Team Leader (ECOWAS) – Austria

Aninver Development Partners SL (www.aninver.com) is looking for a Team Leader (ECOWAS) for a health consultancy assignment financed by UNIDO in Austria.

Aninver Development Partners is seeking an expert Team Leader (ECOWAS) for an upcoming health sector initiative supported by UNIDO. This assignment focuses on regional value chain mapping, diagnostics, and upgrading strategies to enhance manufacturing competitiveness, regulatory compliance, and value addition within the pharmaceutical components sector across the region.

The successful candidate will lead the execution of comprehensive macro, meso, and micro-level assessments, guiding multidisciplinary experts through scoping, field evaluations, and stakeholder validation workshops. The role requires close coordination with regional commissions and international partners to formulate actionable intervention roadmaps and investment cases.

Aninver is preparing a proposal for this assignment. The selected expert will be part of the proposed team; the engagement is conditional on the contract being awarded to Aninver. The full Terms of Reference for the position are shared with shortlisted candidates.

Objectives of the assignment

• Conduct a system-based diagnostic of the pharmaceutical components value chain to identify high-impact interventions for manufacturing competitiveness and value addition.
• Validate priority product segments and establish a country prioritization matrix to guide regional upgrading strategies.
• Map registration and market-entry pathways alongside regulatory maturity and institutional readiness.
• Evaluate policy, governance, and incentive architectures, including trade, investment, and demand-side market shaping.
• Synthesize findings into traceable evidence bases, integrated constraint analyses, and stakeholder validation workshops.

Scope of work

• Execute Phase 1 scoping, inception, and desk-based macro foundations, including priority product validation and regulatory pathway mapping.
• Oversee Phase 2 meso and micro field assessments, covering institutional actor mapping, quality control laboratories, and enterprise production systems.
• Analyze policy, governance, and economic competitiveness to identify regional specialization options and barriers to local manufacturing.
• Evaluate industrial support functions, shared infrastructure platforms, energy, skills, and digital ecosystems.
• Assess enterprise-level upgrading readiness, manufacturing capabilities by platform, product development, dossier readiness, and input dependencies.
• Deliver Phase 3 cross-cutting synthesis, integrated constraint analyses, prioritization frameworks, and intervention roadmaps.
• Facilitate stakeholder validation workshops to review findings and build consensus around proposed upgrading agendas.

Your role as Team Leader (ECOWAS)

• Provide overall leadership and management for the ECOWAS regional workstream throughout the assignment lifecycle.
• Direct multidisciplinary team members across macro, meso, and micro-level assessments of the pharmaceutical value chain.
• Ensure methodological harmonization, quality control, and timely delivery of all milestone reports and analytical outputs.
• Engage directly with high-level regional stakeholders, public authorities, and private sector representatives during consultations and field missions.
• Lead the synthesis of diagnostic findings into a prioritized upgrading agenda and actionable intervention roadmap.
• Facilitate regional stakeholder validation workshops and present key findings to institutional partners.

Requirements

• Education: Master's degree or equivalent in pharmaceutics, pharmacy, industrial economics, economics, business administration, public policy or development studies
• Minimum twelve (12) years leading pharmaceutical manufacturing, industrial development or pharmaceutical ecosystem programmes in Africa, including at least five (5) years leading multi-country assignments
• Languages: Full professional proficiency in English and French

Desirable

• Demonstrated familiarity with UNIDO operational procedures and international development frameworks.
• Prior experience working with regional economic communities in West Africa on pharmaceutical regulatory harmonization.

An experienced Team Leader with a strong background in pharmaceutical manufacturing or industrial development programs in Africa, possessing fluent bilingual skills in English and French and a proven track record of managing multi-country value chain diagnostics.

Assignment details

• Location: Austria
• Financed by: UNIDO
• Sector: Health
• Expected input: Minimum 35 working days
• Contract: individual consultancy (conditional on award)

About Aninver Development Partners

Aninver is an international development consulting firm headquartered in Spain. It supports governments, development banks, UN agencies and bilateral donors with feasibility studies, technical assistance, evaluations and capacity building across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Asia-Pacific, working with a network of international and national experts.

Why apply

• Join a multidisciplinary team on a UNIDO-financed project in Austria.
• Individual consultancy: flexible, output-based engagement with an experienced proposal team.
• Your CV stays in Aninver's expert network for future assignments that match your profile.

How to apply

Sign in (or create a free account) and upload your CV in English. Add your LinkedIn profile, indicative daily rate and availability to speed up the assessment. Aninver will contact the shortlisted candidates.

Frequently asked questions

Is the position confirmed? The engagement depends on the contract being awarded to Aninver. Shortlisted experts are included in the proposal with their consent.

Can I apply if I am not based in the country? Yes, unless the requirements say otherwise; relevant regional experience is an asset.

What happens with my CV? It is used to assess your fit for this and future positions and is not shared with third parties without your consent.