Geoff Scahill

Geoff Scahill has over 20 years of experience working in and managing international development programs. He has worked extensively within Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Pacific – predominantly in Indonesia, Fiji, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands. He brings a long history as a health sector professional and has held roles as a health management advisor and health systems adviser in Pacific Island Countries. Geoff draws on his background in finance and economics to work with counterparts to increase efficiencies within the programs Abt Global delivers. He has extensive experience integrating culturally diverse teams and ensuring that the right mix of strategic, technical, and operational resources are available to programs.

Geoff is responsible for the delivery and performance of the Abt Global East and South Asia and the Pacific portfolio of programs and for mobilising company resources to ensure high quality delivery in line with our client’s vision, policies, and guidelines. He serves as the Abt contractor representative for key programs in PNG, Timor Leste, and Sri Lanka, ensuring responsive client management. As a member of the Leadership Team, Geoff also supports the company’s growth strategy. 

Among other responsibilities, he serves as the contractor representative for the PNG Women Lead Program. Geoff oversaw the contract mobilisation and continues to maintain client liaison on program performance and strategic direction. In 2023, the program reached over 41,000 people, including over 23,000 who participated in gender-based violence prevention activities in the first year.

As contractor representative for the Partnership for Human Development in Timor Leste, he provides strategic support and operational oversight support to the project’s pivot from direct service delivery to health system strengthening in key areas of health and education.   

As contractor representative for the Partnership for Improving Education in PNG, Geoff provides overall contract management and support to the team leader for the program. In 2023, the program  reached 109,162 early grade students and delivered nearly 30,000 learning packs to conflict-affected school communities.

Before taking on the Vice President, Program Delivery role, Geoff resided in PNG, where he was country manager overseeing over 400 staff and an annual operating budget of AUD100M across multiple sectors. He managed the mobilization and delivery of the $533 million Australian Government-funded PNG Australian Governance Partnership, including establishment of a Corporate Services shared services platform that minimised overhead costs and maximized funding available for direct development assistance. He also directed delivery of remote primary health care services in PNG’s Western Province, which included seeing over 206,000 outpatients, immunizing 55,000 children, assessing the nutritional status of over 170,000 children, and installing 60 water tanks.

Expertise

• Program and project management
• Contract mobilisation and management
• Budget management 
• Delivering in rural and remote settings 
• Health systems strengthening

Key Projects

• Fiji Health Sector Improvement Program 
• North Fly Health Services Development Program 
• Partnership for Human Development Timor Leste 
• Papa New Guinea- Australia Governance Partnership 
• Australian-Papua New Guinea Sub National Program 
• Sri Lanka Support Unit

Publications

• Collaboration in a Partnership for Primary Health Care: A Case study from Papua New Guinea. G Dove, A Kelly-Hanku, J Usurup, A O’Keefe, G Scahill and A Craig.
• Collaborative governance in a primary health care partnership in Papua New Guinea. H Dove, A Craig, J Usurup, A O’Keefe, G Scahill, B Harris-Roxas, A Kelly-Hanku