Project Director, Integrated Innovation Highway (IIH)

About the role

PATH is hiring a Project Director for the Integrated Innovation Highway (IIH), a Gates Foundation-funded project supporting the Government of Ethiopia and the Ministry of Health to build a government-owned platform that assesses country needs, prioritizes innovations, evaluates evidence and readiness and supports their transition and scale-up. The Project Director provides overall strategic, technical and managerial leadership, guides the IIH team and reports to the PATH Ethiopia Country Director.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the design, planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring and review of the project, including annual workplans, budgets, milestones and deliverables, and supervise and mentor project staff.
• Serve as the main point of contact for the Ministry of Health, Regional Health Bureaus, the Gates Foundation and other donors and partners, and align IIH activities with national health strategies and government priorities.
• Build strong relationships with the Ministry of Health and its directorates, and coordinate with Regional Health Bureaus, public health institutes, universities, development partners and innovators.
• Support government-led mechanisms for needs assessment, prioritization, evidence assessment, evaluation for scale, transition to scale and sustainable financing, so that the IIH does not create parallel systems.
• Provide strategic oversight of Phase 1 tracer innovations: AI-enabled Point-of-Care Ultrasound (AI-POCUS), TB PlusLife diagnostics and Ebola diagnostics, covering regulatory, clinical, quality, data and health-system requirements.
• Manage donor relationships, lead project reviews and reporting, and communicate progress, risks and adaptations to the Gates Foundation and other partners.