Associate Director, Lead Exposure (Market Shaping)

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 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 skill sets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with the 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.

Lead Exposure Program Overview

Lead (Pb) exposure is a silent yet devastating global health crisis, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Roughly 1 in 2 children in LMICs have elevated blood lead levels, contributing neurological damage, reduced cognitive development, and various health impacts. 

CHAI’s Lead Exposure program builds on our proven market shaping capabilities and experience partnering with governments to address large-scale and cross-sectoral health challenges. Market shaping is a key pillar of our broader Lead Exposure strategy, with two components:

Position Overview 

This is an exciting and challenging role to help address one of the most pressing issues in global health while scaling up CHAI’s newest global program.

As Associate Director, you will drive CHAI’s market shaping work on lead exposure, playing a central role in shaping program direction in collaboration with CHAI teams, governments, donors, and technical partners. You will also lead early-stage scoping projects for new areas where CHAI can apply market shaping approaches to global challenges in the lead exposure space (e.g., access to chelates).

You will work closely with the Senior Director, Innovation, and the Vice President of Innovation, alongside colleagues across CHAI’s Global Markets, Global Diagnostics, and country teams. You will coordinate across country teams, market shaping initiatives, and global program management.

We are seeking a highly motivated, entrepreneurial individual with outstanding problem-solving abilities and communication skills that shares CHAI’s values. The Associate Director must be able to function independently, recruit and manage staff, and have a strong commitment to excellence. CHAI also places great value on qualities such as humility, resourcefulness, and tenacity.

The base location is flexible and could include CHAI program countries, pending Country Director approval. Due to time zones and existing team location, we have a strong preference for candidates based in US, Africa, or Europe. This role will require up to 20% travel.

Responsibilities

• Lead CHAI’s global lead exposure market shaping work, maintaining strategic view of overarching portfolio and long-term program roadmap.
• Manage multiple complex multi-stakeholder projects in parallel, ensuring high-quality, on-time delivery of outputs. 
• Hire, manage, mentor, and support staff within a matrixed team. 
• Inform and help shape the long-term vision for the lead exposure program, incubating CHAI’s role and positioning the organization as a trusted partner in the global lead ecosystem. 
• Identify new market shaping opportunities and lead early-stage scoping of new concepts.
• Design and implement global supply- and demand-side strategies to increase access to safer inputs and reduce lead exposure at scale. 
• Coordinate across multiple CHAI country teams to ensure coherent strategy design and effective implementation. 
• Oversee analyses of market dynamics, cost-effectiveness, and supply chains; negotiate with suppliers to improve affordability and availability of key products. 
• Build and maintain partnerships with governments, NGOs, multilaterals, suppliers, and other stakeholders to advance the global lead exposure agenda. 
• Lead donor engagement, proposal development, and program reporting, ensuring timely, high-quality communication and accountability to funders, and mobilizing resources for lead exposure programming. 
• Represent CHAI externally with donors, with technical partners, and at international fora. 
• Other responsibilities as needed. 

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree plus at least 10 years’ work experience, or advanced degree plus at least 8 years’ work experience, or equivalent work experience.
• Strong track record of managing complex projects and multi-stakeholder teams in dynamic environments.
• Exceptional analytical (qualitative and quantitative) and communication (written and verbal) skills.
• Demonstrated experience in global health, environmental health, or related field
• Experience living or working in low- and middle-income countries.
• Experience building high-performing teams.
• Ability to navigate complex government processes and influence decision-making collaboratively.
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
• Commitment to humility, resourcefulness, tenacity, and CHAI’s values.

Advantages

• Experience in market shaping, supply chain, or environmental health interventions.
• Experience in the private sector (strategy consulting, investment banking, pharmaceutical/biotech/diagnostic/chemical industries) or similarly fast-paced, results-oriented environments.
• Demonstrated success in fundraising and donor relationship management.
• Experience conducting cost-effectiveness modelling or economic evaluation in a public health or social impact context.
• Experience working remotely with decentralized teams across geographies.
• Professional fluency in additional languages such as French, Hindi, or Swahili.

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