Associate Program Director

Overview

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

 

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

 

At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication, and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skill sets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with the majority of our staff based in program countries. Learn more about our exciting work: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

 

CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion, and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experience, backgrounds, and culture.

 

Cameroon Program Overview

 

CHAI began working in Cameroon in 2007 with an initial focus on improving access to HIV diagnosis, care, and treatment. The country program has since evolved into a broad, multi-disease portfolio delivered in close partnership with the Ministry of Public Health (MoH) and its national programs. Under the CHAI Cameroon Country Strategy 2026–2028, the portfolio is organized into five portfolio categories:

• Infectious Diseases: strengthening and scaling malaria case management, community health, digital microplanning, drug-resistance mitigation, surveillance, and district-level data use; expanding tuberculosis and neglected tropical disease programming; and maintaining readiness for HIV/AIDS re-entry, hepatitis (including triple elimination of HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis), and pandemic response.
• Women and Children's Health: strengthening last-mile delivery, reducing zero-dose populations, scaling under-utilized and new vaccines, addressing postpartum haemorrhage, and expanding access to long-acting contraceptives, zinc, and oral rehydration salts (ORS), and safe water, while building district-level management capacity.
• Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs): consolidating oxygen and respiratory health gains, scaling Integrated NCD care (including the PEN-Plus model for severe chronic conditions), and selectively expanding into cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, sickle cell disease, mental health, and lead poisoning where the burden is significant and CHAI's offer is matched to government need.
• Health Systems Strengthening: consolidating the Technical Support Unit (TSU) as a systems integrator, and expanding into health financing and health workforce development.
• Cross-cutting Expert Areas: strengthening and scaling digital health and diagnostics platforms, exploring targeted applications of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics, and maintaining readiness in market shaping, assistive technology, and climate and health.

Across the portfolio, CHAI Cameroon applies a consistent model: embedding technical advisors within government institutions, strengthening information systems and data use (including tools such as the Women's Health Equity Index, WHEI), and building sustainable, government-owned capacity rather than parallel structures. Guided by its four strategic objectives (scale, innovate, finance, and prepare), the country program is expected to continue growing in scope and complexity over the strategy period, expanding proven programs and selectively adding new workstreams as government priorities and financing converge. Diversifying and growing the funding base to sustain this expansion, and to reduce reliance on any single donor, is an explicit strategic priority.

 

Position Overview

 

CHAI Cameroon seeks a highly motivated, mission-driven leader to serve as Associate Director of Programs, providing strategic and operational leadership across the country program's portfolio and driving its growth. The portfolio spans the program clusters and cross-cutting areas set out in the CHAI Cameroon Country Strategy 2026–2028, and the role is expected to take on oversight of additional program areas as the portfolio expands.

 

The Associate Director will serve as the connective layer between the Country Director and the Program Managers and technical teams leading each cluster, ensuring that individual programs are technically sound, well-managed, and aligned with a coherent country strategy. In parallel, the Associate Director will lead the country office's business development effort: building and managing the funding pipeline, diversifying the donor base, leading proposal development, and designing and incubating new programs that expand CHAI Cameroon's impact. The role also represents CHAI Cameroon's program work externally to government counterparts, donors, and partners.

 

The successful candidate will have a deep personal commitment to results, sound judgment in ambiguous and fast-moving environments, a strong track record of raising and growing funding, and the credibility to engage confidently with senior government officials, donors, and technical experts across multiple health areas. This is a senior leadership role within the CHAI Cameroon country team, with significant latitude to shape how the program portfolio is organized, resourced, and grown.

 

This position is based in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with in-country and occasional regional travel subject to country leadership approval. It reports to the Country Director, CHAI Cameroon.

Responsibilities

Program Leadership and Portfolio Management (25%)

• Provide leadership and oversight across CHAI Cameroon's program clusters and cross-cutting areas, and any additional program areas assigned, ensuring each program has clear objectives, workplans, and performance metrics.
• Serve as a senior advisor to Program Managers on program design, implementation strategy, and problem-solving, drawing connections and identifying synergies across disease areas.
• Monitor program execution across the portfolio, proactively identifying risks, delays, and resourcing gaps, and directing corrective action in coordination with Program Managers and the Country Director.
• Ensure programmatic and financial compliance with CHAI and donor administrative, financial, and contractual requirements across all programs in the portfolio.
• Support the formulation of sub-awards and partner agreements, including scopes of work, deliverable timelines, and budget negotiation.
• Operate the portfolio review process, sequencing scale-up and new scope to sustain delivery and avoid overextension.

Strategic Direction and External Engagement (25%)

• Provide strategic direction for the growth and evolution of the portfolio, working with the Country Director to translate the country strategy into annual priorities across all program areas and emerging health priorities.
• Represent CHAI Cameroon in engagements with the Ministry of Public Health, national disease programs, and other government bodies, multilateral organizations, and technical partners across the portfolio.
• Develop and maintain technical and policy expertise across CHAI's disease-area programs, and translate global evidence and lessons from other CHAI country programs into Cameroon-specific strategy.
• Facilitate high-level strategic discussions with a multicultural, multidisciplinary set of government, donor, and partner stakeholders, and align program strategy with national health plans, including Cameroon's National Health Development Plan (PNDS) and Vision 2035 and SND30 priorities.

People Leadership and Team Management (20%)

• Directly manage and mentor Program Managers across the portfolio, supporting their professional development and helping them build strong, high-performing teams.
• Work closely with CHAI Cameroon leadership and country teams to ensure cohesive collaboration across programs, alignment on shared goals and donor requirements, and a unified country strategy.
• Support hiring across the portfolio, including preparing job descriptions, participating in interviews, and shaping onboarding for new program staff.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to program teams in identifying and solving problems, and provide creative, strategic input on complex cross-program issues.
• Support the development, synthesis, and review of presentations, reports, and briefings for donors and CHAI leadership across the portfolio.

Business Development, Fundraising, and Portfolio Growth (30%)

• Lead CHAI Cameroon's resource mobilization effort, establishing and managing a governed opportunity pipeline with systematic screening and clear bid or no-bid criteria aligned to the country strategy.
• Drive donor and partner diversification across bilateral, multilateral, foundation, and private-sector sources to reduce donor-concentration risk and expand the resource base, working toward the strategy's financing targets and the principle that no program should depend on a single donor.
• Identify, scope, and pursue new programmatic opportunities that grow the portfolio, including the design, costing, and incubation of new programs, and the expansion of proven programs where government demand and financing converge.
• Lead and coordinate proposal development from end to end, including concept notes, technical narratives, budgets, and compliance, ensuring each submission has a clear delivery architecture, measurable results, and an explicit sustainability logic; work closely with Program Managers and CHAI's regional and global teams.
• Build fit-for-purpose consortia and partnerships, including with local organizations, that combine technical leadership, implementation footprint, community access, and compliance capacity.
• Professionalize donor stewardship and external communications as a core financing lever, including a donor-segmented engagement plan and systematic dissemination of results.
• Oversee grant and donor management across the portfolio, including reviewing project and financial reports, coordinating donor updates, and ensuring adherence to reporting timelines and quality standards.

Note: The duties and responsibilities outlined above represent the core functions of this position but are not exhaustive. The role requires adaptability, and its scope is expected to expand as CHAI Cameroon's program portfolio grows. The incumbent may be assigned other relevant program areas or cross-cutting responsibilities as determined by organizational needs, strategic priorities, and supervisory direction.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in public health, business administration, health economics, health policy, or a related field strongly preferred; a bachelor's degree with exceptional, directly relevant experience will also be considered.
• Minimum of seven to ten years of professional experience with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership, including experience managing complex, multidisciplinary programs.
• Demonstrated track record in business development and resource mobilization, including building funding pipelines, leading successful proposals, and growing a program portfolio or funding base.
• Demonstrated experience managing or overseeing more than one program or workstream simultaneously, ideally spanning more than one disease area or technical domain.
• Fluency in French and English, both written and spoken.
• Experience working with government officials, multilateral organizations, and international donors, with the credibility to represent an organization at a senior level, and to cultivate and steward donor relationships.
• Exceptional problem-solving and analytical skills, with the ability to scope ambiguous problems, anticipate emerging issues, and make sound decisions with limited structure or oversight.
• Experience in strategy development, planning, and cross-team implementation.
• Strong financial acumen, including the ability to develop and review program and proposal budgets, and to make sound resource-allocation decisions.
• Demonstrated people-management experience, including mentoring, developing, and holding accountable managers of remote or decentralized teams.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to prepare persuasive proposals, presentations, and donor-facing reports.
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to be effective, calm, and flexible in high-pressure, fast-paced situations.
• Ability to travel up to 40% of the year, primarily within Cameroon.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience working in or managing programs in one or more of malaria, tuberculosis, oxygen and respiratory health, sexual and reproductive health and family planning, immunization and vaccines, or non-communicable diseases.
• Track record of securing funding from major global health donors (e.g., the Global Fund, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gavi, Unitaid, USAID, and FCDO), and of leading or contributing to consortium bids.
• Experience in health data systems, digital health, or health information systems strengthening.
• Experience designing, costing, or launching new programs, or leading market-shaping or health-financing initiatives.
• Experience in management consulting, investment banking, or similarly fast-paced, output-oriented environments.
• Experience living or working in Cameroon or elsewhere in Central or West Africa.

What CHAI Offers

• The opportunity to shape and grow a multi-disease program portfolio at national scale, in close partnership with government leadership.
• A central, high-visibility role in building CHAI Cameroon's funding base and launching new programs.
• A dynamic, mission-driven work environment focused on real-world, sustainable impact.
• Exposure to high-level policy, strategy, and technical work across multiple public health domains.
• A close-knit, entrepreneurial country team, with strong support from CHAI's global and regional program teams.
• Opportunities for professional growth as the scope of the role expands alongside the country program.

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