Zonal Project Manager at Malaria Consortium

Malaria Consortium is one of the world’s leading non-profit organisations specialising in the comprehensive prevention, control and treatment of malaria and other communicable diseases among vulnerable and under privileged populations. We increasingly find our work on malaria can be effectively integrated with other similar public health interventions for greater impact and therefore expanded our remit to include child health and neglected tropical disease interventions.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Zonal Project Manager

Ref Id: NIG ZPM SMC
Location: Bauchi
Department: Management
Length of contract: 1 year
Role type: National
Travel involved: In-country travel
Safeguarding level: 2
Reporting to: Senior Project Manager
Direct reports: M&E, Admin / Supply Chain , Accounts Officers and LGA cluster supervisors
Grade: 9

Organisational / Project Background
We work in Africa and Asia with communities, governments, academic institutions, and local and international organisations, to ensure effective delivery of services, which are supported by strong evidence.

Our areas of expertise include:

Disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment
Disease control and elimination
Systems strengthening
Research, monitoring and evaluation leading to best practice
Behaviour change communication
National and international advocacy and policy development

The Nigeria Country Office in Abuja, started operations in 2008, through the DFID/UKaid funded Support to National Malaria Programme, SuNMaP (2008 – 2016). The office had presence in 23 states of the country and has managed at various times, about 15 programmes and projects. It follows the mandate of the parent organization in Nigeria and has been working specifically in the following areas:

Malaria control/elimination;
Integrated community case management (iCCM) for malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea;
Nutrition; and
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

Currently, the Nigeria country office manages MC programmes/projects in Sierra Leone, Chad and Burkina Faso. Malaria Consortium recently received grant from a pool of Philanthropic organizations and individuals through the recommendations of Givewell to implement SMC in three West African countries including Nigeria. In addition, Malaria Consortium has funds from GF (as a sub-recipient in GFATM, with SMC component) and SuNMaP2 for SMC. In Nigeria, Malaria Consortium will be using these funds to implement SMC implementation in 7 States (Bauchi, Kebbi, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara).

Under this new funding and any anticipated additional funding, all malaria consortium SMC activities in county will be consolidated into a single project for better coordination and technical integrity. Approved by WHO in 2012, SMC is the monthly administration of a combination sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine (SP+AQ) to children aged 3-59 months during the malaria transmission season to prevent or reduce the effects malaria. Evidence suggests that SMC given monthly prevents approximately 75% of all malaria episodes.

Job Purpose

To work with the country office team and SMC Senior Project Manager to effectively manage project activities and resources, provide leadership and stewardship to the project team and maintain collaborative links with the project’s key stakeholders at national and sub-national level.

Key Working Relationships:

The Sate Project manager would be working with the state team and stakeholders in their zones, especially the State Ministries of Health and LGA Departments of Health/PHC, manage the rollout and implementation of the SMC activities in project states. S/he would report to the Senior Project Manager.

Scope of Work:

The Zonal Project Manager (ZPM) would support the programme activities at zonal and state levels, being in charge of a cluster of states to ensure timely project delivery of the programme to achieve given targets and objectives.

Key Accountabilities (percent of time spent on each area)
Project Management (60%):

