Immunization Manager at VillageReach

ABOUT VILLAGEREACH 

VillageReach transforms health care delivery to reach everyone. We are driven by a vision of a world where each person has the health care needed to thrive. VillageReach’s goal is to reduce inequities in access to quality primary health care for 350 million people by 2030. We work with governments, the private sector, partners and communities to build responsive primary health care systems that deliver health products, information and services to the most under-reached. As a locally driven and globally connected organization, VillageReach has offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and the United States.

 

Summary 

Project background:

VillageReach Malawi, with funding from the Gavi Alliance (“Gavi”), is conducting an implementation research project to:

1) Understand how integration of HPV vaccine and adolescent health service delivery can be improved during outreach services to better appeal to adolescents, their caregivers and health workers;

2) Implement proposed solutions identified through point 1 and continually gather feedback to refine implementation and understand contextual facilitators of success, and

3) Evaluate differences in outcomes of interest in intervention areas relative to control areas.

This participatory implementation research project is being implemented in Malawi and Mozambique for a period of 16 months starting August 2024 and until December 2025. The primary outcome is:  Increased HPV vaccination coverage among girls (9-14 years old). Secondary outcomes of interest include: Improved adolescent health service uptake (i.e. # adolescents who attend outreach sessions, # adolescent 9-14 who receive any health service other than HPV vaccination during an outreach session). This project will contribute new evidence on logistical feasibility, adolescent/caregiver acceptability of HPV vaccine delivery approaches, and the cost of the integrated service approach as key drivers and proxies of HPV uptake sustainability. The project employs a human centered design approach to engage with targeted communities, stakeholders and beneficiaries to identify barriers to and co- create solutions that will improve HPV vaccine uptake.

 

Role description  

Essential Duties and Responsibilities are outlined below. Other duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or be assigned at any time.

 Program Management and Program Quality (70%)  

The Immunization Manager shall ensure high quality of program implementation by undertaking the following roles:

• Provide day-to-day programmatic direction, immunization activity planning and implementation leadership for the Gavi HPV Research project, across phases of start-up, design, implementation, and dissemination.
• Coordinate and support the execution of project activities, working closely with technical counterparts within VillageReach Malawi, Mozambique and global team members to ensure quality and timely execution of activities against defined work plans.
• Update project work plans as agreed by cross-country HPV project team and conduct quarterly project reviews and reporting in line with VillageReach Malawi country office schedule.
• Lead and support all field work implementation at subnational level, including hiring and supervising data collectors and research assistants as needed to complete the scope of work
• Prepare update reports for submission as required by the donor, VillageReach global team members, project Award Manager and VillageReach Malawi management.
• Monitor donor programmatic and financial compliance requirements and collaborate with project award manager to ensure efficiency in achieving donor deliverables.
• Provide regular feedback to Malawi Country Director through the bi- weekly Program Coordination meetings and other planned meetings on progress of activities, and coordinate and collaborate with other VillageReach team members ensuring cross coordination and complementarity of VillageReach Malawi program activities.
• Supervise all subnational level project staff (if relevant), ensuring high quality delivery of planned activities

Partnership Management (10%)

• Build and manage relationships with the Ministry of Health, relevant District Health Offices, and relevant regulatory bodies to ensure effective collaboration and partnership in the implementation of the Gavi HPV Research project.
• Coordinate with VillageReach’s implementing partners to ensure strong collaboration and timely completion of all projects’ deliverables.
• Represent VillageReach at EPI immunization technical meetings and other relevant meetings and initiatives.
• Develop and make effective project presentations on behalf of VillageReach to senior MoH, donor and INGO partners to share progress, findings and advocate for the project scale up.

 

Business Development (10%)  

• Collaborate with the Country Director and business Development Manager to engage with key donors that support immunization work for further resource mobilization
• Lead the development of concept notes/proposals for new business development for VillageReach Malawi in the immunization sector based on experiences and knowledge gained from the HPV project.
• Support VillageReach Malawi and Global teams business development managers and technical support leads to develop new business opportunities benefiting VillageReach beyond Malawi as needed .

 

Budget Management (10%) 

• In collaboration with immediate Malawi supervisor and global project Award Manager, monitor, track and review the Gavi HPV project budget to ensure expenditures are on track.
• In collaboration with the Malawi Finance and Administration team and program supervisors, prepare and timely submit the monthly budget projections, activity procurement requests, liquidations and updates on project performance and burn rates.

 

Other  

• Support implementation of other related VillageReach projects with incumbent’s technical inputs, and expertise.
• Perform any other duties as may be assigned by the supervisor.

This position reports to the Country Director (in the absence of the Deputy Country Director). The incumbent will directly collaborate and coordinate with the Country Director to ensure programmatic alignment and for performance reporting and monitoring. This role will also collaborate with other VillageReach Managers and with global team staff based in the Africa region and in the United States. This position will be based in Malawi.

 

Competencies: 

The following competencies reflect what is expected of all VillageReach employees; including examples of how one might demonstrate each of these competencies in one’s role.

