Innovations Officer

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Living Goods aims to save lives at scale by supporting digitally empowered community health workers. We work with governments and partners to leverage smart mobile technology, rigorously strengthen performance, and relentlessly innovate to cost-effectively deliver high-quality, impactful health services.

Living Goods leverages a powerful combination of catalytic technology, high-impact training, and quality treatments that empower government community health workers (CHWs) to deliver quality care to their neighbors’ doorsteps. These CHWs also earn meaningful compensation and enhance their stature in the process, reinforcing a virtuous cycle of trust. We are deeply focused on systemic change, and partner with governments and other partners to transform access to primary health care for mothers and children. We put patients first and strive to create a world in which every mother gives birth safely and no child dies from an easily treatable–or preventable–disease like malaria, pneumonia, or diarrhea. We believe universal health care is possible when community health workers (CHWs) are equipped to serve as the engine for stronger health systems.

Living Goods is a nonprofit, but we apply best practices borrowed from the private sector to drive measurable results and ensure cost-effective services. We’re nimble and quick-footed, and hold ourselves accountable to quantifiable and aggressive targets designed to drive health impact. We’re idealistic—but pragmatic—and we push ourselves to learn, adapt, and optimize our approaches in cases where we fail to meet targets or when local circumstances change.

We’re also fanatical about numbers. By maintaining our focus on measurable data, we’ve found technology and analytics are valuable allies in driving cost-effective, high-quality community health programs. We infuse data into our end-to-end operations, from real-time performance management to preventing stock-outs of essential medicines, monitoring disease outbreaks, ensuring equity in treatment, and closing gaps in patient referrals to full-service health facilities.

Role Title: Innovation Officer Type: Full Time Department: Program Delivery Reports To: Director Program Delivery and dotted lined to the Global Innovations Lead Location: Kisumu, Kenya

About Living Goods: Living Goods is entering a new phase, reimagining how community health systems can be strengthened and scaled across Africa. As we evolve in our strategy, we are placing greater emphasis on innovation, data, and adaptive approaches to solve complex, real-world health challenges. Over the years, we have worked alongside governments to expand access to essential healthcare for underserved communities. Now, we are building on that foundation to test new ideas, move faster on what works, and embed scalable solutions within national systems.

Purpose of the Role: The Innovation Officer supports the implementation and monitoring of innovation initiatives within Living Goods’ Technical Assistance (TA) model. The role serves as a key link between the Global Support Function and the Country Program Team, facilitating coordination and information flow to support effective implementation of innovation activities. Working closely with the global innovation team and country program teams, the Innovation Officer supports the testing and adaptation of innovative approaches aimed at improving community health systems, service delivery, and program effectiveness. The role helps ensure that Living Goods’ third pillar innovation strategy priorities are translated into practical solutions within country programs while providing continuous feedback from the field to inform global learning and strategy.

Roles and Responsibilities:

A. Innovation Design & Solution Development

Support the identification and documentation of priority challenges, inefficiencies, and opportunities for innovation within Living Goods’ TA model, county health systems, and program operations.

Participate in human-centered design and systems thinking approaches to support the development and refinement of practical solutions that respond to user needs and system realities.

Support the planning and facilitation of design workshops, user research activities, ideation sessions, and rapid prototyping exercises in collaboration with program teams, county counterparts, and partners.

Assist in translating innovation ideas into implementable pilots by contributing to the development of objectives, theories of change, success metrics, risk considerations, and learning questions.

Work closely with the Digital Health, Innovation team and PEI teams to support the testing and refinement of digital, data, and AI-enabled solutions that strengthen service delivery, supervision, performance management, and data use

B. Pilot Implementation, Monitoring & Learning

Coordinate and support day-to-day implementation of innovation pilots, ensuring alignment with program priorities, implementation plans, and partner engagement.

Support monitoring of pilot activities by tracking progress against agreed milestones, timelines, and deliverables.

Work with Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) teams to support data collection, documentation, and analysis related to pilot performance.

Document implementation experiences, user feedback, and operational challenges, and contribute to adaptive improvements to pilots based on field learning.

Support field testing of new service delivery approaches, digital tools, operational processes, and program improvements.

C. Scaling & Program Integration

Support assessments of innovation pilots to identify opportunities for scale, integration, or adaptation within Living Goods’ Technical Assistance model.

Assist in integrating successful innovations into program tools, guidelines, and training materials in collaboration with relevant teams.

Engage with county governments and partners to ensure innovations are aligned with existing systems, policies, and implementation structures.

Facilitate cross-county learning exchanges and knowledge sharing to support replication and adaptation of tested solutions.

D. Partnerships & Knowledge Management

Support engagement with innovation partners, research institutions, government stakeholders, and other collaborators involved in innovation initiatives.

Contribute to the preparation of concept notes, reports, presentations, and documentation related to innovation activities.

Support operational research, learning agendas, and documentation efforts in collaboration with MEL and research partners.

Assist in maintaining innovation knowledge resources, including repositories, tools, dashboards, and learning materials.

Participate in internal meetings, technical working groups, and learning platforms related to innovation and program improvement.

E. Cross-Cutting & Other Duties

Support program planning, budgeting, and adaptive management processes by contributing insights and learning from innovation initiatives.

Support capacity strengthening of program and field teams on innovation methods, experimentation, and learning approaches.

Monitor emerging trends and best practices in community health, digital health, and development innovation and share relevant insights with internal teams.

Promote responsible and ethical innovation practices, including responsible data use, safeguarding, equity, and inclusion.

Perform other duties as assigned by the supervisor in line with the role and organizational priorities.

Key Deliverables:

Well-documented innovation pilots with clear implementation plans and learning objectives.

Regular monitoring and documentation of pilot performance, including lessons learned and recommendations for improvement.

Contribution to at least two innovation pilots per year, including testing, documentation, and learning outputs.

Knowledge products such as learning briefs, case studies, presentations, or tools to support internal learning and program improvement.

Evidence-informed recommendations that contribute to improvements in program implementation, service delivery models, or operational processes.

Core Competencies:

Human-centered design and systems thinking

Innovation and project management

Stakeholder engagement and co-creation facilitation

Evidence generation and data-driven decision-making

Learning, adaptation, and continuous improvement

Strong collaboration, influence, and cross-functional teamwork

Qualifications & Experience:

Bachelor’s degree in health-related discipline, Project Management, Design Thinking, Development Studies, Information Systems, or related field.

Minimum of five (5) years’ experience in program innovation, health systems strengthening, technology for development, or adaptive program delivery.

Proven experience designing, implementing, and evaluating pilots or user-centered interventions in complex, resource-constrained settings.

Experience working with government counterparts, digital health platforms, donors, or research institutions is a strong advantage.

Strong analytical, facilitation, synthesis, and documentation skills.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical ideas into practical, actionable insights.

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