Director, Tobacco Control, Africa Region

About the role

Vital Strategies is seeking a Director, Tobacco Control, Africa Region to join our team 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 government relations, policy making and public health relations in Africa.

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain close, effective and strong working relationships with government representatives, civil society, academia and international agencies in the region to advance tobacco control policies and priorities.
• Build Vital Strategies' portfolio of assigned countries in the region for advocacy and partnership development.
• Guide and support the regional team in developing and maintaining key partnerships and networks to support tobacco control priorities.
• Provide strategic and technical guidance to governments and NGOs in assigned countries together with the team.
• Ensure that best practices and learnings are incorporated into strategies and interventions at the country and regional level.
• Support the team to build the technical capacity of stakeholders in tobacco control in assigned countries and the region.
• Maintain a strategic overview of the issues relating to tobacco control and public health in Africa and assigned countries through government policies and initiatives, impact assessments and monitoring trends in the external environment.
• Advise on country and regional strategies and grants to expose and counter tobacco industry interference.
• Lead the development of the strategy, budgets and annual plans for the region.
• Provide overall leadership and management of the TCA Fund in Africa and ensure timely implementation and effective operations.
• 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 TCA grants fund in Africa:
• Manage the identification of 10-15 sub-grantees per year.
• Provide and coordinate technical support to active TCA sub-grantees.
• Coordinate and supervise day to day activities across team members and foster inter-team coordination and collaboration.
• Manage budgets and complete regular reporting.
• Lead recruitment for the regional team as needed.
• 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:
• Collaborate with partners to establish collective strategies, set priorities and execute agreed upon activities.
• Liaise with the Policy, Advocacy and Communication (PAC) Division on promoting the advancement of tobacco control measures.
• Represent Vital Strategies’ Tobacco Control Division on conference calls and at meetings with partners.
• Facilitate the communication and timely sharing of information between the SVP of Tobacco Control Division, country teams, and partners.
• Contribute to divisional strategic planning, proposal development, and other organizational initiatives as required.

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 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; 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; Demonstrated experience working in Africa; Prior high-level engagement with government sector, specifically Ministries of Health preferably in Africa; Experienced in strategy creation and execution; Preferred - Global public health non-profit experience preferred