Assistant Program Officer, Health Systems Strengthening

Clinton Health Access Initiative•, LA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low- and middle-income countries. CHAI supports governments and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems. Founded in 2002, CHAI has expanded its focus from HIV/AIDS to include infectious diseases like COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis, as well as non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and hypertension. CHAI also works to accelerate vaccine rollouts, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. The organization invests in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing, with a strategy focused on sustainable impact at scale, government leadership, national scalability, and global knowledge sharing. CHAI values its diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities, fostering fairness, mutual respect, diversity, and inclusion. In Lao PDR, CHAI partners with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to strengthen health systems in areas such as vaccines, supply chain, digital health, and primary health care. In collaboration with UNICEF and the MOH, CHAI Lao PDR is implementing a program to enhance supply chain management and data utilization for nutrition commodities, aiming to improve the prevention and treatment of wasting. This program builds on a successful pilot in Attapeu Province, which significantly increased linkage to treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM). The model is being scaled to six provinces: Khammouan, Savannakhet, Saravanh, Sekong, Vientiane Capital, and Xayyabouly. The approach emphasizes strengthening government systems, avoiding parallel processes, and improving service readiness, data use, and supervision across all health system levels. The Assistant Program Officer, Nutrition will be based within the assigned Provincial Health Office (PHO) to support the daily implementation of the program at provincial, district, and health-centre levels. Working with provincial MOH counterparts, this role will help translate national plans into practical actions, focusing on strengthening supply chain practices for nutrition commodities, improving the routine use of mSupply and DHIS2, and supporting the delivery of quality wasting prevention and treatment services. The position requires strong problem-solving, analytical, and communication skills, a service-oriented approach, and the ability to effectively work with government counterparts in a capacity-building capacity. Candidates must specify their preferred province when applying.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in public health, nutrition, pharmacy, supply chain management, or a related field.
Minimum 2 years of relevant professional experience, preferably in public health, nutrition, supply chain, or health systems strengthening.
Experience working with government counterparts at provincial or district level in Lao PDR.
Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
Ability to work independently, proactively, and collaboratively as part of a multicultural team.
Good interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills in English and Lao, and an ability to build professional relationships with a range of key stakeholders.
Willingness and ability to travel frequently within the assigned province, including to remote and hard-to-reach areas.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting training, supportive supervision, or capacity-building activities is an advantage.
Familiarity with health data platforms in Laos is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

Establish CHAI provincial operations, coordinate day-to-day program activities, and ensure alignment with the overall program work plan.
Support the PHO to define the provincial implementation strategy and develop a clear, time-bound operational plan.
Build and maintain strong working relationships with provincial government stakeholders, district counterparts, implementing partners, donors, and NGOs; represent CHAI at provincial coordination meetings when delegated.
Support the MOH team and PFDU to fully integrate RUTF and other IMAM nutrition commodities into eLMIS (mSupply) across all levels within the province.
Strengthen forecasting, ordering, inventory management, last-mile distribution, and routine reporting of nutrition commodities at PHO and DHO levels.
Identify and address stock-related bottlenecks at district hospitals and health centres to maintain uninterrupted availability of nutrition commodities.
Support routine monthly data reviews using mSupply and DHIS2 and Quarterly stakeholder review meeting including Nutrition Forum meeting at provincial level and other meeting as needed.
Translate review findings into targeted corrective actions with named owners and clear timelines; track actions to closure.
Prioritize supervision and follow-up for facilities with the largest service-readiness and stock gaps.
Develop training materials, agendas, budgets, and logistics for provincial and district training events on nutrition supply chain management, IMAM tools, Form 2.1, and eLMIS use.
Support training delivery and provide on-the-job mentoring to district and health-centre staff.
Document and disseminate lessons learned and good practices within the province.
Prepare clear and accurate written updates, presentations, and reports on program progress in both English and Lao.
Ensure timely escalation to the Program Manager and Associate of issues that require central-level action.
Work in a capacity-building mode with PHO and DHO counterparts, ensuring skills and tools are transferred for sustained use beyond the program.
Support the documentation of provincial processes and tools to facilitate continued government ownership and long-term program sustainability.