Job Vacancy at Jhpiego: Senior Program Manager – Tanzania October 2026

Job Overview

Position Title: Senior Program Manager
Organization: Jhpiego
Project: Advancing Family Health and Gender Services (AFGHS)
Duty Station: Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar
Job Type: Full-Time
Application Deadline: October 15, 2026
Application Mode: Online Application

1. Background

Jhpiego is an international, nonprofit health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University. The organization works to improve the health of women and families by strengthening health systems and expanding access to quality healthcare services.

The Advancing Family Health and Gender Services (AFGHS) project is funded by the U.S. Department of State (DoS) to support the delivery of lifesaving, comprehensive maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) and malaria services across Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.

The project aims to improve service and data quality, strengthen health-system integration and resilience, facilitate effective transition, and promote local ownership and accountability for sustainable health outcomes.

Jhpiego works closely with the Ministries of Health in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, the Reproductive and Child Health Section (RCHS), the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), the Zanzibar Malaria Elimination Programme (ZAMEP), and Regional Administration and Local Government (RALG) structures to align implementation with national priorities.

2. Position Summary

The Senior Program Manager (SPM) will provide leadership and oversight for the implementation of the AFGHS-Jhpiego project across Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, coordinating field implementation across maternal, newborn and child health and malaria components.

The successful candidate will ensure that approved work plans, milestones, and implementation priorities are translated into coordinated regional and council-level activities delivered on time, within budget, and in accordance with government priorities, Jhpiego requirements, and U.S. Department of State expectations.

Reporting to the Senior Project Director, the SPM will work closely with the Project Management Team, Technical Directors, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) team, and Field Team Leaders to oversee implementation planning, coordination, performance management, and problem-solving.

The position will also ensure that project activities are integrated into government plans, budgets, systems, and routine service delivery, strengthening local capacity and promoting sustainable transition of appropriate implementation and management functions to government structures.

3. Key Responsibilities

A. Field Implementation Management and Integration

• Lead implementation management and coordinate field activities across project-supported regions.
• Translate approved work plans into integrated implementation schedules, deployment plans, and execution timelines.
• Ensure field teams collaborate with Regional Health Management Teams (RHMTs) and Council Health Management Teams (CHMTs) to align project activities with government priorities and work plans.
• Coordinate with other U.S. Department of State implementing partners and relevant stakeholders to promote integration, efficient resource utilization, and avoidance of duplication.
• Facilitate joint planning, implementation reviews, and problem-solving with government counterparts, implementing partners, and other stakeholders.
• Ensure alignment of field activities across project-supported regions to optimize efficiency and coverage.
• Monitor implementation progress, identify delays and risks, and escalate issues to the Senior Project Director and Technical Directors with appropriate analysis and recommendations.

B. Supervision and Performance Management

• Provide direct operational and administrative supervision to Field Team Leaders and the Senior Program Officer.
• Establish clear performance expectations and ensure accountability for field and functional implementation.
• Support Field Team Leaders in supervising staff and enforcing approved schedules and standards.
• Promote teamwork, implementation discipline, accountability, and effective problem-solving.

C. Implementation Planning and Readiness

• Coordinate field readiness for planned activities, including staffing, logistics, transport, approvals, and implementation sequencing.
• Work with the Senior Program Officer to align logistics plans with deployment schedules.
• Identify implementation dependencies in advance and adjust sequencing within approved plans.
• Escalate technical changes when necessary.

D. Subgrantee Design and Oversight

• Support the design of project subgrants, including scopes of work, deliverables, milestones, and performance expectations, in collaboration with technical, MEL, grants, and finance teams.
• Provide programmatic oversight of subgrantees to ensure timely, high-quality implementation aligned with project objectives and government priorities.
• Monitor subgrantee performance against agreed deliverables and milestones.
• Identify implementation gaps and coordinate corrective actions.
• Ensure subgrantee activities are integrated with field implementation and coordinated with government institutions, implementing partners, and other stakeholders.

E. Monitoring, Data Use, and Follow-Up

• Oversee tracking of implementation progress against project milestones and deliverables using project data and relevant national reporting and surveillance systems.
• Use programmatic data and field reports to identify implementation gaps and risks.
• Coordinate corrective actions and document adaptations and lessons learned.
• Provide regular progress updates to project leadership, highlighting bottlenecks, risks, and actions required to achieve and verify milestones on time.

F. Government and Partner Coordination

• Lead operational engagement and coordination with RALG structures at national, regional, and council levels.
• Ensure field implementation aligns with government priorities, work plans, calendars, administrative processes, and agreed milestones.
• Facilitate joint implementation planning, performance reviews, and problem-solving with government counterparts and partners.
• Represent the project in relevant implementation and coordination forums as delegated.
• Ensure timely follow-up on agreed actions.

G. Compliance, Reporting, and Continuous Improvement

• Ensure field implementation complies with Jhpiego policies, U.S. Department of State requirements, national guidelines, and approved project procedures.
• Contribute to the development and review of project work plans, budgets, reports, and performance reviews.
• Ensure timely and complete field documentation and reporting to support accountability, milestone verification, and audit readiness.
• Promote continuous improvement through routine performance reviews, adaptive management, and follow-up on identified gaps and corrective actions.

4. Required Qualifications and Experience

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• A Master’s degree in Public Health, Public Administration, Project Management, Social Sciences, or a related field.
• Approximately 9–10 years of experience overseeing multi-region field implementation or managing large-scale health programs.
• Demonstrated experience working with Ministries of Health, national health programs, RHMTs, CHMTs, donor-funded implementing partners, private-sector organizations, and faith-based organizations.
• Experience supporting donor-funded health programs, preferably U.S. Government-funded projects.
• Proven experience supervising decentralized field teams and coordinating complex implementation schedules.
• Familiarity with national health management information and logistics systems and digital learning platforms, including DHIS2, eIDSR, UCS, MSDQI, eLMIS, and ECHO.
• Strong coordination, management, and communication skills.
• Fluency in both Kiswahili and English.
• Willingness to travel up to 40% across Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
• Experience conducting supportive supervision, on-the-job mentorship, and capacity-building activities for health workers and community cadres, including Community Health Workers (CHWs) and integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) providers.
• Experience working with government health structures at regional, council, facility, and community levels.
• Demonstrated ability to support routine data collection, review, and utilization for performance monitoring and service improvement.
• Experience using or adapting supervision tools, checklists, job aids, and basic technical reporting formats.

Additional advantage: Familiarity with U.S. Government-funded health programs and professional project management certification, such as PMD Pro or PMP.

5. Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong planning and negotiation skills.
• Good computer literacy and proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.

6. Salary and Benefits

Jhpiego offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive employee benefits package.

7. How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates should submit their applications through the official Jhpiego careers website.

Application Instructions:

Applicants must upload a single document containing the following:

1. Cover letter.
2. Curriculum vitae (CV) or résumé.
3. References.

Application Deadline: October 15, 2026.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Official Website: https://www.jhpiego.org/careers

8. Important Notice

The successful candidate will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation.

Jhpiego is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. The organization does not discriminate on the basis of gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics.

Recruitment Scams and Fraud Warning

Jhpiego warns applicants about fraudulent job offers and recruitment scams.

• Jhpiego recruiters will never ask applicants to pay fees at any stage of the recruitment process.
• All active vacancies are advertised directly on the official Jhpiego careers website.
• Official Jhpiego emails will always originate from a jhpiego.org email address.

Applicants should verify vacancies through official channels and avoid paying anyone who claims to facilitate recruitment.