Program Manager – Health Workforce at Benjamin William Mkapa Foundation

Department: Directorate of Programs & Strategic Information
Reports to: Director of Programs & Strategic Information
Duty Station: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (with travel to project sites as required)
Contract Type: Full-Time
Supervises: Program Officers – Health Workforce and Compensation

Position Summary

The Program Manager – Health Workforce provides strategic leadership and oversight of the Foundation's Health Workforce Portfolio, ensuring the effective design, implementation, quality, and growth of programs that strengthen health workforce systems and improve health outcomes. The role oversees multiple health workforce initiatives across Mainland Tanzania and collaborates closely with programs in Zanzibar. The position is also responsible for portfolio performance, stakeholder engagement, quality assurance, and resource mobilization, while supporting expansion of the Foundation's health workforce portfolio within Tanzania and beyond.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Health Workforce Systems Strengthening

• Provide strategic technical leadership and oversight of the Foundation's health workforce portfolio.
• Lead development and implementation of innovative and evidence-based health workforce interventions aligned with national priorities and organizational strategy.
• Promote integrated approaches across workforce planning and information, deployment, performance management, leadership development, retention, and workforce governance.
• Support health workforce investments that contribute to broader health systems strengthening and improved health outcomes.

HRH Portfolio and Program Management

• Lead the planning, implementation, performance monitoring, and quality assurance of the Foundation's Health Workforce Portfolio.
• Ensure effective delivery of program objectives, achievement of results, and compliance with donor and organizational requirements.
• Monitor portfolio-wide performance, risks, and opportunities, and drive adaptive management to enhance impact and sustainability.
• Coordinate resources, partnerships, budgets, and implementation across multiple HRH projects, funding streams, and locations to ensure coherence and alignment with strategic priorities.

Technical Excellence, Capacity Strengthening and Learning

• Lead workforce capacity-strengthening initiatives, including training, mentorship, coaching, supportive supervision, and leadership development.
• Support implementation of performance improvement and retention strategies for health workers and managers.
• Promote the use of data, research, and learning to inform program design, implementation, decision-making, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure technical quality and alignment with national standards, global evidence, and best practices across the portfolio.
• Lead documentation and dissemination of lessons learned, innovations, success stories, and other knowledge products to support learning, policy influence, and scale-up.
• Oversee development of technical reports, policy briefs, publications, and portfolio learning products.
• Foster a culture of learning, accountability, innovation, and quality improvement across HRH programs.

Stakeholder Engagement and Partnership Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with government institutions, development partners, donors, academic institutions, and implementing organizations.
• Ensure alignment and coordination across the Foundation's health workforce initiatives in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
• Work closely with the Senior Program Officer – Zanzibar and other project leads to promote collaboration, shared learning, and achievement of portfolio objectives.
• Represent the Foundation in technical working groups, policy forums, consortium meetings, and coordination platforms.

Business Development and Technical Positioning

• Provide technical input to resource mobilization, partnership development, and portfolio growth efforts under the guidance of the Director of Programs & Strategic Information.
• Contribute to the development of concept notes, proposals, and grant applications, ensuring technical quality and alignment with national priorities and donor interests and pursue strategic opportunities.
• Leverage program evidence, lessons learned, and results to strengthen BMF's visibility and thought leadership in health workforce and health systems strengthening.

Team Leadership, Compliance and Risk Management

• Supervise, mentor, and support program staff to ensure high performance and professional growth.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and accountable team culture.
• Ensure compliance with donor requirements, government policies, and organizational procedures.
• Identify and manage programmatic, operational, financial, and reputational risks.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Master's degree in Public Health, Health Systems Management, Health Workforce Development, Health Policy, Medicine, Nursing, Public Administration, or a related field.
• Minimum of eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in health workforce, health systems strengthening, or related health programs, including experience managing donor-funded projects.
• Demonstrated experience leading multi-stakeholder programs involving government institutions, development partners, and implementing organizations.
• Strong understanding of health workforce systems, policies, and priorities in Tanzania, with regional experience considered an added advantage.
• Proven experience in program design, implementation, budgeting, monitoring, reporting, quality assurance, and risk management.
• Demonstrated experience in proposal development, resource mobilization, and partnership development.
• Strong leadership, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, communication, negotiation, and team management skills.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a dynamic environment.
• Commitment to accountability, innovation, collaboration, and sustainable health systems strengthening.