Project Director Public Health Program - Law and Health Initiative

Open Society Institute–New York

Application Deadline: February 15, 2012

The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve this mission, the Foundations seek to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, the Open Society Foundations implement a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, we build alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. The Foundations place a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities.

Investor and philanthropist George Soros established the Open Society Foundations, starting in 1984, to help countries make the transition from communism. Our activities have grown to encompass the United States and more than 70 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Each foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities.

The Open Society Foundations’ Public Health Program (PHP) aims to promote health policies based on scientific evidence, social inclusion, human rights, and justice. Broadly, the program works with civil society organizations within two fields: promoting the participation of socially marginalized groups in public health policy and fostering greater government accountability and transparency through civil society monitoring efforts. Program areas focus on addressing the human rights and health needs of marginalized groups, facilitating citizen access to health information, and advocating for a strong civil society role in public health policy and practice.

The PHP’s Law and Health Initiative (LAHI) supports the use of legal strategies to advance the health and human rights of marginalized and vulnerable groups. It advances this mission by applying the health and human rights framework to new issues and priority regions; developing individual and organizational leadership in the field of health and human rights; piloting innovative access to justice tools as health-related human rights interventions; advocating for rights-based legal environments that support the health of marginalized groups; and leveraging sustainable funding for efforts that advance this mission. LAHI advance these strategic priorities in close collaboration with the other Projects in the PHP.

The Open Society Foundations seek a full-time project director in the New York office to lead the Law and Health Initiative of the Public Health Program.

Purpose of Position

Provide overall direction to the Law and Health Initiative; overseeing its strategy, budget, programs/staff and representing the Project both within the Open Society Foundations and externally.

The Project Director (PD) will lead a dynamic team of program and administrative staff collaborating closely with the Public Health Program’s other projects to catalyze and sustain legal action on the following global health issues: Harm Reduction; HIV/AIDS; Mental Health; Roma Health; Palliative Care; Sexual Health and Rights; and Tuberculosis. The PD will work closely with the PHP’s cross-cutting initiatives on Access to Essential Medicines, Accountability and Monitoring, Global Health Financing, Health Media, and Torture in Health Care. Additionally, the PD will collaborate with other Open Society Foundations programs such as the Human Rights and Governance Grants Program, the Open Society Justice Initiative and the Russia Project, as well as Soros foundations in Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. This position reports to the PHP Director of Programs. Work is carried out independently.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Personnel Management

• Design, recruit and supervise a team of program and administrative staff, which currently consists of one senior program officer, two program officers co-supervised by other Projects of the PHP (the International Harm Reduction Development Program and the Sexual Health and Rights Project), one program coordinator, and one part-time administrative assistant;
• Conduct regular supervision meetings, staff meetings and performance reviews;
• Provide staff with ongoing strategic and operational advice and accompany them in the field as appropriate;
• Work with staff to design and meet their professional development goals and to create opportunities for team-building and continuous learning;
• Work with staff to support their counterparts at National and Regional Foundations in the Open Society Foundations Network who are implementing the LAHI Strategy locally;

Strategic Management

• Oversee implementation of the current LAHI Strategic Plan (2011-2014), working with staff to sustain existing activities and develop new initiatives that further LAHI’s strategic goals;
• Devise and implement ways to monitor and evaluate progress against the Strategic Plan and to provide opportunities for continuous learning and reflection;
• Approve LAHI’s annual Activity Plan;
• At the end of the Strategic Period, ensure that an evaluation of LAHI’s progress toward its Strategic Plan is conducted, (the input from the evaluation will be used to guide the development of the next LAHI Strategy);
• Work with LAHI staff to maintain and seek advice from a Technical Advisory Committee made up of experts in health and human rights from around the world;
• Advise staff on the development of new partnerships and collaborations within the PHP, the Open Society Foundations, and the broader donor community to advance LAHI’s strategic goals;
• Provide ongoing strategic advice to other PHP Projects on the integration of human rights law into their portfolios;

Project Management

• Responsible for the development and expenditure of the annual LAHI budget;
• Review and provide Project-level approval of grants and program expenses;
• Oversee TA provision designed by Program Officers;
• Work with staff to negotiate matched/co-funding of projects by other parts of the PHP, Foundations programs, and national and regional foundations;
• Work with staff to develop and implement administrative processes to support project work, such as the annual budget review, expenditure tracking, funding procedures, activity database, electronic filing, and contacts;
• Oversee LAHI’s discretionary fund and a substantial portion of the LAHI portfolio, implementing a combination of grantmaking, capacity building, advocacy, convening and fund leveraging to advance certain strategic objectives;

PHP and Foundations-Wide Representation

• Participate on the PHP Directors and Deputies (DnD) team and in all DnD related activities;
• Work closely with LAHI staff to develop and maintain relationships with national and regional foundations and Open Society Foundations programs;
• Participate in PHP and/or Foundation-wide learning initiatives;

External Representation

• Represent LAHI outside the PHP and the Open Society Foundations;
• Communicate to diverse audiences about LAHI’s work at staff and advisory committee meetings, conferences, through guest lectures, at PHP and Open Society Foundations-sponsored events and by publishing articles about LAHI’s work as time and strategy permits;
• Identify and advocate directly to key LAHI stakeholders when the Open Society Foundations are uniquely positioned to do so;
• Support LAHI program staff to work with grantees, partners and the PHP’s Senior Communications Officer and Health Media Initiative to communicate to broader audiences about the impact of their work;

Other

• Travel is required;
• Perform other duties as assigned.

The Open Society Foundations may add, change, or remove essential and other duties at any time.

Education/Experience

• Law Degree and seven to ten years of relevant experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• At least 10 years professional experience in the field of law, health and human rights;
• At least 5 years of leadership and management experience;
• Significant experience with budgets and financial oversight;
• Experience working in one or more of the following regions: East and Southern Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union; Southeast Asia;
• Experience in grant making and capacity building.

Required Skills

• Demonstrated management skills in not-for-profit organizations, foundations or government agencies, particularly in matrixed organizations;
• Leadership expertise in identifying best practices and improving internal systems;
• Flexibility and willingness to work simultaneously on a wide range of tasks and projects;
• Experience in managing multiple priorities under pressure and accomplishing short- and long-term deadlines with a heavy workload;
• Demonstrated strategic, budgetary, technical, human resource and financial management acumen;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
• Proven ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide array of people with diverse backgrounds throughout a complex organization;
• Team spirit, collegial and respectful working and decision-making style, and ability to listen and communicate clearly and effectively with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds;
• Track record delivering superior results, commanding respect and assuming a leadership role;
• Professionally competent to make administrative and procedural decisions and judgments on sensitive, confidential issues;
• Interpersonal skills necessary in order to interact effectively with staff, all levels of management in identifying and resolving complex issues; and dealing with sensitive problems and situations;
• Polished professional with ability to represent a global organization with sophisticated international colleagues;
• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated expertise in handling all personnel related issues and information in a confidential manner;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.

Work Environment and Physical Demands

Essential functions are typically performed in an office setting with a low level of noise. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Start Date

As soon as possible

Compensation

Commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits package.

To Apply

By February 15, 2012, please email resume and cover letter with salary requirements to: humanresources@sorosny.org Include job code in subject line: PD-LAHI

OR

Open Society Foundations
Human Resources – Code PD-LAHI
400 West 59th Street
New York, New York 10019

FAX: 212.548.4675

No phone calls, please. The Open Society Foundations are an Equal Opportunity Employer.