Work with the programme team and other relevant personnel in the country office to lead activities for smooth project start up and planning in line with the SMC Malaria Project Implementation Plan.
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 SMC project team in their states.
Work directly with the SPM and be responsible for coordinating overall project implementation in the states and see that activities are carried out on time and within budget.
Liaise regularly with the SPM to provide timely and comprehensive updates and reports as required.
Liaise with other partners relevant for successful SMC malaria implementation in the state.
Line manages an effective and technically sound SMC project team in the state.
Liaise with state stakeholders to get their buy-in and ensure effective implementation of SMC activities in the state
Ensure the mass drug distribution campaign is carried out according to guidelines, and in compliance to donor funding requirements
Organize and participate in the training of State, LGA and community volunteers teams involved in the distribution activities
Participate in the state and LGA level micro planning meetings for the distribution activities Be responsible for timely financial accountability for any disbursed funds for project activities in the state
Support SMOH to develop SMC scale –up plan especially in the period after the project period Duty of care on all campaign personnel.
Work with the project team to develop and implement annual work plans.
Work closely with the SPM to prepare the programme monitoring and evaluation plan in conjunction with the Project M&E Manager. Work with the project team to implement it.
Work with the country finance team and project finance associate to prepare and track progress of project and activity budgets.
Be responsible for zonal project budget management and reporting
Be responsible for preparing project progress report, which is submitted to the SPM and regional programme director quarterly, including narrative reports on a timely basis.
Work with finance team and SPM to prepare quarterly financial reports.
Work with the relevant country personnel and the SPM to prepare an exit strategy and to implement it, to see to the smooth end of the programme.
Coordinate with other donors and implementers to ensure complementarity of implementation of the SMC malaria project in project states by leveraging resources and harmonizing efforts where possible.
Work with the Country Communication Manager, the Country Technical Coordinator, SPM, for social mobilization to see that a programme communications strategy is developed and implemented.
Coordinate the documentation of SMC supported activities in form of activity-specific reports and ensure proper archiving of such for easy access and reference.
Contribute to SMC coordination meetings in form of progress updates and power point presentations.
Be responsible for quarterly lessons identification and learning documentation and dissemination.
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
Manage risks to Malaria Consortium including financial, reputation and security in a challenging environment
Work with the project M&E Officer and Country M&E Specialist to ensure that high quality project data is collected, analysed and disseminated to relevant stakeholders at all levels and reported to PI.

Technical contributions (10%):

Work with the project teams, SPM 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 regional or global 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 Country Director, Country Technical Coordinator and SPM to participate in national level meetings and workshops to represent Malaria Consortium at programmatic and coordination events,
Work with the Country Director, Country Technical Coordinator and SPM to keep key national stakeholders abreast with the project.
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 – Essential
Extensive experience of working at national or state level in developing countries – Essential
Excellent project planning, management and monitoring & evaluation skills – Essential
Experience managing project budgets – Essential
Proven leadership skills and team leading – Essential
Experience in advocacy and policy influencing – Essential
Excellent written and spoken English – Essential
Experience on SMC-supported project – Desirable
Advance knowledge of Microsoft office – Desirable

Work-based skills and competencies:

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

Core Competencies

Delivering results
LEVEL A – Focuses on delivering contribution to Malaria Consortium and achieving own objectives:

Puts in effort required to ensure the delivery of own work and objectives to meet (and exceed) expectations
Strong self-management of time and effort
Checks own work to ensure quality

Analysis and use of information
LEVEL B – Uses evidence to support work:

Identifies and uses various sources of evidence and feedback to support outputs
Uses evidence to evaluate policies, projects and programmes
Identifies links between events and information identifying trends, issues and risks
Ensures systems are in place to address organisation needs

Interpersonal and communications
LEVEL B – Fosters two-way communication:

Recalls others’ main points and takes them into account in own communication
Checks own understanding of others’ communication by asking questions
Maintains constructive, open and consistent communication with others
Resolves minor misunderstandings and conflicts effectively

Collaboration and partnering
LEVEL A – Is a good and effective team player:

Is as a good and effective team player
Knows who their customers are and their requirements
Respects and listens to different views/opinions
Actively collaborates across teams to achieve objectives and develop own thinking
Proactive in providing and seeking support from team members

Leading and motivating people
LEVEL A – Open to learning and responds positively to feedback:

Willingness to manage own development and performance
Builds capacity of colleagues by sharing knowledge (induction) and acting as induction ‘buddy’ when asked
Open to learning new things
Responds positively to feedback from others
Identifies mistakes and takes positive steps to improve

Flexibility / adaptability
LEVEL A – Recognises own stress levels and adapts:

Recognises limitations and take steps to manage any resulting pressure or stress
Remains focused on objectives and goal in a rapidly changing environment
Takes responsibility for own work and for the impact of own actions

Living the values
LEVEL A – Demonstrates Malaria Consortium values:

Demonstrates integrity, honesty and fairness in dealing with colleagues and stakeholders
Maintains ethical and professional behaviour in line with Malaria Consortium’s values
Treats all people with respect

Strategic planning and thinking and sector awareness
LEVEL A – Manages own workload effectively: