Technical Program Director

Pact is an international nonprofit that works in nearly 40 countries building solutions for human development that are evidence-based, data-driven and owned by the communities we serve. Founded in 1971, Pact works with partners to build resilience, improve accountability, and strengthen knowledge and skills for sustainable social impact.

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Position Overview

Pact seeks an experienced Technical Program Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) forthcoming Improving HIV Treatment in Zambia activity. This activity will support Government of Zambia’s national patient and program monitoring systems, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Smart Zambia Institute (SZI). It focuses on supporting MOH and SZI capacity, in alignment with PEPFAR’s goal of transition to host government self-reliance. The overall goal is to assist the Zambian government in its efforts ensure digital information from all health interactions for HIV and related health conditions is available to users, stakeholders, and decision-makers at all levels: facility, district, province, and national. Successful digitization will ensure accountability for resources allocated to health, measure individual and population level health outcomes, and allow the host government to monitor the cost-effectiveness of HIV and related programs. A key focus is to support the Government of Zambia to transform current health information systems to make them more resilient and require fewer resources, both human and financial, for sustainability, leveraging technology innovations to simplify patient and program monitoring processes and facilitate improved data access, quality, and use. The Principal Investigator will be responsible for engaging MOH, SZI, and other stakeholders, to ensure fill oversight of all health information systems, and related data, by the Government of Zambia.

Key Responsibilities

• The Technical Director will provide technical leadership and expert advice on strategies and interventions to strengthen health management and information systems used by the Zambia Ministry of Health and Smart Zambia Institute.
• S/he will lead and facilitate the integration of state of the art digital tools health management systems at the national, regional, and local levels.
• S/he will be fully conversant on global, regional, and local best practices relating to health information systems and related digital tools.
• S/he will coordinate development, implementation, monitoring and reporting on all project work plans.
• S/he will supervise program monitoring, evaluating, and reporting activities, ensuring that all project deliverables are met and delivered in a timely and efficient manner.
• In coordination with the Principal Investigator, s/he will serve as a Pact liaison to CDC and national and local partners, including government officials, civil society, and community leaders, as it pertains to technical matters.
• S/he will coordinate with appropriate stakeholders in all aspects of project planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting.
• S/he will supervise key technical staff directly.

  Basic Requirements

  • Master’s degree and 9+ years relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience, including 5 years of management experience.
  • At least five years of experience as a Technical Lead or in a comparable senior leadership and managerial position on international donor projects.
  • Demonstrable experience in global health programming, particularly HIV, TB, and/or health systems strengthening.
  • Experience working with the MOH and SZI in Zambia.
  • Experience working on and leading teams for US government contracts and/or cooperative agreements.
  • Demonstrated leadership skills.
  • Familiarity with PEPFAR-funded programming and reporting requirements.
  • Demonstrated track record of successfully building and effectively managing a diverse team of employees and partners.
  • Demonstrated ability to work in complex environments, and work with and between different stakeholders.
  • Ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with government and community stakeholders.
  • Demonstrated skills in problem solving and consensus building.
  • The candidate must be demonstrably proficient (oral, writing and reading) in English.
  • Ability to travel within Zambia and occasionally internationally.

    Preferred Qualifications

    • Knowledge of the political, social, and economic context of Zambia.
    • Broad understanding of public health, health systems, and health policy and practice in Zambia.
    • Zambia nationals and permanent residents are encouraged to apply.