Summary
Date Posted: Thursday, October 14, 2021 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) is an international, not-for-profit research and development (R&D) organization that develops and delivers new treatments for neglected diseases that affect millions of the world’s poorest people.
Together with more than 200 public research and industry allies worldwide, we use the power of partnership, innovation, open science, and advocacy to find solutions to a great injustice: the lack of medicines for life-threatening diseases that disproportionately impact poor and marginalized people. Driven by collaboration, not competition, and by patients’ needs, not profits, we promote equitable access, foster inclusive and sustainable solutions, and advocate for a more effective global biomedical R&D system that meets the needs of neglected patients.
Since our inception, DNDi has delivered nine new treatments for people with sleeping sickness, visceral leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, paediatric HIV, hepatitis C, and malaria that have saved millions of lives. We now aim to deliver an additional 15-18 new treatments by 2028 – addressing R&D gaps for neglected tropical diseases and viral infections, including pandemic-prone and climate-sensitive diseases.
DNDi Africa was established in 2003 in Nairobi to ensure connection with our founding partner KEMRI and support clinical development programmes. This DNDi regional office conducts R&D projects in the Eastern Africa region (esp. Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania), including clinical activities and data management for clinical trials for treatments for leishmaniasis, paediatric HIV, mycetoma, and others. It also leads capacity strengthening initiatives through multi-country research platforms with the objective to ensure sustainable R&D capacities for DNDi projects. The team has grown to approx. 36 people today. As part of the global strategy, DNDi is further empowering its regional teams to ensure a coherent regional development across disease areas and activities, while reinforcing coherence among disease clusters.

Purpose of the position
The Senior Market Access Manager will support the translation of new clinical evidence into policy and routine practice in five target countries – Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda. We are looking for someone who has extensive experience setting up and managing public health projects in East Africa, preferably on leishmaniasis and/or other neglected tropical diseases.
The Senior Market Access Manager will work in very close collaboration and guidance from the Ministry of Health leishmaniasis national programme and respective NTD national working groups. The position will be based in Nairobi, Kenya but expected to spend significant portion of their time in Ethiopia and other countries in East Africa.

Specific job responsibilities
• Act as a thought leader for visceral leishmaniasis in the East Africa region, working under the supervision of the DNDi Access Head and in collaboration with regional leadership to develop and guide strategies to improve access to high-quality visceral leishmaniasis services across the region and address service gaps, identify national and regional priorities, support the development and implementation of appropriate programmes and interventions, and fundraising as needed.
• Following the workplan described in the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) funded Visceral Leishmaniasis Access consortium, work closely with DNDi Disease Head and other relevant people to develop the programme strategy, identify new opportunities for engagement, develop and deliver on develop clear operational plans for execution. This includes assisting the LeishAccess project coordinator in the management of the different working packages in close collaboration with WP5 members.
• Coordinate training and capacity building activities collaboratively with key national institutions.
• With support from procurement expert, help governments ensure an uninterrupted supply of essential visceral leishmaniasis commodities in the project countries by building stock monitoring tools and dashboards and working closely with procurement agents and government logistics units to understand and map funding flows, ordering cycles, and delivery timelines.
• Serve as a thought leader on product regulatory issues in East Africa, mitigating delays where necessary by facilitating communication between suppliers and buyers (e.g., WHO, national drug regulatory bodies, etc.)
• Establish and maintain effective and collaborative working relationships and engagement with Ministry of Health, WHO, local and regional institutional partners, and technical/academic institutions at national levels, and ensure maximum coordination of resources and effort.
• Provide strategic and high-quality technical assistance to the government as needed/requested, and nurture a trusted relationship with government partners based on a track record of delivering results that exceed expectations in speed and quality.
• Identify key impediments to the successful execution of the programme strategy and work with the MOH and partners to develop and implement solutions to rapidly address these bottlenecks.
• Facilitate donor communication and manage monitoring and reporting of financial and programmatic progress.
• Support fundraising efforts to secure opportunities for broader scale-up and impact. This includes engaging in high-level interactions with governments and donors to represent organisation's vision and pitch our tools, approaches and interventions.
The above list of responsibilities is not exhaustive, and you may be required to undertake other responsibilities appropriate to your grade. This job description may be subject to review.

Reporting line
• The Senior Market Access Manager reports to NTD Head of Access
• Dotted reporting line to the Head of Visceral Leishmaniasis
• Close working relationship with the Head of Regional Clinical Operations (EA), relevant members of the DNDi African regional office, Nairobi and DNDi global disease teams

Interactions
• Works in coordination with Access and Visceral leishmaniasis team, based in Geneva, and in the regional offices; as well as with other transversal R&D units (Medical Affairs, Pharmaceutical Development, Translational Sciences)
• This role promotes programmes and maintains productive relationships by projecting the image of a credible partner and ensures commitment of partners.

Job requirements
Skills and attributes
• Very strong ability to use initiative, prioritize, multi-task, and work well under pressure to meet deadlines
• Very clear and systematic thinking that demonstrates strong judgment and problem solving competencies
• Very strong communication skills in multicultural, multi-lingual environments
• Very strong ability to work effectively as part of a multicultural team
• Very well organized and structured
• Very strong analytical skills
• Very strong ability to lead project delivery
• Very strong ability to manage large size projects with budget management
• Strong strategic thinking and leadership abilities
• Very strong management, negotiation, and advocacy skills
• Very strong ability to exercise high degree of independence to support programme delivery and explore new areas of activities
• Very strong ability to interact with internal and external stakeholders
• Lead and motivate a team for optimum performance, supervising junior staff

Experience
• Over 8 years in Senior role
• Proven ability to work effectively in a team environment and matrix structure
• Working on public health issues, preferably leishmaniasis and other communicable diseases.
• Prior experience working in Eastern Africa is strongly preferred.
• Experience working on new product introduction, procurement and supply chain management in East Africa.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, and a track record of consensus building and managing relationships with a range of stakeholders across sectors
• Experience and understanding of monitoring and evaluation for large, complex projects
• Ability to demonstrate high performance conceiving, planning, and executing on complex programmes in unstructured and demanding environments without extensive operational support

Education
• Advanced Degree (Masters Public Health or master’s in Business Administration) or equivalent

Other requirements
• Travel up to 60%

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 96

Level of Education: Postgraduate Degree

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Job application procedure
• Please submit your application using the online form https://dndi.secure.force.com/hrapp/positionapply?id=a0f0800000lcDmE&sf=off
• Deadline for application: Accepting applications until 15 November 2021
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted
• Application submission for this position may close early if we have enough suitable applicants

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