Senior Project Manager, MAFITA at Adam Smith International

Tracking Code: 137-140
Location: Kano, Nigeria
Position Type: Full-Time/Regular
Department: Inclusive Economic Growth

Background

• MAFITA is a £32m, six year youth employment programme operating in Nigeria’s northern states, funded by DFID and implemented by Adam Smith International in partnership with City & Guilds and Making Cents. 
• Through a combination of innovative skills development and job creation interventions, MAFITA will support over 60,000 marginalised young people to find employment or become entrepreneurs by 2021.
• MAFITA is a flagship youth employment programme for DFID and Adam Smith International.

Job Description
Commencing with a design phase in April 2015, MAFITA is currently in its pilot intervention phase which runs until April 2018. Following the pilot phase, MAFITA will run three years of full-scale implementation between 2018 and 2021. MAFITA’s pilot interventions include:

• Component 1 (Community Skills Development Centres - COSDECs): MAFITA  will support the re-modelling of business apprenticeship training centres in the target states.
• The COSDECs will be designed to operate as a ‘One-Stop-Shop’ skills delivery facility offering foundational skills, vocational, entrepreneurial, life skills training, incubation facilities to the beneficiaries, as well as a community-based governance structure.
• Component 2 (Apprenticeships): MAFITA will also champion skill delivery mechanism in the informal sector that will be tailored to suit the specific circumstances of the marginalised youth. Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) facilities will be used to train master craftspeople (MCPs), who will then educate beneficiaries through apprenticeship schemes.
• Component 3 (TVET): MAFITA will support selected technical colleges to build their capacities in terms of human resources and equipment to meet the minimum requirement of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to be able to deliver relevant and quality skills delivery at level 3 of the national qualification framework for MAFITA beneficiaries.
• Component 4 (LED and MSE support): Improving local economic development to ensure demand for target beneficiaries in self- or wage-employment. Access to Finance: MAFITA will facilitate the design of effective access to finance strategies that will help micro-lenders deliver financial products that serve beneficiaries and micro and small enterprises (MSEs).
• Access to Business Development Services: MAFITA will support graduates of the training programmes that opt for self-employment to develop their ideas into viable start-ups.
• Training to Work: MAFITA will facilitate the provision of information on job opportunities and requirements, simplifying the access to the labour market for graduates seeking employment.
• The Senior Project Manager position is wide-ranging, covering oversight / delivery of core programme management functions and taking a substantial stake in shaping and delivering the programme together with the Team Leader and other senior programme team members.
• The selected candidate will manage a team of approximately eight (including a project manager and project assistant, finance and operations specialists, and four state coordinators) and have overall responsibility for ensuring effective and efficient delivery of MAFITA’s key programme management functions.

What We Offer You

• We’ve built a culture to reflect our principles, full of like minded professionals who are smart, passionate and great at what they do.
• We are proud to offer you a dynamic and friendly team environment, a highly competitive package and the opportunity to work on a highly successful portfolio of programmes.

Required Skills

• Desirable - Masters in a relevant subject
• Good undergraduate Degree in a relevant subject
• Good negotiation skills.
• Advanced project management skills.
• Good people management skills.
• Good budget, finance and forecasting skills.
• Ability to build effective, credible client relationships and networks.

Required Experience:

• Practical experience managing large-scale, complex development projects in developing countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (experience in Nigeria is desirable);
• Experience managing project teams, consultants and other stakeholders, in particular private sector firms in desirable;
• Experience undertaking relevant research and producing high quality written research outputs