Health Innovation Lead

We are currently recruiting a Health Innovation Lead to join our Quality, Impact and Innovation Department.

This is a remote, 12-month position open to candidates based in any Relief International country of operation within 3 hours of CET time zone.

At Relief International, we are committed to building a representative, inclusive and authentic workplace. We strongly encourage applications from candidates from minoritized backgrounds and those who bring lived experience of the contexts in which we work.

This role is classified as requiring advanced pre-employment checks.

About Relief International

Relief International is an international non-profit organization that partners with communities impacted by conflict, climate change and disaster to save lives, build greater resilience and promote long-term health and wellbeing. Our works across Africa, Asia and the Middle East delivering Health and Nutrition, WASH, Education and Livelihoods programming that creates the foundation for community resilience. We do this by working with local actors to develop safe, inclusive and evidence-based programmes that are conflict-sensitive, climate-smart and responsive to local needs.

About the Opportunity

This is an exciting opportunity to shape and lead Relief International's global health innovation agenda.

The Health Innovation Lead will drive practical, evidence-based innovation to address some of the most pressing health and health-system challenges facing communities in fragile, conflict-affected and resource-constrained settings. Rather than pursuing innovation for its own sake, this role focuses on identifying real-world problems and finding practical, scalable solutions that improve health outcomes, access, quality, efficiency and resilience.

Working across Relief International's global portfolio, you will identify promising innovations, adapt successful approaches from other contexts, test new ideas and build the evidence needed to support adoption and scale. You will collaborate closely with country teams, communities, academic institutions, governments, private-sector actors, donors and research partners to ensure innovations are both impactful and sustainable.

Reporting to the Director of Quality, Impact and Innovation, you will have significant autonomy to shape strategy, develop partnerships, mobilise resources and establish Relief International as a recognised leader in health innovation for humanitarian and development settings.

Your Responsibilities

This role includes the following responsibilities.

• Lead the development and implementation of Relief International's Health Innovation Strategy, creating a focused portfolio of evidence-based innovation opportunities aligned with organisational and country priorities.
• Identify and prioritise health and health-system challenges where innovation can improve outcomes, quality, equity, efficiency and resilience.
• Design, adapt and oversee innovation initiatives using an evidence-based approach that supports testing, learning and scale-up in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
• Scan global evidence, technologies, products and service-delivery models to identify innovations that can be adapted to low-resource and humanitarian contexts.
• Generate evidence on effectiveness, feasibility, cost, acceptability, equity and scalability to inform adoption and investment decisions.
• Lead resource mobilisation efforts, identify funding opportunities and contribute to the development of innovation-focused concept notes, proposals and strategic partnerships.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with ministries of health, donors, research institutions, innovators, private-sector organisations and implementing partners.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring and hands-on support to country teams to strengthen innovation capacity and facilitate adoption of successful approaches.
• Promote cross-country learning, knowledge sharing and thought leadership, helping position Relief International as a leading voice in health innovation for humanitarian settings.

About You

You will bring the following experience and skills.

• Advanced qualification in Public Health, Global Health, Health Systems, Health Policy or a related discipline.
• Significant experience working in global health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries and/or fragile, conflict-affected or humanitarian settings.
• Strong expertise in health systems strengthening and a deep understanding of how health services, financing, workforce, governance, communities and supply chains interact.
• Proven ability to identify complex health-system challenges and develop practical, context-appropriate solutions that can be implemented and sustained.
• Experience identifying, adapting, testing and scaling health innovations, with evidence of moving successful approaches beyond pilot stages toward adoption.
• Demonstrated experience designing or overseeing evaluations, implementation research, pilots or evidence-generation initiatives.
• Strong track record in partnership building, donor engagement and resource mobilisation.
• Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to build relationships across governments, communities, donors, academic institutions and technical partners.
• Experience with digital health, AI, diagnostics, health technologies, implementation science, operational research or health economics would be highly desirable.

How To Apply

To apply for this post, click on the Apply button in the job advert page.

• You will be asked to upload a CV and Cover Letter.
• The cover letter should be one page and explain why you are interested in this post with Relief International and how your skills and experience make you a strong fit for the role.

Closing Date

October 16, 2026. 

As a humanitarian organization, Relief International is committed to safeguarding all those we come into contact with through our work. We are committed to the core humanitarian principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. Relief International expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment and uphold the values and behaviours outlined in the Code of Conduct.

Recruitment to all roles in Relief International includes a criminal records self-declaration, references and other pre-employment checks, which may include police and qualification checks.

Due to the nature of this role, we will be reviewing applications on an ongoing basis and the role might be filled and closed before the closing date. Early applications are encouraged.

Relief International countries of operation include: UK, France, Kenya, Türkiye, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan.

If you are shortlisted, salary will be discussed at HR interview stage. If successful, national terms and conditions will apply.