Assistant Program Officer, Health Systems Strengthening Full Time

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication, and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skill sets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with the majority of our staff based in program countries. Learn more about our exciting work http//www.clintonhealthaccess.org

CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion, and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experience, backgrounds, and culture.

Program Overview

In Lao PDR, CHAI works in close partnership with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to strengthen health systems across multiple areas, including vaccines, supply chain, digital health, and primary health care.

In partnership with UNICEF and the Ministry of Health, CHAI Lao PDR is implementing a program to strengthen supply chain management and data utilization for nutrition commodities, with the goal of improving prevention and treatment of wasting. The program builds on a successful pilot in Attapeu Province, where linkage to treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) increased from 10% to 99% within one year. The model will be scaled to six provinces Khammouan, Savannakhet, Saravanh, Sekong, Vientiane Capital, Xayyabouly.

The approach is anchored in strengthening government systems and is designed to avoid parallel processes while improving service readiness, data use, and supervision across all levels of the health system.

Position Summary

The Assistant Program Officer, Nutrition will be embedded within the assigned Provincial Health Office (PHO) to support day-to-day implementation of the programme at provincial, district, and health-centre level. Working alongside provincial MOH counterparts, the Assistant Program Officer will help translate national plans into practical action on the ground — strengthening supply chain practices for nutrition commodities, improving routine use of mSupply and DHIS2, and supporting the delivery of quality wasting prevention and treatment services.

The role requires strong problem-solving, analytical, and communication skills, a service-oriented approach, and the ability to work effectively with government counterparts in a capacity-building mode.

Note Candidates must specify their preferred province at the time of application.

Provincial Operations & Stakeholder Engagement

• 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.

Supply Chain Management

• 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.

Data Use & Decision-Making

• 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.

Capacity Building & Training

• 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.

Reporting & Communication

• 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.

Government Ownership & Sustainability

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

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