Country Manager, Ghana

VisionSpring partners with non-governmental organizations, governments, social enterprises and private businesses to distribute eyeglasses using their existing distribution channels. By leveraging existing distribution channels, as seen in our partnerships with BRAC in Bangladesh and Vision for a Nation in Rwanda, we are able to greatly expand our reach into countries and areas of countries where we do not have an on-the-ground presence. This increases the distribution of eyewear to the BoP consumer while keeping costs low.
Description

Are you ready to use your leadership, program management, business development, and operational skills to correct the vision of millions of low-income customers across Ghana so they can work, learn, stay safe, and care for their families?

The social enterprise, VisionSpring, seeks a dynamic and experienced Country Manager to grow VisionSpring’s pioneering portfolio of Vision Access Programs and eyeglasses sales which advances the income earning potential and livelihoods of people living on less than $4 per day. The Country Manager joins with an exciting mandate to scale-up evidence-based programs, grow sales channels, identify and introduce innovative approaches that further advance the mission, catalyze collective action within the vision sector and with allied parties, and influence systems change globally.

According to the 2015 Ghana Blindness and Visual Impairment survey, just 5% of Ghanaians who need eyeglasses have them. VisionSpring has worked to solve this problem in Ghana since 2017. Exclusively focused on the base-of-the-pyramid customer, VisionSpring is fast becoming a market leader in the provision of affordable eyeglasses and screenings in Ghana.

Over the past five years, VisionSpring in partnership with over 49 collaborators, has screened the vision of more than 70,000 Ghanaians and delivered in excess of 100,000 eyeglasses through wholesale partnerships. VisionSpring implements Vision Access Programs which bring free vision screening and highly subsidized eyeglasses to people where they work and live with the sponsorship of businesses and foundations. Additionally, VisionSpring sells affordable eyeglasses to mission-aligned hospitals, vision centers, and NGOs to help them sustain and expand their optical services.

VisionSpring focuses on building partnerships that lead to the very first pair of eyeglasses for the low-income and marginalized people. In Ghana, VisionSpring has established strong partnerships with faith-based organizations (FBOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector and government institutions. Notable among these partners are Allianz Insurance, Cocoa, Coffee, and Shea nut Farmers Association (COCOSHE), Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP), Operation Eyesight Universal, Greater Accra Regional Hospital and Optical wholesaler.

The Country Manager will lead a growing team of 4 people and is responsible for business development; program expansion and implementation; sales operations; and the execution of shared services with the support of global functional leaders for programs, human resources, supply chain, finance, and marketing. The Country Manager will cultivate high levels of mission alignment, team engagement, customer satisfaction, and the development of associated processes and culture.

This position is based in our Accra office and reports to the Africa Region Director, located in VisionSpring’s Nigeria office. The Country Manager is a member of VisionSpring’s Africa leadership team and will collaborate with colleagues in Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Nigeria and the U.S. to achieve successful outcomes.

VisionSpring is undergoing registered as a company limited by guarantee in Ghana that is wholly owned by the U.S.-based nonprofit VisionSpring Inc., which is a registered 501(c)(3).

About You

You are passionate about building a purpose-first business that creates positive, lasting change in the lives of low-income consumers. You are energized by the constructive tension of growing sales and programs, and blending business and non-profit practices.
You are resourceful and decisive in a fast-growing organization. You seek answers, create structure, and devise solutions when obstacles appear.
You look for opportunities to develop team members’ competencies and strengths. You facilitate personal development and team learning. Former colleagues still call you for advice because you help them thrive.
You are innately rigorous in all that you do, from strategy to process development. You monitor progress against goals and make data-driven decisions.
You are an effective communicator. You motivate teams, partners, and clients around shared goals and what can be accomplished together. You solicit input and give and receive candid, respectful feedback.

About Us

VisionSpring is creating access to affordable eyewear, everywhere. Clear vision creates opportunities for increased learning, work, safety, civic participation, and quality of life.
As a social enterprise, social change motivates us first. Our focus on sales and revenue targets serves and advances our mission objective—to increase functioning, productivity, and income earning potential for our low-income consumers by correcting refractive error with eyeglasses. Every $1 of philanthropy invested in VisionSpring yields an unprecedented $43 in increased earning potential at the household level.
We are working to transform the systemic dysfunction of an optical market that has failed to deliver eyeglasses—a 700-year-old technology—to nearly 1 billion consumers in need of vision correction, most of whom live on less than $4 a day.
We serve low-income consumers, not as beneficiaries but as customers. Our customers expect a high-quality and affordable product, and they will spend limited discretionary income for the immediate and tangible benefits of vision correction.
We run our business on both sales metrics and social impact measures. We use a range of organizational forms and practices to get the job done.
We believe in scaling our impact, not our organization. We are a lean team of doers.

