Rice360 Malawi Country Director & NEST Malawi Programs Director at Rice University in Houston, Texas

Job Description:

Special Instructions to Applicants : In PDF form, applicants should attach a resume and cover letter in the Supporting Documents section of the application.

About Rice

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally, and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lecture series, courses, and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty, staff, and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice's culture. They come through in how we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name - RICE - Responsibility, Integrity, Community, and Excellence.

Position Summary

The Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies (Rice360), a multi-disciplinary institute at Rice University, is a leader in global health technology education, research, and implementation, with a distinctive focus on experiential and problem-based learning. Rice360 develops highly effective, low-cost healthcare solutions addressing critical healthcare needs in underserved communities and educates a cadre of future leaders to continue to innovate and implement solutions. Rice360 works closely with partners in underserved communities throughout the world, including low- and middle-income countries and the United States. Rice360 is a co-founding member of the Newborn Essential Solutions and Technologies (NEST360) alliance. The NEST360 alliance is working with African governments to transform hospital newborn care by installing a bundle of rugged devices, educating clinicians to use devices and biomedical engineers to maintain them, and implementing locally owned data dashboards to drive uptake and quality. NEST360 Phase 2 focuses on scaling up collaboration with governments to develop resources and integrate evidence-based solutions into local hospitals and national policies.

Rice360 is seeking a Malawi country director to serve, under the supervision of Rice360 Co-Directors and Co-Principal Investigators Dr. Rebecca Richards-Kortum and Dr. Maria Oden, as the primary representative of Rice360 in Malawi. For the various Rice360 projects and programs in-country, the Malawi country director will oversee their programmatic and operational management. Notably, the Rice360 Malawi country director will serve as the NEST Malawi programs director, who, under the supervision of the Rice360 NEST implementation director and NEST Malawi country lead, is responsible for the achievement of agreed-upon NEST360 goals for the country. In their capacity as the NEST Malawi programs director, s/he will provide sound strategy and management of both the newborn and maternal programs in Malawi. S/he will be responsible for successfully implementing and achieving program deliverables. Overall, s/he will take a leading role in developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the country program strategy and ensure that all activities are in line with the Rice360 mission, policies, principles, and operating practices. As the Rice360 Malawi country director and NEST Malawi programs director, s/he will have extensive interaction with country stakeholders, including clinicians and university collaborators, non-governmental organizations, private industry partners, the U.S. government, and Malawi government agencies.

The ideal candidate is a senior public health professional with extensive experience in pediatric or neonatal health and programs, and extensive knowledge of maternal and newborn health care services in Malawi and Malawi's healthcare system. They would have a record of demonstrated effective team leadership to influence change and advocate for best practices in newborn care, working jointly with national and local health actors to strengthen the quality and responsiveness of child health services, particularly newborn health services. S/he can identify challenges and propose practical solutions, including the ability to process, analyze, and interpret programmatic data and contribute to quality improvement initiatives. S/he has experience in a mid- to senior management role, with superior interpersonal, mentorship, and communication skills. S/he is highly organized, with a demonstrated ability to multi-task, delegate appropriately, make prudent decisions using creative problem-solving and sound judgment, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment. They also have experience successfully working in a multi-cultural environment and are willing and able to occasionally travel internationally, particularly across sub-Saharan Africa.

Workplace Requirements

This is a full-time position (Monday-Friday 8 am-5 pm) based in Lilongwe, Malawi, with occasional early morning, evening, or weekend work required to accommodate time zone differences for important meetings with teams across sub-Saharan Africa, in the US, and the UK. Per Rice policy 440 , work arrangements may be subject to change.

Proposed Hiring Range: $63,100-$80,400/year, contingent upon qualifications and experience. This position is funded by a grant, soft and/or restricted funds. Continued employment is contingent on the renewal of funding. *Exempt (salaried) positions under FLSA are not eligible for overtime.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in medicine, medical sciences, public health, social sciences, or related discipline
  
  
  • Experience may not be substituted for the education requirement
  
  
• 2+ years or more of experience:
  
  
  • Experience in a field related to the implementation or management of public health or other related programs, preferably in a low-resource setting
  • Experience in managing projects small to medium in size and complexity with limited performance risk, including project planning, scheduling, tracking, and budgeting
  • Education may not be substituted for the experience requirement
  
  