Personal Motivation and Drive: Is self-directed in one’s approach to work, but asks for help when needed; holds oneself accountable; undertakes self-development activities; seeks to build and master new skills; looks for and takes advantage of opportunities within the organization.

Collaboration & Effective Communication: Establishes and maintains effective relations with coworkers, partners & stakeholders and external parties; works collaboratively with others to accomplish organizational and team goals and objectives; works actively to resolve conflicts; expresses ideas and thoughts effectively; selects and uses appropriate communication methods and maintains meaningful communication with virtual coworkers and other parties to keep them informed

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion: Takes personal responsibility for and supports others across the organization in creating and sustaining a diverse work environment where individuals are welcomed, valued, respected and supported; personally committed to attaining cultural competency including self-awareness of one’s own attitudes about culture and cross-cultural interactions; exhibits the willingness and ability to engage openly and respectfully around issues of race, colonialism, identity and culture; upholds equity in access to sharing of information, ideas, and opportunities throughout VillageReach

Commitment to Excellence: Produces a high output of work, both in terms of quality and quantity; looks for ways to improve and promote quality; monitors work to ensure quality; has a personal commitment to the mission of VillageReach.

Solution Orientation & Innovation: Focuses on results and desired outcomes and how to best achieve them; get the job done; sees opportunities for creative problem-solving while staying within the parameters of good practice; sees old problems in new ways and has novel approaches to solving those problems; contributes original and/or resourceful ideas to their area of responsibility; is able to consider and articulate risks and consequences of proposed innovations and factor these into decision-making.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Supervisory Responsibilities:  

This position has some supervisory responsibilities. The position will supervise data collectors and research assistants as needed and as recruited by the project.

Education & Experience:

• At least a Master’s degree in Public Health, with clinical or nursing background; or Masters in public health research or any other related field.
• A minimum of five (5) years’ experience implementing community health programs and some experience at management level.
• A proven track record of leading successful implementation of activities in the public health sector in relation to immunization programming.
• Strong understanding of public health programs, immunization programming and public health research challenges in Malawi
• Excellent interpersonal skills to effectively communicate with cross functional teams and external stakeholders
• Strong analytical skills and ability to make technical decisions, recommendations, and conclusions based upon data.
• Experience in implementing and monitoring programs.
• Ability to work effectively in a busy, high-pressure and culturally diverse team environment
• Ability to prioritize workload and demonstrate outcomes on strict deadlines
• Strong oral and written communications skills

Other Qualifications: 

• Comply with VillageReach’s COVID-19 vaccination policy.
• Established cultural competency in partnering with racial, cultural and linguistically diverse groups.
• Demonstrated understanding of challenges with working in rural, underserved and low-income context; experience living in and/or working in a low-income country a plus.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel) and comfortable in a fast-paced technical environment.
• Ability to define and set priorities and problem solve
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced organization and work with flexibility, efficiency, enthusiasm, diplomacy, and cultural sensitivity.
• High level of interpersonal communications skills to establish and maintain strong working relationships with colleagues, donors and partners and demonstrated experience in creating high-level collaborations.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills with willingness to tackle process challenges, develop tools, and reinforce internally
• Excellent writing skills with ability to translate complex information into clear language
• Fluent in Oral and written English and Chichewa

 

Environment and Physical Demands: 

VillageReach has no private offices, employees work in a shared, open environment with task and conference rooms accessible to employees for privacy and meetings. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet. Due to the time zone differences between our USA office and our Country Offices and location of other global staff, US based staff are expected to be available for early morning meetings starting at 6am. In addition, our Regional Africa based staff and Country office staff are expected to be available for late afternoon/evening meetings up to 6pm.

Approximately 60% of the workday is spent sitting. Must be able to lift 25 lbs.

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY & INCLUSION: 

VillageReach is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer committed to workforce diversity. We believe that diverse, equitably weighted perspectives foster an organizational capacity to create novel solutions that improve health in the most under-reached and hard-to-reach areas. To align our values, innovations and impact, VillageReach is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse global workforce.

Method Of Application

This is an immediate hire and therefore resumes will be reviewed on a rolling basis until 20 September 2024. To apply, please submit your resume and a cover letter plus any other desired materials to our online portal: http://www.villagereach.org/join-us/.  In your cover letter, please address (1)Why you are interested in this position, (2)What is one reason you think you’d be a good fit for this position and, (3)what is one strength you would bring to this position?

Hiring Process:

The hiring process will include the following steps:

1. Review submitted applications
2. Conduct 20-30 minute screening interviews for shortlisted candidates
3. Conduct skills and value-based interviews for 3-5 candidates.
4. Request that top candidates submit a practical assessment (designed to take no more than two hours to complete). Sometimes the assignment will occur before the interview.
5. Conduct final interview if necessary
6. Request references
7. Make offer
8. Conduct background check

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted, but candidates who proceed to step 2 will be notified if they are not chosen for step 3.