Project Director at Africa Youth Growth Foundation

Project Title:

With financing from the World Bank, the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project aims to increase the utilization of quality, cost-effective nutrition services for pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls, and children under five years of age in select areas of Nigeria’s territory.

Job Purpose:

The Project Director will be the primary point of contact with regard to day‐to‐day activity implementation and management matters relating to the project. S/He will develop, lead, monitor, and evaluate the assigned nutrition project(s). This involve effectively managing and reporting on the projects in line with the objectives, time frame, and budget with a focus on nutrition system strengthening, training, and coordination. Providing technical support, leadership, and strategic direction, other important aspects of the role include managing and training nutrition staff to meet quality standards in nutrition delivery, encouraging beneficiary participation, liaising with other stakeholders and managing and training staff, and anticipating, planning, and contributing to the development of new nutrition project proposals and reports.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide strong leadership of the assigned project, working to ensure short, mid, and long-term positive impacts and outcomes for the beneficiaries, local nutrition authorities (where applicable), and local nutrition staff.
• Provide coaching and technical supervision to staff to develop ownership & full responsibility for the project.
• Continuously monitor and supervise nutrition activities, evaluating progress through outputs and impacts using both quantitative and qualitative data, and involving the project team in analysis and taking appropriate action.
• Ensure accurate and timely reporting of activities according to AYGF, donor, and other time frames and formats.
• Assess the training needs of project staff and ensure that appropriate training is conducted.
• Develop and maintain appropriate, regular, transparent and supportive communication structures with the assigned project team, AYGF in-country and other relevant stakeholders (e.g. beneficiaries, community leaders, local and national government officials, agencies, and other NGOs), with the objective of ensuring good cooperation and partnerships.
• Participate in project coordination meetings, AYGF internal training, and other working groups or meetings as required, representing AYGF and feeding back to the project staff and field managers on relevant issues.
• Ensure that all the programming supplies are procured in time for the smooth running of the project activities.
• Ensure the project is implemented in line with donor proposals and requirements and in accordance with AYGF, donor, country, and international standards i.e. Sphere and HAP standards.

Education and Experience/qualifications:

The ideal candidate should have;

• Master’s Degree in a relevant field (e.g., Nutrition, Public Health or Equivalent, Sociology, MBA);
• At least 10 years of experience managing development projects, preferably in African countries with a strong focus on field implementation;
• Experience managing projects with a focus on behavior change would be an asset; and
• Strong communication skills (oral and written) in English.

Skills / Competencies:

• Ability and willingness to manage project implementation.
• Knowledge and experience of nutrition / primary health care principles and management.
• Team player with good interpersonal skills. Willingness to support others and to share the workload.
• Ability to work in partnership with government and other organizations’ staff.
• Strong communications skills (both written and verbal) in English.
• Independence, adaptability, and flexibility.
• Commitment to team working and understanding of how to contribute.
• Commitment to AYGF’s mission, values, and approach (includes child protection, equal opportunities, and health and safety).
• Excellent analytical and Organisational skills;
• Excellent level of computer literacy.