Program Manager, Global Patient Support

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The people who work at the American Cancer Society focus their diverse talents on our lifesaving mission. It is a calling. And the people who answer it are fulfilled.

This position will provide programmatic and grants management support as a member of the American Cancer Society’s Global Patient Support (GPS) team. This is one of three teams within the Global Cancer Support department which also includes the teams of Global Prevention and Global Provider Support.

*This is a home-based position*

The GPS team implements a variety of capacity development initiatives (described at the bottom of this summary) to address practical needs of partners in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) partners for effectively addressing the growing cancer burden. This team partners with and supports LMIC health institutions and organizations to develop contextually appropriate patient-centered care solutions, particularly in the areas of patient navigation (BEACON Initiative and SPARK country approach) and patient education (EQUIPPED Initiative). The team provides training, guidance, mentorship and in some cases, grant funds, to health care facilities and cancer organizations to ensure that cancer patient care and support services are coordinated, comprehensive, and effective. The team also leads specific organizational strengthening activities (e.g., the SOURCE Program) with civil society organizations as they are often at the heart of removing barriers to care for patients through patient support services, articulating and advocating for what’s needed in cancer care, and holding governments accountable for developing effective cancer care policies and practices. The goal of these various efforts is to remove barriers to care, reduce patient suffering, increase treatment adherence, and improve health outcomes in LMICs and thus reduce the mortality gap in cancer between high-income countries and LMICs.

The person selected for this role will work primarily in the area of patient navigation capacity development and expansion through a new initiative called the SPARK country approach (#2 below). Over the next 5 years, we intend to systematically introduce and support partners in 3 countries (Indonesia, Kenya, and Nigeria) to embed patient navigation into their cancer care delivery systems and we will systematically evaluate our efforts and the resulting outcomes. SPARK is built on the resources and approached developed for the BEACON Initiative (#1 below) so the person in this role will need to deeply familiarize themselves with our suite of resources to be effective. This person will oversee and support the development and implementation of one country’s SPARK strategy in collaboration alongside two other program managers, a learning development manager, a program coordinator, a local implementation support team, and other strategic partners in the assigned country.

The person will also provide targeted support to the working groups to be established under an additional and new global patient navigation initiative called the Global Alliance for Cancer Patient Navigation (#3 below).

The candidate in this role may also provide support to other programs in the GPS portfolio as needs require and time permits.

GPS Programs and Initiatives

1. Building Expertise, Advocacy, and Capacity for Oncology Navigation (BEACON) Initiative: supports health institutions and cancer organizations in LMICs and other relevant settings around the world focused on addressing health disparities in cancer care, in designing, implementing, and sustaining cancer patient navigation programs and supports the integration of patient navigation into cancer control planning and cancer care delivery.

Built on ACS’ 30+ years of experience in patient navigation and institutional commitment to reducing health disparities, the ACS BEACON Initiative includes free access to a Global Oncology Navigation Toolkit with a comprehensive suite of online learning and downloadable capacity development resources, and a Global Oncology Navigation Community of Practice, that brings together a network of patient navigation practitioners around the world for sharing and peer learning through periodic virtual events and other avenues for creating meaningful connections.

2. Supporting Patient Navigation Adoption, Replication, and Knowledge Exchange (SPARK) Country Approach: A spinoff of the BEACON Initiative, the SPARK Country Approach supports integration and expansion of patient navigation into national cancer care delivery systems in LMICs. SPARK leverages our experience and BEACON Resources to create national strategies for patient navigation, cultivate new partnerships between public health institutions and cancer organizations to improve care coordination and supportive relationships, and to develop new and strengthen existing patient navigation services.

3. The Global Alliance for Cancer Patient Navigation: Working with a wide variety of stakeholders in implementation science, capacity development, advocacy, policymaking, and standards setting, the Alliance aims to convene global partners to identify, elevate, and unify solutions for common challenges to PN adoption, implementation, scalability, and sustainability.

4. Enabling Quality Interactions between Providers and Patients through Education Delivery (EQUIPPED) Initiative: enables health institutions and cancer organizations in LMICs to train and equip staff to provide high-quality cancer education to newly diagnosed patients and their caregivers that is people-centered, scientifically accurate, culturally and linguistically appropriate, and enhances patients’ understanding and decision-making around treatment. The EQUIPPED Initiative extends ACS’ reach as a provider of accurate cancer information and includes the dissemination of Cancer Education Materials for Patients and Caregivers (CEMPC) in a variety of languages spoken in LMICs and training curricula for health educators that can be delivered online and in-person.

5. Strengthening Organizations for a United Response to the Cancer Epidemic (SOURCE) Program: strengthens cancer civil society organizations LMICs through assessment, training, and technical assistance so they can implement a more effective and collaborative response to the local cancer burden. Stronger cancer organizations can provide more patient-centered services, reduce barriers for individuals accessing care, and improve health equity for all. The ACS SOURCE Program utilizes best practices in organizational development and ACS’s own organizational experience as a global leader in ending cancer as we know it, for everyone.

The successful candidate will have work experience in designing and/or delivering access to care/enabling services/health outreach programs and ideally, in a cancer care setting. S/he should also have experience in facilitating training and technical assistance, meeting facilitation, engaging with stakeholders, designing practical and effective capacity strengthening processes, managing consultants, and grants. S/he should have a proven track record of working with CSOs/NGOs and health institutions in LMICs, particularly in the health sector as well as strong communication and organizational skills.

