alliance in its delivery of Gavi’s strategic plan;
• Ensure that Gavi remains a key player in the global health landscape by contributing both strategically and operationally, across the organisation;
• Manage and develop an engaged and motivated workforce across the department’s five teams, creating a strategic vision and the right culture and environment to inspire others to succeed by drawing the best out of staff and empowering them.

Work Experience

The Managing Director, Policy, Programme Design and Delivery Support will be someone of unimpeachable personal integrity.

The Ideal Candidate Will Possess The Following

Key experience, knowledge, and technical skills

• Substantial experience leading policy formulation and programme design, including community based, pro-equity approaches at country as well as subnational level;
• Experience of designing, initiating, and managing large scale-health programmes in one or more Gavi implementing countries;
• Established leadership experience in public health arena, and a thorough understanding of health care systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including role of communities, gender, demand and equity barriers;
• Experience of introducing new vaccines and managing/bolstering/overseeing immunisation programmes as part of broader primary health care delivery;
• Understanding of the dynamics of domestic financing and budgets for immunisation and health;
• Sophisticated understanding of grant making and management, including leadership of efficient, results-based financing and incentives, including performance rewards and conditional cash transfers;
• Substantial country-level experience, including multi-stakeholder engagement and collaboration with WHO, UNICEF, World Bank and other bilateral/ multilateral partners is essential;
• A successful track record of negotiation and influencing within complex and challenging environments;
• Excellent team leadership credentials, developing high-performing, cross-cultural teams, and creating a compelling vision and culture across the organisation;
• Sophisticated understanding of operating within a complex, multi-stakeholder governance environment;
• Successful leadership experience in an international organisation is an added asset.

Skills/Competencies

Setting strategy

• The ability to formulate and present strategy and policy at a high level, and provide collaborative leadership in the development of global policies, directions, new approaches and methodologies in the assigned areas for Gavi, and within a changing environment;
• The ability to formulate appropriate, evidence driven, ambitious strategies for change, in service of Gavi’s mission;
• The inclination to seek and analyse data from a variety of sources to support decisions, monitor corporate performance, and to align others with the organisation’s overall strategy;
• The capacity to use data and information to diagnose and resolve multiple, concurrent problems; a conceptual and strategic analytical capacity, with the ability to provide high quality programmatic advice and identify alternatives or options in planning and decision-making.

Executing for results

• The ability to set clear corporate goals, priorities and their measurement while committing teams to improved performance; tenacious and accountable in driving results;
• The ability to successfully drive and anchor change in a complex, evolving organisation by demonstrating agility and stimulating creativity and innovation;
• Comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty; demonstrates the ability to adapt nimbly and lead others through complex situations;
• Highly driven and focused on organisational and individual performance and managing for results; demonstrates strong operational skills and superior judgment in evaluating opportunities and risks;
• The ability to act in a transparent and consistent manner, while serving the best interests of the organisation;
• The ability to persevere in the face of challenges, and exhibit a steadfast resolve and relentless commitment to higher standards, which commands respect from followers.

Leading teams

• Outstanding organisational and leadership abilities; strategic, results-oriented, with a strong commitment to Gavi’s cause;
• Proven ability to identify, motivate, develop and retain a highly professional multicultural staff by fostering a culture of feedback and development; collaborative leadership style;
• Leads others to formulate solutions to complex problems, promotes agility, and empowers teams to respond nimbly in a fast-changing world;
• Creates a sense of purpose/meaning for the team that generates followership beyond their own personality and engages others to the greater purpose for the organisation as a whole;
• A leader who is self-reflective and aware of their own limitations; leads by example and drives the organisation’s performance with an attitude of continuous improvement by being open to feedback and self-improvement.

Relationships and influence

• Highly developed interpersonal skills and a demonstrable ability to inspire, collaborate and influence a wide range of different institutions, interest groups, and stakeholders, including affected populations, to drive impact and change;
• The ability to present credibility and confidence to high-level political figures across the Alliance, building positive and constructive relationships;
• An ability to inspire trust and followership in others through compelling influence, powerful charisma, passion in their beliefs, and determination;
• Highly proficient manager of stakeholders of wide-ranging seniorities; adept builder of enduring relationships, able to work through difficulties to establish and achieve shared goals within complex environments and at pace;
• Political sensitivity; strong oral, written and interpersonal skills, with the ability to relate and work effectively and strategically with colleagues and partners at all levels.

Languages

• Gavi operates in an English language environment, consequently fluency in spoken and written English is essential;
• A second language is desirable, preferably French.

Academic Qualifications

• Advanced university degree in Public Health, Social Sciences or equivalent;
• Additional qualifications in Business Administration, Management or Law desirable;
• Specialisation in Programme Management and Health Information Systems an advantage.

Contacts

• Gavi Secretariat;
• Board;
• Partners.

Additional Information

To apply, please send your CV, and supporting statement to [email protected] by Friday 15th July. Your supporting statement should succinctly highlight your motivation, experience, and skills against the requirements of the role. Please include the role title in the subject of your email.

If you have a question about the position, or your application, please contact the Russell Reynolds Team at either [email protected] or on +44 (0)20 7830 8089.

Gavi is committed to fostering a just, equitable and diverse culture free from racism and discrimination in which all staff, partners and stakeholders feel empowered, safe, and heard.