Regional Deputy Director, Africa, Vision Access Program

About the role

Vital Strategies, an international public health organization working in more than 70 countries, is recruiting a Regional Deputy Director for its Vision Access Program in Africa. The program expands access to reading glasses and integrates primary eye care into existing health systems, working with governments across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The role provides strategic leadership and oversight of the regional country portfolio, manages a portfolio of selected countries and supervises regional staff, and acts as a key relationship manager for government counterparts. It is a new full-time position, preferably based in Nairobi, Kenya or Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with candidates from Abuja or Lagos, Nigeria also strongly considered.

Key responsibilities

• Provide strategic oversight of the Vision Access country portfolio in Africa, directly managing about 3 to 4 countries and working with government focal points to set goals, budgets, timelines and implementation plans.
• Monitor progress, track milestones and report results, and proactively identify and mitigate implementation risks.
• Coordinate technical assistance with the Policy Director and external experts, and organize regional workshops, webinars and peer-learning exchanges.
• Oversee contracts and agreements with subgrantees, consultants and vendors, and manage regional country-based consultants.
• Monitor regional budgets and expenditures, and supervise, mentor and coach regional program staff.
• Document and synthesize program results and lessons learned for reporting and knowledge sharing.

Required profile

• Minimum Master's degree in public health, public policy, public administration or a relevant field, or equivalent experience.
• At least 8 years of progressive experience in public health and health system strengthening, including leading complex international public health programs and managing the full project lifecycle.
• Demonstrated experience managing and supervising multidisciplinary teams and working with government ministries and senior public-sector officials.
• Experience managing multi-country or regional programs; experience with global teams, remote work and representing the organization is preferred.
• Eligibility to work in the country of hire.

Required skills

• Strong English; French and Portuguese fluency preferred.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).
• Project management, leadership and people management skills.
• Ability to work across time zones and travel 20-50% of the time.

Candidates apply through the recruiter EthioJobs, which states that only direct applications to it will be considered.