Country Director, Sierra Leone

This role was posted on August 28, 2024. Please note that we will review applications on a rolling basis.

The Role
At Last Mile Health, we work to deploy a health worker for everyone, everywhere. Are you excited about working directly with the Government of Sierra Leone to strengthen the community health system to ensure improved health outcomes for those living in remote, rural areas? If so, you may be the perfect fit for our Country Director position in Sierra Leone, a critical hire to lead our evolving team.

Reporting to the Deputy Chief Program Officer, the Freetown based Country Director (CD) is responsible for stewarding all of Last Mile Health’s activities in Sierra Leone. The CD oversees the development and attainment of Last Mile Health (LMH) Sierra Leone’s multi-year strategy and annual performance targets, which deliver against the organization’s Theory of Change. The CD is responsible for the implementation of robust policies and systems, and ensures and supports the wellbeing and performance of a committed team. 

The CD is responsible for stewarding LMH’s institutional relationships with critical external stakeholders including donors, implementing partners, and the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health. They will also support programmatic staff to deliver against the Sierra Leone program strategy. The CD will be expected to adapt and strengthen the country strategy and operations as needed, and play a lead role in business development to ensure we deliver on organizational commitments, whilst maximizing impact, aligned to the organization’s global strategy.

This role is open to national and international candidates located in or willing to relocate to Freetown, Sierra Leone. 

What you'll do

Strategic Management & Program Performance 

• Own the Sierra Leone (SL) country strategy; recognizing the need to be flexible and adaptive in delivering impact for remote, rural communities in Sierra Leone, while meeting funder and organizational objectives and commitments.
• Develop, track and monitor annual and quarterly benchmarks and milestones for the Sierra Leone country program, inclusive of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and grant targets. 
• Work with the Sierra Leone Deputy Director to design and implement a government engagement strategy at the national and district (Kambia district) level and make decisions regarding in-country stakeholders, to ensure partnerships are in place to deliver the country strategy.                     
• Coach team members in maintaining these partnerships in support of overall program success.
• Oversee and manage annual planning processes, including target setting, budgeting and HR planning for the Sierra Leone Country program, to enable delivery of the country strategy. 

Team Leadership

• Serve as the representative in leadership forums (Leadership Council, engagement with Global Officers Group) representing the Sierra Leone program.
• With support from the Global People Operations team, foster an LMH Sierra Leone team culture that reflects LMH’s values and supports the wellbeing and performance of the team
• Manage and provide coaching and professional development support to direct reports to ensure they meet their professional goals and Sierra Leone Objectives and Key Results (OKRS). Support those team members who are managers themselves to get the best from their team.    

Fundraising & Grants Management

• Manage in-country funding prospects and donor landscape to identify and pursue potential opportunities for funding that are aligned with LMH’s program vision and strategic goal; represent and raise SL-LMH’s profile with implementing and donor partners.
• Work with the Business Development team to proactively identify new revenues, including opportunities for multilateral/bilateral financing.
• As called upon, directly interface with Last Mile Health funders, to represent Sierra Leone programming and maintain funder commitments (inclusive of preparation and facilitation of donor trips).
• Provide strategic direction on the development of proposals and grant agreements for Sierra Leone programs in conjunction with the Program Strategy and Performance and Partnerships & Development team
• With the Program Strategy and Performance and Finance team, ensure ongoing monitoring of grant delivery and spend down is integrated into team management processes and grants management reviews and problem solving. 

Business Services

• Serve as authorized signatory in Sierra Leone overseeing (directly or via delegation) all expense approval, regulatory compliance, and business management while serving as a champion for resource stewardship across the team
• Ensure that Last Mile Health is legally compliant in Sierra Leone, including annual audit processes, this also includes serving as a key representative and decision maker alongside global and in-country legal counsel.
• Serve as the key decision maker for staff safety and security concerns and elevate to the global safety and security function as required.
• Manage the operations and finance functions in Sierra Leone, to ensure systems and processes are in place to enable and support program delivery.
• With support from global technical teams and relevant country program staff, oversee the recruitment and management of Sierra Leone -based LMH staff

What you'll bring

• MA/S in Business Administration, Public Health, International Affairs/Development, Public Policy/Public Administration or other relevant field
• Extensive and progressive years of experience interfacing with senior government and NGO partners with a strong preference for health systems, public health and health policy experience
• Experience in securing and executing on institutional awards inclusive of the USAID, Global Fund, GAVI and other public sector donors
• Experience in strategy development and communications - the ability to craft compelling narratives to a range of stakeholders 
• Experience previously living and working in Sierra Leone or in Sub-Saharan Africa, familiarity with the cultural and health system contexts in the region 
• Previous experience leading growing teams in a start-up and early phase setting at a senior executive level inclusive of building operational readiness and logistics systems
• Previous experience building relationships and programming with low-and-middle-income government partners
• Knowledge of financial and human resources management and experience owning budgets and stewarding responsible management of program resources 
• Demonstrated ability to manage high stakes projects in complex environments
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English  
• Significant team management and coaching background, with proven ability to rapidly build technical and non-technical skills among your team 

You’ll impress us if you have

• Programmatic experience designing and managing community based primary care projects would be a plus
• Familiarity with public sector funders - designing complex institutional awards and successfully implementing them at scale 
• Direct experience working with organizations and in settings prioritizing remote and rural communities  
• Fluency in working with government and partner stakeholders in fast paced and ambiguous environments
• Experience building programs and teams from early phase and start up projects into more mature and stable teams 

Compensation information

At Last Mile Health, we strive to reward our employees equitably and transparently. This means that we pay our employees based on a clear and consistent methodology and without regard to identity or personal relationships. We have made this model fully transparent, so that everyone has access to all information related to compensation. We hope this helps you better understand Last Mile Health’s values and commitments to our employees. We look forward to answering any questions you may have during the hiring process.

Before applying to this role, please take a moment to learn more about our approach to compensation and how compensation works in each of the countries where we operate. Please find the link to our compensation model and benefits overview below:
 

OVERVIEW OF LAST MILE HEALTH’S COMPENSATION MODEL

Compensation for this position:

The Band for this position: SLB-6

The salary range for this role is $115,361 to $145,131 USD inclusive of housing, transportation and leave allowances and dependent upon experience doing an equivalent role. Please note that the compensation is subject to statutory taxes.

Last Mile Health partners with governments to design, scale, strengthen, and sustain high-quality community health systems, which empower teams of community and frontline health workers to bring life-saving primary healthcare to the world’s most remote communities. LMH is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. For more information, visit  www.lastmilehealth.org.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at LMH. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.