Project Director

Opian is an Ethiopian health-technology and innovation company building decision infrastructure for stronger health systems. We combine deep knowledge of how care and supply chains operate, human-centred product design, data engineering and responsible artificial intelligence. Our work helps health workers, managers and public institutions turn fragmented data into timely decisions—so essential medicines, vaccines and services are available where and when people need them.

Our philosophy

We believe useful innovation is not novelty for its own sake. It is the disciplined work of understanding a real problem, challenging assumptions, building and testing a better response, measuring what changes, and strengthening the institutions that must sustain the result. Technology is valuable only when it improves a decision, a workflow or an outcome in the real operating environment.

• Start with reality: design around the health workers, workloads, incentives, infrastructure and constraints that actually exist—not an imported ideal workflow.
• Build with people, not for them: government counterparts and frontline users are co-designers, decision-makers and eventual owners, not passive recipients.
• Strengthen the system, not a standalone application: connect workflows, data, institutions and incentives so information can lead to action across every level.
• Push boundaries responsibly: make ambitious but testable bets, protect safety and privacy, and change direction quickly when evidence contradicts the original idea.
• Make capability local and durable: transfer knowledge, product ownership and operational responsibility so progress continues without permanent dependence on an external project team.
• Be honest about impact: distinguish deployment from adoption and activity from results; make claims specific, measurable and open to verification.

What this means for candidates

Opian is looking for accomplished specialists who are also builders. Candidates should bring exceptional depth in their discipline, intellectual courage, practical judgment and the humility to learn from users and evidence. We value people who can move from ambiguity to a testable approach, from a workshop to an operating routine, and from a promising pilot to an institutionally owned system. The standard is simple: show not only what you know, but what you personally built, changed, tested, learned and left stronger.

• Work across public health, supply chain, policy, product, technology and field implementation boundaries.
• Turn expertise into usable products, processes, decisions and measurable improvements—not reports alone.
• Operate with urgency while preserving quality, public trust, data protection, service continuity and government ownership.

Recruitment under this vacancy is subject to donor approval.

Vacancy Summary

Role purpose

Provide overall strategic, technical and fiduciary leadership for a national digital supply-chain transformation program focused on improving last-mile visibility and availability of vaccines and RMNCH commodities. The Project Director will be accountable for results, government co-leadership, partner alignment, delivery quality, risk management and the progressive transfer of operational responsibilities to Ethiopian institutions.

Key responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership and maintain a single, outcome-oriented program strategy across assessment, architecture, product development, pilot implementation, governance, evaluation and transition.
• Serve as the principal senior representative to the Ministry of Health, program lead executive offices, EPSS, EPHI, EFDA, regional health bureaus, universities and implementation partners.
• Establish decision rights, escalation mechanisms, steering arrangements and performance-management routines that keep government counterparts in substantive leadership roles.
• Approve annual and quarterly plans, budgets, staffing, subaward scopes, major technical decisions and corrective actions.
• Ensure that product and integration choices align with national digital-health architecture, authoritative registries and existing transactional systems.
• Hold workstream leads accountable for measurable improvements in data quality, system use, stock visibility, decision latency and commodity-management performance.
• Anticipate political, institutional, technical, financial and operational risks and ensure timely mitigation and transparent communication.
• Lead sustainability, institutionalization and handover planning from the first year, including ownership, recurrent costs, hosting, source-code custody and support arrangements.
• Ensure compliance with applicable organizational policies, safeguarding, information security, privacy and ethical requirements.

Expected results

• A government-endorsed program governance and delivery model with clear decision rights and accountability.
• Integrated workplans and budgets delivered on schedule with material risks actively managed.
• A credible pilot that demonstrates routine use and operational value, not only system deployment.
• An agreed scale-up and transition pathway with progressively reduced dependence on external implementation support.