Head of Programmes - LSTM Kenya

**Purpose of Role:**

The Head of Programmes provides high-quality programmatic leadership across the LSTM Kenya research portfolio, ensuring efficient and effective delivery of programmes alongside LSTM’s strategic partners, while supporting the Chief Operating Officer in strengthening governance, risk management, and operational systems, in delivering an annual research portfolio of over £9m. The post leads programme management, administrative, logistics and operational teams; enables Principal Investigators to deliver high-quality research; oversees donor compliance and reporting; and acts as the senior operational representative at LSTM Kenya.

**Key Accountabilities**:

**Strategic Leadership**

- Represent LSTM to government agencies, funders, research partners, and regional/international stakeholders.
- Act as senior operational liaison with internal partners.
- Develop programme KPIs and performance metrics for LSTM Kenya.
- Advise senior leaders on organisational structures, workforce planning, and skills.
- Promote a cohesive organisational culture across LSTM Kenya and alignment with LSTM Liverpool.
- Support senior leaders in shaping organisational governance and operational frameworks ensuring transparency and accountability that strengthens delivery capability, supports staff career progression, defines competencies across roles and proactively addresses capacity and capability gaps.
- Work with colleagues to ensure the effective administrative management of clinical trials and research programmes.
- Implement a programme management structure aligned to LSTM principles that strengthens delivery capability, supports staff career progression, defines competencies across roles and proactively addresses capacity and capability gaps.

**Programme and Operational Management**

- Establish and embed consistent programme management standards, tools, and processes across LSTM Kenya.
- Build and lead a collaborative cohort of programme management and support staff that promotes shared capacity, resources and knowledge exchange while strengthening integration and collaboration with programme management networks at other LSTM sites.
- Oversee workplans ensuring delivery on time, quality, and budget.
- Oversee regulatory and ethics processes including submissions, amendments, renewals, and reporting.
- Ensure strong operational coordination across all operational and administrative functions.
- Chair project meetings and contribute to steering committees.
- Serve as operational liaison for donor engagement and ensure timely reporting.
- Oversee data protection and data governance systems as Information Asset Owner.
- Chair project meetings and contribute to steering committees.

**Financial Management and Stewardship**

- Provide financial oversight of research grants, ensuring compliance and value for money.
- Guide budget development, expenditure monitoring, and reconciliation of partner financial reports.
- Oversee the establishment of reporting protocols that meet both external mandatory requirements and internal quality reviews.
- Oversee financial forecasts and staff FTE planning.
- Support audit readiness and ensure evidence-based financial practices.

**Partner and Stakeholder Engagement**

- Collaborate with key partners, government agencies, academic partners, and funders.
- Work closely with Professional Services colleagues to complete MoUs, sub-contracts, cost-sharing and partnership agreements.
- Ensure appropriate due diligence, robust risk registers, and mitigation plans are in place and escalate as needed to the Chief Operating Officer.
- Ensure effective use of shared infrastructure.
- Provide capacity-building support to partners on delivery and compliance.

**Business Development**

- Strengthen relationship with funders, partners and stakeholders.
- Support preparation of grant proposals including workplans, budgets and donor alignment.
- Oversee research databases and repositories.
- Lead responses to funder questions and contract negotiations.

**People and Culture Management**

- Line-manage programme and operational staff; provide coaching, mentorship, and performance development.
- Foster collaboration between academic and operational teams.
- Support recruitment processes, onboarding, and retention.
- Build a culture of high performance, accountability, well-being, and inclusive leadership

**General Responsibilities.**

- Any other duties commensurate with the grade and nature of the role.
- Act in a manner that safeguards children and at-risk adults, including LSTM staff and students, in accordance with safeguarding policies. Assess and mitigate safeguarding risks and report/refer safeguarding concerns in relation to research participants, community members, beneficiaries, staff and students.

**Ideally you will demonstrate:**

- Educated to master’s degree level or extensive equivalent sector experience.
- Professional training in programme/project management.
- Significant exp