Role: Global Program Manager for Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa

Department: Global Programs

Location: Flexible: Remote in Egypt 

Travel: Regional Travel Required 

General Description:

The Global Program Manager for Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa will play a pivotal role in shaping Operation Smile’s direct surgical delivery programs and extensive educational investments in the healthcare workforce in the region. They will inform, adapt and implement educational products, programs and initiatives offered by Operation Smile’s technical teams to advance the capacity and capability of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, biomedical engineers, and comprehensive service providers including nutrition, and psychosocial providers. They will help plan and leverage the delivery of direct surgical care during short term surgical programs to not only reach children in need but provide intensive training experiences that create net new competent surgical teams in district hospitals in the area.

The Regional Program Manager will be the primary relationship manager for Operation Smile offices in each country in the region, partnering with them in planning, execution and improvement of all programs, with a specific on the launch of Cleft Competency Training Pathways – a program meant to support countries in upskilling health care providers.

This role, in cooperation with specialty-specific leads, will manage large multi-day training sessions in the region to advance cohorts of operative team specialists along the Cleft Competency Pathway, with logistical support from the department and hosting country.

This role will partner with country partners on gathering best practices, amplifying successes and sharing those with the global Operation Smile organization for adaptation and replication. They will serve in-country Operation Smile teams to assess the educational needs, plan educational programming and measure and evaluate the impact of educational investments.

They will establish, develop and maintain key partnerships with professional, educational and non-profit organizations in the region to uplift and advance the delivery of high-quality cleft and essential pediatric surgical care.

In a few countries in this region where local cleft centers and country-specific educational programs are established, the Manager will support those activities, optimizing educational impact in the country and across borders.

Operation Smile acknowledges that while talent is universal, educational opportunity is not always equitable. The Global Program Manager for Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa will be central in adapting Operation Smile’s high caliber educational offerings to the specific needs, strengths and opportunities of local health care delivery environments.

Essential Functions:

1. Implementation of Educational Products, Programs, Initiatives and Investments

• Serve as the primary relationship manager for country foundations, ensuring they have the tools and resources to promote a strong education strategy.
• Work closely with Program technical teams to understand the educational offerings available to low- and middle-income countries.
• Serve as a critical liaison between Program technical teams and in-country teams to understand, adapt and adopt educational offerings to best serve the needs of each locality.
• Support countries in all aspect of launching, maintaining, and monitoring the Cleft Competency Pathway Program.
• Collaborate with regional and country leadership develop multiple year Program strategy and plans that leverage local strengths and opportunities to create the greatest impact for the local health care workforce.
• Collaborate with country leadership to identify and support health care professionals for upskilling opportunities, educator roles and continuing professional investments.
• Coordinate, monitor and evaluate implementation of education program offerings and overall strategy.
• Identify and prioritize unmet medical educational needs and help pilot interventions.
• Plan local, regional, and international conferences in line with education initiatives.
• Supervise in-country Education Coordinators and provide support where necessary.

Collaborate with OSI’s Volunteer Management team and in-country Volunteer Service Coordinators to:

• Recruit volunteers with education experience.
• Highlight regional volunteers for education and training opportunities.
• Establish long-term volunteer engagement opportunities.
• Ensure optimal utilization of volunteers in education initiatives.

Meetings:

• Attend team meetings virtually or in person.
• Attend Regional Strategy meetings as prescribed by the Regional Directors.
• Prioritize and advocate for strategic educational investments in the local health care workforce.
• Report on implementation and impact of regional educational activities/investments.

2. Regional Relationships:

• Develop and maintain partnerships with professional, academic and related non-governmental organizations, national accrediting bodies, local ministries of health, and hospital partnerships.
• Facilitate international, regional, and local educational exchanges.

3. Outcomes, Monitoring, and Evaluation:

• Ensure that prescribed monitoring and evaluation processes for education and training programs are adhered to.
• Participate in continuous quality improvement of education program offerings based on outcomes and impact.

4. Finance and Budgeting:

• Support the annual budget and activity planning of countries in the region and advise and advocate for educational programming as appropriate.
• Support financial and budgeting processes of various initiatives and partnerships as required.
• Ensure financial reporting is monitored and reported according to planned activities.

Job Qualifications and Skills Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in any field, further education such as a Master’s degree would be advantageous.
• At least 5 years of Program Management experience in educational and/or health fields.
• National and/or international program management experience advantageous.
• Experience in managing key partnerships and stakeholder relationships essential.
• Experience working in low- and middle-income/ resource-limited settings.
• Global Health Systems knowledge and natural curiosity about improving outcomes.
• Passion for improving health equity.

Skills:

• Fluency in English.
• Able to identify and coordinate educational needs among a wide variety of health care professionals and settings.
• Flexible team player who approaches challenges with a positive, continuous improvement focused and solution-oriented outlook.
• Able to work in in diverse cultural contexts and see and bring out the best in others.

Other:

• Willing to travel regionally.
• Willing to work in an innovative environment.
• Willing to lead with authenticity.

Core Competencies Needed:

Project Management – The ability to plan, organize, execute, and oversee projects from inception to completion. Defining project goals, creating detailed plans, managing resources, budgets, and timelines, and ensuring that tasks are completed to meet objectives and deliverables.

Collaboration – The ability to successfully build & maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively together as a team through shared responsibility, respect, & empathy to complete a shared goal for a common good.

Relationship Management – Developing and nurturing positive, long-term relationships with key stakeholders by understanding their needs, providing excellent service, building trust, and consistently delivering value.

Decision Making – Demonstrates sound judgment by analyzing information, evaluating alternatives, and anticipating consequences before making timely and well-informed decisions. Balances data, intuition, and stakeholder perspectives to choose actions that align with organizational goals. Takes accountability for outcomes and adapts decisions as new information becomes available.

Resilience – Demonstrates perseverance, mental toughness, and the capacity to remain focused and productive even in difficult situations. Exhibits a positive attitude, problem-solving skills, and the ability to learn and grow from experiences; using setbacks as opportunities for personal or professional development.