Program Manager at INTERSOS

General context of the project

With over a decade of conflict, there have been devastating humanitarian consequences across North-East (Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY) states) and the North-West of Nigeria. According to the Humanitarian Needs Overview 2023, an estimated 8.3 million women, men, and children need some form of humanitarian and protection assistance. Over 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to persistent violence and remain internally displaced. Food insecurity and malnutrition are exacerbated by inflation, poverty, and restricted access due to insecurity, which impedes livelihood opportunities. Gender-based violence (GBV) has been a significant protection concern faced by IDP women and girls in the area. Numerous basic infrastructures, such as hospitals, clinics, and water supplies, are damaged, posing constraints on essential service provision. Epidemics like cholera arising from flooding and overcrowded settings put extra stress on the already vulnerable communities.

General purpose of the position

In collaboration with the programme team, define and plan objectives and priorities. Manage, in collaboration with support and technical departments operations and processes to achieve program goals.

S/he is responsible for the overall development, management, planning, implementation, and monitoring of a 6 months programs implemented under the area of responsibility.

The Program Manager brings together the different projects’ components and ensures quality and timely reports to the donor.

The Program Manager is budget holder and supervises/monitors closely the procurement planning, financial planning, liquidity planning and budget utilization/burn rate monitoring in compliance with INTERSOS Model and donor regulations.

Main responsibilities and tasks

Program development and quality:

• Deliver quality program activities reporting, including the findings in terms of impact/changes at the level of beneficiaries achieved through the projects, compliant and consistent reporting per INTERSOS and donor requirements, in close collaboration with MEAL and the HQ Grants Unit
• Develop a clear understanding of INTERSOS program and country strategy among projects teams – ensure also timely input/feedback by team on strategic issues.
• Contribute with the Field Coordinator to strategic growth and program/project development.
• Ensure that program delivery matches INTERSOS and donor technical minimum standards and seek technical advice and MEAL guidance and tools.
• Ensure clear overview of actors and services in area of intervention, permitting development and implementation of partnerships and referral pathways.
• Working closely with Protection and Medical technical coordinators in order to ensure quality of service delivered and respect of Protection and Medical procedures and standards
• Comply and abide by INTERSOS policies

Program management

• Ensures the planning, implementation and monitoring/evaluation and sets targets as included in the project description. Flag significant deviation from the program implementation plan and estimated expenditures; alert relevant staff.
• Supervise the implementation, monitoring, development and evaluation of the programs in collaboration with the project teams and ensure timely actions in case of delays or bottlenecks
• Work closely with Logistics to monitor procurement
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• Prepare regular updates of program activities work-plan and related financial plan, ensuring timely and quality implementation in compliance with INTERSOS and donor guidelines and in line with the projects and sector-specific strategies
• In collaboration with the MEAL team develop tools to assess, analyse and evaluate the project’s impact
• Perform regular field visits to the project locations to ensure the quality of the intervention in compliance with the internal and donors' standard
• Work closely with partnership officer to oversee partnership implementation and regularly update on progress with project manager
• Guarantee close coordination and interaction with the other Program/Project Managers and technical coordinators to ensure harmonization of modalities of implementation, tools, approaches, etc.
• In collaboration with the ProgrammeField Coordinator, analyse the area of responsibility humanitarian needs of the community and assessment
• In collaboration with the Technical Coordinators design and revise project proposals
• Invest in building relationships, both with the outside community and with the population that Intersos is targeting
• Provide constant update progress of the projects to the Field Coordinator and Head of Program/Program coordinator
• Represent INTERSOS in relevant working groups, and other fora (clusters, donors meetings) in the Intersos programmatic context as delegated by the Field Coordinator and Head of Program/Program coordinator. Ensure timely reporting of highlights to Head of Program, Technical Coordinators and Field Coordinator.
• In coordination with the Programme coordinatorField Coordinator and Head of Program ensure regular update to donors representatives

Reporting

• Ensure the program’s institutional memory, keeping written records (and file them) on its development, in order to broadcast INTERSOS achievements and improve awareness
• Ensure regular internal reporting and elaborating, in coordination with Grants Unit, contractual reports according with donor rules and regulation.
• Ensure INTERSOS Project Appraisal Tool is accurate through data collection and timely submission.
• Monitor the project data collection with relevant technical referent, analysis and reporting on a timely basis to ensure correct use of the internal DB and monitoring tools.

People management

• In coordination with the HR department and relevant Managers, plan and organize the organizational charts, distribute tasks and workload among the teams, guiding their comprehension of the issues linked to the program and the mission through regular working meetings and feedback, in order to ensure an efficient deployment of the resources and the achievement of the expected goals
• Inform the field team on the instructions given by the coordination promoting fluent, smooth written and oral communication and information flow and ensuring confidentiality.
• In coordination with the HR department and relevant managers and technical coordinators, identify training needs, building the capacity, coordinate, supervise and motivate the staffs, supports ad hoc training sessions and on-the-job training, provide individual follow up and coaching, carry out end-of-mission evaluation of the team members and lead internal communication initiatives in order to facilitate people’s integration and professional development and to maximize their capabilities and commitment to INTERSOS values and project’s goals
• In coordination with the HR department is responsible for ensuring that the program staffs are trained and respect INTERSOS policies, rules and regulations

Finance and logistics

• Plan and monitor the financial expenditures ensuring the correct reporting and accounting of expenditures as per defined budget. In coordination with the Finance department supervise project financial indicators in order ensure efficiency and early detect deviations and their causes
• In coordination with the Head of Base plan and ensure overall supervision of the procurements for the program needs, monitoring the progress with relevant project manager

Education

• Advanced university degree in Social Sciences, Political Sciences, International Relations, Humanitarian and International Cooperation or related field

Professional experience

• Minimum 3 years of professional experience in the management of humanitarian project/program, including financial management and logistics responsibilities
• Minimum 1-year experience in the implementation of multi-sector humanitarian programming and in security context analysis

Professional requirements

• Experience in complex emergency settings and insecure countries
• Administration, finance and budget management skills
• Essential computer literacy (word, excel and internet)
• Analytical thinking, analysis capacity and strategic program development skills
• Experience in establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with donors and government counterparts, and with donors compliance and reporting

Languages

• English

Personal requirements

• Strong representation and negotiation skills
• Ability to ensure quick quality delivery in stressful environment
• Ability to adhere to deadlines and respect line management
• Strong interpersonal skills: communication, diplomatic skills and problem-solver
• Leadership, people management and development
• Organization and problem solving
• Commitment to INTERSOS principles