What You’ll Do

Leadership & Strategic Direction (15% of time)

As a Member Of The Africa Leadership Team

Model VisionSpring’s core values and sustain an inclusive team culture built upon them: 1) Help others to do; 2) Advance equity; 3) Constantly adapt, relentlessly improve; 4) Default to transparency, reveal hard truths; and 5) Learn together.
Work with the Africa Region Director and Global Programs Vice President to develop a five-year Ghana strategy, aligned to enterprise-wide goals, for scaling-up Vision Access Programs. Pharmacy and Institutional Sales to serve more target customers and maintain eyeglasses coverage rates.
Oversee the implementation of annual plans and budgets. Help Ghana team members to develop work plans, meet milestones and targets, and adapt in the face of challenges and risks.
Make recommendations for building team capacity and processes to deliver on growth objectives.
Foster cross-organizational learning. Share best practices from Ghana and absorb lessons from other markets into Ghana.
Identify opportunities for partnerships with government, professional bodies, private sector and non-profit organizations to facilitate scaling.

Product Sales and Institutional Partnerships (20% of time)

Support the sales team in developing market penetration plans and achieving eyeglasses sales targets.
For Institutional Partners, guide key account management, negotiations and resolution of customer complaints.
Ensure all sales activities are tracked in Salesforce, VisionSpring’s CRM system.
Ensure sales performance is recorded by the Ghana finance department.
Ensure marketing campaigns are implemented across all channels.

Program Planning and Management (30% of time)

In Collaboration With The Global Program Office To

Guide the expansion and achievement of outcomes for Vision Access Programs, particularly: See to Earn: Work with the Africa Program Coordinator and Ghana Program Lead to rapidly expand the implementation of vision screening and eyeglasses dispensing, particularly for farmers, artisans and micro-entrepreneurs particularly in cocoa-growing regions. Pharmacy Channel: Work with the Global Pharmacy Sales Manager and Ghana Pharmacy Lead to develop a scalable channel to establish durable points of sale of reading glasses. Leverage the demand generation work of See to Earn programs.
Ensure programs are achieving targets on time and budget. Guide team members in making data-backed decisions and problem solving.
Lead continuous improvement. Establish routines to gather and act upon customer and frontline team member feedback. Oversea the introduction of new technologies, products and approaches to improve quality, efficacy and efficiency of service delivery.
Ensure implementing partners have information and steady support to achieve goals.

Shared Services: People, Supply Chain and Financial Management (20% of time)

Work with human resources to strengthen team members’ abilities to deliver results and assume greater responsibilities, manage performance and address concerns.
Maintain a culture and working environment that fosters high levels of mission alignment, diversity, cohesion and motivation.
Plan and guide promotions and recruitment, including the timely release of job requisitions.
Inform procurement and supply chain activities, including inventory planning and new product introduction.
Manage the country budget in accordance with the profit & loss statement. Manage costs and margins. Effectively use financial resources, demonstrating value for money.
Support the global finance team to deliver accurate and timely financial reporting and annual audits.
Manage resources with transparency and proactively respond to suspicions of fraud. violations of VisionSpring’s Code of Conduct and other complaints.

Resource Mobilization (15%)

Partner with the global resource mobilization and global program offices to effectively build relationships and secure terms of service contracts and raise philanthropic funds, from corporates, foundations and governments.

Identify and pursue funding opportunities to advance VisionSpring’s strategic priorities.
Contribute to proposals and reports that accurately convey context, progress against objectives, lessons learned, and detailed budgets and utilization.
Support proactive and transparent communication with donors and stakeholders.
Represent VisionSpring in forums to share what we are learning, build external relationships and advocate for our mission.

Requirements

A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in public health, international development, fast-moving consumer goods, pharmacy/medical sales, or other relevant business.
Prior responsibility for teams of at least 5 people and budgets of $500,000 or more.
Experience in growth-stage, target driven operations for sales and/or program objectives.
Business development or fundraising experience resulting in more than $100,000 in revenues.
Experience managing network of partners and/or multi-stakeholder collaborations.
Timely decision making, follow-through and a strong personal sense of accountability.
Committed to respectful collaboration with colleagues from diverse backgrounds.
Must meet the highest standards of ethics, with a demonstrated capacity for discretion and for handling sensitive information with care.
Fluency in English, written and verbal.
Preferred experience: (1) Project Management Professional (PMP) certification; (2) Consultative sales experience; (3) Graduate education in a relevant field; and/or (4) Familiarity with Salesforce, SAP or similar systems.

Compensation

Salary range is based on experience, education and location.
We offer comprehensive benefits, including health insurance and generous vacation time.

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