Associate Director

Job Summary

The Associate Director, GMT takes executive ownership over the global availability and affordability of essential medical commodities. Core functions include driving high-consequence commercial negotiations with global and regional manufacturers, analyzing market health indicators to accelerate time-to-market metrics for new therapeutics, leading cross-functional responses to complex Requests for Proposals (RFPs), and overcoming operational supply chain bottlenecks under aggressive donor-funded timelines.

Qualification

• Educational Foundation: Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Public Health, Business Administration, or a related field. A Master’s degree or higher (MBA, MPH, or MSc in Health Economics) is strongly preferred.
• Linguistic Fluency: Complete, professional written and verbal mastery of the English language.
• Software Toolkit Mastery: High-level advanced proficiency across the Microsoft Office suite, specifically utilizing Excel for quantitative market modeling and data synthesis, and PowerPoint for translating complex economics into executive-ready presentations.
• Personal Attributes: Deep commitment to public health excellence, coupled with personal traits of humility, tenacity, resourcefulness, high energy, and an uncompromised work ethic.

Experience

Candidates must demonstrate exceptional performance across demanding, results-oriented public or private sectors:

Market-Shaping Strategy & Commercial Negotiations

• Field Tenure Alignment: Requires 8+ years of progressive, metrics-driven professional experience when supported by an advanced graduate degree, or 10+ years of experience when applying with a Bachelor’s degree.
• Negotiation Track Record: Proven, referenceable success directing large-scale commercial negotiations with pharmaceutical, diagnostic, or medical device manufacturers to reduce unit pricing and secure long-term supply volume commitments.
• Living and Working in LMICs: Direct personal and professional experience navigating and operating within low-resourced settings or emerging market environments is highly preferred.

Multi-Geography Project Leadership & Relationship Management

• Complex Portfolio Management: A documented history of designing, financing, and leading large, multi-country project work streams and cross-functional teams simultaneously.
• Supplier & Regulatory Navigation: Experience offering strategic market intelligence to suppliers to help them navigate complex international regulatory frameworks (e.g., WHO Prequalification) and public procurement channels.
• Remote Cross-Border Collaboration: Superior diplomatic skills with a demonstrated ability to build alignment among disparate stakeholders, including global remote teams, Ministry of Health (MOH) officials, and private sector executives.

Key Responsibilities

Global Supply-Side Strategy & Commercial Negotiations (35%)

• Architect Market-Shaping Initiatives: Formulate and execute robust, global supply-side interventions for HAP, Nutrition, and Assistive Technology commodities to drastically lower entry barriers and lower product acquisition costs.
• Lead Corporate Negotiations: Act as CHAI’s principal negotiator with multinational and regional manufacturers to secure sustainable pricing models, volume guarantees, and favorable supplier contract clauses.
• RFP and Proposal Architecture: Spearhead the preparation and technical write-up of responses to complex Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and grant applications, working in tandem with disease-specific and country programs.

Regional Manufacturing Development & Institutional Integration (35%)

• Catalyze Localized Manufacturing: Identify, vet, and foster strategic alliances with indigenous African manufacturers to expand regional pharmaceutical and diagnostic production networks.
• Support Rwanda Medical Supply: Provide direct advisory and analytical support to the CHAI Rwanda team to optimize procurement, forecasting, and inventory workflows for Rwanda Medical Supply (RMS).
• Accelerate Regulatory Time-to-Market: Partner closely with the Product Quality and Regulatory Affairs (PCQRA) division to run market health analyses that speed up regulatory approval and delivery times.

Operational Oversight, Monitoring & Stakeholder Management (30%)

• Mitigate Logistics Bottlenecks: Systematically review GMT performance indicators against rigorous donor targets, identifying and clearing operational weaknesses across country programs.
• Manage High-Level Stakeholders: Maintain trusted, collaborative communication networks connecting global market actors, bilateral donors, private foundations, and senior Ministry of Health officials.
• Drive Emergency Incident Response: Maintain situational agility to respond quickly to sudden supply drops, regulatory holds, or shifting demand patterns in complex, multicultural environments.

Expected Outputs & Deliverables

• Comprehensively mapped supply-side strategies and market analysis frameworks for HAP, Nutrition, and Assistive Technology.
• Executed commercial supplier agreements demonstrating clear unit-cost reduction and improved supply security.
• Active, formalized technical agreements and development roadmaps with African regional manufacturers.
• Flawless operational coordination logs and optimized procurement tools embedded within Rwanda Medical Supply.
• Technically complete RFP submissions and strategic donor reports delivered ahead of program timelines.

Skills Required:

• Economics / Statistics
• Health / Medical
• Sales / Marketing / Business / Management