Job Brief
Director, Global Program, Vision Access
About the Global Vision Access Program:
Vital Strategies is expanding its work to address the significant unmet need for primary eye care and near-vision correction in low- and middle-income countries. Through the Vision Access program, we will collaborate with governments across Africa, Asia, and Latin America to expand access to reading glasses and integrate primary eye care services into existing health and community primary NCD systems. The program will work closely with ministries and other partners to strengthen the policy and regulatory environment, build local capacity, improve service delivery and supply chains, and develop sustainable financing approaches. You can read more about this exciting new initiative here: https://www.vitalstrategies.org/news/vision-action-fund-awards-24-governments-10m-to-transform-basic-eye-care-and-expand-reading-glasses-access/.
Job Purpose:
The Director, Global Program, Vision Access, reports to the Initiative Lead and works in close partnership with the program's Global Policy Director. Together, this leadership group is collectively responsible for delivering technically sound results on time and within budget.
The Director, Global Program provides direction, management, and counsel for the Vision Access program's operational delivery across all regions (Africa, Asia, Latin America), overseeing regional teams and the program's work with government and non-governmental partners in each country. With a focus on program operations, the Global Program Director will be responsible for workplan implementation and bottleneck resolution, team management, budget oversight, contracting and procurement, internal and donor reporting, and compliance with Vital Strategies' policies and procedures. Coaching and supervising a newly established team during program implementation and operations will be a critical element of this role. The Global Program Director also serves as the program's primary point of contact for internal business partners in Grants and Finance, Human Resources, Operations, and Legal departments.
This is a full-time role located in the New York City area. Employees expected to adhere to Vital Strategies' hybrid schedule and work from the New York office two days per week.
We offer highly competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits. The salary range for this position is $130,000 to $176,000 USD. The starting salary will be commensurate with the successful candidate's relevant experience, skills, and qualifications, taking into consideration internal equity. Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S. at the time of hire.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Program Leadership -
• Oversee the planning and implementation of Vision Access operational activities across global regions, ensuring country workplans are delivered on time, within budget;
• Proactively identify, surface, and resolve major bottlenecks and delays in workplan implementation, working with regional and country leads to address emergent issues;
• Jointly responsible, with the Initiative Lead and the Global Policy Director, for successfully delivering results for maximum impact and sustainability;
• Establish and maintain working relationships with government focal point persons and senior partners in program countries, establishing MOUs as needed; building relationships in coordination with the Policy Director and technical advisors;
• Serve as a senior point of contact with select partner organizations in Vision Access and its donors;
• Participate in progress, planning, and check-in calls or meetings with donors and representatives from other program partners as required;
• Participate in and represent the Vision Access Program in division-wide and organization-wide discussions concerning program operations.
Operations -
• Oversee contracting and procurement processes across both regions, including requests for proposals, subgrants, and consultant agreements;
• Ensure compliance with Vital Strategies policies and procedures and with donor requirements;
• Oversee budget management and tracking, including funding allocations within each region and country, and ensure up-to-date information on project financial status;
• Contribute as needed to operational and administrative policy development and rollout (for example travel, procurement, and hiring) as it relates to the Vision Access Program;
• Oversee program logistics and operational systems that support country delivery.
Internal and Donor Reporting -
• Manage the development and distribution of all internal and external/donor reports for monthly, quarterly, annual, and end-of-cycle reporting with support from the program team, Global Policy Director and Initiative Lead.
• Organize quarterly regional and country progress reviews and financial status, as required.
Team Management -
• Directly supervise and guide the regional leaders and ensure appropriate support and supervision of country-based and embedded staff;
• Support professional development of the team, ensure attendance at organizational training, and provide coaching to your supervisees. Organize and manage regular regional and program team meetings;
• Oversee global team onboarding of new staff and consultants;
• Promote a team culture of accountability, provide transparent and inclusive decision-making, foster knowledge-sharing, and innovation;
• Foster respectful collaboration and open communication among team members across regions and time zones, and with internal and external colleagues.
Crosscutting and Business Partner Collaboration -
• Serve as the program's primary point of contact for business partners in Grants and Finance, Human Resources, Operations, and Legal;
• Partner collaboratively with Human Resources on any employment relations issues;
• Perform other duties as required.
Qualifications:
Education and Degree -
• Minimum bachelor's degree in public health, public administration, business, or other relevant field, or equivalent experience.
Skills and Abilities -
• A strong, organized leader with excellent communication and people management skills;
• Proficient in the creation, understanding, and management of complex multi-site, multi-partner program budgets;
• Strong organizational, planning, and time management skills to coordinate multiple ongoing and long-term efforts across regions;
• Comprehensive project management skills, with the ability to make sound, informed judgments;
• Demonstrated sound judgment, accountable decision-making, and strong analytical, consensus-building, and problem-solving skills;
• Strong technology tool skills, including familiarity with collaborative project management tools such as Teams, Claude, Monday, Airtable, grants and financial management tools, etc.;
• Ability to work independently and proactively, and to deliver against tight deadlines;
• Ability to navigate diverse interests and operate in dynamic and complex political environments;
• Ability to build strong, ongoing relationships at all organizational levels and across diverse cultural, linguistic, and professional backgrounds;
• Outstanding written and spoken communication skills in English; proficiency in French, Portuguese, or another relevant language is a plus;
• Demonstrated commitment to valuing diversity, contributing to an inclusive working, and learning environment.
Professional Certification -
• Certification in project management is a plus.
Experience:
Required -
• Minimum of 15 years of related work experience, specifically with a public health organization;
• Minimum 10 years of full-cycle project or program management experience;
• Minimum 5 years of experience managing complex, multi-country global health or development projects, with a solid understanding of contextual realities in low- and middle-income, resource-constrained countries;
• Extensive experience managing a global team
• Experience in program budgeting and working on donor funded programs
• Experience managing and building diverse teams across global time zones, including geographically dispersed team members;
• Experience managing process improvement and supporting teams through change.
Preferred -
• Significant in-country experience with health systems strengthening in Africa or Asia, Latin America;
• Experience in vision, eye care, or a related access-to-products field;
• Experience with donor management and reporting;
• Experience working with government or governmental agencies.
Working Conditions and Physical Requirements:
• Position location: NY HQ in-person/hybrid two days per week
• International travel as needed, estimated at up to 30%-40% of time
#LI-Hybrid
