Zonal Project Manager at Malaria Consortium

Scope of work

The Zonal Project Manager will provide supportive leadership to the PF-SMC project team and support the implementation of project activities in the States.  S/he will be responsible for the provision of project management of the project at the national level. The position will be based in the country office, with regular travel within implementing states.

Key working relationships

S/he would be reporting to the Project Director and will relate with the major stakeholders and partners. S/he would line manage the key project staff in the country and state offices.

The role will be part of the senior management team of the programme contributing to the overall project strategy and support the PD as may be required for national tasks. The role is also expected to work with other project functional leads and MC country office functional leads to ensure MC policies are followed in the all the three states in the cluster. S/he will take the lead and accountability especially for the programme management functions capacity, tools and processes are used in the management of the programme activities.

Key accountabilities

Project management (60%)

• Work with the project team and other relevant personnel in the country office to lead activities for smooth project start up and planning
• Work with the relevant personnel to prepare all necessary project start up and planning tools on time
• To build and performance manage an effective and technically unsurpassed project team
• Line manages with the country project team and the state project managers
• Liaise regularly with the Country Director and Country Technical Coordinator to provide timely and comprehensive updates and reports as required
• Work with the project team to develop and implement annual work plans
• Work closely with the Project Director to prepare the project monitoring and evaluation framework. Work with the project team to implement it
• Work with the country finance team to track progress of project and activity budgets
• Work with relevant country office staff to ensure they are aware of the project needs and support is provided adequately to the project team
• Be responsible for project budget management including the preparation of annual budget and forecasts, implementation as planned, tracking and reforecasting
• Be responsible for preparing project progress and quarterly narrative reports on time
• Work with the country finance and Country Technical Coordinator to prepare quarterly financial reports
• Work with the relevant country personnel and the Country Technical Coordinator to prepare an exit strategy and to implement it, to see the smooth end of the programme
• Be responsible for quarterly lessons identification and learning documentation and dissemination
• Lead the development of any additional country project documentation that may be requested by the Country Director or Regional Programme Coordinator
• Be responsible for building functional partner relationships among the project’s stakeholders
• Oversee project partners inputs and subcontractors’ activities to deliver harmonized, aligned and effective outputs
• To manage the risks of the project including financial, reputation and security in a challenging environment especially to the project teams in the north eastern geopolitical zone of the country
• Lead on the performance management of the project staff

Technical contributions (10%)

• Work with the project teams and the Country Technical Coordinator to determine technical support needs to implement the project effectively and with high quality. Liaise with the Country Technical Coordinator to obtain the technical support
• Contribute to the development and production of dissemination documents to allow wider sharing of Malaria Consortium’s experiences, lessons and successes

Technical performance management and quality assurance (20%)

• Take the lead in monitoring and evaluating project performance
• Keep abreast with evidence and best practices that are related to the project

Representation (10%)

• ​Work with the PD to participate in national level meetings and workshops to represent the PF/SMC programme at programmatic and coordination events.
• Work with the PD to keep key national stakeholders abreast of the programme activities.
• To exert influence and to advocate for Malaria Consortium’s key technical positions and promote best practice in SMC interventions

Person specification

Qualifications and experience:

• Postgraduate or Master’s degree in Public Health, Health Policy, Epidemiology or another relevant specialty is a minimum requirement; with minimum 10 years post graduate experience.
• Extensive experience of working at national or state level in developing countries.
• Excellent project planning, management and M&E skills.
• Experience managing project budgets
• Proven leadership skills and team leading
• Experience in advocacy and policy influencing
• Excellent written and spoken English
•  At least 2 years’ experience on SMC-supported project.

Work-based skills and competencies:           

Essential:      

•          Proof of strong interpersonal relationship and negotiating skills
•          Experience in using participatory adult learning techniques and previous experience in mass drug distribution campaign activities
•         Excellent report writing and presentation skills are also needed.
•         Understanding of public health issues in Nigeria