The Technical Director will take a leadership role in ensuring the quality insurance, technical implementation of high-impact, evidence-driven, gender-responsive interventions, and that the project meets stated goals and reporting requirements. Externally facing technical leadership of the program, ensuring strategic positioning of the organization in scientific fora and technical conversations among other NGOs, Governments, and donors. Co-lead and execute locally the Ipas’s global strategy to support women and girls exercise their right to high-quality sexual and reproductive health services, including comprehensive abortion care. Oversee contextualization, piloting, management of knowledge, and scaling up of innovative initiatives and strategies related to the field of SRHR. Support technical program growth in the nexus realms, including humanitarian response, self-care, digital health, telemedicine, SRH youth-friendly approaches, UCD, intersectionality, reproductive and climate justice, and research. Liaise with TEX, other Ipas-nodes, and COPs for the development and adaptation of technical tools for improved access to SRHR. Support units lead to reinforcing project teams and ensuring effective program management. Develops and maintains relationships with donors, Government agencies, and regional accountability bodies, and actively supports the fundraising strategy development and implementation.
Provide technical leadership and expertise in the development and implementation of evidence-based strategic communication, policy, advocacy, and community engagement, as well as innovative initiatives that improve the sustainable abortion ecosystem in intervention geographies.
Summary of Responsibilities
Organizational Leadership and Strategy
- Oversee the quality insurance, high-impact, evidence-driven, gender responsive programming,
- Provide technical leadership and strategic design and direction to ensure streamlined programmatic roll-out and technical guidance to the project and local stakeholders.
- Provide technical assistance, mentoring, and capacity building at the individual and organizational level in specific areas of expertise, including but not limited to comprehensive abortion care, family planning, gender-based violence management, and other reproductive health (RH) information, products, and services, including the scaling up of High Impact Practices
- Assist in designing and testing SRHR innovations.
- Build in the project strategy on the DEI to develop service delivery strategies for accessing hard-to-reach populations, including youth, people with disabilities, gender non-conforming, and indigenous people, for an equitable health system framework.
- Manage and continually expand Ipas’s regional network and influence to maintain leadership on abortion rights and services programming.
- Support the country Director to develop and maintain strong working relationships with donors, local consortium implementing partners, private sector partners, and other key stakeholders to maximize resources and avoid duplication of effort.
- Technically represents Ipas and the program’s progress, achievements, and lessons learned to donors, other key stakeholders, and through high-level meetings, conferences, and presentations.
- Oversee the quality, preparation, and timely submission of project reports to donors.
- Build into the project implementation strategy a research-oriented mindset that will help document knowledge, share lessons learned, and nurture adaptive innovation in our programming.
- Lead the formulation of innovative approaches for the scale-up of targeted resilient health systems strengthening services.
Program, Financial & Risk Management
- Support the program management team in streamlining the implementation of projects, complying with the budget, the timeline, the scope of work stated with the donor, and Ipas ' business policies and procedures.
- Mentor, supervise, and manage a team of highly qualified staff and consultants and align their efforts to ensure rapid and sustainable results.
- Work with Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) staff to develop M&E frameworks and effectively track data/results.
- Work with finance and program management staff to develop and track project budgets throughout the program activities.
- Oversee the planning of projects and technical activities, and set high-quality performance targets, ensuring adherence to technical standards, best practices, donor guidelines, and the government’s health norms and policies.
- Oversee the timely, high-quality, and complete submission of work plans, quarterly, annually, and/or as required by the funder.
- Lead in setting direction and coordinating teams and projects focused on the innovative design, funding, implementation, research, monitoring, and evaluation of programs and projects that advance the sustainable abortion ecosystem and strengthen goals.
- Develop and/or update, alongside the TEX team, evidence-based training materials, standards, job aids, and curricula, supervisory systems needed for implementation of projects to meet the needs of donors and the national stakeholders.
- Ignite the interest of the program management team to document successes, lessons learned, and challenges in implementation, as well as reports of project activities and results to the project and donor, including routine quarterly and annual reports and other reporting requirements as requested.
- Author/co-author abstracts, presentations, and articles for journals and conferences
Resource mobilization
- Contribute to the technical development and review of proposals, informed by the project implementation knowledge, best practices, and innovations.
- Contribute to the development of technical content for high-level presentations to donors, decision makers, and partners.
- Support donor cultivation at the local and global level to diversify the funding stream.
- Support fundraising strategy development and implementation
Strategic Communication & Representation
- Keep a high-level record of the project’s performance and successes for strategic communication.
- Support the RME and program team to finalize and share learning and expertise within the global Ipas network and externally.
- Provide technical oversight and support for the development or implementation of strategic communications plans.
Position Requirements
Education
- Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field, such as public health, international development, non-profit management, or public policy.
Experience
- At least 10 years of experience and knowledge of sexual reproductive health programming, the SRHR context in the region, and working with the public health sector and NGOs in the region.
- At least 7 years of proven experience in a senior leadership position with an SRHR organization,
- Excellent skills in project management, including work planning, budgeting, work plan implementation, and project monitoring.
- Professional-level fluency in French (speaking, reading, and writing); Fluency in English strongly preferred.
- Proven ability to lead and motivate teams and create a positive work environment, including through supportive supervision, strong communication, non-hierarchical leadership approaches, and modelling the Ipas core values.
- Demonstrated capacity and commitment to good stewardship of funds, including strong skills in work planning, budgeting, financial monitoring, and data-driven problem solving.
- Proven ability to build positive working relationships with diverse internal teams and external partners.
Functional skills
Preferred Qualifications
- A deep commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights, especially abortion and contraception access
- Demonstrated skills in leadership, planning, management, and technical skills working with health systems and community programs.
- Ability to lead, motivate, collaborate, and create a positive work environment, including through supportive supervision, strong communication, non-hierarchical leadership approaches, and modelling the Ipas core values.
- Demonstrated capacity and commitment to good stewardship of funds, including strong skills in work planning, budgeting, financial monitoring, and data-driven problem solving.
- Eight (8) or more years of leading program operations and logistics experience
- Previous supervisory experience of a minimum of three full-time technical staff members required.
- Cross-cultural work experience.
- Strong consultative and negotiation skills.
- Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills to strategize, plan, and manage resources for the successful completion of projects.
- Ability to build positive working relationships with district/state/national government officials, UN and other multilateral bodies, NGOs, and donor representatives.
- Professional-level fluency in French (speaking, reading, and writing); Fluency in English strongly preferred.
Working environment
- Ability to travel up to 20% internationally with two mandatory annual retreats trips,
Ipas se compromete firmemente a proporcionar un entorno de trabajo que esté libre de todas las formas de acoso, discriminación e inequidad. Contratamos, empleamos, capacitamos, promovemos y compensamos a nuestro personal sin distinción de raza, edad, sexo, religión, nacionalidad, color, religión, ascendencia, ciudadanía, casta, origen étnico, identidad regional, identidad tribal, estado civil, condición de veterano, servicio militar, discapacidad, información genética, identidad de género, expresión de género, condición de transgénero, orientación sexual o cualquier otra característica personal protegida por la ley o detallada en la política de Ipas. Ipas reconoce que estas características personales pueden ser distintas en diferentes contextos.