Programme Director

About the Programme

Africas population is growing rapidly with young people forming an increasing share of the workforce. Yet job creation has not kept pace leaving millions - particularly young women - without access to stable dignified livelihoods due to barriers such as limited education social norms and unpaid care responsibilities.

At the same time Africas health sector is expanding and presents a powerful opportunity to create sustainable livelihood pathways. This programme focuses on transforming community-based health work into respected viable career pathways for young people especially women. Starting in Kenya Ethiopia Burkina Faso Tanzania and Malawi the programme aims to professionalise community health workers create dignified employment and strengthen systems - contributing to both youth livelihoods and healthier communities.

Position Summary

The Programme Director leads the overall delivery of this multi-partner and multi-country programme that aims to turn community-based health work into a respected and sustainable pathway for young people particularly young women. The role is responsible for ensuring that programme objectives related to youth employment entrepreneurship and stronger systems are achieved across all participating countries. The Director is accountable for converting vision into viable models that deliver livelihood outcomes strengthen systems and attract sustained investment.

The Director provides strategic direction oversees performance and risk and builds strong partnerships with governments donors and implementing partners to ensure effective and coordinated programme implementation.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic leadership: Shape and evolve programme strategy with an entrepreneurial mindset balancing innovation scale and sustainability in a multi-partner and multi-country environment; make bold evidence-informed decisions to pivot stop or scale initiatives based on performance and learning and translate complex challenges into practical market-aware solutions that create employment and enterprise opportunities.
2. People & Performance: Empower leaders within own team and country programmes to make decisions take ownership and innovate responsibly; model courage accountability and learning in tough environments; sustain team energy creativity and resilience over short and long-term horizons; mentor coach and manage staff performance through structured feedback mechanisms break down silos by facilitating clear cross-functional communication channels to drive collaboration. Build embed and protect a culture and environment that advocates for others in the face of challenges removing barriers to trust and rewarding others for demonstrating programme values an entrepreneurial mindset and the ability to seize opportunities that result in unique and differentiated solutions.
3. Change leadership and adaptive programme stewardship: Provide proactive change leadership across the programme lifecycle anticipating and responding to shifts in political regulatory legal and programmatic environments over time; lead and support teams through periods of uncertainty and transition maintaining clarity confidence and alignment across countries and partners; ensure change is managed deliberately and inclusively balancing the need for responsiveness with strong governance communication and risk management.
4. Programme performance and innovation: Provide executive oversight of programme delivery across multiple countries ensuring quality consistency and accountability while holding country programmes accountable for results timelines and outcomes and drive a culture of experimentation accountability and results not compliance-only delivery; and build the capability of country programme leadership to manage consortium relationships effectively including when and how to escalate issues.
5. Partnerships and ecosystem building: Provide regional leadership in building and stewarding strategic partnerships with governments relevant regional bodies private sector actors training institutions and donors to unlock employment pathways and business opportunities. Position the programme as a credible platform for innovation co-investment and scale; navigate complex multi-country regulatory political institutional and market dynamics with confidence and diplomacy - identifying risks and opportunities that may positively or negatively affect sustainable livelihoods. 
6. Financial Grant and Risk stewardship: Exercise strong executive judgment over programme investments balance innovation with accountability ensure financial sustainability considerations are embedded in programme design and decision-making.
7. Learning Evidence and Adaptation: Champion evidence-informed innovation using data and learning to refine models and inform strategic choices ensure MEL systems support decision-making and adaptation build credible evidence to support scale policy influence and future investment.
8. Stakeholder leadership & engagement: Lead and manage strategic relationships within the consortium address questions of leadership mandate and decision authority with clarity and confidence and navigate and influence complex consortium dynamics identify stakeholder interests power relationships that may affect programme delivery; and safeguard programme coherence and delivery by ensuring consortium engagement supports agreed objectives governance arrangements and timelines.

