Associate Director – Health and Biosciences at IPE Global Limited

Role Purpose

The Associate Director/Senior Manager, Health and Biosciences (East Africa) is accountable for the growth of IPE Global’s health and biosciences portfolio in Kenya and the wider East African region. The position owns the business development cycle from market intelligence and client positioning through to proposal submission and contract award. It encompasses institutional relationships with government, donor, philanthropic and private sector counterparts, the formation of consortia and partnerships, and the preparation of competitive responses to Requests for Proposals and comparable solicitations. The role also anchors IPE Global’s support to Kenya’s biosciences and bioeconomy agenda, working with national institutions to strengthen the research translation, innovation and enterprise ecosystem, and represents the firm with senior government, funder and industry counterparts across the region.

Key Responsibilities

Growth Strategy, Market Intelligence and Pipeline Development

Track donor strategies, government budget and procurement cycles and sector developments across Kenya and East Africa to identify opportunities ahead of formal solicitation

Maintain a qualified pipeline, apply structured bid/no-bid criteria, and report on pipeline value, conversion and win rates

Shape the annual growth plan for the health and biosciences portfolio in East Africa, covering priority markets, clients, service offerings and revenue targets, in consultation with IPE Global (Africa) leadership and the group Health, Nutrition and WASH practice

Institutional Relationships

Government and public institutions: the Ministry of Health, the State Department for Science, Research and Innovation, NACOSTI, KeNIA, KEMRI, county health departments and regulatory authorities, and counterpart institutions in priority East African markets; secure and maintain the registrations and prequalifications required for public tendering

Donor, philanthropic and regional agencies: FCDO, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Union, the Global Fund, Gavi, United Nations agencies, the Gates Foundation and other foundations, and regional bodies such as Africa CDC and the East African Community, with the firm’s offer aligned to their published strategies

Private sector: hospital groups, diagnostics and device manufacturers, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and health-tech companies, investors and development finance institutions, with identification of commercial and blended finance opportunities

Proposal and Bid Management

Lead responses to Requests for Proposals, Requests for Qualification, Expressions of Interest and grant calls from capture decision through to submission

Author technical narratives, methodologies, workplans, staffing structures and capability statements to the standard expected by institutional funders

Direct the bid calendar, coordinate technical contributors, enforce internal review and quality assurance milestones, and lead post-submission debriefs to improve win rates

Work with finance colleagues on budgets, pricing strategy and compliance with funder financial and contractual requirements

Maintain the capability statement library, CV bank and past performance records for the health portfolio

Support mobilisation of awarded contracts and a structured handover to delivery teams, maintaining the client relationship through inception

Partnerships and Consortium Formation

Identify and assess local and international partners, research institutions and implementing organisations, and position IPE Global as prime contractor or consortium member according to the opportunity

Negotiate teaming agreements, memoranda of understanding and non-disclosure agreements in coordination with legal and contracts functions

Draw on expertise across IPE Global group entities and practices in India, the UK and elsewhere to strengthen bids and partnerships in the region

Biosciences and Bioeconomy Implementation Support

Support implementation of Kenya’s biosciences and bioeconomy strategy in coordination with NACOSTI, KeNIA, the State Department for Science, Research and Innovation, universities and national research institutes

Strengthen the research translation and commercial scale-up ecosystem, covering technology transfer, regulatory pathways, standards and access to finance for bioscience ventures

Provide advisory and acceleration support to start-ups and small enterprises in health, diagnostics and bioeconomy, and connect them to investors, industry partners and public programmes, drawing on IPE Global’s blended finance and impact investment experience

Manage workplans, deliverables, budgets and reporting for assigned implementation workstreams, and assure the quality of outputs to clients and partners

Representation and Thought Leadership

Represent IPE Global at technical working groups, policy dialogues, conferences and investor events

Develop concept notes, capability presentations, policy briefs and sector positioning material that generate new opportunities

Team Development and Internal Coordination

Guide and mentor business development and technical colleagues contributing to the portfolio, and define future team requirements as the portfolio grows

Work with IPE Global (Africa) leadership, finance and group practice leads on portfolio planning, resourcing and performance reporting

Success Measures

Growth in the qualified pipeline, order book and win rate against annual targets agreed with management

Registrations, prequalifications and framework positions in place with priority government and funder procurement systems

Active partnerships and consortia with priority institutions that translate into joint bids and awards

Biosciences and bioeconomy implementation milestones delivered on time and to client satisfaction

Qualifications and Experience

Education

Bachelor’s degree in science, medicine, pharmacy or engineering; a life sciences background is an advantage

Master’s degree in Business Administration, Public Health, Health Economics, Health Management or a related health or life sciences discipline

Experience

At least 10 years of professional experience, a substantial portion of which has been in business development, partnerships or programme management within the health or life sciences sector

Demonstrated record of securing donor-funded and government assignments, evidenced by specific bids led and their outcomes

In-depth knowledge of the Kenyan and East African health landscape, including public procurement procedures and the operating practices of major funders

Prior experience within international development consulting, health systems or health financing environments

Exposure to biosciences, life sciences innovation, technology transfer or enterprise acceleration, ideally in an African context

Experience with blended finance, impact investment or private sector partnerships in health is an advantage

Competencies

Strong technical writing in English, with the capacity to produce proposal-grade narrative under deadline pressure

Established professional network across government, donor and private sector institutions in the region

Commercial judgement covering costing, pricing and the economics of consulting assignments

Credibility with senior government, funder and industry counterparts, and the ability to manage several concurrent bids and implementation workstreams

Working knowledge of Kiswahili is an advantage

Travel and Terms

Travel constitutes an integral component of the role, estimated at up to 40% of working time. It comprises domestic travel within Kenya, including to county headquarters and project locations, regional travel across East Africa for client meetings, partner engagement, bid-related assignments and implementation support, and occasional international travel.

Remuneration will be commensurate with qualifications and experience and benchmarked against the Kenyan market for comparable roles in the development consulting sector.

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