Country Manager (Regional Pharmacovigilance Activities in East and Southern Africa)

Background

Akros Research is supporting a program, funded by the Mastercard Foundation and in partnership with the Africa CDC, to increase Covid19 vaccine uptake in Africa. This initiative, called Saving Lives and Livelihoods, includes multiple components and partners working to procure, distribute, and promote vaccine uptake in a safe manner. As a part of this consortium Akros Research will support Africa Union member states in the Eastern and Southern African regions to strengthen COVID-19 vaccine safety surveillance systems.

The Country Manager will support member countries, in line with predefined microplans, to implement safety surveillance strengthening activities. The Country Manager will need to be detail oriented in their administrative requirements, will need to be adaptable and creative to support activity identification, and will need to diplomatically interact with member state representatives on behalf of the project.

Specific Responsibilities

• In coordination with project senior management and member state points of contact in 3-6 countries, oversees the implementation of country-based activities defined in approved member state micro plans.
• Monitors program expenditures and ensures budget alignment within each country.
• Ensures timely program implementation, proactively escalating risks to address potential delays.
• Manages a team of local consultants and program officers to ensure adequate program documentation, professional program representation, and high-quality technical support.
• Understand day-to-day delivery process requirements of all assigned countries, assists program staff with critical thinking of program gaps and necessary improvements.
• Ensures that clients (program or government staff) are collaboratively engaged throughout project implementation. Works closely with and builds relations with clients to ensure that program objectives remain relevant.
• Supports creative problem solving at the country level to identify activities to improve safety surveillance data reporting and investigation.
• Conducts country visits to ground-truth program reports, assist with troubleshooting program challenges, and engage member state representatives.
• Coordinates and/or generate monthly and quarterly programmatic report inputs.
• Documents lessons learned and best practices. Generate communications materials.
• Supports direct reports to identify professional goals and develop professionally during their time with Akros.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree (highly preferred) in health promotion, pharmacovigilance, vaccinology, or related field
• Minimum of 6 years of experience managing public health programs in East or Southern Africa
• Previous experience with project and organizational representation to the Ministry of Health at national/regional/local levels is required. The ideal candidate will have experience working in multiple countries in East and Southern Africa.
• Self-starter who will thrive through exemplifying ownership and initiative against complex and challenging delivery schedules
• Excellent technical writing, quantitative and critical thinking skills
• Excellent computer skills with fluency in Excel, Word, PowerPoint
• Candidate should be culturally adaptable and sensitive
• English fluency required. Additional competencies in French, Swahili or Amharic desired. 
• Demonstrated ability to operate with minimal instruction in a fast-paced environment
• Demonstrated ability to productively communicate remotely

Due to the nature of the project, Akros is limiting project staff members to those who have been vaccinated for Covid19 or those who are able to provide a valid medical exemption for Covid vaccination. This documentation will be required before commencing work.

Location and Term

This is a remote position with extensive travel required. The initial contract will be for a 1-year term. 

Reporting

This position reports directly to the Deputy Program Director, who will review and approve time records. 

Application Instructions

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Candidates are encouraged to apply early. To apply, please submit a cover letter and CV with references to careers@akros.com with “Application: SLL Country Manager” as the email’s subject line.