Executive Director

Job Details

St. Mary's Hospital Lacor invites applications for the position of Executive Director (ED) to lead one of Uganda's most respected faith-based healthcare institutions into its next chapter of service, innovation, and sustainability.

• Organisation: St. Mary's Hospital Lacor (Lacor Hospital Complex)
• Location: Lacor, Gulu City, Northern Uganda
• Position: Executive Director (ED) - Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital
• Reports to: Board of Directors; appointed by the Annual General Meeting (AGM)
• Governance roles: Chairperson, Internal Management Board (IMB); ex-officio member of the Board; Legal Representative of the Hospital
• Directly responsible for: Medical Director, Institutional Director, Scientific Director, Administrator / Hospital Secretary, Principal Lacor Health Training Institute
• Contract: Five-year fixed-term appointment – renewable on mutual agreement
• Work mode: On-site, full-time executive leadership
• Institution size: Main hospital (482+ beds), three peripheral health centres at Amuru, Opit and Pabo (24 beds each), Lacor Health Training Institute (certificates/diplomas for nurses, midwives, lab technicians, theatre assistants), and logistics unit in Kampala
• Catchment & workload: Serves over 580,000 people; records more than 150,000 outpatient visits and 33,000 admissions annually; teaching site for Gulu University
• Mission context: The ED will provide ethical, mission-centred leadership ensuring the institution remains faithful to its commitment to provide affordable, quality healthcare to those in need without discrimination and in witness of the Church's concern for every sick person. The role restores clear executive accountability after a period in which the Internal Management Board exercised the office's powers collectively, while retaining the collegial culture that has sustained continuity and succession.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and executive leadership for the entire Lacor Hospital Complex, integrating all directorates and units and implementing Board-approved policies and strategies.
• Ensure strong governance, accountability, and stewardship of resources; maintain a transparent, disciplined relationship with the Board and its Committees; provide accurate, timely advice, decision papers, budgets, risk and performance reports; ensure decisions are implemented and work with the Administrator/Hospital Secretary on lawful Board processes and compliance.
• Lead clinical quality, patient safety, institutional performance, and sustainability efforts; ensure organisation-wide clinical governance covering patient safety, infection control, audit and learning from adverse events; monitor outcomes, access, and the effect of fees on vulnerable groups; maintain epidemic preparedness and continuity of essential services.
• Strengthen partnerships with the Archdiocese of Gulu, government (Ministry of Health, district authorities), donors, universities, communities, the Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau (UCMB) and the Corti Foundations (Italy and Canada).
• Foster a culture of service, integrity, learning, and teamwork across the institution; ensure fair, lawful recruitment, performance management, welfare and workforce planning; build leadership-development and succession pathways for critical cadres.
• Chair the Internal Management Board with a focused agenda and, in a stalemate, a casting vote; clarify and delegate authority while retaining ultimate accountability; support Directors and Administrator to deliver their portfolios; resolve cross-directorate conflict; ensure coherent oversight of the hospital, Health Training Institute, health centres and Kampala unit.
• Mission, identity and ethical leadership: Ensure major decisions reflect Lacor's Catholic identity and service to the needy; uphold medical ethics and Church teaching; protect the "Patient First" principle and equitable access; maintain a safe, non-discriminatory environment with effective safeguarding.
• Strategy and institutional performance: Lead operationalisation, monitoring and renewal of strategy; develop integrated plans, budgets and performance dashboards; ensure clinical activities and infrastructural investments are mission-relevant, evidence-based, aligned to the Strategic Plan and adequately funded (considering both initial investment and recurrent yearly costs).
• Financial stewardship and sustainability: Carry ultimate accountability for sound financial management, with support from the Institutional Director and Finance Manager; ensure realistic budgets, reliable accounts, cost, procurement and donor discipline; protect affordability; maintain strong internal controls and audit response.
• Teaching, research and information systems: Keep teaching, training and research integrated with the service mission and meeting academic and regulatory standards; support ethical research and responsible technology including integrated clinical and financial systems, cybersecurity and data protection; ensure reliable data informs decisions.
• Risk, compliance, assets and continuity: Maintain an integrated system for managing and reporting principal risks; ensure compliance with the Statute, law, licences and professional standards; protect assets, land, information and reputation; maintain controls for health and safety, security and continuity of essential services.
• Serve as the principal institutional representative and authorised public voice; keep fundraising and reporting aligned to strategy and accountability.

