Gouranga Manna

Senior country leader with 24 years of professional experience, including 10+ years in development and humanitarian leadership with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as Head of Mission/Country Director, Deputy Head of Mission and Project Coordinator. Proven record leading complex health portfolios, country strategy, operations, partnerships and teams in fragile and politically constrained settings. Led multi-country health interventions across Myanmar, South Sudan, Sudan, Sierra Leone, India and Ethiopia.

Strong expertise in Health System Strengthening, Integrated Primary Health care, HIV/TB/Hepatitis, Maternal and Child Health, Sexual and Reproductive Health, NCDs, Vaccination, Outbreak Preparedness, Surveillance, Emergency Response and Sustainable Service Delivery.

Indian

Navy experience adds disciplined leadership, operational planning, safety, compliance, technology adoption and organizational change. Managed training systems and HSE activities during acquisition and commissioning of a nuclear submarine in Russia, and led community initiatives in India. Strategic and adaptive leader skilled in government engagement, donor and partner relations, policy influence, program expansion, financial stewardship, compliance, risk and security management, people development, due diligence and results-based programming.

Experienced in sustaining impact where access, regulation, bureaucracy, security and operating constraints are significant.

Head of Mission / Country Director at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Swiss (2022-12 – 2025-06)

Representing MSF with Ministries of Health, WHO, UN agencies, donors and other strategic stakeholders; leading country strategy, contextual and political analysis, program positioning, operational opportunity assessment, humanitarian access, legal and regulatory engagement, resource allocation, program quality, financial stewardship, compliance, security, emergency preparedness, and the leadership, coaching and development of senior management and technical teams.

• Stabilizing and rebuilt the mission to pre-coup operational capacity following the 2021 military coup
• Repositioning the mission and expanding operations from one to three states/regions; led the HIV program handover to the MoH-led model, strengthened Hepatitis engagement with the Ministry of Health and supported opening new Hepatitis projects, while maintaining PHC, MCH and other essential services for urban, rural, displaced, migrant and politically excluded populations
• Remodelling and legally separating operational/organizational identities to navigate restrictions on international organizations
• Leading advocacy and humanitarian access negotiations
• Strengthening Registration, MoU and compliance processes
• Building national leadership capacity and succession
• Lead emergency preparedness and response for conflict, cholera, floods and the 2025 earthquake, managing a €4M portfolio

Head of Mission / Country Director at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Swiss (2022-02 – 2022-04)

Deputy Head of Mission at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Swiss (2022-04 – 2022-09)

Supporting the Head of Mission and Coordination Team in country strategy, program execution, contextual and security analysis, representation, operational risk management, emergency response, Ministry/WHO engagement, compliance and overall mission leadership; Supporting legal, administrative and operational processes.

• Co-leading €16M multi-state operation, strengthening program oversight, compliance, security and emergency preparedness while supporting strategic engagement with Ministries and other stakeholders
• Line-managing and mentoring Field Coordinators across West Darfur, Gedaref and Kartoum, and supporting capacity development for MoH staff, refugees and communities through PMERL approaches

Project / Field Coordinator at Médecins Sans Frontières, Swiss & Holland (2016-06 – 2021-11)

Leading state/regional programs and projects, including contextual analysis, needs assessment, program design, budgeting, HR and capacity planning, logistics, security, partnerships, community engagement, MEL, reporting and emergency response, while representing MSF with regional and state authorities.

• Leading integrated programs: PHC, Secondary Healthcare, MCH, HIV/TB/Hepatitis, NCD, GBV, Safe Abortion Care, WASH and Emergency Response programs across fragile settings, with portfolios up to €9M, and strengthening health systems through workforce development, infrastructure, referral systems and Ministry of Health policy engagement
• In India, advancing HIV/Hepatitis/TB programming with MoHFW, NHM, Manipur AIDS Control Society and NACO and mobile health services in Chhattisgarh
• In Sierra Leone, strengthening district health systems, maternal mortality reduction and MDR-TB services while coordinating humanitarian access and emergency response

Administrator–Trainer at Indian Navy, Submarine Squadron (1999-07 – 2012-07)

• Supported acquisition and commissioning of a nuclear submarine in Russia and managed safety and operational requirements
• Managed training systems, HSE activities, technology transition and organizational change during an inter-governmental technology collaboration with Russia

MBA in Business Administration – Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong (2015 – 2015)

Certificate in Managing Diversity – University of Western Sydney (2015 – 2015)

BA – University of Kolkata (1999 – 1999)