Senior Manager, Investigations

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership committed to saving children’s lives and protecting people’s health by increasing equitable use of vaccines in lower-income countries. The Vaccine Alliance brings together implementing country and donor governments, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. Gavi uses innovative finance mechanisms, including co-financing by recipient countries, to secure sustainable funding and adequate supply of quality vaccines. Since 2000, Gavi has contributed to the immunisation of more than 981 million children and the prevention of more than 16 million future deaths.

THE ROLE

The Audit and Investigations (A&I) function
A&I provides independent and objective assurance to the management and stakeholders of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The scope of A&I’s work extends not only to the Secretariat but also to the programmes and activities carried out by Gavi’s grant recipients and partners. A&I assists Gavi in accomplishing its objectives by bringing a systematic and disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of both Gavi’s risk management, control, and governance processes, and eligible countries’ programmes used to manage Gavi’s support. It does this through audits, investigations and advisory work.

The role of the Senior Manager, Investigations is to undertake, lead and/or oversee investigations as necessary, whether for programmes across Gavi-supported countries or within the Secretariat; and to promote the role of the function across the organisation and among partners.

Key functions and deliverables:
• The Senior Manager will be expected to investigate complaints of misconduct or misuse, whether internally or by partners (governmental or non-governmental) in Gavi programmes in-country. They will work autonomously or lead small teams as needed, but as part of a small unit they may also be required to work under the Head of Investigations on larger or more complex cases;
• The incumbent will work to establish the root causes of any identified issues and ensure that learnings are shared with counter-fraud and audit colleagues and other staff and partners as required. The senior manager may also be required to present findings to senior officials in partner countries, as well as donors and other stakeholders.

MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assess incoming complaints and other information and provide recommendations to the Head of Investigations;
• Plan, organise, conduct and manage investigations of cases of alleged misconduct including (but not limited to) fraud, theft, corruption, harassment, diversion or falsification of medical products, sexual harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) cases, whether internally or in Gavi programmes;
• Lead and/or supervise other team members and/or co-sourced/outsourced investigators and coordinate their investigative activities. The incumbent should also be willing to show flexibility in being able to work within a small team and this may include supporting, co-leading or working under the guidance of the other Senior Manager or Head of Investigations as required;
• Decide on the investigative tools to be employed; gather, review and/or analyse evidence; and effectively engage and collaborate with legal and other key stakeholders to ensure that the evidence is sufficient to support findings;
• Provide guidance and advice to colleagues, staff and management on investigation-related issues. This includes working with Legal, HR and other colleagues to help ensure compliance with applicable policies, regulations and rule in pursuit of organisational aims;
• Prepare investigation reports for relevant management and/or Gavi’s internal tribunal as well as for publication online;
• Conduct investigative interviews and take statements; analyse facts, determine findings and recommend corrective measures;
• Represent Gavi at external events and fora as well as in negotiations with suppliers and partners to ensure that investigation-related issues are appropriately addressed;
• Co-ordinate with audit and specialist counter-fraud colleagues to ensure that processes are controls are resilient to fraud and that lessons learned from investigations form part of Gavi’s ongoing counter-fraud learning.

Note: The essential functions listed in this section are not exhaustive of the job responsibilities; other duties may be assigned in line with the department needs.

QUALIFICATIONS

ACADEMIC

• Under-graduate degree. Secondary education may exceptionally be accepted if the applicant has successfully completed formal law enforcement training and can demonstrate significant high-level experience investigating serious and/or complex fraud cases;
• A professionally recognised investigation, accounting/auditing, legal or other relevant qualification from an internationally recognised institution would be desirable.

WORK EXPERIENCE

• A minimum of 8 years professional investigation experience. This may be reduced to 6 years if the candidate has a further 3 years of auditing, legal or related experience;
• Experience within a well-regarded, professional environment, preferably in an international or multinational context;
• Demonstrated management capability.

SKILLS/COMPETENCIES

• Highly analytical and able to work with both low levels of detail and a ‘big picture’ organisation-wide perspective;
• Excellent written communication skills;
• Clear, effective and persuasive oral communication skills – ability to balance assertiveness with need to build and maintain relationships;
• Sound judgement both in the conduct of investigations and also in dealing with others on potentially sensitive matters;
• Able to operate independently but applies judgement in knowing when to consult;
• Ability to work within a complex, dynamic environment and an appreciation of the diverse aims and objectives of colleagues and stakeholders;
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment with cross-functional and multi-disciplinary teams in a collaborative style;
• Flexibility and willingness to act as investigations manager and/or specialist investigator/team member according to need;
• High standards of personal conduct, integrity and ability to exercise discretion and confidentiality;
• Knowledge/understanding of immunisation, health or international development issues and procedures is an asset.

LANGUAGES

• Written and spoken fluency in English is essential;
• Fluency in French is highly desirable;
• Knowledge of Arabic, Portuguese and/or Russian would be an asset.

CONTACTS

• Audit and counter-fraud colleagues in the Gavi Audit and Investigations function;
• Gavi Secretariat;
• Gavi Alliance partners, including Ministries of Health;
• Other country partners including implementing partners and fund agents;
• Civil society, audit institutions and law enforcement bodies;
• Other development partners.