Vice President, Health Programs

Job Summary

Position Summary

Special Olympics Inc. (SOI) is an international NGO providing sports training and competition to more than 4.9 million people with intellectual disabilities in 172 countries. With the support of almost 1.1 million coaches and volunteers, Special Olympics delivers 33 Olympic-type sports at nearly 109,000 games and competitions throughout the year. In addition to sports programming, Special Olympics offers a number of supporting initiatives and programs, including Special Olympics Healthy Athletes (HA) and Healthy Communities (HC). Over the last 20 years Special Olympics Health has trained over 220,000 health care professionals and provided over 1.9 million health exams and health education for athletes and their funding in 135 countries resulting in the world’s largest health database on health and intellectual disability.

The 2016-2020 strategic priorities for the health program are ambitious and focus on creating a global tipping point where government funding and policies, medical and allied health professions training program curricula, and health care and wellness services are all inclusive for people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Achieving this requires (1) an expansion of current programming, (2) engaging and training governments, universities, NGOs, and healthcare providers in inclusive health, (3) strengthening research to drive policy changes and funding, and (4) engaging athlete leaders and family advocates to raise awareness about the health injustices faced by this population and to issue a call to action to key influencers.

The Vice President, Health is responsible for strategic leadership and global oversight of the Special Olympics Health Department with particular responsibility for delivering on our strategic targets, overseeing development of new initiatives including the integration of health into other functional areas of the organization, utilizing technology to enhance health outcomes, supporting health research efforts and for collaborating with the Development and Global Development department to secure new resources in support of the health strategy. This position is also responsible for cultivating and engaging with a range of partners to provide direct support to Special Olympics athletes and foster broader inclusion of people with ID in mainstream health programs, policies, services, and funding streams.

Description:

• Provide strategic direction and oversight for the Health Program including informing the leadership of current trends and directions in the area of health and intellectual disability. Co-lead development of multi-year strategic plans for the Health program. At certain intervals, this may include conducting stakeholder meetings to identify priorities, programming, targets, and indicators.
• Drive the integration of health and fitness into other programmatic areas of the organization such as competition, coaching, young athletes and unified schools to position Special Olympics as a leader and innovator in health education and prevention.
• Serve as Principal Investigator on a multi-year Cooperative Agreement with CDC and as relationship lead on high-level health partnerships.
• Provide oversight to the Senior Director of Health Operations on all ongoing operational issues, as well as two other direct report staff, and lead a global team of 45 staff and 15+ consultants funded with Health resources.
• Oversee development of new health initiatives including: guiding development of approaches, and priorities, collaborating with SOI project leads and internal and external stakeholders, and engaging and activating partners, in areas such as:
  • Reform of health systems to improve access to quality health services and programming for people with intellectual disabilities, including SO athletes;
  • Development of eLearning and other digital resources and tools that support training of and provide technical assistance for athlete leaders, family members, and the health workforce in ways that accelerate and enhance programmatic impact and health and performance of our athletes;
  • Development of a virtual resource and training center for supporting quality inclusion of people with ID in mainstream health services;
• Collaborate with the Development and Global Development team to maintain and grow current partnerships for Health’ to identify new supporters and assist with the production of high quality proposals and budgets to secure new resources to support the implementation of the strategic plan.
• Provide stewardship of health partners, advocates and funders to ensure their meaningful engagement in Special Olympics events and support of health work.
• Liaise with the Research & Evaluation team to measure and report on implementation of the strategy.

Essential

• Master’s degree in Public Health or a Master’s degree or higher in a relevant discipline (e.g. health administration, international development, international business);

• 10-15 years of demonstrated and progressive experience in international program development and leadership, ideally with a focus on improving health outcomes, with at least 5 years of experience in senior level management roles;
• Experience leading innovative programming focused on prevention; including fitness, nutrition, and lifelong wellness;
• Respected in the international community as a health leader, with strong global relationships;
• Proven track record in creating strategies, planning programming, and setting and delivering on targets, preferably internationally;
• Capable of representing Special Olympics and selling our ideas to donors, governments, corporations and other prospective partners;
• Ability and experience cultivating and stewarding relationships with funders;
• Strong written, analytical, and verbal skills;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English including an ability to create and present high quality reports and presentations;
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain networks, provide advice and communicate effectively with a culturally and professionally diverse range of stakeholders;
• Proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel; and
• Ability to work effectively as a member of a collaborative leadership team.

Desirable

• Experience working with and/or treating people with intellectual disabilities;
• Experience as a clinical professional (MD) and/or experience working with clinical professionals; and
• Additional language skills.

Special Olympics, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse staff committed to working in a multicultural environment. Applications from women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and covered veterans are welcomed and encouraged.