Child Survival Programme (CSP) Manager Sierra Leone

Reference:

VR/CSP/SL

Country:

Sierra Leone

Job Title:

Child Survival Programme (CSP) Manager

Date requested: 11th May 2016

Contract Grade: B

Contract Length: 1 Year (possible extension) depending on funding

Date Needed By: 1st July 2016

New Post or Replacement: Replacement

Accompanied / Unaccompanied: Unaccompanied

Exact Job Location: Freetown

Reports To: National Health Coordinator

Line Management Responsibilities: Field Operations Manager; Operations Research Advisor, Public Health Advisors x 2. Responsible for day to day activities of the project’s Monitoring & Evaluation Advisor, though line management is managed by Concern’s M&E Manager.

Liaises with: Internal: Child Survival project team - Community Development Team Leader; 5 Community Development Officers; Community Development Support Officer; Behaviour Change Communication Officer; Innovations Manager; Director of Programmes; Human Resources Department; Country Director; Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator; Program Quality Coordinator; Concern Programmes Staff; Systems and Finance Departments.

External: Concern US; USAID; Johns Hopkins University; Ministry of Health and Sanitation; District Health Management Team; Freetown WASH Consortium; NGOs and NGO forums; other stakeholders as required by the project implementation

The Child Survival Programme (CSP)

The Child Survival Project is a 5 year USAID funded Project which aims to contribute to the reduction of maternal, infant, and child morbidity and mortality amongst women of reproductive age and children Under 5 in 10 urban slums of Freetown, Sierra Leone. The project addresses 4 strategic objectives:

1. Improve the quality of MNCH services delivered at health facilities;
2. Increase household preventative practices, awareness of danger signs and appropriate care-seeking behaviour for maternal, newborn, and childhood illness;
3. Strengthen community and district capacity to plan, manage, and monitor health activities;
4. Advocate for improved national level MNCH policy and coordination at the local government level.

JOB PURPOSE: The Program Manager will be responsible for providing overall coordination of and managerial support to the Child Survival Project; including strong conceptual and programmatic direction and technical support to the team as per the annual plan and USAID guidelines.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

General Responsibilities

· Promote Equality, especially gender, within the organisation and across all programmes, in line with Concern’s Equality Policy and practices of targeting marginalised and most vulnerable groups, by analysing, planning and following up on relevant interventions, on a regular and systematic basis.

· Promote accountability and ensure compliance with the requirements of Concern’s Program Participants Protection Policy, (P4) Anti-Fraud Policy and Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) standards including the Complaint and Response Mechanism (CRM) to ensure maximum protection of program participants and the efficient and transparent use of Concern’s resources.

· Promote and protect the reputation of Concern in external settings, ensuring that the organisation’s experience and expertise is well communicated and consistently presented, and that Concern is looked to as a professional organisation, guided by organisational policies and Concern’s Code of Conduct.

Specific Responsibilities

Supervision & Project Management:

· Under the supervision of the National Health Coordinator, responsible for overall project planning and implementation, human resources and financial management.

· Line manages and provides supportive supervision; coaching; mentoring and continuous capacity building of the Operations Research Advisor, Field Operations Manager, Public Health Advisors and extended teams.

· Oversight of and close working relationship with the project’s M&E Advisor, who is technically line managed by Concern’s M&E Coordinator.

· Ensure annual performance development reviews of the Operations Research Coordinator and Field Operations Manager are carried out.

· Prepare annual budget, monthly forecast, monitor the expenditures and make the project cost effective.

· Ensure that project keeps abreast of regional and national level changes / developments in the area of child health policies and responds effectively to new national and global health developments and the emerging health needs of the communities which the project serves

· Motivate and capacity-build the project team through the exchange of experiences and organisational learning within and beyond Concern.

· Responsible for identifying training needs; development and implementation of training plans for national project staff in partnership with the Field Operations Manager.

· Ensure annual performance development reviews of direct reports are carried out.

· Liaise at the local level with District Health Management Teams, Health Management Committees, Freetown City Council and other relevant stakeholders to enhance coordination and collaboration in project implementation and sustainability.

· In collaboration with Concern project staff; work with Ministry of Health and Sanitation structures to develop capacity building plans where appropriate.

· Coordination with other NGOs implementing health-related activities in the surrounding area

· Collaborate with other Concern Sierra Leone country programmes to ensure integration of the Child Survival Project.

· Ensure USAID and Concern guidelines, policies and procedures are enforced and complied with throughout the project.

Technical Leadership & Project Development:

· Organise and facilitate the development of the five-year annual work plan for project activities.

· Lead in the planning and implementation of activities in the Child Survival Project in close collaboration with project staff and partners to achieve planned results.

· Responsible for providing technical oversight for on-going activities and ensuring adequate reporting, monitoring and evaluation and documentation of lessons learned.

· Oversee the implementation of the Child Survival Project, ensuring the overall quality of the Project and facilitate initiatives as appropriate to improve the Project.

· Organise and facilitate quarterly (or more frequent) project reviews and planning.

· Actively participate in organisational development and working groups to develop specific thematic health and cross-cutting issues.

· Use participatory approaches as a far as possible throughout the programme cycle, in training, and in the use of tool kits and other materials.

