Description
Job Title: Lead, Gates Foundation Partnerships
Reports To: Director of Academic Partnerships
Location: Kigali, Rwanda; travel to partner institutions and project countries as required
Position Type: Full-time, fixed-term, three years
Direct Reports: Dotted line relationship to Program Assistant and Grants Analyst (straight line to UGHE Head of Grants)
Key Working Relationships: Program Assistant, Grants Analyst, Senior Advisor and Program Coordinator; Head of Grants; Finance and Grants Management; ANA, ANN and Jhpiego
Purpose of the Job
With support from the Gates Foundation, UGHE is expected to serve as the primary grant recipient and institutional steward for investments supporting the African Neonatal Association (ANA), the African Neonatal Network (ANN), and government-led neonatal respiratory care investment roadmaps implemented with Jhpiego. UGHE will administer grants and subawards, oversee financial and programmatic accountability, and report progress and results to the Foundation. With the increasing number of Gates Foundation investments, moving towards a single account and oversight lead is needed.
The Lead will provide overall leadership, fiduciary stewardship, subaward oversight, performance assurance, risk management, and donor accountability for UGHE's Gates Foundation-funded portfolio. Reporting to The Director of Academic partnerships, the Lead will co-supervise the full-time Grants Analyst and supervise the Administrative Assistant (Grant), and coordinate closely with UGHE's Head of Grants, Finance, Grants Management, Procurement, and other institutional functions. The Lead will work in partnership with the Senior Advisor, Neonatal Health Partnerships & Institutional Strengthening and the Program Coordinator, without displacing their technical and program coordination responsibilities or the implementing partners' autonomy.
Key Responsibilities
1. Grant Portfolio Management and Institutional Oversight
- Lead planning, management, and administrative oversight of all Gates Foundation-funded investments, including the neonatal health grant portfolio.
- Ensure each investment has an approved work plan, budget, deliverables, reporting schedule, and accountability framework.
- Manage the consolidated portfolio and provide dotted line supervision to the Grants Analyst and Program Assistant, setting priorities, reviewing performance, and ensuring they provide responsive support to the Senior Advisor and Project Coordinator.
2. Financial Management and Subaward Oversight
- Provide managerial oversight of grant budgets, subaward finances, disbursement controls, and compliance; delegate routine budget analysis, financial reconciliations, expenditure tracking, and financial report preparation to the Grants Analyst, working under UGHE Finance and Grants technical guidance.
- Coordinate preparation, execution, and management of subaward agreements with ANA, ANN implementation partners, Jhpiego, and other approved recipients.
- Ensure subawards specify deliverables, budgets, reporting obligations, milestones, controls, and corrective-action procedures.
- Review and approve, within delegated authority, financial analyses and disbursement recommendations prepared by the Grants Analyst; coordinate timely transfers through UGHE's established financial approval procedures.
- Ensure the Grants Analyst maintains audit-ready financial records, monitors overlapping charges across the ANA, ANN and Jhpiego awards, and escalates exceptions; the Project Lead remains accountable for appropriate follow-up.
3. Performance Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting
- Establish a consolidated monitoring framework aligned with individual grant frameworks.
- Track milestones, outputs, indicators, timelines, and partner deliverables; coordinate periodic performance reviews.
- Oversee consolidation of partner narrative and financial reporting:
- Identify delays or performance gaps and agree on corrective actions with implementing partners.
4. Partnership Management and Coordination
- Serve as UGHE’s principal grant-management liaison with the Foundation and implementing partners on this specific portfolio
- Maintain constructive relationships with ANA, ANN, Jhpiego, and other stakeholders.
- Maintain close collaboration with the Senior Advisor and Program Coordinator, ensuring that the Grants Analyst and Program Assistant provide substantial financial and administrative support to ANA-related activities and partner coordination while retaining their reporting line to the Project Lead.
5. Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance
- Chair regular portfolio-management meetings with the Grants Analyst and Administrative Assistant, and coordinate cross-functional reviews with the Senior Advisor, Program Coordinator, and UGHE finance, grants, procurement, and HR leadership.
- Maintain a portfolio risk register and coordinate risk mitigation.
- Ensure compliance with grant terms, UGHE policies, procurement, safeguarding, data governance, and applicable requirements.
- Document lessons learned to strengthen UGHE’s ability to administer complex multi-partner investments.
Key Deliverables
1. Establish supervision arrangements, individual work plans, and service standards for the Grants Analyst and Program Assistant, including agreed support to the Senior Advisor and Project Coordinator.
2. Finalize subaward agreements and clarify institutional roles and responsibilities.
3. Confirm budgets, disbursement schedules, deliverables, and reporting requirements.
4. Set up a portfolio dashboard, regular partner reviews, and a risk register.
5. Ensure timely donor reports through clear division of responsibilities for technical, financial, and administrative inputs.
Qualifications, Knowledge, and Skills
a. Academic qualifications
- Master’s degree in public health, global health, health systems management, business administration, project management, finance, or a related field.
b. Experience
- At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience, including management of complex donor-funded programs.
- Demonstrated experience supervising grant finance and administrative staff, with a strong understanding of subaward administration, budgeting, compliance, and performance reporting.
- Experience coordinating multi-country or multi-institutional programs, preferably in Africa.
- Familiarity with maternal, newborn, and child health, or with health systems strengthening, is desirable.
c. Technical competencies
- Excellent analytical, interpersonal, organizational, and English-language communication skills; French is an advantage.
d. Behavioral competencies
- Accountability and integrity in stewardship of donor resources.
- Strategic and operational judgment and results orientation.
- Diplomatic, collaborative leadership that respects partner independence.
- Commitment to strengthening sustainable African-led health institutions.
How to Apply
Applicants should provide: (1) curriculum vitae, (2) degree, (3) a cover letter describing your interest in UGHE and relevant experience. Please upload these under the ‘Additional Files’ tab on the application page.
University of Global Health Equity is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Organizational Profile
UGHE is a new kind of university focused on training the next generation of global leaders in health care delivery. The university launched in Rwanda in September 2015. Through an academic experience uniquely rooted in the values of equity, students are empowered to both ease suffering at the bedside and drive transformational, systemic changes to the health system.
UGHE is an initiative of Partners In Health (PIH), an internationally recognized non-profit organization whose mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. In over nearly three decades of operating alongside public sectors in countries around the world, PIH has developed a model to deliver high quality healthcare to some of the world’s most marginalized communities. Nowhere has this impact been more profound than in Rwanda, where Inshuti Mu Buzima—PIH’s sister organization—and our government partners have driven innovation for a decade.
Members of the UGHE community are tenacious and resolute in our drive to attain social justice, make common cause with those in need, listen to and learn from others, and operate with honesty and humility as we uphold academic integrity and intellectual curiosity. The University of Global Health Equity seeks individuals committed to these values to join the team.
Commitment to Safeguarding and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Sexual Harassment
At UGHE, we are committed to ensuring that those who benefit from our work—including community members—as well as our students, contractors, staff, and visitors to our campus are treated with dignity and respect and protected from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment and any form of systemic abuse, whilst reducing risk and vulnerabilities. A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with UGHE’s policy.
UGHE will request information from applicants’ previous employers about any findings of fraud, harassment, sexual harassment and any form of systemic abuse or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By applying, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.
Disclaimer
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.
- Location: Kigali , RW