Associate Director, Operations, Outbreak Response

Job Summary:

Working under the direction of the STRIDES Implementation Director, the Associate Director, Operations – Outbreak Response provides operations leadership for Ebola outbreak response activities across the STRIDES Activity portfolio. The role supports rapid, compliant implementation of field operations, emergency procurement, staffing and surge support, partner coordination, budget management, donor responsiveness, and risk management within the Activity framework, government policies and strategies, and client regulations. Works closely with country teams, HQ units, Ebola Response Incident Management Team (IMT), technical leads, government counterparts, donors, and implementing partners to ensure high performance, operational continuity, and responsiveness to rapidly changing outbreak conditions.

Accountabilities:

• Provide operations leadership and management support for current Ebola response activities across multiple countries, ensuring strategically coherent implementation, well-managed growth, and compliance with organizational policies, host government requirements and donor regulations.
• Serve as an operations coordination lead for response activation, surge staffing, consultant support, travel, procurement, budget tracking, issue escalation, and timely follow-up on response priorities.
• Build the capacity of project/program and response team members to manage emergency operations, surge support, field coordination, documentation, and compliance requirements in a high-tempo outbreak environment.
• Coordinate with the HQ DRC Ebola IMT, DRC HQ Program Management Team (PMT), STRIDES Operations Management Team, in-country team and technical counterparts on emergency response management, compliance, and performance standards, as well as effective systems for budget tracking, security coordination, duty of care, knowledge management and operational risk management associated with the Ebola response activities.
• Support programming and technical staff to collect, document and disseminate lessons learned and best practices, incorporating these into response and preparedness activities.
• Support response planning and resource mobilization by identifying operational gaps, surge needs, and opportunities for additional Ebola response, recovery, and preparedness programming.
• Ensure routine monitoring visits to the field are conducted to ensure donor compliance, implementation quality operational readiness, safety considerations and timely resolution of bottlenecks in Ebola response activities.
• Coordinate with the stakeholder’s units to ensure sound budget management, expense control and timely contractual documentation.
• Support all relevant country teams to ensure operational reviews, procurement actions, staffing/consultant requests, travel approvals and budget tracking/monitoring take place on time. Also ensure that programming staff are well trained to properly manage project budgets.
• Ensure that the project managers and officers review documentation on a regular basis in coordination with the DRC PMT; provide leadership and management support to ensure effective monthly review meetings, including follow-up on action items.
• Mitigate any potential risk by collaborating with the Finance team to ensure that programming staff fully understand financial and administrative processes involved in project budget cycles.
• Develop a sound understanding of Ebola response activities, country operating contexts and client priorities to be able to professionally represent the organization to implementing partners, the government, and donors
• Assist the senior management in maintaining strong relationships with donors, assisting with response briefings, visits and appropriate advocacy actions
• Forge and maintain solid cooperation with partner organizations through regular communication, cooperation and, where appropriate, joint decision-making.
• Act as the focal point for Ebola-related communication between HQ, country teams, regional stakeholders, and technical response leads supporting Ebola response activities.
• Identify and track Ebola response, recovery, and preparedness funding opportunities in collaboration with technical teams and business development counterparts.
• Coordinate operational inputs to donor communications, situational updates, decision briefs, acter-action reviews, and advocacy efforts across Ebola response countries.
• Create a supervisory environment focused on the achievement of team and individual results that emphasizes the importance of learning, productivity, accountability, and openness and collaboration during emergency response operations
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Applied Knowledge & Skills:

• Effective knowledge of design, implementation, and management of global health security and infectious disease emergency and outbreak response activities funded by US government or other international donors.
• Knowledge of various funding mechanisms, general contracting, and reporting requirements
• Knowledge of donor planning and reporting systems used in emergency or outbreak response settings.
• Knowledge of business development and resource mobilization processes, including proposal development for emergency response, recovery, preparedness, or global health security programming within an international NGO context.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong awareness of cultural differences and the political and ethical considerations associated with operating in international settings.