· Ensure that activities and resources are implemented to promote local capacities and sustainable operations.

· Engage in national and district level policy discussions using evidence from the project.

· In collaboration with the Mainstreaming Coordinator, ensure that gender, protection, HIV, the environment, and other important crosscutting issues are taken into account in project design, implementation, and reporting and ensure that activities reflect the needs of specific groups and individuals e.g. children, and people with disabilities.

· Identify and promote opportunities for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) within the project.

Reporting and Monitoring and Evaluation:

· Initiate and/or participate in the production of high quality results focused project proposals, reports and other elements of documentation including compiling of technical and financial reports to USAID, Concern Dublin; Government Departments and others as required.

· Take the lead in assuring stringent project monitoring and relevant data collection at baseline, mid-term, end line and annually as required by the project detailed implementation plan.

· Support the project staff team utilise Concern PCMS[1] and PM&E tools, extract learning and adjust actions in project activities.

· Ensure good practice through research, the dissemination of information and by leading in the development a strong M&E component.

· Ensuring comprehensive documentation of the project for both internal and external purposes is kept up to date.

Operations Research:

· Actively contribute to the formation, design, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative operations research relating to the Child Survival Project.

· Support the implementation of such research by promoting collaboration between the project and external research partners, and ensuring timely and accurate completion of tasks allocated to the teams.

· Ensure operations research activities (specifically community health data review meetings and verbal autopsies of children under-five) are implemented according to schedule.

· Ensuring operations research activities are properly documented for internal and external purposes

· Facilitate review by the project team of operations research results, and actively incorporate new evidence into project planning and development to improve practice within Concern/ Child Survival Project, and externally with partners and collaborators, as relevant and appropriate.

· Provide technical support to the Operational Research Coordinator, and coordinate with the Johns Hopkins University and Ministry of Health and Sanitation ethical and scientific research committees.

· Leading and supporting as appropriate in the implementation of quarterly Operations Research Steering Committee Meetings.

External Representation:

· Assist the National Health Coordinator/Assistant Country Director Programmes in advocacy efforts to inform policy makers and assist in policy review based on project learning and field based evidence.

· Develop and maintain professional networks with donors, UN/NGOs and other key external actors active in the health domain, paying particular attention to strategic alliances.

· In collaboration with the Assistant Country Director Programmes, manage project-related communications with technical backstops in Concern US/Ireland and USAID.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

1. Education & Qualifications Required:

Essential: Master’s Degree/Doctorate in Public Health/Epidemiology/Social Sciences/Development Studies

1. Experience Required:

Essential:

• Minimum of 4-5 years of experience in planning, implementation and monitoring of community health and Maternal Newborn and Child Health Programmes
• A minimum of 2-3 years’ experience in the management and coaching of staff
• A minimum of 2-3 years’ experience in management of programs and budgets
• Proven experience of managing at least one project close-out, and preferably more. Experience developing sustainability strategies and exit strategies required.
• Demonstrable experience and thorough understanding of the theory of participatory approaches, Rights Based Approach and advocacy
• Proven success of working with community structures and district-level government
• Proven experience in developing; conducting and mapping the different the Programme Cycle Management System phases, products and activities.
• Proven experience in managing and rolling out of a Planning Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) system in line with Programme Cycle Management.
• A strong understanding and experience in donor reporting and requirements; in particular USAID
• Experience of working with partner organisations and government departments

Desirable:

• Experience with Operations Research

Special Skills, Aptitude or Personality Requirements

• Excellent people management, leadership and networking skills
• Empathy with organisational Vision, Mission, Goals and objectives; strong commitment in supporting the extreme poor
• Flexible, reliable, culturally sensitive
• Cross cultural awareness and sensitivity
• Positive thinking and attitude
• Strong writing skills in English with ability to write internal and external reports, externally-facing briefs, presentations, etc.
• Knowledge of computer applications i.e. Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel
• Ability to work both as part of a team & independently

All applications should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date…. CV’s should be no more than 4 pages in length.

All candidates who are short-listed for a first round interview will be notified via email after the application deadline OR Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer posts before the closing date.

Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.

Concern has a Staff Code of Conduct and a Programme Participant Protection Policy which have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organisation, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context staff have a responsibility to the organisation to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct candidates acknowledge that they have understood the contents of both the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and the Programme Participant Protection Policy and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these two documents.

Concern receives a substantial amount of funding from external donors each year. Increasingly donors are introducing requirements whereby future funding is conditional on Concern ensuring that the names of any new employee or volunteer do not appear on terrorism lists generated by the European Union (List of person, groups and entities to which Regulation (EC No. 2580/2001 applies), the US Government (Office of Foreign Assets Control list of specially designated Nationals and Blocked Persons) and the United Nations (Consolidated List). Any offer of employment (either paid or voluntary) with Concern Worldwide will not be made pending a clearance check being conducted on the applicant. For additional information please consult our web site or contact the Human Resource Division in our Head Office.

Concern Worldwide is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

[1] Programme Cycle Management System

HOW TO APPLY:

To apply please click the below link:
https://jobs.concern.net/VacancyDetail.aspx?VacancyUID=000000002609