• Superior verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent collaborative, judgment, leadership, negotiation, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills with attention to detail and willingness to take initiative
• High proficiency and comprehensive knowledge of project management, including the proven ability to predict and evaluate potential risks and to create solutions before they arise.
• Proven ability to create, monitor, and adhere to budgets
• Knowledge of information management, knowledge management, and publication management
• Ability to work in a team environment, actively participates, motivates, and follows through, as needed
• Excellent organizational skills to plan and schedule
• High comfort level making independent decisions

• Advanced degree in medicine, medical sciences, public health, social sciences, or related discipline
• Four (4) years or more of experience working in pediatrics or neonatal health care and programs in sub-Saharan Africa, preferably in Malawi
• Extensive working knowledge of maternal and newborn health care services in Malawi and of Malawi's healthcare system
• Extensive working knowledge of the international health/development field.
• Working knowledge of health systems and healthcare delivery in the developing world
• Experience working jointly with national and local health actors to strengthen the quality and responsiveness of child health services, particularly newborn health services
• Experience in leading teams, influencing change, and advocating for best practices in newborn care
• Experience leading quality improvement (QI) and mentorship training
• Proven experience in a mid- to senior management role
• Ability to work in a complex and high-paced environment
• Ability to process, analyze, and interpret programmatic data and contribute to quality improvement initiatives
• Ability to identify challenges and propose practical solutions
• Ability to productively engage and influence cross-functional teams
• Ability to work with multi-disciplinary and multicultural teams
• Excellent networking skills
• Working knowledge of clinical trials
• Proficient in MS Office and data analysis software
• Demonstrated sensitivity to low-resource settings
• Willingness and ability to travel nationally and internationally
• Fluency in English
• Demonstrates Rice360 Core Values: Innovation, Equity, Community, Integrity, Accountability, Empowerment, and Transformation

• Manages the daily activities, including project development, data collection, and data analysis, for NEST Malawi and its associated programs, including the Beginnings Fund.
• Responsible for budget management and financial forecasting, including oversight of both.
• Procures materials and supplies, as needed
• Assists with the dissemination of research findings and maintains systems for tracking project-related presentations, publications, and other outputs
• Creates, oversees, (and supervises others in) maintaining and communicating with research respondents across multiple projects
• Serves as an initial point person for research respondent correspondence and communication
• Oversees and contributes to the day-to-day activities of the project and research office functions
• Performs all other duties as assigned

• Works in tandem with in-country partners to ensure successful execution of NEST360 and its associated activities in Malawi, notably health facility assessments, process tracking of key health systems strengthening activities, such as clinical and biomedical engineering training, and managing the infrastructure fund
• Works closely with the NEST Malawi country lead and clinical directors to manage teams, including setting goals and assessing performance
• Oversees and executes the strategic direction for NEST360 Malawi implementation and sustainability, including:
  
  
  • Regularly reviews program data by facility to assess progress and bottlenecks and works with the program team to respond to challenges identified
  • Liaises with leadership at facility, zonal, district, and national levels as needed to address identified programmatic/clinical challenges
  • Liaises with the newborn clinical director and maternal clinical director to ensure coordinated planning and implementation
  • Oversees and coordinates across both the newborn and maternal program teams.
  
  
• Serves as Rice360's primary in-country liaison for all matters relating to activities in Malawi
  
  
  • Establishes and fosters excellent working collaborations and facilitates regular communication with key implementation stakeholders and project partners in Malawi, notably Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, and the Malawian Ministry of Health (MOH) and its hospital facilities
  • Works closely with MOH, professional associations, and other national stakeholders in the Malawi newborn steering committee
  • Builds and maintains relationships with external stakeholders in Malawi, including academic collaborators, hospitals and healthcare providers, private industry partners, and non-governmental and governmental officials and agencies
  • Maintains regular communication with the Rice360 headquarters, the Rice360 NEST implementation director, and other Rice360 leadership, as well as other key NEST360 partners as appropriate
  
  
• Oversees Rice360 research studies in Malawi
  
  
  • Assists with planning and coordination of Rice360 research studies in Malawi.
  • Manages and tracks IRB (human subjects) protocols on the Malawi side
  • Provides oversight for the project monitoring and evaluation activities and facilitates the documenting and dissemination of project learnings
  • Provides timely progress and financial reports to Rice360, partner institutions, and donors
  • Fosters staff morale through a conducive work environment and effective working relationships within the in-country office
  
  

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