Director Testing Initiatives

Description:

The Director, Testing Initiatives, under the direction of the Senior Director, Programs, provides strategic and operational leadership for OHTN’s provincial HIV testing portfolio. The role leads the development, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement of testing-specific programs, resources, partnerships, and capacity-building initiatives. The Director contributes to broader HIV prevention and care cascade goals by improving access to testing, early diagnosis, and linkage pathways, while working collaboratively with the Director, HIV Care Cascade Initiatives and other OHTN leaders to ensure alignment with broader engagement, retention, treatment, clinical care, and system-level priorities.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Program Development, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation 

Provides strategic oversight for the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of OHTN HIV testing programs. 
Establishes an evidence-based approach to identify strategic partnerships and priorities to improve access to HIV testing and contribute to care cascade goals through earlier diagnosis, appropriate referral, and linkage-to-care pathways. 
Identifies, proposes, and leads HIV testing-specific program, practice, resource, and partnership improvements that remove barriers to the effective coordination and delivery of HIV testing, in alignment with broader system-level priorities.
Translate the short and mid-term impacts of OHTN-funded projects into evidence-based initiatives that close gaps in HIV testing, early diagnosis, and linkage to care.
Identifies opportunities for incubator projects with the potential to drive provincial and systems-level improvements in access to HIV testing. 
Leads the development and implementation of an evidence-informed framework to evaluate the effectiveness of OHTN’s HIV testing initiatives aligned with the broader monitoring and evaluation of the HIV Care Cascade portfolio.
Collaborates with other OHTN teams to surface emerging issues, evidence and data that inform the design, delivery, and evaluation of testing and related initiatives. 
Creates internal learning systems that drive continuous quality improvement across HIV testing initiatives. 

Partnership and Stakeholder Engagement

Develops strategic testing-focused partnerships and working relationships with testing programs and sites, clinics and clinicians, public health partners, and other relevant interest holders to improve equitable access to status-neutral HIV testing and linkage pathways.
Builds and maintains relationships with stakeholders to identify shared priorities and understanding, and to develop and coordinate collaborative approaches that optimize impact.
Works closely with the Directors, HIV Care Cascade Initiatives, Prevention, and Evidence and Knowledge Translation teams to ensure testing initiatives are integrated with broader prevention, linkage, engagement, retention, treatment, and care cascade priorities.
Work with partners to identify and support community and provider capacity-development opportunities that promote knowledge and skills to improve testing access for populations at risk of HIV in Ontario.

Leadership and Management

Contributes to organizational strategy and culture as part of the OHTN’s leadership team.
Provides leadership in efforts to realize the OHTN’s strategic plan and the OACHA HIV Action Plan to 2030, including the development and implementation of the OHTN Annual Program Plan. 
Builds effective collaborative relationships with the Senior Director, Programs and other members of the Programs team to achieve the organization’s vision and goals, fosters a cohesive leadership culture, demonstrating open communication, advanced listening skills, a positive attitude and thoughtful inquiry.
Cultivates excellent working relationships with leaders in the HIV sector to support and strengthen collaboration and collective action.
Contributes to the annual organizational program plan and budget and leads development and implementation of the HIV testing portfolio and workplan, including strategic priorities, deliverables, and outcome measures, aligned with broader OHTN prevention and care cascade priorities.
Represents the OHTN at forums, advisory groups, committees, external meetings, and conferences.
Provides leadership, coaching, goal setting, and performance management for direct reports, including workload planning, onboarding, and succession planning. 
Establishes clear team priorities, deliverables, timelines, and reporting structures. 
Engages in long-term strategic and financial planning, develops and monitor budgets, contracts, project milestones, and deliverables related to testing initiatives.

Working Requirements

Work in-office a minimum of three (3) days per week (hybrid).
Flexibility to work some evenings and weekends, particularly around major events and conferences.

ABOUT YOU

Master’s degree (or equivalent education and experience) in a relevant field such as nursing, health sciences, social sciences, public health, health policy or a related field 
A minimum of 5 years progressive management experience within the non-profit, public or another relevant field.
Demonstrated experience and success in:
Project planning, management and facilitation
Applying theories of behaviour change and collective impact
Leading multi-sector collaborations
Working with government
Financial management and reporting
Human resource management
Engaging diverse partners at multiple levels toward measurable results
Thorough understanding of:
Current HIV policy and service issues and trends in Ontario
Key stakeholder groups in Ontario and their mandates as they relate to the development of a coordinated provincial response to HIV
Evidence based strategies to effect organizational, community and system-level changes, Communications planning and public relations
community engagement and mobilization 
Strong written and oral communications skills and ability to adjust communications for various audiences