About Us
At MSI Reproductive Choices we are unapologetically pro-choice. We believe that every woman has the right to make choices about her own body and her own future. As one of the world’s leading providers of contraception and safe abortion care, we give women the means to do so. Across 37 countries, we provide high quality, safe services, and work with advocacy to create an enabling environment, so every client has safe access to services when and where they are needed. Because when a woman can determine her own future, she can contribute to creating a better, more sustainable future for everyone.
MSI Reproductive Choices is committed to creating an inclusive environment with a workforce which is representative of the communities we serve. We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and give equal consideration to all qualified applicants without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or age. We are committed to promoting equality and safeguarding the welfare of all team members and clients, with a focus on vulnerable groups.
The Country Programme
Marie Stopes Sierra Leone (MSSL) is an affiliate organisation of MSI within the MSI partnership and is one of MSI’s older country programmes, having been active in Sierra Leone since 1986. MSSL plays a leading role in the provision of family planning and sexual and reproductive health services in the country, in support of the Ministry of Health’s national plan. MSSL operates on a national scale and provides services through a range of service delivery models, including 9 clinics, 14 outreach teams, supervision, and training support to public facilities and through sales into the private sector. In 2020, MSSL provided family planning and sexual and reproductive health services to over 221,000 clients. MSSL is a strong advocate for women, their partners, and their families with a staff base of about 175 people.
About the Role
The Country Director is responsible for delivering results for women and their families, driving programmatic excellence, and implementing best practice at scale. They provide high quality services where they are needed the most, and their work directly contributes to preventing unnecessary deaths and making a sustainable impact on the lives of thousands of people every year.
The Country Director is a key leadership position responsible for the overall strategy, management (programmatic, financial, and administrative), and development of our national family planning and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programmes. They lead skilled, professional country teams to deliver life-saving services through clinical centres, mobile outreach teams, social franchising, and social marketing. In addition, they are responsible for preparing and executing annual budgets, marketing plans and work plans; developing new business opportunities; overseeing financial, administrative and logistical resources; ensuring adherence to MSI minimum standards; and assuring quality operations in line with annual and long-term strategic goals and objectives. The Country Director manages for results, valuing and rewarding high performance, accountability, speed and efficiency and innovation, while keeping the client at the heart of everything we do.
The Country Director is MSI’s senior representative in the country of assignment. They work closely with governments, donors, and other key stakeholders to overcome barriers that prevent women and men from accessing safe, affordable, reliable family planning and other sexual and reproductive health services.
About You
We want individuals who support our mission of eliminating unsafe abortion by 2030 and who work with us to build an enabling environment to increase access to safe services everywhere. We expect all team members to share our vision and commitment to achieving our mission whilst promoting equality and safeguarding the welfare of all clients and colleagues.
To succeed in this role, you must have:
- International work experience – will have successfully worked in a senior management role in a different country (preferably developing countries in sub Saharan Africa) and will have had experience of growing the business
- Proven general management experience in operationally demanding and challenging environments (to include staff recruitment, training, motivation, and supervision of teams)
- Ideally some experience of managing operations which deliver quality assured and client focused clinical services
- Proven experience of change management, including identifying required change, leading the change programme, and ensuring change is embedded and sustained
- Previous experience identifying and sharing best practice and encouraging innovation within dispersed teams
- Experience of income generation through donor funding and/or commercial activities and in delivering proven results by making informed decisions with the use of management information
- Ideally, experience of building a brand into a brand of choice (including experience in FMCG or another private sector experience)
- Proven experience of building lasting relationships with key external stakeholders, e.g. government or donor stakeholders to deliver tangible results for the organisation (for example, previous fundraising success).
- Designed and delivered strategic and annual business plans
- Experience of business development including developing and writing compelling tender proposals
- Financial management experience, including internal controls and accountability: Ideally the individual will have managed a P&L; however, they will have experience managing and improving the bottom line
- Demonstrable experience of generating, tracking and analysing management information and client data to inform management decision-making.
Skills:
- Fluent written and spoken English, good communication and presentation skills, good written communication.
Personal Attributes:
- Committed to the protection of team members and clients, with a focus on vulnerable groups.
- Able to role-model inclusive and culturally sensitive attitudes and behaviours.
- Energy, drive, and unwavering commitment for MSI’s mission, and the ability to inspire others
- Passionate about our clients and strives to consistently meet and exceed expectations, putting the clients at the centre of everything, and ensuring we deliver high quality, high impact services that meet their individual needs
- Inspires individuals and teams through situational leadership providing clear direction
- Motivates and develops the skills of the team members
- Works as part of a team, providing support and flexibility to colleagues, demonstrating fairness, understanding and respect for all people and cultures; able to communicate at a team level, a country level and at a regional and global level, to ensure that the country programme remains an active member of the MSI partnership.
- Focuses on results, ensuring long term sustainability and increased impact
- Courageous: pushes the boundaries, make tough decisions and challenge others in line with our mission
- Takes accountability for the decisions made and the behaviours demonstrated
- A commercial mind-set, understanding the levers for profitability for success within the marketplace
- Aware of the emerging developments within our sector, with the ability to focus and articulate a vision of the future which inspires and excites others, while understanding the detail and looking for the evidence
- Actively seeks out feedback on their performance (both results and behaviours) with a view to continuously learning and growing as a leader
- Builds and maintains effective long-term working relationships with all stakeholders and is a true MSI ambassador.
For more information about the role, please view the job framework on our website.
Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone
Full-time: 40 hours
Contract type: Fixed-term
Salary: Country Programme Salary Range
Closing date: 26th July 2021 (midnight GMT). Interviews may take place before this date for exceptional candidates.