Associate Director, Centre for Health Innovation and Impact
ALU · Rwanda
ABOUT ALU
ALU provides higher education for a higher purpose. Our students declare missions, not majors.They develop the real-world skills to take on the world’s most pressing challenges. And they take ownership of their learning from day one through our peer and student-led approach – because ALU believes in the power and agency of young people to start shaping the future right now. Together with a world-class faculty and staff, our students are igniting a ripple of positive impact across Africa and the world.
We are dedicated to fostering an open yet secure environment, balancing the safety of students, staff, and visitors with respect for individual rights, and safeguarding responsibilities.
ABOUT THE ROLE
The Associate Director provides senior institutional and operational leadership for the Centre for Health Innovation and Impact, translating the Executive Director's strategic direction into effective institutional systems, programmes and capabilities. The Associate Director serves as the principal lead for CHII's internal engagement with African Leadership University and is responsible for ensuring that the Centre operates effectively within ALU's organisational, financial, people, academic and governance structures. The role enables the Executive Director to prioritise senior leadership responsibilities within the Africa Health Collaborative while retaining strategic oversight of CHII. The Associate Director is not an administrative support role. The position operates with delegated authority to lead Centre-level institutional coordination, implementation and operational decision-making, escalating matters requiring strategic or executive approval to the Director.
The African Leadership University is committed to ensuring the safety and Well-being of all students under our care. As part of this commitment , we have a comprehensive safeguarding policy in place , which outlines our Zero-tolerance approach to any violation of safeguarding.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
CHII Strategy Implementation and Centre Development
- Translate CHII’s approved strategy into annual priorities, implementation plans and measurable institutional milestones..
- Coordinate the establishment of approved programmes, initiatives and institutional capabilities required to deliver CHII’s mandate.
- Monitor implementation of the Centre strategy, identifying constraints, dependencies and emerging opportunities for consideration by the Executive Director.
- Ensure effective coordination across CHII portfolios and maintain alignment between Centre priorities and ALU’s broader institutional objectives.
Institutional Operations, Governance and ALU Coordination
- Serve as CHII’s principal operational representative across relevant ALU structures and functions.
- Lead routine engagement with Finance, People, Legal, Procurement, Student Life, Academic Affairs, Communications and other institutional teams.
- Coordinate CHII’s annual planning, management reporting, internal governance and institutional accountability processes.
- Develop and maintain effective operating systems, SOPs, decision-making processes, documentation and knowledge-management practices across the Centre.
- Identify and resolve institutional and operational bottlenecks, escalating matters requiring Executive Director or executive-level intervention with clear recommendations.
- Ensure CHII activities comply with relevant ALU financial, legal, people and governance requirements.
Learning, Courses and Academic Development
- Coordinate the development and implementation of CHII short courses, workshops, learning labs and other approved non-degree learning activities.
- Work with Academic Affairs, technical leads and sector experts to translate health workforce and market needs into relevant learning offerings.
- Coordinate market validation, skills-gap assessments and needs analyses for potential future health programmes.
- Oversee the development of competency frameworks, modular course concepts and curriculum inputs for approved initiatives.
- Coordinate relevant academic review and approval processes within ALU.
- Support exploratory work on future academic pathways, including curriculum mapping, academic partnerships and accreditation requirements, for consideration by the Executive Director and appropriate ALU structures.
Applied Research, Knowledge and Thought Leadership
- Coordinate implementation of CHII’s approved applied research and knowledge agenda.
- Work with the Executive Director, programme leads and relevant experts to develop research initiatives aligned with CHII’s strategic priorities.
- Coordinate the production of policy briefs, case studies, sector reports and other knowledge products arising from CHII programmes and partnerships.
- Support implementation of priority initiatives such as the Health Systems Scoring Index and other approved health systems research activities.
- Establish mechanisms for translating programme evidence and implementation learning into research, policy engagement and knowledge products.
- Coordinate contributions from researchers, programme teams, partner institutions and technical experts and support dissemination through appropriate academic, policy and sector platforms.
Partnerships, Resource Mobilisation and Centre Sustainability
- Operationalise strategic partnerships initiated or approved by the Executive Director and ensure appropriate implementation, governance and resourcing arrangements are in place.
- Coordinate internal processes required to develop and activate new CHII programmes and institutional partnerships.
- Translate the Executive Director’s resource mobilisation priorities into an actionable pipeline of funding opportunities, concept notes, proposals and business cases.
- Convene technical, programme, finance and institutional contributors required for major funding submissions.
- Support development of sustainable programmes and services that strengthen and diversify CHII’s institutional base.
- Track partnership, funding and sustainability commitments and provide regular implementation updates to the Executive Director.
- Represent CHII in delegated external and institutional engagements as appropriate.
People, Performance and Organisational Learning
- Provide leadership, supervision and performance management to designated CHII staff.
- Coordinate workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding, professional development and succession planning with the Executive Director and People team.
- Strengthen accountability, collaboration and clarity of roles across CHII teams.
- Oversee Centre-level performance monitoring in collaboration with programme leads and the MELA function.
- Consolidate performance information across CHII portfolios and identify implementation gaps requiring corrective action.
- Ensure learning from CHII programmes informs programme improvement, institutional development and future implementation.
- Provide the Executive Director with regular analysis of Centre performance, risks and issues requiring strategic attention.
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE AFRICA HEALTH COLLABORATIVE
The Associate Director supports the effective institutional delivery of ALU's AHC commitments but does not replace the Health Collaborative Program Manager's responsibility for programme implementation or the Executive Director's responsibility for senior AHC leadership.
The Associate Director's AHC-related responsibilities focus primarily on:
- Internal ALU coordination required for AHC delivery.
- Institutional approvals, systems and cross-functional dependencies.
- Centre-level workforce, operational and organisational requirements.
- Internal grant portfolio and institutional accountability processes.
- Resolution of institutional bottlenecks affecting programme implementation.
The Health Collaborative Program Manager remains responsible for operational AHC programme delivery, implementation planning, programme budgets, programme-level partnerships and grant deliverables.
SCOPE OF DECISION-MAKING
The Associate Director has delegated authority to:
- Represent CHII in routine internal institutional engagements.
- Lead Centre operating planning and implementation.
- Coordinate institutional resources within approved plans and budgets.
- Establish Centre management processes and internal operating mechanisms.
- Implement approved institutional partnerships and initiatives.
- Resolve routine cross-functional and operational matters affecting CHII.
- Make recommendations regarding staffing, systems, resource allocation and institutional priorities.
The Associate Director refers to the Executive Director:
- Major changes to CHII strategy or institutional direction.
- Significant new funding or partnership commitments.
- Major organisational restructuring or senior staffing decisions.
- Significant unbudgeted financial commitments.
- Matters presenting substantial institutional, donor or reputational risk.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
- Master's degree in Public Health, Global Health, Healthcare Management, Business Administration, Programme Management or a related field.
- At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in programme, institutional or organisational leadership.
- Demonstrated experience working in complex organisations with significant cross-functional coordination requirements.
- Experience translating strategy into implementation plans, systems and organisational capabilities.
- Experience managing teams, budgets, programmes and institutional stakeholders.
- Experience in healthcare, higher education, development or innovation ecosystems strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience supporting resource mobilisation, partnership development and organisational growth.
CORE COMPETENCIES
- Strategy execution
- Organisational leadership
- Institutional navigation
- Operational management
- Cross-functional coordination
- Financial and resource management
- Partnership implementation
- People leadership
- Risk management
- Decision-making and problem-solving
- Executive communication
- Change management