Director of Country Expansion

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About Lafiya

Lafiya delivers community-driven family planning services to women and girls in rural regions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Duties

Lafiya is transitioning from a single-country operation to a multi-country, mature scale-up. We are seeking a proactive and resilient Director of Country Expansion to lead this expansion. The primary mandate for this role in the first 12 months is to lead Lafiya’s country expansion, adapting our established model to a new geography. You will outline the pilot and learning agenda, oversee the initial rollout, and manage this launch as a replication of the Lafiya model in a new environment. After the expansion, this role will evolve into leading our internal pilots and iterations of the model, such as introducing blended training models or layering other maternal health interventions onto the main service. It is a unique opportunity for an operationally savvy problem-solver. Based on desk research and feasibility scoping, we have considered Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Senegal, Mali, Uganda, Rwanda, Madagascar, Zambia, Guinea and Mozambique for expansion. We are currently still considering the following five countries: Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin and Senegal. Final selection will happen in collaboration with the chosen candidate based on projected impact. What You’ll Do 1. Country Expansion with Established Model (Priority focus for the 1st year) Spend your first few months embedded in our Nigerian operations to get onboarded. This deep immersion will include shadowing Lafiya Sisters to understand the core model at the community level, observing how various roles function across the organisation, and closely studying our existing partnership with the Nigerian Ministry of Health. Conduct deep-dive research into the health landscape to identify hurdles, navigate power structures, and define the partner landscape, working directly with the CEO to synthesise findings and create the operational blueprint for launch. Relocate to the first expansion country for a 3-6-month scoping period to lead high-level negotiations with the Ministries of Health. You will secure buy-in to start the pilot and lead the effort to get financial buy-in from governments from the beginning. If a market presents insurmountable barriers, you advise the Lafiya leadership on re-scoping and entry in a new country. After securing necessary government approval and passing Lafiya's internal feasibility criteria, you will lead the pilot launch. This involves building the initial operational team and providing strategic oversight as they train the first group of health workers, manage the initial 6-month learning agenda, and conduct rigorous monitoring and evaluation. 2. Internal Venture Building (2nd year onwards) Building on the deep operational and strategic understanding gained from leading the country expansion, this role will likely transition in the second year to focus on improving, refining, and testing new iterations of the Lafiya model and internal pilots within existing geographies. Dive deep into potential new verticals (for example, routine immunisation integration or electronic family planning tools). You will conduct the technical research required to determine how best to serve our users while prioritising lasting impact and cost-effectiveness. For the most promising new initiatives, you will develop the full pilot documentation. This involves drafting a lean pilot plan, a transparent budget, and a rigorous learning agenda that clearly defines what success looks like. The technical execution roadmap should be built on a 'gated' approach, giving you the flexibility to pivot or discontinue a project if it is not achieving its intended goals. Partner closely with the Programmes and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) teams to leverage existing lessons learned, guide all pilots with high-quality evidence, and ensure that successful initiatives are seamlessly integrated into the core Lafiya model.

Qualifications

Who You Are You are an entrepreneur at heart and a creative problem solver by nature. You have the ambition to build something from nothing and the appetite for risk that comes with it, but you are strategic enough to want the support of a big organisation and the scale of impact that comes with an established model. Most importantly, you are deeply committed to health equity and are ready to be based in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the flexibility to relocate as Lafiya expands its reach across the continent. Education and Experience A strong technical background in sexual and reproductive health is highly desired. Professional fluency in both English and French is required to navigate diverse regulatory environments across Sub-Saharan Africa. Proven track record of negotiating with Ministries of Health or other high-level government stakeholders, securing high-level buy-in, and navigating complex bureaucratic landscapes. Significant professional experience living and working within Sub-Saharan Africa, with a deep understanding of the diverse sociocultural and religious factors that influence health access. Skills & Personal Qualities You are a natural builder and an effective operator who not only identifies hurdles but also creates paths around them. You have the problem-solving drive to take the established Lafiya model and determine the exact technical and operational blueprint needed for replication in a new country. You possess exceptional organisational and high-functioning project management skills, enabling you to keep complex, multi-stage initiatives moving and on track, regardless of ambiguity. You have exceptional communication skills, ensuring you consistently and proactively communicate your thought process, progress, and risks back to leadership to keep them deeply informed throughout the expansion process. You possess the resilience and professional confidence to operate independently in high-pressure environments, standing your ground in a room full of ministry officials while remaining deeply value-aligned with Lafiya’s mission. You are a fantastic executor, proficient at putting together lean, research-backed pilot plans, budgets, and learning agendas designed to generate evidence rapidly. You can translate messy field data and complex policy landscapes into a clear, winning narrative, demonstrating the intellectual honesty to pivot when necessary. You can commit to an initial 3-month onboarding period in Nigeria and a 3-6-month relocation to the new expansion country, while maintaining flexibility to relocate as priorities shift. As we are a remote organisation, you are highly proficient with digital work tools (Google Workspace, Slack, etc.) and can manage complex projects and teams without losing momentum.

Application instructions

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