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Health Regional Lead – Central Africa
Job Overview
Health Unit Central Africa Regional Lead provides coherence and direction to the provision of technical support for Health Unit in the Central Africa Region. As a member of both the regional team and the technical unit Leadership team, the Regional Lead has accountability for technical quality and responsibility for assuring the advice from Technical Advisors is taken into appropriate action by the country office.
The Health Unit Regional Lead (RL) will lead a highly effective, strategic Health Unit regional team to ensure the Central Africa Region has high quality, sound technical support needed to deliver on global program goals and effectively serve our clients. The role will serve as a functional leader, advisor, and a thought partner to both TU leadership and Regional leadership, with a particular focus on leading the operationalization of outcome strategies in Central Africa region, multi-sector and sub-sector program integration, evidence-based design, business development, and quality assurance for high-impact and scale strategic projects. The Regional Lead will coordinate across individuals and projects, ensuring clear priorities are set and communicated, and navigating the challenges inherent in being an advisory function. They will be an excellent people manager, with great team building/animation skills, able to help technical staff succeed and grow in their careers. The Regional Lead will invest deeply in understanding the context and dynamics of the country and regional teams and the challenges they face. They will ensure coherent ways of working within and across the regional technical team, as well as within the wider Health Unit, to align high quality technical support with the operational realities of the country offices. By doing so, the Regional Lead will ensure high quality programming across the Health practice areas in Central Africa region, high quality coordination and partnership with regional teams, effective team performance, and efficiency and impact of technical excellence service offering to the Central Africa region and country programs.
Major Responsibilities
Functional Leadership, Coordination, and Implementation Support:
- Provide technical leadership across the region, including by contextualizing the Health Outcome Strategy at the regional level in partnership with Technical Advisors, DRDs, + DDPs and in line with Country Program Strategic Action Plans
- Promote programming coherence and strategic direction of the Health programming portfolio including identifying opportunities for intra and cross-sectoral integration
- Closely coordinate with Global Practice Leads and HQ functions to facilitate translation of global standards to the region and of country-generated innovation and learning to global practice
- Support regional Technical Advisors to address implementation bottlenecks and critical quality concerns in the region’s programming portfolio, in partnership with the Deputy Regional Director
- Increase quality of technical collaboration across the region by fostering cross-regional dialogue with other regional technical teams
- Provide technical oversight of regional strategic projects as appropriate and/or budgeted, escalating quality assurance challenges as needed
- Foster relationships with a wide range of both internal and external stakeholders to make strategic connections and identify opportunities
- Provide stop-gap direct implementation support as/if appropriate and budgeted on CP-grants
Staff management, learning, and development
- Lead and line manage a high performing team of Health regional Technical Advisors, to design and support Health programming across the region, and generate evidence and learning for local and global strategies
- Accountable for ensuring TAs maintain core knowledge and expertise and apply global best practices to their work across health sub-sectors
- Work closely with Regional and CRRD HQ People & Culture colleagues to devise strategies of attracting, onboarding, developing, and nurturing diverse regional technical staff at the Advisor and Coordinator levels, and ensuring an inclusive work environment. In collaboration with the DRD, Regional and CRRD HQ P&C, and Global Practice Leads, plan and implement professional development for staff ensuring targeted learning.
Program Design and Business Development
- Provide technical leadership and oversight to region-led (multi-country) business development, as well as particularly large single-country opportunities, together with the Technical Advisors, Global Practice Leads and others as relevant.
- Support and promote technical and programmatic innovation in the region, based on technically-sound and contextually-grounded creativity and/or insights
- Collaborate with other technical area Regional Leads and Technical Advisors to promote regional uptake of solutions that are proven to increase scale and deepen impact, with close attention to where integrated programming would multiply efficacy and efficiency
- Work with Deputy Regional Directors, Directors of Awards Management and Deputy Directors of Programs for country programs to understand the region’s donors for the Health sector, the donors’ priorities in the region, and the regional funding priorities of Country Programs for Health Outcome area
- Support regional donor engagement to deepen donor understanding of IRC’s work the region, strategically foster and develop new donor relationships in close coordination with the regional team, and support the development of regional business development opportunities
- Support the development and growth of strategic partnerships with mission-aligned organizations at the regional level who share commitments towards scale and impact and have complementary areas of expertise for collaboration towards delivering better outcomes for clients
- Accountable for coordinating across expert staff to better integrate cross-cutting issues into Health programs (e.g., gender equality, diversity and inclusion, climate adaptation, etc.).
Knowledge Management, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning
- Lift up program learning for sharing across the region and to inform global strategic direction of (relevant) Global Practice Areas
- Facilitate interpretation and use of sector data in regional learning routines and put in place routines and accountability mechanisms to encourage uptake of data-driven recommendations made by TAs
- Collaborate with Regional Measurement Advisors to ensure that Regional Technical Advisors support good MEAL practice for Health programming in Central Africa including the use of high-quality indicators, the use of IRC standard data tools, and the inclusion of MEAL activities in project plans
External Influence and Representation
- Engage in regional sector coordination groups and bilateral relationships as appropriate, to represent IRC and support priority policy and practice shifts
- Support regions in addressing policy & practice shifts needed to enable program impact and scale
- In close collaboration and partnership with the Deputy Regional Director, regional AMU and Advocacy focal points, ensure effective networking and representation in relation to the Health Technical Unital practice areas, through mobilizing input from global practice leads.
