Director of People Operations

Maisha Meds is hiring! We’re looking for a Director of People Operations. You will be responsible for helping to find, develop, motivate, and retain the team at Maisha Meds.

About Maisha Meds

Maisha Meds is an organization dedicated to improving health care in Africa through best-in-class technology.

Founded in 2017, Maisha Meds has created the largest digital network of private pharmacies and clinics across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, and Zambia through our mobile software. Our platform not only helps these providers improve business by making sales, managing inventory, and tracking patients. It also reimburses them for providing high-quality care for malaria, family planning, and HIV prevention at discounted costs.

Maisha Meds logs millions of patient visits every year and has provided hundreds of thousands of reimbursements to date. We harness data from our network of pharmacies and clinics to reveal health and market trends, which allows us to design better solutions that work for the people we serve. We have worked with leading academic institutions such as UC Berkeley, Emory University, and KEMRI to evaluate the effectiveness of our programs. Research shows that our system is able to significantly increase the uptake of long-acting contraceptives and appropriate malaria case management.

Our work is funded by a range of partners including scale-up funding from USAID Development Innovation Ventures and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This will help Maisha Meds greatly expand its mobile software to 7,500 total pharmacies and clinics by late 2026, delivering subsidized care to nearly a million new patients in the process.

About the role

The Director of People Operations will take ownership of all Human Resources and People Operations related activities for Maisha Meds. This role is critical to supporting the company's rapid development and growth by ensuring we build and maintain an incredible team environment. We are dedicated to making Maisha Meds a great place to work—one where employees are challenged, highly effective, and understand how people-related decisions are made.

You will serve as the primary strategic partner to company executives and team leaders, driving a fun, performance-based, and people-oriented culture. Your core focus will be implementing the systems and processes necessary to support an exceptional group of people as the company scales.

Reporting & Location:

• The position reports to the Chief Operating Officer (COO).
• You will manage a small team, initially consisting of two People Ops Associates.
• This is a remote-first role, but candidates must be a resident of and located in one of our primary countries of operation: Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, or Tanzania.
• The role requires a willingness to travel.
• Start date: 1st December 2025
  
  

Responsibilities

As the Director of People Operations, you will drive Maisha Meds' growth and culture by leading three core areas.

I. People Strategy & Culture

• Strategic Leadership: Work closely with the Executive Team to build out and scale Maisha Meds’ people function, ensuring a consistent, high-performance culture across all country operations.
• Talent Retention: Develop and roll out innovative approaches to retaining top talent and continuously strengthen the employee value proposition (EVP).
• Organizational Design: Own and iterate on the job grading framework and the salary benchmarking philosophy, leading compensation review exercises.
• Culture Measurement: Manage and analyze the eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) survey to gather insights and guide cultural improvements.
• Company Events: Lead the planning and execution of company-level retreats and strategy events to foster team cohesion and alignment.

II. Organizational Development & Performance

• Performance Management: Lead and support staff, managers, and the executive team in all aspects of performance management, including overseeing promotion processes.
• Learning & Development (L&D): Collaborate with leadership to identify and address training and professional development needs, managing the overall L&D strategy.
• Policy Development: Design and implement scalable people policies and processes that support the company's growth objectives.

III. People Operations & Administration

• Data & Analytics: Provide useful, actionable people data and insights to guide leadership decision-making and ensure the company scales effectively and efficiently.
• Team Leadership: Build out and manage the People Operations team, providing direct guidance and mentorship to the People Operations Associates. Identify staffing needs and hire as required to successfully support the broader Maisha Meds team.
• HR Administration: Oversee and support all essential HR administrative duties across the organization, including managing the process for travel requests.

Qualifications

Experience & Education

• Education: A Bachelor’s degree (minimum) in Human Resources, Business, Strategy, or a related field.
• Professional Background: A minimum of 8+ years of professional work experience, including at least 4+ years in a Human Resources or People Operations leadership role.
• Location Requirement: Must be a national of an African country and currently reside in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, or Tanzania
• Leadership: Demonstrated leadership experience, drive, and willingness to mentor and develop team members. Experience in remote management is a significant plus.

Skills & Mindset

• Strategic Capability: The ability to be a strategic leader while maintaining a willingness to "roll up one’s sleeves" and directly move projects forward.
• Problem-Solving: Strong problem-solving and interpersonal skills with a proven ability to tackle challenging people-related issues.
• Adaptability: Proven adaptability and effectiveness in a fast-paced, high-growth working environment.
• Passion for People: A genuine passion for building high-performing teams, sourcing top talent, and fostering strong professional relationships.
• Growth Mindset: A strong growth mindset and enthusiasm for learning, receiving feedback, and continuous improvement.
• Cultural attributes: We seek passionate professionals who combine strong leadership skills with humility, good humor, and patience.

Why You Should Join Us

• On a roll: We are doubling year-over-year with new funding partnerships that are boosting expansion in multiple countries
• Great team: We are founded, managed, and backed by successful veterans of Stanford School of Medicine, Google, mPharma, Safe Boda, and CNN. We have technologists, doctors, and economists working side by side to solve difficult problems.
• Great funders: We’re supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID Development Innovation Ventures, CIFF, WHO FIND, and Pfizer to pay for healthcare on behalf of patients, with others to be announced soon.
• Huge market: We are disrupting a massive, growing $50+ billion market for healthcare payments for low-income patients, with a focus on paying for health outcomes to ensure patients get the best quality care.
• Great customers: We create financial incentives that ensure our health care providers deliver excellent care.
• Impact: We have cultivated a fun and exciting start-up culture that empowers its talented staff to make a huge impact.