Problem Solving & Impact:

• Solid operational and tactical decision maker with the ability to handle unforeseen, rapidly evolving and often time sensitive issues during Ebola response operations.
• Decisions and actions have minimal to moderate implications for the costs and short-term goals of within the STRIDES Activity.
• Problems encountered may be complex, time-sensitive, and cross-functional, requiring sound judgment, escalation when appropriate, and practical solutions that balance speed, compliance, safety, and operational feasibility.

Supervision Given/Received:

• Routine coordination with all employees, in the country office and with HQ.
• Expected to work well with others; develop and maintain compatibility among project staff and colleagues across projects, donors, sub-awardees, consultants, and recipients of assistance.
• Manages several staff.
• Typically reports to a Director.

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree or its International Equivalent • Communication and Social Marketing, Economic Development, Education, Health, Nutrition, Research, Technology and Youth or a Related Fields.
• Project Management (PM) Certification preferred.

Experience:

• 10+ years of relevant experience (including 3+ years of management experience) in business administration, project management transformation, change management, strategy consulting, or internal corporate strategy.
• Demonstrated experience supporting outbreak response, humanitarian emergencies, or public health crisis operations, including coordination with cross-functional teams, partners, and stakeholders in complex and rapidly changing environments.
• Demonstrated experience in sector specific or multi-sector project management and implementation.
• Experience operating in insecure environments.
• Experience working in a non-governmental organization (NGO).
• Native or fluent French language skills are considered an advantage

Typical Physical Demands:

• Typical office environment.
• Ability to spend long hours looking at computer screen and doing repetitive work on a keyboard.
• Ability to sit and stand for extended periods of time.
• Ability to lift/move up to 5 lbs.

Technology to be Used:

• Personal Computer/Laptop, Microsoft applications (i.e., Office 365, SharePoint, Skype/Zoom/Teams), cell phone/mobile technology, and standard office equipment.

Travel Requirements:

• Greater than 25%

The expected US Based hiring salary range for this role is listed below. Candidates FHI 360 pay ranges represent national averages that vary by geographic location. When determining an offer amount, FHI 360 factors in multiple considerations, including but not limited to: relevant years of experience and education possessed by the applicant, internal equity, business sector, and budget. For internal candidates, salary placement will also follow FHI 360’s current promotional increase guidelines. Final compensation will be determined in accordance with applicable law and FHI 360 policy.

Base salary is only one component of our offer. FHI 360 contributes 7% of monthly base pay to a money purchase pension plan account. Additionally, all US based staff working full-time, which is calculated at 40 hours/week, receive 18 days of paid vacation per year, 12 sick days per year, and 11 holidays per year. Paid time off is reduced pro rata for employees working less than a full-time schedule.

US Based Hiring Salary Range: USD 110,000 - 130,000 annually

International hiring ranges will differ based on location

This job posting summarizes the main duties of the job. It neither prescribes nor restricts the exact tasks that may be assigned to carry out these duties. This document should not be construed in any way to represent a contract of employment. Management reserves the right to review and revise this document at any time.

FHI 360 is an equal opportunity employer whereby we do not engage in practices that discriminate against any person employed or seeking employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.

Our values and commitments to safeguarding:FHI 360 is committed to preventing any type of abuse, exploitation and harassment in our work environments and programs, including sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment. FHI 360 takes steps to safeguard the welfare of everyone who engages with our organization and programs and requires that all personnel, including staff members and volunteers, share this commitment and sign our code of conduct. All offers of employment will be subject to appropriate screening checks, including reference, criminal record and terrorism finance checks. FHI 360 also participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS), facilitated by the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response. In line with the MDS, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any substantiated findings of sexual abuse, exploitation and/or harassment during the applicant’s tenure with previous employers. By applying, job applicants confirm their understanding of these recruitment procedures and consent to these screening checks.

FHI 360 will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws.

FHI 360 will never ask you for your career site username or password, and we will never request money, goods or services during the application, recruitment or employment process. If you have questions or concerns about correspondence from us, please email View email address on aiapply.co .

FHI 360 fosters the strength and health of its workforce through a competitive benefits package, professional development and policies and programs that support a healthy work/life balance. Join our global workforce to make a positive difference for others — and yourself.

Please click here to continue searching FHI 360's Career Portal.