In-Country Consortium Lead - Major DFID Project at Marie Stopes

The Function

• The MSI DFID Reproductive Health Programmes Team has responsibility for oversight of all MSI’s contracts/grants funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), as well as management of MSI’s overall relationship with DFID.
• The Team provides leadership for ensuring that organisational strategy, policy, systems and capacities are responsive to DFID priorities and investments and that the organisational strategy and policies influences the DFID priorities and investments.
• The Team ensures that programme implementation and project management exceed DFID expectations.
• The DFID Reproductive Health Programmes Team is recruiting four senior In-Country Leads for a multicountry, multi-million pound global sexual and reproductive health programme funded by DFID.
• The programme will increase access to family planning and integrated sexual and reproductive health services for women, men and young people across Africa and Asia through a combination of:
  • Rights-based provision of private sector sexual and reproductive health information and services and strengthening of public sector health information and services;
  • Addressing barriers to family planning uptake at individual, interpersonal, community and institutional levels; and
  • Improving policies, government financing and commodity security to create an enabling environment for family planning and sexual and reproductive health and rights
• The project will be strongly committed to leaving no one behind and as a result will have a strong focus on reaching young people, people who are poor and people who are marginalised.
• The In-Country Leads will perform a key function within the programme management team, reporting to the DFID Project Director in London.

The Role

• The In-Country Leads will be responsible for national-level coordination of all consortium partners within their country
• S/he will work closely with the programme leadership of each agency to ensure that the activities of all partners are aligned and implemented efficiently and effectively, in order to meet agreed country-level targets and deliver good value for money
• S/he will provide strategic guidance to all members of the consortium, and will ensure synergy between the various work streams of the programme, avoiding duplication and ensuring that resources are deployed effectively to deliver on project commitments
• S/he will manage the preparation, review and periodic revision of detailed country-level implementation plans, monitor and respond to partner performance and be responsible for driving communication between the partners in country, and across the programme
• This will be a part-time role (2+ days per week) and will be contracted on a consultancy basis. The Lead will steward the flexible and adaptive programme approach at a national level, monitoring effectiveness, environmental opportunities and challenges, and risk levels
• The Lead will work with the global DFID Project Director to refine and adjust the programme approach to maximise opportunities, mitigate risks, and continue to deliver high impact
• The Lead will have oversight of the visibility of the programme and coordinate with other stakeholders as required at national level.
• This role is subject to the successful award of the contract and the project is due to commence in 2018. The role will be for a minimum of one year and may be extended for the full duration of the project (3 years).

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the national consortium ensuring that there is strong and close coordination across all partners, especially in thematic areas that are of strategic importance to the global programme. This will include leading a national level steering committee of partner leaders/Country Directors
• Ensure that there is regular and documented communication across all partners at national and regional levels, including field-based staff, programme staff and leadership in the respective partners as needed
• Provide guidance, support and oversight to the consortium partners to ensure the programme is implemented efficiently, effectively and providing good value for money, as needed
• Support efforts to engage the programme/partners in relevant national level forums and partnerships, if needed
• Provide periodic reports on country-level progress to the DFID Project Director. 

Qualifications and Training (Essential/Desirable)

• Master's Degree (M.A, M.Sc, MPH) in Public Health or relevant field of Social Science, or equivalent experience (essential)
• Technical understanding of sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes in developing countries, including the provision of health services (essential)
• Ability to work with a diverse team within and outside of the organisation to deliver results on time and within budget (essential)
• Ability to identify opportunity and risks and course-correct programmes to drive impact (essential)
• Ability to balance evidence-based approaches with innovation to adapt to changing contexts (essential)
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English (essential) 
• Competent in all the Office based software packages (essential)
• Able to look at the big strategic picture but also engage in the detail when necessary.

Experience (Essential/Desirable):

• Significant experience in delivering SRH programming with their specific country context at a senior level of management (essential)
• Significant experience leading partner management at the highest levels of seniority to reliably deliver results across a range of work streams in a relevant environment (preferably one of the above-listed countries) (essential) 
• Experience working in collaboration with government ministries, departments and agencies to deliver public health programmes (essential)
• Significant demonstrable experience designing and implementing monitoring and evaluation frameworks and understanding impact on budget (essential)
• Experience representing organisations to external stakeholders (desirable)
• Experience in delivering programmes focussed on people who are young and/or marginalised (desirable)
• Fluent in English (and French for DRC/Senegal programmes only) (essential)

Personal Attributes:

• Pro-choice
• Strong leadership and negotiation capabilities
• Team player; energetic, enthusiastic and positive
• Quality-focussed and results-oriented
• Calm under pressure
• Self-starter
• Able to manage conflict and promote collaboration
• Highly organised
• Confident and professional
• Responsive, resourceful and determined
• Sound judgement
• Action oriented and decisive
• Determined to succeed
• Good listener
• Emotional intelligence
• Empathetic
• Integrity
• Driven by quality.