Director, Tobacco Control, Africa Region chez Vital Strategies

About the Role:

The recently launched Tobacco Control Accelerator Fund aims to help advance global tobacco control progress in several low- and middle- income countries. Under this fund Vital Strategies is providing grants and technical support to governments and non-governmental organizations in countries without any best-practice tobacco control measures in place or countries close to implementing all best-practice measures.

Vital Strategies is seeking a Director, Tobacco Control, Africa Region to join our team in New York and play a critical role in advancing our global public health mission. Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Tobacco Control, this individual will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience of policy making, public health policy interventions and government relations. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in Tobacco Control and NCD’s and experience of working and/or living in any nation in Africa.

This is a full-time, New York City-based role, where candidates are expected to adhere to a hybrid (2-days per week in office) schedule. Vital Strategies offers highly competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits. The salary range for this position is $140,000 to $160,000 USD. The candidate must have authorization to work legally in the US at the time of hire.

Job Purpose:

The Director, Africa Region, reporting to the SVP, Tobacco Control, leads on the development, implementation and reporting of the Tobacco Control Accelerator Fund with a focus on countries in Africa. The Director will coordinate closely with the VP, Tobacco Control on overseeing the successful administration and financial monitoring of the Accelerator Fund’s grants portfolio. The Accelerator Fund has an annual budget of $3 million and in the first phase will work with grantees in 13 countries.

The Director manages four Senior Technical Advisors and five independent contractors in the Africa region. The Director will also manage the Program Associate based in the New York office.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Program implementation - 

· Provide overall leadership and management of the Tobacco Control (TC) Accelerator fund

· Ensure timely implementation and effective operations of the TC Accelerator fund

· Guide and support country Senior Technical Advisors in developing and maintaining key partnerships and networks to support tobacco control priorities

· Support team to provide strategic and technical guidance to governments and NGOs in country

· Lead the team in the decision-making process for tobacco control grant applications working collaboratively with the Vice President, Tobacco Control

· Review grant applications and attend grant negotiations and monitoring visits as necessary

· Collaborate with Tobacco Control Division’s Grants Program to establish and execute the Tobacco Control Accelerator (TCA) grants fund: 

(a) Manage the identification of 15-20 sub-grantees per year

(b) Provide and coordinate technical support to active TCA sub-grantees

Team Management - 

· Lead a TCA team within the Tobacco Control Division executing program activities:

(a) Manage assigned staff in New York and Africa and oversee the deliverables of country-based consultants

(b) Coordinate day to day activities across team members

(c) Manage project budget and complete regular reporting

Relationship Building and Communication - 

· Foster collaborations between the Tobacco Control Division with key stakeholders and Bloomberg Initiative partners to design and execute activities to advance tobacco control measures at country level:

(a) Collaborate with partners to establish collective strategies, set priorities and execute agreed upon activities

(b) Liaise with the Policy, Advocacy and Communication (PAC) Division on promoting the advancement of tobacco control measures

(c) Represent Vital Strategies’ Tobacco Control Division on conference calls and at meetings with partners.

(d) Facilitate the communication and timely sharing of information between the SVP of Tobacco Control Division, country teams, and partners.

Qualifications:

Education and Degree - 

· Master’s degree or above

Skills and Abilities - 

· Strong understanding of public health and related policy interventions, government relations, and policymaking

· Comprehensive project management skills, with the ability to make sound, informed judgements

· Demonstrated leadership and people management experience

· Strong interpersonal skills, with demonstrated ability to develop and maintain collaborative relationships with internal and external partners

· Demonstrated capacity to think strategically, to lead and work within diverse teams, to work in multi-cultural settings and with a high degree of independence.

· Ability to build strong, ongoing, impactful relationships across sectors and organizational levels that involve a diverse range of cultural, generational, ethnic, racial, educational, and social backgrounds

· Commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.

Language Requirements - 

· Expert command of both written and spoken English

· Fluency in written and spoken French is strongly preferred

· Fluency in written and spoken Portuguese would be an advantage

Experience:

Required - 

· A minimum of 15 years of progressive professional experience

· A minimum of 10 years of demonstrated experience in Tobacco Control or NCD’s

· Global public health non-profit experience preferred

· Experienced in strategy creation and execution

Preferred - 

· Experience working in low- and middle-income countries

· Experience working and/or living in any nation in Africa

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements:

· Ability to travel 20%

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