Associate Director - Health and Biosciences

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,