Senior Programme Manager, Middle Income Countries

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
Please note this is a temporary role, until 31st December 2025.

Gavi’s Middle Income Countries (MICs) Approach seeks to prevent and mitigate backsliding in vaccine coverage in former Gavi-eligible countries, and to drive the sustainable introductions of key missing vaccines in both former- and select never-Gavi eligible middle-income countries. The MICs Approach seeks to achieve explicit outcomes, reflecting its clear focus on results. A Theory of Change sets out a path to achieving these outcomes and a comprehensive measurement framework will monitor progress and help understand the impact of investments. A learning agenda accompanies the MICs Approach, helping to inform its implementation and enabling any needed course correction.

The MICs Approach realises its objectives through two main support modalities: Country-specific investments and global and regional investments called the ‘foundational building blocks’. The Senior Programme Manager, MICs Foundational Building Blocks will lead on all investments under the Foundational Building Blocks, including support to core and expanded partners, country peer-to-peer learning networks, and realising opportunities to share advocacy messages on MICs and immunisation. The role will include designing and implementing these investments, ensuring successful implementation, and closely monitoring and course-correcting where needed. The Senior Programme Manager will also pay a key role in contributing learning in these areas to the MICs Learning Agenda which cross-cuts all of the team’s work.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITES

• Lead on implementation of regional and multi-country technical assistance investments with core partners and expanded partners, including developing, executing and managing grants, ensuring coherence and complementary between different partners and between regional and country-specific technical assistance;
• Elaborate on and deliver the MICs Expanded Partner engagement plan, ensuring that the MICs Approach seeks new and relevant expanded partners to support the delivery of the MICs Approach, putting specific emphasis on CSOs and other types of partners;
• Lead on delivery of the Linked Immunisation Action Network, a country peer-to-peer learning network, and identify other potential opportunities to support and enable peer-to-peer learning amongst countries, partners and expanded partners;
• Working closely with the PPE team, realise advocacy opportunities to share messaging on MICs;
• Develop drafts of the necessary materials for all engagements on the FBB, ensuring that content is accurate and reflects MICs approach processes and policies;
• Manage relationships with key external focal points, including for core and expanded partners;
• Proactively identify and mitigate risks to successful implementation, report, consult on and elevate key issues;
• Responsible for communication with relevant Secretariat teams on areas of responsibility to ensure coherence with wider Gavi activities;
• Promotes a culture of learning within the MICs approach and ensures that learnings are fed back into the MICs Approach operationalisation and implementation;
• Actively contributes to the innovative spirit of the MICs Approach, supporting finding new ways to support countries through regional and global investments and partnerships to achieve our shared objectives;
• Maintain excellent records of external communications and contacts for visibility, and instutional record keeping for instutional memory.

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
• Post-graduate degree in public health, health/development policy, or other relevant field.

WORK EXPERIENCE
• Minimum 8 years of professional experience in global public health;
• Experience of working on issues relating to global access to medicines and/or immunisation programs in middle income countries, of working in bilateral and multilateral aid environments, and knowledge of the global health architecture;
• Very excellent experience of designing, executing and implementing grants with core and expanded partners, including e.g. WHO, UNICEF, CSOs and the private sector;
• Experience of managing relationships with key external focal points, including for core and expanded partners, also for troubleshooting and course correction;
• Experience of producing high quality written products for internal and external audiences, synthesising complex technical issues into easily accessible reports and telling a persuasive narrative;
• Experience of working across teams to deliver on shared organisational objectives.

SKILLS/COMPETENCIES
• Knowledge of public health or international development, particularly immunisation;
• Excellent strategic vision and clarity of thought, ability to identify and prioritise;
• Very effective relationship building, negotiation and diplomacy skills;
• Effective written and verbal communication skills in English with demonstrated ability to synthesise complex issues into accessible oral and written materials;
• Proactively identify and mitigate risks to successful implementation, report, consult on and elevate key issues;
• Execution and delivery-oriented with a track record in producing high quality work in a fast-paced dynamic environment and making effective, timely decisions;
• Ability to work successfully within a multicultural, multilingual, multidisciplinary environment;
• Highly organised with excellent attention to detail;
• Ability to take initiative in the absence of specific instructions, and to work effectively and efficiently with minimal supervision;
• Fluency in Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

LANGUAGES
• Excellent written and spoken English language skills;
• Fluency in other languages, especially Spanish, is an asset.

CONTACTS
• Gavi Secretariat;
• Alliance core and expanded partners.