Do you believe that everyone deserves access to affordable, quality healthcare? Are you driven by creativity, bold ideas, and innovation? Are you inspired by exceptionally talented, diverse, impact-oriented colleagues? Do you thrive in a dynamic, high-growth, fast-paced environment? Most importantly, are you fed-up with “business as usual” in the health sector and want to do something about it? Then consider a job with ThinkWell.
ThinkWell is seeking a Technical Director (TD) to lead the development and implementation of the learning agenda for the Strategic Purchasing for Primary Health Care (SP4PHC) project and to ensure technical excellence across the project.
The TD should be an established or emerging global leader in Health Financing. They will lead the SP4PHC team to explore new ideas, extract key insights, and inject new thinking (backed up by robust evidence) into national and international discussions on health financing. They will drive the team to challenge established norms and take on lazy assumptions. The TD will work with global partners to leverage learning from the project to influence the conversation on health financing and health systems.
Working with the Project Director, he TD will shape the technical direction of SP4PHC. They will be a key part of the Project Leadership Team, providing thought partnership and technical direction for the Project Director and Country Leadership. The TD takes overall responsibility for the technical quality of SP4PHC work, shaping the technical approach, overseeing the design and development of studies and of the technical outputs of the project, and supervising the project communications team for effective dissemination of learning internally and externally.
The TD will recruit and build technical talent within the project and across ThinkWell. The TD directly manages a small international team of Technical Advisors who support SP4PHC country teams and oversees learning partnerships with local research organizations. The TD also coordinates the work of one or more ThinkWell Senior Fellows on the SP4PHC project. Senior Fellows are part time staff members with global reputations who provide strategic input into ThinkWell’s work.
The TD will play a leading role in ThinkWell, contributing to our technical leadership, growing our portfolio of work, and contributing to high-quality technical project execution. The TD is a member of ThinkWell’s program and management teams. The TD reports to the SP4PHC Project Director.
This position is fully remote with a strong preference for someone based in Africa or Asia.
SP4PHC responsibilities
· Lead the development and execution of the SP4PHC project learning agenda, identifying and delivering opportunities for learning to influence policy.
· Lead the SP4PHC team to explore new ideas, extract key insights and inject new thinking and robust evidence into national and international discussions on health financing.
· Supervise the development of SP4PHC learning products, providing direct technical assistance and designing and managing the quality assurance process to ensure excellence.
· Oversee learning partnerships established between country teams and country-based learning partners, and ensure scopes of work, study design, analysis and outputs meet appropriate standards.
· Oversee direct technical support to project country teams, joint learning and knowledge management, maximizing the impact of learning partnerships between countries and with external agencies.
· Mentor and support country leads on project implementation.
· Lead engagement with BMGF on key learnings from the project, proactively identifying opportunities to influence BMGF strategy.
· Support the evolution of country strategies, and the continued devolution of the project, including overall project vision, theory of change, and results framework
Thought Leadership and Global Influence
· Identify key areas of intersection between SP4PHC policy engagement and global health financing and health systems conversations. Work with senior fellows to build partnerships with our donors and other thought leaders to prioritize critical themes for exploration. Through these partnerships, develop and implement country and cross-country research, and lead dissemination of findings to influence the global conversation.
· Publish papers, articles and blogs. Present at conferences and participate in technical working groups. Build ThinkWell’s reputation as a thought leader in the field.
· Contribute to the development of quarterly project newsletter, the most visible communication channel for the project, and the monthly project bulletin
· Consult and coordinate with key stakeholders within government, donors, and other entities to build ThinkWell reputation
ThinkWell responsibilities
· Play a company-wide leadership role, building intellectual and human capital in health financing.
· Communicate with other ThinkWell directors and project managers globally to build, share, exchange and disseminate technical knowledge
· Recruit, support and mentor outstanding team members in health financing
· Collaborate with ThinkWell’s talent team to design technical training and development activities that will support and build professional development
New Business Development
· Contribute to the extension and expansion of SP4PHC activities through collaboration with other projects within the firm and external partners
· Build ThinkWell’s portfolio in health financing in collaboration with Business Development, program managers and other firm and country leaders
Additional responsibilities and duties not listed may be added.
Requirements
we are:
ThinkWell core values are our fundamental organizational guiding principles. They define our corporate culture, influence our behavior at work and help us achieve our mission. Our values are:
Think big
Influence the conversation
Empower others
Be exceptional
Always question
Relate authentically
Evolve by learning
you are:
ThinkWell core competencies are foundational skills and behaviors that align with our values and are expected of all employees.
An entrepreneurial, results-oriented ‘do-er’ with a willingness to take risk, think big and challenge conventional wisdom.
A change maker who reaches independent judgement with an open mind, influences the conversation, and seeks innovation.
Able to help create an empowering environment in which everyone feels free to take initiative, be accountable and fail intelligently (learn from mistakes).
A collaborative colleague who engages constructively with people from different cultures, orientations, and perspectives and maintains positive relations in a virtual world.
Principally motivated by a growth mindset, meaning the pursuit of knowledge, experience, and self-improvement. You always question and continuously learn.
Authentic, honest, direct, self-aware and open to giving and receiving feedback.
1. Master’s degree in health economics, health policy or related field with 10 years of experience or a PhD and 8 years of experience;
2. Recognized as a leader in health financing with a track record of high impact publications and a strong international, professional network in the field;
3. Substantive, relevant work experience in the specific area of technical expertise. (e.g., ministries of health and finance experience, health financing or health policy expertise, health systems strengthening, etc.) Adept at communicating technical information to non-technical audiences;
4. Track record of managing complex, multi-country projects, and extensive experience with project monitoring and evaluation in the area of technical specialization;
5. Demonstrated interest and ability in growing staff, mentoring and coaching junior professionals;
6. A senior leader, able to rally staff around ThinkWell’s mission and priorities;
7. A thoughtful systems thinker with grounded, pragmatic understanding of the complexities of our work;
8. Demonstrated ability to engage effectively with external strategic partners, donors, and stakeholders;
9. New business development, proposal writing and fundraising experience;
10.Full English fluency, second language a plus;
11.Experience of living and working in lower and middle income countries;
12.Outstanding cross-cultural communication skills, including the ability to relate respectfully with staff at all levels, ages, genders, nationalities and orientations as well as across work areas;
13. Ability and willingness to travel up to 20%.
