WAHO Delivery Advisor

Focus of the Role

TBI is supporting the West Africa Health Orgnisation (WAHO) to strengthen its institutional capacity to respond more effectively to routine public health issues and pandemics.

This work will be focused on improving the capacity of WAHO and its staff to deliver on their mandates and duties. Following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the public health agenda has never been more important.

The WAHO Delivery Advisor will provide technical and strategic advice to the senior leadership of WAHO and will liaise with internal and external stakeholders to support WAHO’s engagement with key stakeholders including those at Head of State level across the region.

This is a two year fixed term role which will be based in Ouagadougou but the postholder will also be required to regulularly travel to Abuja.

Key Responsibilities

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­The key responsibilities of the role include:

Delivery and capacity building

• Provide high impact advisory support to the WAHO leadership and key colleagues to ensure delivery of key initiatives, projects and strategies and ensure impact (e.g. scoping, strategy support, strategy review, technical advice, quality assurance, running workshops and sessions, short-term advisory, analysis, etc.)
• Provide institutional capacity building support including developing strong trusted working relationships with counterparts at WAHO, supporting them through coaching and on-the-job mentoring and in building agency; allowing for constructive challenge
• Support the WAHO Lead Advisor, WAHO DG and leadership team in developing and implementing a politically savvy strategy as well as its implementation to initiative and project level
• Work with the WAHO Lead Advisor and WAHO colleagues to ensure that the organisation has the systems for effective implementation and operational delivery of its mandate
• Support in developing a culture of delivery

Thought leadership

• Support a robust and targeted thought leadership and policy influencing agenda

Contribution to TBI

• Contribute to wider TBI agenda and other activities as required by the WAHO Lead Advisor

Person Specification

We are looking for individuals with high levels of enthusiasm, drive, resilience, a can-do attitude and ability to consistently achieve results in a fast-paced environment. This is a role in a fast paced team, working within complex policy areas that are highly scrutinised.

Therefore the successful candidate for the role should be able to display the majority of the following:

• At least 7 years’ experience in government, government advisory, management consulting or other organisational leadership
• Strong management skills, experience in implementing international development programmes
• Evidence of strong relationship management, business acumen, going the extra mile and collaboration
• A strategic mindset and experience in adaptive management, PDIA, etc
• An ability to deliver results in complex and challenging environments
• An ability to operate and succeed in a highly political environment
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, networking and communication skills, with an ability to develop and foster relationships with a wide range of senior stakeholders
• An ability to work independently, think strategically and translate strategies to concrete and implementable plans; an acute attention to detail with excellent organisational skills
• Relevant experience in public health is desirable
• Good working knowledge and experience of the West Africa sub-region is desirable but not essential
• Good communication skills in at least two of the official languages for ECOWAS

About The Institute

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) is a purpose-driven, not-for-profit organisation, with a mission to equip leaders to build open, prosperous and inclusive societies. We believe that politics done well has the power to transform lives. When governments work well, they are able to create economic and social change in a way that promotes fairness, social justice and opportunity. We are optimists, and we work relentlessly to support leaders and governments with the challenges they face: giving them practical solutions and actionable insights, that once implemented, can be transformative for their people.  

We do this within two connected divisions: 

 Government Advisory 

Our Advisory Practice works directly with political leaders and governments around the world to implement reforms that improve the lives of their citizens. It has both non-profit partners and a client base and its outputs cover a range of disciplines and projects across countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South Asia. We are currently in a rapid expansion phase from c. 18 countries at present, to 30 by December 2022.

 Policy Futures 

Our Policy Futures work encompasses three broad areas: 

• Renewing the Centre: developing a bold and innovative domestic policy programme to help renew the centre ground of British politics; 
• Tech and Public Policy: exploring the policy challenges and opportunities presented by the technological revolution; and 
• Extremism Policy Unit: creating solutions designed to tackle the threat of extremist ideologies in the UK and around the world. 

As an organisation, the core beliefs we all embrace are: 

• Open and Progressive: you’ll believe in the value of teamwork 
• Bold and Pragmatic: you’ll approach everything you do with integrity and authenticity 
• Optimistic Changemaker: you’ll be focused on results 

TBI believes embracing diversity and inclusion make us a better place to work.  It’s our goal to reflect everyone in society and we actively welcome applications from individuals and groups who are under-represented in the workplace. We celebrate difference be it ethnicity, religion, age, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation or disability. We will only ever assess you on your abilities and fit for a role. We’re happy to discuss any adjustments you need to ensure a level playing field during recruitment and, if you\'re successful, discuss any adjustments you might need to thrive in your role.