Senior Manager, Policy

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

One of the core functions of the Gavi Secretariat Policy team is to identify vaccines of most importance to Gavi-supported countries and with greatest need for financial support and evaluate them for potential investment and inclusion in Gavi’s portfolio. This assessment considers factors including impact, cost, value for money, programmatic feasibility, fit with Gavi, and trade-offs and synergies with existing investments. The Policy team works in close collaboration with Alliance partners and technical experts to define the vaccination strategy, perform the assessment and identify the appropriate support model. In some cases, evaluation and decision frameworks must be adapted or created. Opportunities that may be assessed in the future span both vaccines for endemic disease prevention (e.g., malaria) as well as vaccines for epidemic preparedness and response (e.g., chikungunya, Nipah).

Key functions and deliverables:

• Lead the development of vaccine investment cases and recommendations to the Gavi Alliance Board;
• Manage Alliance stakeholder and technical expert engagement on topics related to vaccine policy and investment cases;
• Serve as thought leader on vaccine policy topics;
• Monitor vaccine development landscape.

MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Drive assessment and decision-making on new vaccine investments;
• Design or adapt decision or prioritisation frameworks for assessment of vaccine investments, including indicators and thresholds;
• Develop analytical plan and drive quantitative and qualitative assessment of vaccine candidates (e.g. health and economic impact modelling, often performed in collaboration with external partners; implementation feasibility);
• Perform comparative assessment with other opportunities or vaccines currently supported by Gavi;
• Assess data gaps and uncertainty in analyses;
• Identify and assess potential options for Gavi funding for the vaccine, operational costs for introduction and other related activities and develop recommendations;
• Oversee consultations with Alliance constituencies, partner and technical experts, including validation of methodologies and analyses;
• Draft official documents for the Gavi Alliance Board articulating compelling, evidence-based investment recommendations and ensure timely submission of such documents for Gavi governance processes;
• Evidence monitoring and translation to policy;
• Serve as focal point on Gavi’s engagement in epidemic preparedness and response, global health security and anti-microbial resistance;
• Advise on vaccine policy issues to ensure evolving scientific and technical guidance on vaccines is translated into Gavi policy-making and programme design;
• Establish and maintain coordination with relevant technical bodies (e.g., WHO SAGE, R&D Blueprint, PDVAC) and other funding organisation (e.g., Wellcome, CEPI);
• Monitor emerging evidence; develop concept papers, briefing notes and reports as relevant on different vaccine policy topics and brief senior management on vaccine policy issues;
• As relevant, scope new and innovative pieces of policy research relevant to Gavi’s operations.

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

QUALIFICATIONS

ACADEMIC

• Advanced university degree in public health, epidemiology, health economics, medicine or closely related field (e.g. MPH, MSPH, MSc, PhD, MD) highly desirable).

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of 8 years’ progressive experience working in development or global health, including:
  • Experience in health, and preferably vaccination, strategies and policies is a plus;
  • Experience leading complex projects with diverse stakeholders is necessary;
  • Experience with qualitative and quantitative analysis methods is necessary;
  • Public sector stakeholder management experience preferred;
  • Developing country experience desirable.

SKILLS/COMPETENCIES

• Knowledge of global health issues, vaccines and immunisation; understanding of epidemiology of vaccine-preventable diseases is required;
• Self-starter with excellent planning and project management skills, and a pro-active work attitude;
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills; a logical thinker with intellectual curiosity and the ability to think strategically;
• Excellent written (and oral) communication skills, with demonstrated ability to deliver high quality work within tight deadlines;
• Excellent relationship-building skills and ability to drive consensus among diverse stakeholders with tact and discretion;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively with colleagues from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds; ability to work in a multi-cultural environment;
• Excellent information technology skills (e.g. MS Excel, MS PowerPoint);
• Ability to work independently, under pressure, demonstrating initiative and flexibility;
• Knowledge of international public health agencies;
• Desirable: specific experience in outbreak/epidemic infectious diseases;
• Desirable: familiarity with programmatic and institutional realities in developing country settings; competency in health economic analysis.

LANGUAGES

• Fluency in English required;
• French language abilities would be an asset.

CONTACTS

• Gavi Secretariat;
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation;
• Civil society organisations;
• UNICEF;
• The World Bank;
• World Health Organisation;
• Research and technical institutes;
• Other technical experts and independent agencies.