Qualifications, Skills and Requirements

• Master's degree or equivalent postgraduate qualification in leadership, governance, management, public health, health services management, business management, or a related field is required.
• A relevant additional medical or health-related qualification will be an added advantage.
• At least ten years of progressively responsible leadership experience, including at least five years at executive or director level in a complex organisation or health-care institution.
• Demonstrated experience in strategy, operations, finance, people management, governance and stakeholder engagement.
• Proven success integrating strategy, operations, finance, people, risk and stakeholder relationships, and converting Board decisions into measurable performance.
• Stewardship of significant budgets and donor or restricted funds, with sound internal control, audit and sustainability judgement.
• High integrity, humility, moral courage and discretion; strong communication skills and the ability to lead a complex organisation guided by mission and values.
• Excellent written and spoken English; credibility to represent the Hospital at senior national and international levels.
• Mission-centred leadership and strategic judgement; governance and accountability; enterprise leadership across clinical, academic, financial, people and partnership agendas.
• Financial stewardship; people and culture leadership; stakeholder influence; risk and resilience, acting decisively in crisis to protect service continuity.
• Leads through consultation and consensus but makes timely, accountable decisions; uses evidence and transparent criteria; rejects corruption, nepotism and factionalism; delegates meaningfully; communicates clearly, listens actively, builds trust and manages conflict diplomatically.
• Desirable: Experience in a faith-based, not-for-profit or comparable mission-driven institution; experience in a referral or teaching hospital or health network in East Africa; values-led health care; organisational transition, succession or digital transformation; government relations, fundraising and international partnerships; knowledge of Uganda's health system and of Acholi or any other local language.

About St. Mary's Hospital Lacor

St. Mary's Hospital Lacor is a private, not-for-profit Ugandan hospital whose mission is to guarantee affordable medical services, especially to the most needy. For more, see https://www.lacorhospital.org/ .

• Vision: To be a hospital of choice, providing quality, sustainable care in a humane and supportive environment.
• Mission: To provide health care to the needy and to fight diseases and poverty, thus witnessing the maternal concern of the Church for every sick person, regardless of ethnic origin, social status, religious or political affiliation, while avoiding any form of discrimination.
• Motto: "Patient First"
• Values: Respect, Compassion, Professionalism, Team spirit, Honesty, Transparency and Accountability – all rooted in respect for human dignity.
• History & Identity: Founded in 1959 by Mgr. G.B. Cesana and developed from 1961 by Dr. Piero Corti and Dr. Lucille Teasdale to "offer the best possible care to the greatest number of people at the least cost." Owned by the Archdiocese of Gulu, supported by Fondazione Piero e Lucille Corti (Italy) and Teasdale-Corti Foundation (Canada), and a teaching site for Gulu University.
• Why this matters for the ED: The hospital has endured war, displacement and the 2000 Ebola outbreak (where 13 staff including Dr. Matthew Lukwiya lost their lives serving patients), demonstrating resilience and compassion. The incoming ED will steward a deeply mission-driven, financially constrained institution that balances Catholic identity, clinical excellence, teaching and research, and long-term sustainability – requiring ethical leadership, strong governance, and trusted partnership management.
• Contact: P.O. Box 180, Gulu, Uganda | Tel: +256 200 592 000 / +256 (0) 393 246 024 | Email: info@lacorhospital.org

Application Procedure

• Prepare your application including a cover letter, detailed CV, academic certificates and testimonials, and contact details for three referees.
• Submit your application by email to vacancy@futureoptions.org.
• Clearly indicate "Executive Director" in the email subject line (e.g., Application: Executive Director - St. Mary's Hospital Lacor).
• Download and review the Full Job Description and Leadership Profile via the hospital website: https://www.lacorhospital.org/st-marys-hospital-lacor-seeks-a-visionary-executive-director/
• Ensure your submission demonstrates how you meet the master's-level qualification, 10+ years progressive leadership (with 5 years at executive/director level), and mission-aligned values required for the role.
• Submit on or before Sunday, 20 September 2026 at 11:59 PM (EAT) – late submissions will not be considered.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews through Future Options Consulting Ltd.

Job Summary

• Job Category: Administrative, Management, Healthcare
• Job Type: Full-time (Five-year fixed-term, renewable on mutual agreement)
• Deadline of this Job: 20 September 2026 at 11:59 PM (EAT)
• Duty Station: Lacor, Gulu City, Northern Uganda
• Date Posted: 2 September 2026
• No of Jobs: 1
• Application Link: https://www.lacorhospital.org/st-marys-hospital-lacor-seeks-a-visionary-executive-director/
• Location pin: St. Mary's Hospital Lacor, P.O. Box 180, Gulu, Uganda – Lacor, Gulu City, Northern Uganda (opposite Lacor Trading Centre, ~5km west of Gulu City centre)
• Application Email: vacancy@futureoptions.org