Senior Associate, African Vaccine Manufacturing

CHAI - Clinton Health Access Initiative

Senior Associate, African Vaccine Manufacturing

Country

South Africa
City

Pretoria
Type

Full Time
Program (Division)

Non Communicable Diseases – Vaccines Market Team
Additional Location Description

Flexibility of placement in other CHAI programmatic countries pending country leadership approval.

Overview

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

 

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

 

At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skillsets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with majority of our staff based in program countries. Learn more about our exciting work: 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.

 

Overview of CHAI’s Vaccines Program and Role:

 

CHAI’s Vaccine Markets Team works with vaccine manufacturers, Gavi and other global stakeholders to improve availability, affordability and diversity of supply for vaccines.

 

The Covid-19 pandemic, and the global response to it, has revealed deep inequalities in the current structure of global health institutions and markets. For instance, One of the clearest demonstrations of this was the delays experienced by low and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) in receiving Covid-19 vaccines, particularly in Africa. There is consensus that one driver of this inequality was the lack of vaccine manufacturing capacity on the African continent. Despite having the highest continental incidence of mortality caused by infectious diseases in the world, less than 1% of Africa’s vaccine needs are met by products manufactured on the continent. Whilst the immediate issue of access to Covid-19 vaccines has (broadly speaking) been resolved, the lack of regional vaccine manufacturing capacity remains.

 

CHAI aims to help address this issue by applying the techniques it has used successfully in working with suppliers and procurers to optimize the African vaccine ecosystem. On the supply-side this entails developing commercial, costing and pricing strategies to support sustainable vaccine manufacturing businesses on the Africa continent. Whilst on the procurement-side this entails creating policy environments conducive to the procurement of African-made vaccines. In doing so, this project will ensure the availability of African-made vaccines at affordable yet commercially sustainable prices.  

 

The Vaccines Markets team is seeking a Senior Associate to support supplier, procurer, and partner facing engagements, with a focus on the emerging vaccine manufacturing ecosystem in Africa. We are seeking a highly motivated individual with outstanding analytical, strategic, communication and teamwork skills.

 

This role is flexible to be based in an African CHAI program country outside of South Africa, pending country leadership approval.

Responsibilities

  • Owning and leading the strategic design of market-shaping interventions to support the African vaccine manufacturing ecosystem.
  • Overseeing quantitative and qualitative analysis to inform global policy and increase the evidence base for high-impact interventions.
  • Providing technical assistance implementation to drive on-the-ground impact in scaling-up the African vaccine manufacturing sector (e.g., business cases for vaccine technology transfers, policy proposals for the procurement of African-made vaccines).
  • Proactively developing and managing relationships with key partners to support the growth of the African vaccine manufacturing industry.
  • Leading preparation of presentations, reports, and other analyses to be shared with external stakeholders through white papers, conferences, and academic journal articles.
  • Creatively scoping and initiating projects that could contribute to further improving the African vaccine manufacturing ecosystem.

Qualifications

We are seeking exceptional and highly-motivated individuals with a genuine desire to maximize global health outcomes. An ideal candidate will be described as:

  • Intellectually curious – You have a desire to dig deeper than the surface, asking questions like: Why does this intervention perform better than another? What does this new information mean for my current conclusions? How might this intervention look different in another country?
  • Effective leader – You are able to find a balance between delegation and control when managing a team, giving more junior team members opportunities to learn and grow whilst ensuring high-quality team output
  • Insightful – You draw cogent conclusions from large amounts of analysis, sharing what is relevant for real-world challenges the Incubator team is trying to address
  • Practical – You demonstrate judgment in how you allocate your efforts when balancing multiple priorities, focusing on the most decision-critical aspects, and dynamically changing these priorities in response to changing circumstances
  • Analytical – You are comfortable working with large amounts of quantitative and qualitative data and effectively extracting logical conclusions and recommendations from this analysis
  • Communicative – You can respectfully and effectively navigate varied and sensitive stakeholder environments, including in-country teams to senior donor executives
  • Rigorous – You take pride in your work and have high standards for what you produce, creating analysis that can stand up to the scrutiny of internal and external parties
  • Passionate – You are passionate about helping improve global health as much as possible

There is no ‘perfect’ candidate for this role. We are seeking dedicated and passionate individuals who want to make a difference in global health outcomes. Whatever your background, if this role excites you, please apply.

 

Requirements:

  • Minimum of a graduate degree in business, economics, or a related field. 
  • Minimum of 5 years of professional experience including in a fast paced, results-oriented work environment (e.g., strategy consulting, pharmaceuticals, health financing).
  • Proven project management skills and the ability to work independently and handle multiple priorities simultaneously.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, and demonstrated ability to build strong relationships with individuals of varying levels of seniority.
  • Clear strategic thinker with very strong problem-solving skills.
  • High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
  • English language fluency, both written and verbal.
  • Available for up to 20-30% travel.

Advantages:

  • Experience working remotely with a decentralized team.
  • Experience in vaccines, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and/or procurement.
  • Experience working in or supporting Low and Middle Income Countries.
  • Prior knowledge or experience of global health partners within the vaccine ecosystem.
  • Fluency in other languages, particularly French or Arabic.

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