Project Manager - RSV Vaccination Readiness

Time Type: Full time

Job Description

With 75 years of experience, our focus is on helping the most vulnerable children overcome poverty and experience fullness of life. We help children of all backgrounds, even in the most dangerous places, inspired by our Christian faith.

Come join our 31,000+ staff working in nearly 100 countries and share the joy of transforming vulnerable children’s life stories!

Employee Contract Type:

Local - Fixed Term Employee (Fixed Term)

Job Description:

1. Project Leadership and Strategic Management

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across all six project workstreams, ensuring coherent sequencing from national and subnational systems readiness through to district, facility, and community-level implementation.
• Lead the development and regular review of the project workplan, ensuring activities are appropriately sequenced, resourced, and aligned with the national RSV vaccine introduction timeline.
• Maintain a clear focus on the project's core objective: that Ghana's policy, regulatory, supply chain, workforce, data, and community systems are ready for maternal RSV vaccine introduction before the vaccine arrives.
• Ensure the project contributes to WVG's broader maternal and child health strategy and to Ghana's RMNCAHN Strategic Plan.

2. Government and Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as WVG's primary relationship manager with the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service, the EPI programme, and the Family Health Division, ensuring all project activities are co-designed and implemented through government structures.
• Represent WVG in the national maternal immunization technical working group and in relevant RMNCAHN, EPI, and SDG 3 policy fora.
• Build and maintain productive working relationships with WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, PATH, Gavi, Dodowa Health Research Centre, IHI, MIRNAA, and other development partners working on RSV or maternal immunization in Ghana.
• Manage the relationship with the Pfizer Foundation, including timely reporting, communication, and compliance with grant conditions.
• Support MOH and GHS to engage regional and global forums, including WHO AFRO and the World Health Assembly, on Ghana's RSV readiness progress.

3. National and Subnational Systems Readiness

• Oversee the national readiness assessment using the Gavi IRMMA framework, covering policy, EPI integration, ANC platforms, cold chain, workforce, and data systems.
• Coordinate WVG technical support to MOH for the update of national maternal immunization guidelines to explicitly include the RSV vaccine, and for the revision of the vaccination introduction roadmap from national to district and community levels.
• Support the development of a costing structure for RSV introduction, including district- and community-level delivery costs, so the Ministry is financially prepared for rollout.
• Oversee cold chain and supply chain readiness work, including assessment of capacity at clinics and service delivery points, and identification of bottlenecks in vaccine distribution, stock management, and waste management.
• Ensure HMIS and DHIMS2 review and integration activities are completed so that maternal immunization data can be tracked through government systems from the outset.
• Support development of readiness dashboards and scorecards for government teams to monitor progress across all domains of RSV vaccine deployment.

4. Formative Research and Barrier-Responsive Interventions

• Oversee the design and implementation of the formative research programme across at least 10 programme districts, including KAP surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, health facility readiness assessments, ANC register reviews, and GIS geographic access mapping.
• Ensure the barrier analysis and prioritisation process is conducted with GHS, DHMTs, and community representatives, and that findings are translated into practical, piloted interventions across the seven barrier domains.
• Manage the research-to-policy transfer process, including the validation workshop with MOH and GHS, the mid-project policy brief for the national TWG, and the co-branded Ghana Maternal Immunization Readiness Toolkit.

5. Community Readiness and Demand Generation

• Oversee community-level readiness activities, ensuring these are sequenced after national and subnational systems readiness is established.
• Coordinate engagement of village chiefs, queen mothers, faith leaders (including through Channels of Hope in both Christian and Muslim contexts), Daddies Clubs, and Mother-to-Mother Support Groups to build community acceptance of late-pregnancy health-seeking and the RSV vaccine.
• Oversee ANC defaulter tracking and follow-up systems linked to the 28-week RSV vaccination eligibility threshold, including CHW training and SMS reminder system design.

6. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

• Lead the development and implementation of the project monitoring and evaluation plan, linked to GHS data systems including DHIMS2 and ANC facility registers.
• Manage the learning agenda, including quarterly learning reviews with GHS, DHMTs, and community partners, and production of the mid-project brief (month 9) and final evidence report (month 18).
• Ensure the Ghana Maternal Immunization Readiness Toolkit is produced, reviewed with GHS, co-branded, and formally shared as a national resource.
• Lead the development and implementation of the final dissemination plan, co-developed with MOH and the EPI programme, for sharing results with national, regional, and global audiences

Required Education, training, license, registration, and/or

Certification

• Master's degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Health Policy, Global Health, Development Studies, or a closely related field. A medical or nursing background with relevant postgraduate training will also be considered.

Required Professional Experience

Knowledge and Technical Skills

• Strong working knowledge of Ghana's health system, including the EPI programme, the CHPS system, DHIMS2, the ANC platform, and the national maternal and newborn health policy landscape.
• Sound understanding of the global evidence on RSV disease burden and maternal RSV vaccination, including WHO SAGE guidance on third trimester vaccination.
• Knowledge of vaccine introduction processes, cold chain requirements, and supply chain management for new vaccines in LMIC settings.
• Familiarity with the Gavi IRMMA framework, the WHO Behavioural and Social Drivers of Vaccination framework, or equivalent readiness and demand generation frameworks.
• Proficiency in data use for programme management, including use of DHIMS2 or similar health information systems.
• Strong financial management skills and experience with donor budget management and reporting.

Position’s physical requirements

The Project Manager will be based in Accra with regular travel to programme districts across 14 regions, including visits to hard-to-reach communities. Travel will be required for national stakeholder meetings, TWG sessions, district-level supervision, research activities, and regional and global learning events. The role is expected to operate flexibly in response to programme needs and government schedules.

Preferred Experience, Knowledge and/or other Qualifications

Essential Experience

• Minimum of seven years of progressive experience in public health programme management, with at least three years at project management or senior technical level.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-workstream health programmes in Ghana or West Africa, including experience working through government health systems.
• Proven track record in immunization programmes, maternal and newborn health, or EPI strengthening, with practical knowledge of ANC platforms, cold chain systems, and community health delivery.
• Experience working with the Ghana Health Service, the Ministry of Health, and District Health Management Teams at technical and management level.
• Experience managing donor-funded grants, including financial reporting, budget management, and compliance with donor requirements.
• Experience leading and managing multidisciplinary teams in a field-based setting.
• Experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods, health facility assessments, or implementation research is a strong advantage.

Desirable Experience

• Experience with the Pfizer Foundation, Gavi, WHO, or similar global health funders.
• Experience in maternal immunization programme design or introduction readiness, including for RSV, Group B Streptococcus, or pertussis vaccines.
• Knowledge of the WHO SAGE 3Cs hesitancy profiling model and experience applying behavioural and social drivers frameworks in programme design.
• Experience with GIS mapping, digital health tools, or SMS-based community tracking systems.
• Familiarity with World Vision's programme models including Timed and Targeted Counselling (ttC), Channels of Hope (CoH-MNCH), or the IRMMA framework.
• Spoken proficiency in Twi, Hausa, or other Ghanaian languages used in programme districts

Applicant Types Accepted:

Local Applicants Only