Senior Associate, Global SRH at CHAI – The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc.: (Deadline Ongoing)

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

CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion, and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experience, backgrounds, and culture.

Program Summary

Every year over 300,000 mothers die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth with 99% of all maternal deaths occurring in the developing world. Unintended pregnancies also contribute significantly to maternal mortality. In developing countries, 214 million women and girls have an unmet need for contraception, meaning they want to avoid or postpone pregnancy but are not using a modern contraceptive method.  CHAI takes an integrated Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, and Newborn Health (SRMNH) approach to addressing these challenges, beginning with reaching adolescents with reproductive health education and services, and continues with supporting women through their reproductive years to ensure every woman is able to realize her reproductive intentions including: avoid unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, terminate a pregnancy safely under a country’s legal framework, have a healthy pregnancy and childbirth, see her newborn thrive from birth to childhood, and space and limit births.

To reduce maternal and neonatal mortality at childbirth CHAI focuses on averting preventable deaths that can occur in the 24- to 48-hour window around the birth process by building the health system’s capabilities to prevent potential complications from becoming life-threatening, to apply proven and simple interventions to ensure survival, and to quickly refer cases to the appropriate health system level for proper treatment.  To reduce unintended pregnancies and increase access to safe abortion services, CHAI aims to increase access to essential reproductive health products and services in partnership with governments by pursuing global and country-focused market-shaping opportunities and in-country engagement around guidelines, registration, tendering, procurement and service delivery. In addition, CHAI aims to strengthen government health systems and build the capabilities of ministries of health to deliver robust, integrated reproductive health programs and to counsel adolescent girls and young women on SRH.

Underlying CHAI’s approach is the development of effective, government-led management systems that serve as the backbone towards facilitating program implementation, supports transition and enables governments to sustain progress, while also providing for the continued growth and evolution of a country’s SRMNH program. In particular, clear protocols for each level of the health system and routine data collection mechanisms that monitor key indicators are established and strengthened to enable managers to ensure clarity of roles and responsibilities, develop data-based long-term plans, pinpoint weaknesses in the system and troubleshoot challenges.

Global SRH: Supplies-focused support opportunities

The availability of a broad range of quality reproductive health products – including contraceptives, maternal and newborn health medicines, and commodities for safe abortion – is essential to avoiding unwanted pregnancies, maternal mortality, and unsafe abortions. CHAI is currently supporting the introduction of several reproductive health products globally, including medication abortion (MA), subcutaneous injectable contraceptives (DMPA-SC) and hormonal IUD.  CHAI is also exploring the potential of establishing a new category of  “On-demand” contraceptive methods – defined as products used at the time of sex. “On-demand” products are user-controlled, meaning they can be administered without the support of a health worker, which has the potential for greater reach and access in non-facility-based settings, particularly in the private sector.

CHAI also manages a mechanism that pools funds from several donors to fund product introduction activities at the country level. The Catalytic Opportunity Fund (COF) funds high-impact product introduction activities that cannot be funded by in-country resources, as identified through the country’s planning and resource mapping processes. This model allows for rapid deployment of funding for strategic gaps in a country’s product introduction plan. Governments may be recipients of the funds, further supporting government-led implementation of scale-up activities. The COF currently funds Hormonal IUD, DMPA-SC, and MA Combipack scale-up activities and advocacy activities to tackle policy barriers for DMPA-SC. Evaluation of the COF’s impact on product introduction and its effectiveness as a funding mechanism is critical to help it transition and evolve as part of the future of demand-side financing for product introduction.

SEMA Reproductive Health is a new, innovative partnership designed to build healthier, more equitable, and more resilient SRH markets so that women, girls, and people everywhere can control their bodies and futures. SEMA’s unique approach to shaping global health markets begins with the needs and priorities of consumers and country stakeholders to drive the agenda. CHAI is in discussions with SEMA and donors to support the transition of the COF under SEMA and as part of that transition, define how the COF will evolve to further align with SEMA’s principles and goals of supporting government led market solutions.

Position Summary

The Senior Associate will provide support on a portfolio of projects at the global level focused on enabling CHAI’s SRMNH supplies-focused work to create access to highly effective SRH products.

For the Global SRH team (GSRH) support aspect of this role, this position will report to the GSRH Supplies Manager and will work in close partnership with other relevant GSRH team members focused on SRH Supplies, and those focused on regional and country support of SRH programs (i.e. country focal points).  This role will solicit input and interact with key internal cross-functional stakeholders including but not limited to the Global Markets Team (GMT), Product Development and Regulatory Affairs Team (PDRA), Applied Implementation and Research Team (AIR), Clinical Sciences Team (CST), and country teams working on the broader SRMNH portfolio.

Pending country team leadership approval, this role may also be based in another CHAI program country in Africa.

Global Supply Coordination

• Support development and coordination of SRH product introduction and scale up strategies
• Develop M&E frameworks and monitor key indicators relevant to support SRH product introduction and scale up strategies
• Develop and foster relationships with key stakeholders working in SRH supplies and commodity security and become established as a respected and trusted thought leader within CHAI and within the global community
• Conduct analyses of global consumption or procurement data, or other information, as needed
• Coordinate CHAI efforts related to SRH product introduction for 1-2 products.

Country Technical Assistance

• Work with country focal points on the GSRH team to provide input into country strategies on specific technical areas related to product introduction roll-out, supply-chain, and policy

COF

• Conduct impact analyses for COF workstreams including DMPA-SC Scale Up and Regulatory Advocacy COF, Hormonal IUD and MA Combipack
• Work with SRH Supplies Manager to drive discussions with COF donors, SEMA, and country teams on future of demand-side financing; this will include development and presentation of deliverables, materials, and outputs to support discussions
• As applicable, will support additional needs within Supplies workstream such as supporting set-up of additional COF funding stream and/or drive application reviews for hormonal IUD, MA combipack, DMPA SC, and post-partum hemorrhage (PPH) COF workstreams

General

• Work collaboratively with Global SRH Team, Global MNH Team, Global Markets Team (GMT), Applied Analytics and other relevant CHAI global teams, and CHAI country teams to achieve project goals
• Contribute to key internal team operations and culture-building initiatives such as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Contribute to grant development and donor reports as needed
• Provide analytical support as requested
• Travel to meet with global stakeholders as well as to CHAI focus countries in Africa and Asia as needed
• Other project and responsibilities as needed

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field with a minimum of 4 years of experience or Master’s degree in a related field with a minimum of 3 years of work experience in a demanding and fast-paced environment.
• Excellent written and oral English communication skills
• Excellent Microsoft Powerpoint, Excel, and Word skills
• Work experience in a results-oriented environment
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and quantitative skills, and ability to use data to inform program development and strategy
• Willingness to work with a geographically dispersed team across multiple time zones
• Exceptional diplomatic and interpersonal skills, and an ability to manage challenging multi-cultural, multi-stakeholder situations to achieve intended results
• Demonstrated capacity to synthesize evidence into an effective presentations and actionable recommendations for broad range of audiences
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, set priorities, and work well under pressure
• Self-motivation and comfort working independently with little oversight
• Experience working in developing countries
• Prior experience in reproductive health a plus