Global Health Programs Manager - Africa

Position Summary:

Illumina, Inc. is seeking a passionate and experienced global One Health leader to support efforts in unlocking the power of the genome, working closely with the relevant government ministries, funding agencies, international public health and non-governmental organizations to advance Illumina’s global One Health agenda in Africa.

The successful incumbent is expected to support critical activities including but not limited to Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR), One Health surveillance, priority Infectious disease management and other genomics use cases on the continent. He/she will be responsible for providing scientific support across all stakeholders, while contributing to the adoption & expansion of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for public health surveillance. She/he will serve as the day-to-day point of contact, representing Illumina Global Health both locally and regionally in technical working groups, key funding initiatives such as the pandemic fund and forums. She/ he will partner with stakeholders to shape policies, mobilize resources, develop guidelines and standards, and capacity building programs to strengthen One health systems. The successful incumbent will partner closely with internal cross-functions such as Government affairs, Market Access , Medical, Marketing, and Commercial to help advance the pathogen genomic sequencing strategy regionally, and eventually expand to other application areas.

Position Responsibilities:

Stakeholder Engagement

• Conduct detailed stakeholder mapping and lead robust engagement plans in regions with external partners such as technical working groups (TWGs) and disease programmes within Ministries of Health, Science, Technology and Agriculture, laboratory directorate and experts, thought leaders, funders, implementing partners including international and local NGOs as well as other regional bodies (Africa CDC, ASLM, AFENET) to advance pathogen genomics sequencing in Africa.
• In coordination with Government Affairs, build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders to shape national genomic surveillance strategy and influence through a bottom-up approach to decision making, with peer-to peer, non-commercial dialogue.
• Support key regional initiatives and investments, as well as regional implementation of global initiatives, that fund health security preparedness and advance of integration of genomics in public health surveillance coupled with One health.

Education and Awareness

• Provide scientific support and educate local stakeholders on the importance of NGS with a strong focus on Pathogen surveillance.
• Collaborate with local investigators and support evidence generation studies
• Monitor individual country plans to advance Pathogen surveillance beyond COVID-19 and explore opportunities for implementing use cases for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases while advancing early warning systems and One health approaches.
• Play an oversight role together with cross functional teams to support national laboratory technical working groups and genomics committees. The incumbent is expected to increase knowledge, raise awareness of the importance of genomics in public health interventions and pave the way for broad adoption of national owned genomics policies.

Internal coordination and collaboration

• Serve as a subject matter expert, informing relevant internal stakeholders about best practices, use cases and trends in Pathogen genomics across the continent.
• Coordinate pandemic fund implementation with commercial teams in recipients' countries.
• Keep regional commercial teams informed on public health emergencies in the region and interventions that might require our immediate support during national outbreaks.
• Identify areas for coordination and collaboration with global colleagues to strengthen interactions with governments, regional public health bodies, and other strategic global health partners and donors.
• Collaborate with Global Health team to align and support multi-sectoral genomics efforts in the region including Africa PGI as well as other philanthropic priorities to catalyze new uses cases and expand access.

External engagement

• Collaborate with other Africa-based colleagues to represent Illumina Global Health in the region at relevant meetings and events, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the following aspects :
• Genomics for public health.
• Enhance Illumina’s reputation by positioning Illumina Global Health as a partner on matters on pandemic preparedness, surveillance, and related global health subjects.

Position Requirements:

• Demonstrated knowledge of health systems, programs, partnerships, and key stakeholders (funding agencies, scientific working groups, implementers at the country level) in the region
• Knowledge of international development, international donor priorities and/or health areas required.
• Familiarity with organizations such as FIND, CHAI, Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, The Global Fund for AIDS, STOP TB , Tuberculosis & Malaria, USAID (United States Agency for International Development), United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and foundation donors is highly desired.
• Demonstrated track record of defining and implementing global health programs to integrate new interventions and expand access to clinical or public health technologies.
• Significant experience working alongside national governments and international organizations to drive funding, policy, and program implementation to change clinical or public health practice.
• Deep connections with influential global health stakeholders, especially in the infectious disease space
• Experience fostering relationships with senior-level external partners, preferably within global public health space.
• Comfortably conversant in surveillance to support PPPR, infectious disease and public health issues.
• Knowledge of One Health approach will be an added advantage
• Independent problem solver, comfortable as an individual contributor and leading teams.
• Familiarity with next-generation sequencing concepts
• Experience working & living in Africa is a strong recommendation.
• Strong collaboration skills and ability to easily work across functions.
• Basic understanding of Regulatory, Logistics, Compliance, Marketing and Commercial functions
• Demonstrated track record of global health programming and stakeholder management to accelerate adoption of global health technologies.
• Ideally based in South Africa, Ethiopia or Kenya and willing to travel internationally.
• Fluency in English is required. French and/or Portuguese is an added bonus.

Preferred Experience/Education/Skills:

• Degree in the Health sciences a basic requirement, Master’s in public health preferred
• 8+ years’ experience working in international development, public health, global health required, with at least 5 years of experience in global health programs in Africa.
• Working knowledge of Molecular or Genomics highly preferred.
• Deep understanding of global health issues and infectious disease considerations for public health is required.
• Strong regional network, understanding of key stakeholders and the structure of the region’s healthcare system.
• Strong collaborator experienced with working across global health stakeholders and networks in global health community required.
• Experience working in, or closely with, the Pharma/Biotech industry is required, with knowledge of relevant internal functions, including Sales, Marketing, Regulatory, Compliance, Legal, Supply chain and Operations.
• Excellent networking and diplomatic skills required; demonstrated cultural savvy.
• Excellent communication skills both oral and written required.
• Ability to connect with NGOs, Governments, Academia and Civil society.