Senior Manager, Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition - Africa (1 Year FTC)

Role Overview

This position leads the design, delivery and stewardship of a portfolio of investments that advance maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition outcomes across Africa, working within CIFF's Africa Strategy, Resilient Communities Framework and MCH+N missions. Day to day, the role blends strategy development, investment design and grantee oversight with partner engagement, evidence synthesis and influence work with governments, donors and implementing organisations. It matters because the portfolio is the mechanism through which the Foundation converts board-level commitments into measurable, lasting improvements in health and nutrition for women and children.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy and analysis: Prepare and deliver rigorous research and analytical products that inform strategic objectives and operational plans, and convene government bodies, donor partners and implementing agencies to gather the inputs that shape MCH+N priorities.
• Investment pipeline and design: Build a strong pipeline of prospective investments aligned to the MCH+N mission, lead the design of individual investments, select and approve grantees through CIFF's internal processes, and oversee implementation against Foundation procedures.
• Integrated programming: Work with the Resilient Communities team and Girl Capital colleagues to shape, execute and scale investments that address interconnected issues, and identify synergies that connect the portfolio to complementary work.
• Performance management: Review investment progress on a regular cycle, surface problems and delays, and work with partners on solutions — escalating to the Director, Maternal, Child Health and Development where intervention is needed — while embedding appropriate monitoring and evaluation into every proposal and programme.
• Grants, finance and compliance: Coordinate with Finance and Legal on grant agreements, disbursement forecasting and processing, and grant management and reporting; serve as the team's lead user of the online grants management system (Fluxx); and apply due diligence and risk management standards throughout proposal development and execution.
• Reporting: Produce concise, high-quality summary reports, board reports and portfolio reports, meeting tight deadlines without loss of quality.
• Sector knowledge and influence: Track developments in MCH+N and adjacent international development fields, build networks that deepen CIFF's and its grantees' knowledge, contribute to thought leadership, advocacy and policy agendas with Directors, assess academic research and government policy for gaps, and represent CIFF at conferences, workshops and professional events.
• Partner and stakeholder management: Assess prospective partners using corporate protocols and account management/CRM disciplines, help build strategic partnerships that support adoption, replication, co-funding or scale-up, and maintain constructive dialogue with ministries and agencies at central and state levels to support implementation and sustainability.

Requirements & Qualifications

• A post-graduate degree or equivalent experience, ideally in medical sciences, nutrition and food systems, public health and epidemiology, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated technical depth in maternal, newborn and child health and/or nutrition, including an understanding of how these intersect with CIFF's Africa priority areas.
• A track record in strategy development: synthesising complex information into compelling strategic insights and deliverables, with exceptional visual communication and presentation skills that support decision-making and convey impact to internal and external audiences.
• Substantive knowledge of the African context, international development and global health.
• Experience in analysis and due diligence, and in policy, planning and programme delivery — including field experience — within international development and global health.
• Proven experience formulating and executing investments and evidence-based programme design in MCH+N, health system strengthening and health financing.
• A strong grasp of impact measurement, programme monitoring and evaluation methodologies.
• An innovative, solution-oriented mindset with practical problem-solving ability.
• Strong relationship-building skills and the ability to influence and collaborate across cultures and groups working toward shared goals.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication (CIFF's business language) and solid IT proficiency, particularly Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience working within government systems, or influencing the policy of government agencies, private sector organisations or donor organisations.
• The capacity to work across a range of cultural and socio-economic contexts, adapting style and approach in a culturally sensitive way to maximise effectiveness.
• Evidence of being a proactive self-starter who works with speed and resilience in dynamic environments, plus a willingness to travel regularly.

What We Offer / Why Join

CIFF operates a hybrid work policy across all locations, with employees splitting time between the office and home; further detail is available during the recruitment process. The starting salary for this role is 13,200,000 KES annually, and the wider benefits package includes:

• Annual leave of 25 days per year, in line with CIFF's annual leave policy and pro-rated where applicable.
• A discretionary bonus scheme.
• A training allowance.
• A wellbeing allowance.
• Life insurance.
• Medical insurance.