Service Delivery Director

Amref Health Africa was founded in 1957 and has since grown to become the largest African-based international health development organisation; currently implementing more than 180 programs, reaching more than 40 million people across 35 African countries; and a staff complement of over 2,000. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Amref Health Africa has offices in ten countries in Africa – Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guinea (Conakry), Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. An additional eleven advocacy and fundraising offices are located in Europe and North America.

Amref Health Africa is driven by its vision of ‘Lasting health change in Africa’ and its mission ‘To catalyze and drive community-led and people-centred health systems while addressing social determinants of health’. We believe that the power to transform Africa’s health lies within its communities, and therefore strive to ensure that health systems are not only functional but that communities are empowered to hold these systems accountable for the delivery of quality and affordable health care.

Purpose

The Service Delivery Director (SDD) plays a crucial role in providing strategic leadership, technical direction, and operational oversight for Amref Health Africa’s service delivery initiatives in Ethiopia. This position is integral to ensuring the delivery of high-quality, equitable, and integrated primary health care services. The SDD focuses particularly on key areas such as Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health (MNCH), which aims to foster improvements in health outcomes for mothers, newborns, and children. Additionally, the SDD addresses adolescent and youth nutrition by promoting healthy practices and addressing nutritional needs among young populations, as well as implementing effective measures for disease prevention and control.

Beyond these core health services, the SDD is responsible for overseeing programs that tackle Social Determinants of Health (SDH), with a strong emphasis on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) to promote access to clean water and sanitation facilities, thus improving overall public health. Youth Development and Engagement is another critical area, where the SDD encourages the active participation and empowerment of youth in health initiatives. By ensuring the effective integration of health systems strengthening with MNCH, WASH, youth engagement, and disease control, the SDD adopts a holistic approach aimed at driving measurable improvements in health outcomes and enhancing the resilience of health systems throughout the region.

Key Responsibilities

II. Strategic Leadership and Technical Direction

1. Service Delivery Strategy & Systems Strengthening

• Lead the development and execution of Amref Ethiopia’s service delivery strategy aligned with national health sector priorities and Amref’s global strategy.
• Ensure integrated delivery of MNCH, disease prevention, and primary health care services across all program areas.
• Strengthen health system components including service quality, workforce capacity, supply chain coordination, referral systems, and community-health facility linkages.
• Promote implementation of evidence-based, high-impact interventions across maternal, neonatal, and child health continuum of care.
• Ensure integration of preventive and promotive services within PHC platforms.

2. Maternal, Neonatal & Child Health (MNCH) Leadership

• Provide overall technical oversight to MNCH programs to ensure quality, access, equity, and measurable reductions in maternal and child morbidity and mortality.
• Ensure implementation of demand creation strategies and community engagement models that improve uptake of MNCH services.
• Guide quality assurance systems, clinical mentorship, and training initiatives for MNCH service providers.
• Oversee integration of adolescent and youth-responsive MNCH services within primary care systems.
• Promote operational research and innovation to improve maternal and child health outcomes.

3. Disease Prevention & Control

• Provide strategic oversight for communicable and non-communicable disease prevention initiatives embedded within primary health care services.
• Ensure alignment of disease control programs with national strategies and global technical standards.
• Strengthen surveillance, community-level prevention, and early detection systems.
• Ensure integration of prevention services (e.g., immunization, screening, health promotion) within routine PHC platforms.

4. Oversight of Social Determinants of Health (WASH & Youth Development)

• Provide high-level technical and strategic supervision of WASH programs to ensure alignment with health service delivery outcomes.
• Promote integration of WASH interventions within health facilities and communities to improve MNCH and disease outcomes.
• Oversee youth development programs with strong integration into health promotion, reproductive health, employability, and social resilience.
• Ensure youth-centered programming is linked to health systems strengthening and community health strategies.
• Promote cross-sectoral collaboration to address structural barriers affecting health outcomes.

III. Program Quality, Integration & Performance Management

• Ensure all service delivery programs meet donor compliance, national standards, and Amref quality benchmarks.
• Lead quarterly and annual program performance reviews to identify service delivery gaps and implement corrective measures.
• Establish robust monitoring systems in collaboration with MEAL teams to track service delivery outcomes.
• Ensure documentation of best practices, lessons learned, and innovation models for scale-up.
• Lead integration across MNCH, WASH, youth, and disease programs to avoid silos and maximize impact.
• Accountable for technical quality, performance outcomes, and strategic growth of the service delivery portfolio.
• Responsible for ensuring effective utilization of program budgets and adherence to donor and Amref policies.

IV. Growth, Innovation & Business Development

• Contribute to organizational growth by identifying new funding opportunities in service delivery, MNCH, WASH, youth and PHC strengthening.
• Lead technical design of proposals and concept notes related to service delivery and primary health care.
• Position Amref as a technical leader in PHC and MNCH through participation in national technical working groups and policy forums.
• Promote innovative models including digital health, community-based service delivery, and youth-led health solutions.
• Active and key player in the organization resource mobilization in the service delivery function in collaboration of the Organizational program strategy and growth director and BD manager

V. Partnerships & Representation

• Represent Amref in national and regional technical working groups related to MNCH, PHC, WASH, and youth development.
• Build and sustain strategic partnerships with: Ministry of Health and Regional Health Bureaus,  development partners and donor, Academic and research institutions and civil society and private sector actors
• Strengthen collaboration between program teams, regional offices, and partners to ensure coherence and synergy.

VI. Leadership & People Management

• Provide direct supervision to senior program managers and technical leads within service delivery portfolios.
• Foster a high-performing, accountable, and collaborative team culture.
• Identify capacity gaps and lead structured professional development and mentorship initiatives.
• Ensure strong coordination between technical, finance, operations, and MEAL teams.
• Promote safeguarding, gender equity, and inclusive leadership across all service delivery programs.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Public Health, Medicine, Health Systems, Global Health, or related field (required).
• Medical Doctor (MD) with specialization in both Clinical Medicine and Public Health preferred.
• MBA or additional training in health management is an added advantage.

Experience

• Minimum 12–15 years of progressive experience in health service delivery and health systems strengthening.
• At least 7 years in senior leadership -level roles.
• Demonstrated experience in MNCH programming and primary health care strengthening.
• Proven experience managing large, multi-donor health portfolios.
• Experience integrating cross-sectoral programs such as WASH and youth development within health systems.

IX. Core Competencies

• Strategic leadership and systems thinking
• Deep technical expertise in MNCH and PHC
• Strong understanding of social determinants of health
• Policy engagement and advocacy skills
• Financial and operational oversight capability
• Partnership development and stakeholder management
• Evidence-based decision making
• Excellent communication and representation skills

Your application should include a cover letter detailing why you are the best fit for this position and your CV with relevant skills and experience. Closing date will be on Friday, 13 March 2026. 

Amref Health Africa does not require applicants to pay any money at whatever stage of the recruitment and selection process and has not retained any agent in connection with recruitment. Although Amref may use different job boards from time to time to further spread its reach for applicants, all open vacancies are published on our website under the Vacancies page and on our official social media pages. Kindly also note that official emails from Amref Health Africa will arrive from an @amref.org address.

Amref Health Africa is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. Amref Health Africa is is dedicated to diversity and is an equal-opportunity employer with a non-smoking environment policy.