Role Title: Project Assistant SEMA, Amref Health Africa

REPORTING TO: Project Manager – SEMA
DEPARTMENT/PROJECT: Amref Health Innovations (AHI)
DURATION: Two (2) Years
DUTY STATION: Nairobi, Kenya

Amref Health Africa was founded in 1957 and has since grown to become the largest African-based international health development organization, currently implementing more than 150 programs which directly reach more than 20 million people across 35 countries in Africa. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Amref has fully-fledged offices in Ethiopia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Senegal, South Sudan, and Zambia; eleven advocacy and fundraising offices in Europe and North America; and a staff complement of over 1,500.

Our vision is to bring about ‘Lasting health change in Africa’, and our mission is ‘To increase sustainable health access to communities in Africa through solutions in human resources for health, health service delivery, and investments in health’. We believe that the power to transform Africa’s health lies within its communities, and therefore strive to ensure that health systems are not only functional but that communities are empowered to hold these systems accountable for the delivery of quality and affordable health care.

Background

Amref Health Innovations (AHI) is the social enterprise arm of Amref Health Africa that is responsible for delivering sustainable social value through incubation and commercialization of innovative solutions conceptualized and developed throughout the organization. Among the various programs for AHI is the Innovative Incubation partnership” Shaping Equitable Market Access for Reproductive Health dubbed SEMA. SEMA’s overall objective Increasing Access to SRH products in low- and middle-income countries through market shaping. Despite significant
improvements in the last decade, persistent weaknesses in current SRH markets still prevent millions of people from being able to access comprehensive, quality, and affordable SRH products that fit their preferences and lifestyles. SRH markets are particularly complex because of underlying market conditions. This collaboration seeks to address the gaps and co-create solutions for the same across countries of interest.

The vision aligns with

• Healthy markets reliably provide communities with an affordable and appropriate range of high-quality SRH products and related services across sectors that respond to communities’ diverse needs
• Equitable markets ensure access, product design, and price are appropriate for people of different ages, locations, and socio-economic groups
• Resilient markets manage and adapt effectively to external shocks and other environmental changes affecting financing, supply, and demand.

Job Purpose

The Project Assistant supports Amref Health Innovation (AHI) by providing administrative, programmatic and logistical support, and participating in specific programmatic tasks including but not limited to, storytelling, learning and research, assisting with project implementation as needed, participating in the larger Amref Health Innovations activities and agenda. The role will primarily support SEMA team but will also incorporate some tasks for the Amref Health Innovations team. They will also support in the preparation, editing and finalization of presentations, reports and policies. The Project Assistant will report directly to the Project Manager and has a dotted line with the UHC Lead, Amref Health Innovations.

Primary Responsibilities:

● Support timely and accurate project tracking, analysis of outputs, and reporting.
● Work collaboratively with the Project Manager and team to maximize productivity.
● Support SEMA team in collaboration with SEMA Project Administrator in planning meetings, writing meeting notes and documentation, cadence planning for meetings (governing body, technical oversight committee meetings, project implementation meetings, team meetings etc.)
● Support the Project Manager and SEMA Project Administrator in the role of liaison with Amref shared service teams to ensure improved processes for project implementation.
● Submit critical programme management issues to the Programme Manager, to drive future process improvement and business development planning.
● Support the preparation of programme documents (including business cases/strategies, policy briefs, programme plans, and risk assessments).
● Report updates verbally and in written form to management.
● Foster an inclusive and positive work environment.
● Support the organization of meetings, workshops, seminars, preparation of participants’ lists, travel requests, letters of invitation, files, banner, presentations and slides, reservation of meeting rooms, communication with the relevant stakeholders and hotel accommodation.
● Contribute to the development and sharing of best practices and lessons learned for corporate development planning and knowledge building.
● Collaborate with the whole project team, contributing to the entire project lifecycle.
● Coordinate efforts within the team and with outside consultants efficiently.
● Complete any necessary administrative tasks, such as research and email.

Education requirements

● At least a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science, International Development, Business Administration, or a related field.

Required Qualifications and Experience

● At least Three (3) years of relevant work experience, including practical experience on global health, and/or global development programmes/organizations/initiatives.
● Demonstrated evidence of proactivity, experience in managing concurrent projects, handling pressure, management of time effectively, exercising independent judgment, and assuming responsibility for seeing projects through to timely and successful completion.

Skills and Competencies

● Ability to work in a complex environment with multiple tasks, short deadlines, and ability to perform under pressure.
● Evidence of strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
● Experienced in MS office (in particular Word and Excel).
● Self-motivated including being willing to work effectively independently and as part of a team.
● Great communication and interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively in a complex, multi-cultural work environment and committed to promoting an inclusive culture where everyone is valued and belongs.
● Eagerness to contribute positively and collaborate in a start-up environment (i.e., enjoy creating, can be flexible, embrace ambiguity).
● Entrepreneurial and creative.
● Organizational talent.

How to apply

If interested, please visit our website https://amref.org/vacancies/ to make your application. You will be directed to our online portal where you will need to create an account successfully in order for you to be able to submit your application. Your application should include a cover letter detailing why you are the best fit for this position and your CV with relevant skills and experience. The cover letter and CV should be in a single file that is not longer than a total of five (5) pages. Please note that you will receive an email confirmation for creation of account and an acknowledgment email upon submitting your application. Deadline for submission: August 26 2022. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Duly note that Amref Health Africa does not require applicants to pay any money at whatever stage of the recruitment and selection process and have not retained any agent in connection with recruitment. Although Amref may use different job boards from time to time to further spread its reach for applicants, all open vacancies are published on our website under the Vacancies page and on our official social media pages. Kindly also note that official emails from Amref Health Africa will arrive from an @amref.org address.

Amref Health Africa is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. Amref Health Africa is an equal opportunity employer and has a non-smoking environment policy.