Overview
The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries, while strengthening the capabilities of governments and the private sector in those countries to create and sustain high quality health systems that can succeed without our assistance. For more information, please visit: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org.
Position Overview:
Following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) release of updated recommendations on the eligibility and treatment of patients on ART, Malawi introduced universal access to ART in 2016. As of the end of 2017, over 730,000 people living with HIV were alive and on treatment. Further, estimated ART coverage among people in need of treatment was 63% for children (<15 years) and 71% for adults.[1] By 2020, Malawi’s Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) aims to ensure 90% of all people living with HIV know their status, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection receive sustained ART, and 90% of all people receiving ART have viral suppression.
A key part of CHAI Malawi’s HIV treatment work is supporting the Ministry of Health and Population to accelerate the uptake of optimal ARV products by taking an end-to-end approach to product introduction to ensure that optimal products rapidly and consistently reach the patients that need them. The Program Manager will be tasked to provide high-quality technical assistance to the Malawi MoHP to assist with program design and influence national policies to remove barriers to scale-up of the national ART program.
As Malawi’s HIV treatment continues to undergo scale-up, there is also a concurrent emphasis on optimizing prevention strategies to reduce the number of new infections. In 2015 Malawi unveiled a new HIV Prevention Strategy (2015-2020)[1], which aims at reducing HIV infections in line with the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets.[2] The new strategy specifically recognizes the need to target HIV preventive interventions to key populations such as Men who have Sex with Men (MSM), Female Sex Workers (FSW), serodiscordant couples, and young women aged 10-24 years.
Historically, the tools for prevention have been limited, relying heavily on social and behavioral change interventions. However, the preventive benefits of ART, along with the introduction of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) ten years ago, as well as more recent interventions such self-testing and oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), increasingly highlight the critical role biomedical products and interventions could play in preventing the transmission of HIV.
Based in Lilongwe, the CHAI HIV Treatment and Prevention Program Manager will lead the integrated implementation of CHAI’s ARV treatment access and Prevention (“Market Manager for HIV prevention”) programs.
Under the treatment access project portfolio, the Program Manager will lead the execution of the “Accelerating Patient Access to Optimal Antiretrovirals and Relevant Health Products (‘Optimal’)” program in collaboration with the MOH. In this capacity, the Program Manager will lead CHAI teams to support the MOH monitor and implement new HIV treatment guidelines and support the Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) and the Department of HIV and AIDS(DHA) ensure that the forecasting, procurement, storage and distribution of HIV and essential medicines and health commodities are effectively coordinated.
Under the prevention portfolio, the Program Manager will lead CHAI “Market Manager for HIV Prevention” program. In collaboration with the CHAI global team, s/he will lead teams to maintain political momentum for strengthening the HIV Prevention Cascade in Malawi, implement the upcoming National HIV Prevention Strategy, anticipate and investigate knowledge gaps for implementation, and refine priorities and work plan activities for new biomedical HIV prevention technologies in Malawi.
The Program Manager will play critical role in all aspects of program and project management, finance controls, implementation and reporting. S/he will directly manage 1-2 staff and is expected to drive project progress to meet project timelines, in close collaboration with the Malawi Ministry of Health and other implementing partners. The Program Manager in this capacity will report directly to the Senior Program Manager, for the HIV AIDS cluster.
[1] UNAIDS Country Factsheets: Malawi, 2017
[2] Malawi AIDS Response Progress Report, Government of Malawi, 2015
[3] 90% of PLHIV will know their status, 90% of people diagnosed will be on ART and 90% of people on ART will be virally suppressed
Responsibilities
- Accelerating the introduction and uptake of optimal ARVs (for both pediatrics and adults)
- Ensuring the timely and effective implementation of updated the 2018 Malawi treatment guidelines at all national health facilities
- Support the country in assessing opportunities for optimization of national treatment guidelines and roll out of new formulations and develop interventions to overcome identified bottlenecks
- Ensuring the integrated management of HIV and HIV-related drugs and health commodities to mitigate over and understocks and ensure value-for-money
- Ensuring the effective implementation of interventions for Advanced HIV AIDS Diseases
- Work with Malawi’s community advisory board (CAB) to strengthen treatment literacy and include community voices in national decision making
- Build and maintain a thorough understanding of the HIV/AIDS treatment landscape, health systems, priorities, and gaps both in Malawi and globally in order to identify strategic opportunities for program growth to achieve CHAI’s overall objectives
- Provide technical assistance to service delivery points through the Ministry to identify and overcome barriers to access of high quality, low-cost ARVs
- Maintain strong partners interface and relationships management with several stakeholders in Malawi working under/with MoHP and NAC, providing technical support around diverse HIV prevention programs where needed
- Improving decision-making around prevention product investments and portfolio prioritization by actively participating in the HIV Prevention Technical Working Group, chairing the PrEP task force on behalf of
- MoH/NAC, and serving as collaborative focal point for new biomedical prevention products under consideration
- Proactively seek out opportunities to strengthen the HIV Prevention Cascade by collaborating with HIV self-testing, sexual & reproductive health, and key population stakeholders to understand optimal service delivery models from patient-centered perspectives
- Understanding the barriers and market opportunities for timely, efficient, effective, and sustainably-priced HIV biomedical prevention products and interventions
- Work with suppliers and product developers to enable and accelerate entry of new prevention products into the market
- Generate new project ideas aligned with CHAI’s global objectives and MoHP’s biggest gaps and prioritiesQualifications
- Master’s Degree (preferably in Business, Public Health, or Public Policy);
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in a rigorous private or public position, with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership
- Experience with project work related to developing and strengthening health commodity markets
- Ability to manage, develop and motivate staff and lead as a team player, manager, and mentor, demanding top performance from oneself and the entire team
- Ability to develop and execute a coherent programmatic strategy, amidst substantial ambiguity and changing circumstances
- Experience leading and directly managing the project lifecycle (initiation, planning, budgeting, and closure)
- Ability to navigate complex government processes with multiple influencers to achieve consensus
- Strong experience building effective working relationships and working in cross-cultural collaborative environments
- Experience developing training materials and/or reports for broad consumption
- Experience managing demanding work plans and tight budgets
- Excellent business-oriented verbal, visual and written communication skills
- English language fluency, both written and verbal required
- High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, and Word’
Advantages
- Previous country-based work experience in HIV treatment and prevention
PI107979452
More Information
- Job City Lilongwe
