We welcome our Chief Operating Officer (COO) Aubrey Chalira Phiri who began his work on 8 February 2021. Before joining MLW, he worked as the COO for Partners in Health; and he has held other similar positions in several international non-governmental organisations locally and internationally.

We had a quick chat with the COO, and this is what he had to say:

Welcome! Please tell us about yourself.

My name is Aubrey Chalira Phiri. Before joining Malawi Liverpool Welcome, I was at Partners in Health in Neno as Chief Operating Officer. I have worked in various international NGOs, both local and international. I joined MLW on 8 February 2021.

Tell us about the role you will play at MLW.

My role is to support the Director to implement the MLW Strategy that was developed in 2020. I will also work with Heads of Departments, Senior Management Team and Research Groups/Themes to ensure that they are all on the same page as far as strategic direction of MLW is concerned.

I will also look for innovative and new ways of doing things by looking at new innovations that are out there, and how MLW can benefit from them.

As the COO, what will be your immediate priorities for MLW?

I am interested in offering excellent support and services to the growing research being conducted at MLW. The excellence of support and services is, of course, something that must be defined by both operational staff and researchers through consultations. The main goal is therefore, to have the right staff, the right stuff (resources), the right spaces and the right systems.

Again, welcome to MLW. We are interested to know why you chose to work with us.

I feel that working here is a natural transition in the work that I have done for both developmental and for-profit organisations. I believe working at MLW makes my career a full circle of experiences and skills that I can share.

Anything else you would like to add?

I am excited to join MLW. I look forward to working with everybody to achieve our mission and vision. I also look forward to making the operations an excellent provider to research work. And finally, I look forward to finishing the CREATOR Building.