Company overview
The Pharo Foundation (“the Foundation”) is a privately funded entrepreneurial organisation that runs philanthropic programmes as well as for-profit Social Ventures. The Vision of the Foundation is an economically vibrant and inclusive Africa. The Mission is to achieve the Vision by investing in the human and physical capital of Africa, with a strong focus on job creation.
Established in 2011 as a UK based non-profit, the Foundation has since made a strategic shift to directly design and implement its own programmes to ensure greater engagement with communities, better results and increased accountability. The Foundation has carried out numerous projects in East Africa, with a focus on Ethiopia and Somaliland and is now expanding into Rwanda. The key strategic pillars for the philanthropic side of the Foundation are education, health, water and agriculture. At the end of 2019, the Foundation also started its Social Ventures franchise to prioritise sectors where the Foundation believes a real impact can be made by establishing self-sustaining businesses, which focus on job and economic value creation.
Headquartered in London, the Foundation has an operational head office in Nairobi, Kenya with country offices in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and Assosa) and Somaliland (Hargeisa) with further expansion plans in East Africa.
Functional Relationships with:
- Country Representative, Ethiopia
- Program Manager, The Pharo Foundation Assosa Office
- Finance and Administration Coordinator, The Pharo Foundation Assosa Office
- Finance and Administration Manager, The Pharo Foundation Addis Ababa Office
Direct Reports
- Department heads
- Laboratory technologists
- Imaging unit heads
- Support service coordinator
The Foundation has decided to establish a best in class diagnostic center in Assosa town in BGRS to complement the curative health services and to become a dependable partner to the existing health system in the region and beyond. The PDC is expected to help upgrade the health infrastructure in BGRS, as it will offer top quality reliable services as well as critical tests.
Run under the Social Ventures business model, the PDC will start with offering advanced medical laboratory services to clients, adding imaging studies and additional laboratory tests in subsequent years.
For this very exciting and ambitious initiative, The Foundation is looking to hire a highly experienced and driven Medical Laboratory Technologist (MSc) who will serve as the Director of the PDC and who will provide strategic and operational leadership.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
- Lead the planning and establishment process of the PDC including operational business plan, hiring, premise selection, equipment selection and other procurement needs.
- Working with the HR department, identify and hire all critical laboratory staff and ensure staff are equipped to deliver maximum quality services and within acceptable turnaround time.
- Help identify the appropriate premises for the PDC and coordinate any remodelling works to ensure conformity to the standards.
- Ensure the PDC is well organised, properly supervised, and well-functioning to optimally serve all clients.
- Closely work with the regulatory bodies and coordinate pre-licencing and periodic inspections to ensure the PDC fulfils all expected requirements, (The Director’s credentials may be used to acquire the initial license and registration to operate the diagnostic center from the appropriate regulatory authorities.)
- Ensure the diagnostic center is furnished with all required equipment and the equipment is always in good working order, regularly quality controlled, and precisely calibrated.
- Lead supply and consumable need planning; communicate to relevant department of the Foundation and follow timely delivery
- Coordinate the development of the policy frameworks for the operation and governance of the diagnostic center.
- Develop and put in place technical and administrative SOPs required to run day-to-day operation of the diagnostic services and serve for the standardization of all test procedures. The availability of the SOPs is also used as a requirement for the licence and certification from the appropriate authorities.
- Lead the development of the quality assurance/performance improvement program to determine the status of quality service provided.
- Create safety and security policies for the well-being of staff and clients and ensure they are properly followed.
- Develop monitoring and evaluation tools to assess activities and ensure key targets are being achieved.
- Lead marketing and networking efforts to generate demand for the service of the diagnostic center.
- Serve as Chief Technical Officer for the laboratory wing of the center and coach and mentor all other staff continuously.
- Ensure coordination and integration of the services with other initiatives of the Foundation when relevant.
Reporting to : Health Coordinator, The Pharo Foundation Assosa Office
Job Requirements
Qualification Requirements
- Masters/graduate degree in Medical Laboratory Technology; Medical Microbiologist preferred.
- Appropriate professional registration and licence that could be used for acquisition of licences for the center.
- Minimum five years’ practical and hands-on experience in setting up and running an advanced medical laboratory.
- Sound exposure to the private health services, especially laboratories.
- Fluency in English and Amharic are required.
- Good writing and reporting skills.
- Ability to be creative and innovative in generating new ideas and putting them into practice.
- High level of commitment and self-motivation.
- Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
- Proficiency in the use of basic computer software.
- Passion for improving health care, especially in rural areas.
- Ability and commitment to stay for a minimum of two years with the Pharo Diagnostic Center.
Behavioral Competencies
- Great attention to detail and a flexible approach to work.
- High professional and ethical standards.
- Positive outlook and outgoing personality with solid leadership, interpersonal and diplomatic skills.
- Structured and process oriented.
- Excellent time and project management skills with ability to balance multiple priorities.
- Motivated to learn and perform and not afraid to ask questions.
- Willing to challenge status quo and add value by introducing positive change.
- Excellent communicator and comfortable to work in a team environment.
How to Apply
Review of complete applications will be on a rolling basis. In the event that we identify an outstanding early in the search process, we reserve the right to appoint before the deadline. For this reason, we encourage interested candidates to apply at the earliest possible time. Due to the high volume of applications, we regret that we will only be able to contact short-listed candidates.
Please send the information listed below, as a single PDF file, to the following email address:
[email protected]. Please indicate ‘’Application for Director, Pharo Diagnostic Center’’ in the email subject line.
- A detailed CV and Covering Letter
- A 1,000-word essay on both of these:
- What experience have you gained that makes you the most qualified candidate for the role?
- What major challenges do you envisage in a typical large diagnostic center that provides laboratory and imaging services and how will you resolve these using your experience?
3. A one-page list of five references with current addresses, phone numbers, and email contacts.
More Information
- Job City Assosa, Benishangul Gumuz