This position will report to the Managing Director, Global Patient Support.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

• Convene stakeholders in partner countries to create shared vision and strategy for patient navigation expansion and integration into cancer care delivery system.
• Research, hire, manage, and/or support consultants/consulting firms (in the US and/or in partner countries) to provide technical assistance to local cancer organizations and health institutions on behalf of ACS and in some cases, to develop new capacity development resources and approaches.
• Recruit and support participants in GPS capacity development programs and initiatives and assist in the dissemination of GPS training and technical assistance resources (e.g., Toolkits, training curricula).
• Provide (or facilitate the provision of) targeted technical assistance to local cancer organizations and health institutions to support them in implementing new patient support/access to care initiatives. Maintain close and frequent communications with organizations receiving ACS assistance.
• Work with GPS team members/consultants to develop high-quality training curricula and hone team’s capacity strengthening approaches.
• Deliver participatory learner-centered training tied to GPS capacity development programs and initiatives.
• Assist in creation of new capacity development resources.
• Assist in creating or maintaining digital/online avenues or channels for sharing and promoting resources with partners.
• Assist in the development, adaptation, and maintenance of monitoring and evaluation tools and processes for all GPS initiatives. Collaborate with the rest of the team on the design and management of all M&E needs of the team.
• Collaborate with Program Coordinator and the ACS Meetings and Travel staff to organize the logistics and planning for in-person trainings and workshops and other capacity building opportunities as needed.
• Collaborate with other Program Managers in the development and rollout of the grant-making strategy for SPARK country approach in partner countries.
• Manage day-to-day operational issues in collaboration with the other Program Managers and the Program Coordinator on the team to ensure the efficient functioning of projects and activities, particularly the grants management process.
• Support the Managing Director with all tasks related to coordination of technical working groups for the Global Alliance for Cancer Patient Navigation.

OTHER FUNCTIONS

• Collaborate with the communications team to effectively promote successes of the program.
• Create and deliver presentations on ACS GPS efforts.
• Contribute to grants and proposal writing processes with team for external funding.
• On occasion, may be called upon to provide support to other functional areas of the department.
• Recruits, trains, and manages volunteers and interns.
• Other duties as assigned.

FORMAL KNOWLEDGE

• Master’s degree in health or social sciences, ideally in the field of global health.

​SKILLS

• Excellent organizational, planning, and coordination skills, including a strong attention to detail, and the ability to carry work projects through to their natural conclusion.
• Proactive attitude, and team spirit and approach to work.
• Ability to work under limited supervision, take initiative, deal concurrently with multiple assignments, and meet deadlines.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment to determine best approach to reach desired outcome, including modifying and/or streamlining processes to resolve challenges.
• Ability to create, compose, and edit written material.
• Ability to communicate across cultures and in different environments.
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills to work effectively in a large, formal organization with multiple stakeholders.
• Ability to adjust and adapt to changing circumstances.
• Ability to resolve problems with greater level of complexity.
• A holistic approach to: 1) analyzing an organization’s technical assistance needs; 2) developing creative and practical work products and services; and 3) delivering them methodically and effectively.
• Maturity and a professional demeanor that will engender trust among partners and the ability to build strong and lasting relationships with stakeholders, clients, and colleagues.
• Confidence and clear and effective communication skills, with the ability to transmit key messages in many appropriate ways and listen actively.
• Data collection and analysis skills and the ability to pragmatically apply monitoring and evaluation principles and practices to all facets of work.

SPECIALIZED TRAINING OR KNOWLEDGE

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in community health outreach/access to care/enabling services/patient support programming in LMICs.
• Minimum of 3 years of training design, delivery, evaluation and/or technical assistance experience.
• Minimum of 2 years living abroad in an LMIC. Work experience in one or more of the SPARK focus countries of Indonesia, Kenya, or Nigeria is ideal.
• Minimum of 2 years of grants management experience.
• Demonstrable experience working with NGOs and/or health systems directly implementing programs or providing technical support to improve program implementation.
• Ideally, proficient in written/spoken Spanish. Other language skills welcome.
• Proposal writing/fundraising, graphic design, Learning Management System (LMS) experience, and/or social media savvy a plus.

​SPECIAL MENTAL OR PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• This position requires 5-10% travel in resource-limited settings. Scheduling travel has some level of flexibility. Must be able to take part in meetings as early as 8 am Eastern Time and on occasion, meetings as late as 8pm Eastern Time.

​SUPERVISION RECEIVED/GIVEN

• Reports directly to the Managing Director, Global Patient Support, conferring with other program staff on individual projects.

DIRECT SUPERVISION GIVEN

• Directly supervises consultants and when applicable, interns.

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CONTACTS

• Frequent contact with the Managing Director, Global Patient Support, and other ACS Global program staff working from home in Atlanta and Washington DC, and ACS Operations staff (including personnel in Finance, Operations, Human Resources, Legal, and Communications). Also, will work with other global teams as well as the broader Cancer Treatment Support in which the global department is housed.
• Regular contact with in-country partners and consultants by phone, email, and in-person.

The starting rate is $82,000 to $95,000. The final candidate's relevant experience/skills will be considered before an offer is extended. Actual starting pay will vary based on non-discriminatory factors including, but not limited to, geographic location, experience, skills, specialty, and education.

The American Cancer Society has adopted a vaccination policy that requires all staff, regardless of position or work location, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (except where prohibited by state law).

ACS provides staff a generous paid time off policy; medical, dental, retirement benefits, wellness programs, and professional development programs to enhance staff skills. Further details on our benefits can be found on our careers site at: jobs.cancer.org/benefits. We are a proud equal opportunity employer.

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