Programme Manager at mothers2mothers

Key Performance Areas

• Manage country programmes, under the direction of the Senior Portfolio Lead (SPL) at all stages of the programme life cycle.
• Act in lieu of SPL as delegated, e.g. serve as primary liaison for day-to-day management support for select countries.
• Backstop country programmes to ensure they receive a full complement of operational and implementation support to ensure programme excellence and target achievement.
• Manage development, finalisation, updating, and continuous review of project and country work plans and budgets.
• Supervise interns and junior personnel. 
• Engage in external representation of m2m at relevant fora, including stakeholder and funder meetings 

Start-up

• Lead the operational side of project and/or country start-up, including office set-up and IT.
• Support recruitment of key personnel, including CV screening and participation in interviews.
• Develop, manage, and monitor project start-up plans.
• Contribute programmatic inputs to logic models and work plans.

Planning

• Manage, with country teams and Head Office functional units, the management, initiation, and finalization of award actions, e.g. project scope; monitoring, evaluation and learning plan; branding and marking plan; and budget.

Implementation

• Review, interpret, and monitor financial reports, including forecasts and burn rates.
• Represent and sensitively reflect the interests and needs of Country Leads at m2m head office.
• Serve as Project Coordinator on select awards.
• Provide training and support to countries on operations strengthening, implementation issues and best practices.
• Coordinate, facilitate, and initiate follow-up actions after regular cluster meetings and country-focused Resource Reviews and check-ins.
• Monitor award compliance in coordination with relevant head office departments.
• Ensure country governance filing and status remains up-to-date.
• Collaborate with Head Office departments to facilitate successful implementation of country programmes.
• Manage external consultants.
• Design, implement, and coordinate programme activities, as assigned.
• Track project-specific travel, ensuring alignment with project work plan and budget and compliance with donor requirements.
• Manage and respond to head office requests of countries, as needed.
• Provide oversight in the management of inventory.
• Capacitate new personnel on organisational and CMU structure and objectives.
• Train personnel on systems, organisational policies and award regulations.
• Liaise with Head Office Department of Programmes and Technical Support on quality improvement model and best practices.
• Conduct joint visits with DPTS personnel for m2m internal Quality Improvement system (BIO) implementation and monitoring.
• Manage operations-specific follow-up actions after joint BIO and other visits with DPTS.
• Represent CMU at Joint Country Support Calls (JCSCs) on a monthly basis and brief Senior Portfolio Lead on relevant information.

Close-out

• Assist in managing project, office, and/or country close-out.
• Develop, manage, and monitor project close-out plans.

Reporting and Deliverable Management 

• Develop reports, presentations, and other communications materials for projects, country programmes, and the CMU.
• Write and/or contribute to the development of concept notes and proposals.
• Manage country inputs, write donor reports for cross-cutting projects, copy edit, and support the development of other project reports.
• Facilitate communication and respond to information requests from internal and external stakeholders, including donors.
• Manage, initiate, and draft award actions, e.g. prior approvals, budget redirections, major purchases, in conjunction with country teams.
• Foster communication and coordination among head office departments supporting country programmes and facilitate shared learning.
• Document project successes, challenges, and lessons learned for internal and external dissemination.
• With the Senior Portfolio Lead, develop spaces/platforms to facilitate information sharing among countries.

Cross-Cutting Country Management Unit 

• Contribute to the development of operational systems, processes, and procedures to support country programmes.
• Support and manage Operations Department-led initiatives, including the annual meeting, country director meetings, operational planning, special projects, and internal and external meeting coordination. 
• Develop weekly Senior Management Group (SMG) updates and Board meeting presentations; present at SMG and Board Meetings in the absence of, or at the discretion of, the Senior Portfolio Lead.
• In collaboration with the Department of Communications, lead the coordination and management of site visits for donors, funders and other stakeholders.
• Represent m2m with external stakeholders, where necessary.
• Represent CMU and country teams with SMG and Board Members, as relevant.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Chief Operations Officer and Senior Portfolio Lead.

Job Requirements

Qualifications and experience

• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree in public health, social sciences, or related field.
• Master’s degree in public health or policy advantageous.
• 5-7 years’ experience working on international development and health projects and with non-governmental organisations.
• Demonstrated experience developing donor and project reports, work plans, budgets, and proposals.
• Experience managing cross-organisational processes.
• Direct experience with managing bi- and multi-lateral funding mechanisms, for example USAID, CDC, DFID, UNICEF, foundation, and other government and private donor funding instruments and regulations.
• Demonstrated experience throughout the project management lifecycle including business development, implementation, course correction, reporting, and financial and human resources management.
• Experience working in sub-Saharan Africa and with multi-cultural teams.

Competencies required

• Mastery of project lifecycles and programme development and implementation.
• Proficiency in people and process management in a dynamic environment.
• Portuguese working fluency advantageous.
• Ability to work independently, think analytically, and to solve problems.
• Ability to manage and prioritise multiple responsibilities under pressure.
• Ability to manage cross-cutting projects with diverse project teams.
• Excel and budgeting literacy. 
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Experience with new project start-up at country level.
• Experience working with and understanding of HIV/AIDS, health programmes, and community settings.
• Excellent writing skills including analytical reports and proposals.
• Computer literacy (including MS Office Suite).