Key Performance Indicators (Success Measures) Building the right platform and creating lasting impact

1. Programme and impact: Design and development of a regional delivery plan operational across HQ and programme countries clear definition and tracking of youth employment jobs created with gender disaggregation standardization and professionalization of community health roles (in at least Proof of Concept form) functional partnerships with key stakeholders consortium partners and other implementing partners on-time delivery and minimal compliance or delivery escalations. 
2. Operational excellence and risk management: Ensure operational efficiency and quality delivery; establish and actively manage the regional risk register including financial operational security safeguarding etc.; develop and monitor mitigation strategies.
3. Financial and grant management: Develop manage and utilize budgets within acceptable variance 100% grant compliance and clear investment decisions taken on Proof of Concept vs non-performing activities.
4. Leadership behaviours: Strategic mindset articulates a clear programme narrative linking jobs health and systems makes timely defensible decisions under uncertainty clarifies and ensures functionality of regional leadership roles and manages pressure without reactive leadership.
5. Programme scale and sustainability: Ensure adoption of proven scalable models across programme countries policy or institutional uptake of professional community health roles; create meaningful dignified and relevant engagement with youth and women in communities who have historically not been the target audience for similar programmes; activate private sector participation in livelihoods pathways; and secure follow-on funding or co-investment.
6. Enterprise and portfolio leadership: Clear decisions to scale adapt or exit initiatives cost-per-job or cost-per-outcome improvement programme recognition as a viable platform for innovation and scale strong programme governance with minimal escalations.

Qualifications :

1. 10- 12 years of relevant experience with at least six (6) years of senior leadership experience in social enterprise international development or mission-driven organisations;
2. Masters degree in Public Health Public Policy International Development Business Administration Economics Social Sciences or a related field;
3. Programme or Project Management certification (PMP PgMP PRINCE2 Practitioner or equivalent);
4. Change Management certification e.g PROSCI CCMP;
5. Track record of setting strategic direction for large multi-country and multi-stakeholder programmes preferably across diverse regulatory political and market environments in Africa;
6. Demonstrated ability translate strategy into executable models that deliver sustainable livelihood workforce or systems-change outcomes;
7. Strong financial and commercial judgment in donor-funded or blended-finance contexts;
8. Proven experience building and managing high-value partnerships with key stakeholders regional bodies private sector actors consortium and implementing partners;
9. Experience in health systems workforce development or youth employment; and
10. Exposure to gender-responsive or inclusive employment models.

Core Competencies

1. Establishing strategic direction: Establishing and committing to a long-term business direction based on an analysis of system information and consideration of resources market drivers organization values and emerging economic technological and regulatory concerns.
2. Driving innovation: Open to new ideas and experiences; seeks out learning opportunities; handles situations and problems with innovation and creativity; thinks broadly and strategically; supports and drives organizational change.
3. Leading change: Driving programme and culture changes needed to achieve programme objectives; catalysing new approaches to improve results by transforming programme culture systems policies and practices; helps others overcome resistance to change.
4. Inspiring Excellence: Driving high standards tenaciously working to meet or exceed challenging goals; defining success by goal achievement and continuous improvement.
5. Optimizing diversity: Establishing and supporting programme systems policies and practices that reduce barriers; leverage the capabilities and insights of community and staff with diverse backgrounds cultures styles abilities and motivations.
6. Sharing responsibility: Sharing authority and responsibilities with others to move decision-making and accountability downward through the organization and programme to stretch individual capabilities while achieving the programmes strategic intent and priorities.
7. Innovative leadership: Consistently transforming strategic intent into new and sustainable value by championing innovation leading change and enabling others to execute in uncertain and complex environments.
8. Proactive Learner: Identifying own strengths and shortcomings that impact organizational and programme results; actively pursuing development experiences that will enhance own impact on long-term organizational outcomes.

Additional Information :

Working at Amref Health Africa

At Amref Health Africa you will lead work that drives lasting health change in Africa. As a Pan-African mission-driven organisation led from the continent Amref empowers senior leaders to shape solutions that strengthen health systems expand opportunity and improve lives at scale.

To support sustained performance Amref provides a competitive and supportive employment offering including comprehensive medical cover a pension plan flexible work arrangements continuous leadership development and staff networks that foster inclusion and belonging.

At Amref you do not simply participate in programmes - you lead change build systems and leave a lasting legacy.

Please include a cover letter that highlights why you believe you are an ideal candidate for this role along with your CV showcasing your relevant skills and experience. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis with the application deadline being on Sunday 1st February 2026 (East Africa Time).

Amref Health Africa does not require applicants to pay any money at whatever stage of the recruitment and selection process and has not retained any agent in connection with recruitment. Although Amref may use different job boards from time to time to further spread its reach for applicants all open vacancies are published on our website under the Vacancies page and on our official social media pages. Kindly also note that official emails from Amref Health Africa will arrive from an @ address.

Amref Health Africa is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. Amref Health Africa is is dedicated to diversity and is an equal-opportunity employer with a non-smoking environment policy.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time