The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skillsets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with majority of our staff based in program countries. Learn more about our exciting work: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion, and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experience, backgrounds, and culture.

Health Facility Solar Electrification (HFSE) Overview

In 2010, CHAI launched a vaccine program to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with vaccine preventable diseases by improving access to immunization services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). One of the core pillars of this program was improving the availability and functionality of cold chain equipment (including solar-powered options) to increase the reach of cold chain networks and make substantial gains in vaccine equity.

Recently, CHAI has expanded the scope of this work to include solarization the full health facility to further enhance patient impact. Today, over 25% of primary health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa report having no access to power. This results in reduced operating hours, poor staff retention, limited service provision, and unsafe environments for night-time deliveries; all of which contribute to unnecessary morbidity and mortality. A clean energy source that is increasingly fast and affordable to deploy, health facility solarization can have an outsized impact on the quality and availability of service delivery in LMICs.

HFSE is at a critical juncture as it transitions from small-scale pilots to broader initiatives aiming to solarize tens of thousands of facilities in sub-Saharan Africa by 2025. As a result, there is need to conduct global and country-level research to generate an evidence base that will contribute toward strengthening HFSE strategic planning, implementation, and long-term sustainability.

Position Overview

CHAI is seeking an individual to lead secondary research and synthesis, as well as develop data collection tools that will drive critical on-the-ground research in multiple sub-Saharan African countries. Specifically, they will support secondary data collection activities that seek to understand the HFSE landscape in four focal countries. This landscaping will lay the foundation that enables subsequent primary research to be adapted appropriately to country contexts and ensure maximum insight is captured. Additionally, this individual will develop primary data collection tools and capacity building materials.

We are seeking a highly motivated individual who can work independently, keep to deadlines, and execute high quality research and outputs. The candidate must be able to drive the design and development of materials with significant autonomy, have deep personal commitment to producing high-quality results, and have the ability to work in a challenging and multi-cultural professional environment.

This is a 3-5 months project with an expected commitment of ~30-40 hours per week. There is flexibility in the base location for this role, pending leadership approval, with preference for a base location in a CHAI program country.

Research & landscaping

• Conduct in-depth research on focal countries that spans health and energy policy government structures, strategies, and plans; partner and intervention mapping; and the private sector market
• Identify areas for government capacity building
• Support the team to develop roadmaps for implementation, including research into innovative financing mechanisms and service delivery models
• Research demand generation barriers and opportunities

Material and tools development

• Support the development of in-country interview questionnaires and data collection tools
• Support country and global teams to draft government capacity building and communication resources

Team participation & partner engagement

• Synthesise research to inform team strategy and resource mobilization needs
• Engage in regular team discussions to link CHAI’s objectives in HFSE to the broader activities and plans
• Support preparations for key global and country stakeholder discussions

• Current post-graduate student or graduate early professional with ~1-2 years of work experience in a fast-paced environment
• Strong experience in developing new research approaches and conducting primary and secondary research
• Demonstrated experience working with diverse teams and projects
• Exceptional problem-solving solving skills and analytical capabilities
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including ability to create persuasive presentations and written reports
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, set priorities, and work independently
• Strong organizational abilities
• Proactive, adaptable, and comfortable interpreting information across different country contexts
• Experience developing models and tools for global and country audiences

Advantages

• Deep knowledge of CHAI and its in-country functions
• Previous experience working in public health
• Previous experience conducting primary or secondary research in developing countries
• Knowledge of energy/solar market, health systems strengthening, and/or health financing