Senior Country Program Officer at The Beginnings Fund

Job Description

What You’ll Do 

• Support development and execution of country specific plans with clear objectives, activities and budgets, including developing, recommending and managing investments as assigned in key partners in line with the overall strategy led by the Program Director. 
• Be the lead representative for Beginnings Fund in one to two countries, leading the consortium of partners alongside the MOH and coordinating partner, supporting governance structures for Beginnings Fund investment plan, and supporting ongoing adaptation to country context and priorities over the four-five-year grant period. 
• Manage and maintain strong relationships with government and provide technical support as needed to advance MOH maternal and newborn health priorities, working with key technical leads and grantee partners.  Support country engagement with EWENE and updates to acceleration plans. 
• Support the MOH to pursue complementary investments, advance donor coordination and alignment on maternal and newborn health participating in TWGs, and liaising with UN agencies, bilateral agencies and other funding and implementing partners to increase funding and scale-up of key interventions. 
• Manage all grant investments in the country investment plan, including identifying issues for the other investment team members leading strategy, finance, and M&E. In partnership with the MOH, program contingency funds to address key challenges which arise during the grant period. 
• Manage processes for grantee reporting and conduct internal reporting reviews including expenditure analysis and budget approval, analysis of interim results, and drive the necessary design change and/or adaptation to quickly course correct and improve programmatic effectiveness and sustainability. 
• Refine and ensure high quality grantmaking processes that strengthen the work and learnings from national, and sub-national implementing partners. Embrace trust-based modes of grantmaking alongside a commitment to building up partner and grantee capacity while generating rigorous data and real-time learning. 
• Serve as a thought partner to the Program Director and Measurement and Evaluation team in driving the impact of the Beginnings Fund, and implement program measurement and evaluation. 
• Explore opportunities for collaboration and partnership to enhance program reach and sustainability. 
• Provide regular updates to the Technical Advisory Group and reports to the Investment Committee on country plan progress. 
• In collaboration with the Program Director, represent the Beginnings Fund with government, donors and grantees, including updating governance structures with key results and organizing site visits for Beginnings Fund donors and staff as needed. 

Qualifications

What You’ll Bring  

• Minimum 8-12 years of experience working in program management, design, grant making, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation 
• Advanced degree in public health, Global Health, International Relations, or related field.  
• Demonstrated understanding of priority maternal and newborn health interventions 
• Experience working with African governments, nongovernmental organizations, multilateral organizations, and other implementing organizations, preferably in maternal and newborn health  
• Familiarity with the Global Health architecture and its operational frameworks including key regional, multilateral and bilateral institutions and financing mechanisms  
• Knowledge of health systems and key players in Beginnings Fund focus countries and maternal and newborn health programming 
• Proven ability to effectively manage complex partnerships, projects, and budgets 
• Exceptional interpersonal and cross-cultural skills and ability to collaborate with external and internal teams of diverse backgrounds 
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. 
• Excited to work in a startup environment and travel locally and internationally as needed (30-50% of the time) 
• Collaborative and team-driven mindset with a strong work ethic and ability to prioritize and multi-task 
• Fluency in English with excellent oral and written communication skills