Key Working Relationships
- Position Reports to: Dual reporting line to Deputy Director, Health Unit and DRD, Central Africa
- Direct Reports: Technical Advisors
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Key Internal Relationships:
- Health Unit Leadership Team
- Health Unit Global Practice Team(s)
- Health Unit’s Policy and Advocacy, Partnership and Program Development, MEAL leads
- Regional Leads and Technical Advisors supporting the region from other Technical Units
- Regional Measurement Advisor
- Regional Leadership Team, Country Directors, DDPs, CRRD colleagues across multiple roles
- Regional Advocacy and Comms leads
- Regional Safety & Security lead
- Central Africa Awards Management Unit team
- CRRD Senior Management Team and Leadership Group; Regional Leadership Teams
- Global HQ and AMU focal points
Key External Relationships:
- Regional Health Programming Cluster leads and stakeholders, INGOs, Red Cross/Crescent Movement counterparts, Donor and policy makers, counterparts in relevant UN agencies
Desired Experience and Skills
- Highly seasoned professional with at least 8+ years of progressive technical and management experience leading and managing technical teams.
- Established technical expertise in at least one of the Health Global Practice Areas relevant to Central Africa. Professional and/or lived experience in Central Africa context and sound understanding of the region is a huge advantage.
- Strong track record of leading multi-location technical programs with excellent management and leadership skills including coaching, mentoring, and performance management
- Strong track record of driving uptake of evidence-based practice
- Experience managing multiple projects with multi-disciplinary collaborators
- Demonstrated ability to influence across a wide range of diverse stakeholders internally and externally
- Strong track record of identifying and converting business development opportunities (when leading and managing the leader)
- Knowledge and understanding of the respective regional context
- Ability to work, manage, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment; outstanding business acumen, critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills required
- Superb inter-personal, written and verbal communication skills with ability to collaborate across countries, cultures, and departments
- Fluency in English and French is required.
- Ability to travel regionally and globally up to 35% of the time, occasionally on short notice
Education:
- Masters’ degree in Public Health, and/or related fields or an equivalent professional experience background is required. Sound training on the use of data and research evidence for programmatic decisions and rigorous analytic skills are an advantage.
Regional Finance Director
Key areas of accountability:
Strategic Planning & Analysis
- Provide financial information which supports the Regional VP in making business decisions in line with IRC, Regional & Country Program strategies.
- Provide analysis on the overall financial health of the country programs to the RVPs and HQ Finance and collaborate across the regional teams and with country programs on corrective actions and support plans.
- Contribute and provide feedback to the development of Country Programs Strategic Annual Plans and annual operating budgets.
Financial Management Oversight
- Provide high quality financial and accounting support to IRC to ensure:
- Country Programs provide accurate and timely recording of accounting transactions.
- Country Programs financial controls are in place and adhered to
- Country Programs comply with IRCs financial standards.
- Regional team has visibility on financial health of country programs.
- Prepare and review internal financial reports and ensure that management at headquarters and the regional and country office level are kept abreast of financial related issues of the country programs.
- Provide technical guidance and support as requested by the country offices.
- Ensure timely dissemination of new initiatives and polices to the field and monitoring of implementation.
- Develop an expertise and maintain current on the rules and regulations of all donors and provide guidance in the area of donor compliance.
Financial Systems & Business Process Improvement
- Contribute to discussions on financial policy issues including the maintenance and development of the International Finance Manual.
- Serve as Integra Super user and support the roll-out of the new system which will include training and technical support.
Regional Finance Support and Risk Mitigation
- Conduct periodic support visits to the country programs following an approved scope of work.
- Review non-USG final financial reports, and European donor financial reports prior to submission to either the donor, IRC Germany or IRC-UK.
- Respond to ad hoc requests.
- Monthly Reviews of the financial health and risk identification shared with the Regional VP and VP Finance Programs for action.
- Proactively identify potential risks and develop mitigation strategies in conjunction with the Regional VP.
- Internal/External Audit closure and corrective action plan development and tracking
- Attend all audit opening and exit meetings for audits conducted in region.
- Perform the final financial review of the proposal document prior to approval and submission to the donor.
- Participate in regional SMT with strategic thinking, risk analysis and other engagement as needed.
- Collaborate with other Regional functional leads/members of the SMT in flagging risks, identifying solutions and jointly contributing to improved support to Country Programs.
People Management
- Contribute to establishing and strengthening capacity, systems and processes at the country level directly or through direct reports.
- Maintain shared accountability with country program leadership (DDFs, CDs, DDPs, etc.) for improved financial management outcomes.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance – Master’s Degree, CPA or equivalent experience a plus.
- Minimum five years progressive finance/accounting experience in the non-profit sector.
- Previous work experience in a multi-cultural international environment abroad is highly desirable.
- Demonstrated familiarity with GAAP and proven general knowledge of Fund Accounting.
- Previous work experience with a major general ledger software package – experience with MS D365 preferred.
- Proven knowledge of US Government and European Union regulations highly desirable.
- Excellent communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively in a multi-cultural environment and diplomatically manage collegial relationships.
- Solid organizational skills: the ability to be flexible and work well under pressure in a fast-paced team environment.
- Experience coaching, mentoring and capacity building in complex financial systems and financial management.
- Flexible work attitude: the ability to work productively in a team environment & independently and ability to meet unexpected demands.
- Strong Computer skills: facility with MS Word, Excel, various accounting software, and email/internet software.
- Demonstrated ability to thrive in a matrix management environment.
- Ability to present complex financial information in a succinct and compelling manner.
- Experience of solving complex issues through analyses, definition of clear way forward and ensuring by in.
- The ability and willingness to travel to country programs.
- English and French fluency required.