Technical Director

Description:

Jhpiego seeks a highly experienced Technical Director, Immunization to provide strategic and technical leadership for its immunization portfolio in Pakistan. The Technical Director will serve as Jhpiego's senior technical authority on immunization and vaccine-preventable disease prevention and control, providing expert guidance to government counterparts, Jhpiego programs, donors and partners.

The Technical Director will provide strategic and technical leadership across routine immunization, polio eradication and transition, supplementary immunization activities and campaigns, zero-dose and under-immunized populations, new vaccine introductions, immunization systems strengthening, vaccine-preventable disease surveillance, and outbreak preparedness and vaccination response. The role will ensure that Jhpiego's programs apply current epidemiological evidence, national and global guidance, high-quality immunization implementation, and health system strengthening approaches to drive sustainable improvements in immunization coverage, equity, quality, and health system resilience.

Responsibilities

 1. Strategic and Technical Leadership

 Provide overall strategic and technical leadership for Jhpiego’s immunization portfolio in Pakistan and serve as the organization’s senior technical authority on immunization and vaccine-preventable disease prevention and control. 
 Set technical direction and ensure quality across routine immunization, zero-dose and under-immunized populations, new vaccine introductions, vaccination campaigns/SIAs, VPD surveillance, and outbreak preparedness and response. 
 Translate national priorities, global guidance, emerging evidence, and epidemiological trends into practical strategies and technical approaches for Jhpiego-supported programs. 
 Provide senior technical review and guidance to Jhpiego leadership and project teams on immunization strategies, technical approaches, workplans, guidelines, and major deliverables. 
 Identify emerging immunization priorities, technical gaps, and opportunities for Jhpiego to strengthen its contribution in Pakistan. 

 2. Immunization Systems, New Vaccines and Service Delivery

 Provide senior technical guidance on strengthening routine immunization systems, including service delivery, microplanning, workforce performance, supportive supervision, vaccine management, cold chain, last-mile delivery, and use of immunization data. 
 Guide strategies to reach zero-dose, under-immunized, and underserved populations and improve coverage, equity, continuity, and quality of immunization services. 
 Provide technical leadership for new vaccine introductions and optimization, including policy and technical decision-making, readiness assessment, delivery strategies, training, monitoring, and post-introduction learning. 
 Provide technical oversight for vaccination campaigns and SIAs, including planning, readiness, implementation quality, monitoring, and linkages with routine immunization. 
 Promote approaches that ensure polio and campaign investments strengthen routine immunization systems, workforce capacity, community engagement, surveillance, and data use. 

 3. VPD Surveillance, Outbreak Preparedness

 Provide senior technical leadership to strengthen linkages between routine immunization, vaccine-preventable disease surveillance, polio eradication, and outbreak preparedness and response. 
 Support analysis and interpretation of surveillance, epidemiological, immunization, and campaign data to identify immunity gaps, high-risk populations, geographic hotspots, and emerging threats. 
 Provide technical guidance during suspected or confirmed VPD outbreaks, including risk assessment, identification of affected and at-risk populations, and development of appropriate vaccination response strategies. 
 Provide technical oversight for outbreak-response vaccination, including target-setting, microplanning, readiness assessment, vaccine and supply requirements, monitoring, corrective action, and post-response review. 
 Strengthen national and provincial capacity for outbreak preparedness and rapid response, working with EPI, surveillance, PEI, emergency response, and health security structures as appropriate. 
 Support strategies to maintain essential immunization services during outbreaks, humanitarian emergencies, and other disruptions. 

 4. Government, Partners, Donors and External Technical Engagement

 Serve as a trusted senior technical advisor to the Federal Directorate of Immunization, Provincial EPI programs, Ministry of National Health Services, and other relevant government counterparts. 
 Represent Jhpiego in national and provincial immunization technical working groups, advisory mechanisms, coordination platforms, and partner forums. 
 Build and maintain strategic technical relationships with Donors (Gavi, Gates Foundation), WHO, UNICEF, professional associations, academic institutions, civil society, and other immunization partners. 
 Support national and provincial policy, planning, prioritization, and technical decision-making related to immunization and VPD control. 
 Position Jhpiego as a recognized technical partner in immunization, vaccine delivery, VPD control, and immunization systems strengthening in Pakistan. 

 5. Program Quality, Evidence, Learning and Capacity Strengthening

 Provide technical oversight to project teams to ensure high-quality implementation and achievement of immunization results. 
 Review program performance, identify technical and implementation bottlenecks, and guide corrective action and adaptive management. 
 Promote integrated use of immunization coverage, surveillance, campaign, and program performance data for technical decision-making and continuous improvement. 
 Guide analysis and interpretation of program results and ensure findings are translated into actionable recommendations for government and project teams. 
 Mentor and build the technical capacity of Jhpiego staff, government counterparts, and implementing partners through coaching, technical assistance, and supportive supervision. 
 Support documentation and dissemination of implementation experience, innovations, lessons learned, and effective practices. 

 6. Portfolio Development and Resource Mobilization

 Lead Jhpiego’s technical engagement related to donor supported initiatives (Gavi, Gates Foundation, Department of State, CDC) and emerging investment opportunities in Pakistan. 
 Support government and partners with immunization strategy development, investment prioritization, and relevant funding applications. 
 Identify opportunities to expand Jhpiego’s immunization portfolio in areas aligned with government priorities and organizational technical strengths. 
 Provide technical leadership for concept notes, proposals, and donor engagement related to immunization, vaccine delivery, and VPD prevention and control. 

Required Qualifications

 Advanced degree in Medicine, Public Health, Epidemiology, Health Policy, Health Systems, Global Health, or a related field, with specialization in immunization, infectious diseases, health systems strengthening, or public health preferred. 
 Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible experience in immunization, public health, or health systems strengthening programs. 
 Demonstrated experience supporting national and subnational immunization programs in Pakistan, including collaboration with Federal Directorate of Immunization (FDI) and provincial Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) teams, Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) structures, National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) and other technical advisory mechanisms, as well as national and provincial outbreak preparedness, coordination, and response efforts. 
 Strong knowledge of routine immunization, polio eradication, vaccine introduction, vaccine-preventable diseases and surveillance, immunization financing, vaccine delivery systems, and health systems strengthening 
 Experience working with Gavi-funded programs and understanding of Gavi funding mechanisms and country planning processes strongly preferred. 
 Proven experience engaging ministries of health, donors, UN agencies, and development partners. 
 Demonstrated success in technical leadership, program management, and stakeholder coordination. 
 Experience supporting proposal development, resource mobilization, and strategic planning activities. 
 Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills. 
 Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English; knowledge of Urdu or other local languages is an asset. 
 Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 40% of the time. 

Preferred Qualifications

 Experience supporting HPV vaccine introduction, polio eradication/transition, supplemental immunization activities, or other new vaccine introductions. 
 Experience in outbreak response, emergency vaccination campaigns, polio campaigns, or immunization programming in fragile and hard-to-reach settings. 
 Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and mentoring technical staff. 
 Established professional relationships within Pakistan's immunization and public health sector. 
 Track record of successfully managing donor-funded programs and multi-stakeholder partnerships.