Project Director

Job Title: Project Director Reports to: Head of Programs Department: Uganda, Programming Location: Kampala Deadline: 31 August 2026 no later than 5pm Note: CRS is recruiting in anticipation of an award – recruitment for all candidates is contingent upon successful award of the project. About CRS Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion, or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding. CRS has been working in Uganda since 1965 and has a vibrant portfolio of projects, serving over a million vulnerable Ugandans and refugees each year. CRS programs in Uganda currently support three strategic priority areas, including Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, Market Systems Development, and Emergency Response and Preparedness. CRS Uganda implements its programs through partnerships with local organizations, including international and local NGOs, Ugandan government departments and ministries, the Catholic Church, and community-based organizations for maximum impact and sustainability. Background CRS is seeking Project Director candidates for an anticipated multi-county child development, care, and protection project. The overall objective of the project is to strengthen national systems that protect vulnerable children, support families, and improve early childhood development through locally led and sustainable approaches. The project will improve outcomes for vulnerable children by strengthening child protection systems, supporting families and caregivers, advancing integrated early childhood health and development, and reducing reliance on residential care. Job Summary As the Project Director you will provide leadership and overall management of the child development, care, and protection project in Uganda, ensuring effective systems and processes are in place to support the project objectives and advance CRS’ work in serving the poor and vulnerable. Your leadership, management and technical knowledge will ensure the delivery of high-quality programming and advance the position of CRS as a leading agency in the field of child development, care, and protection. The role is accountable for day-to-day project leadership, donor compliance, subaward management, and effective coordination with consortium partners and government stakeholders. As a senior leader you will proactively manage security and mitigate security risks. Roles and Key Responsibilities Relationship Management: Serve as lead relationship manager and representative with all in-country stakeholders including the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD), the foreign governments, civil society partners, other FBOs, and community networks. Oversee the identification, assessment and strengthening of partnerships relevant to the project, applying CRS’ partnership principles, concepts, tools and approaches. Project Management: Lead all aspects of the development, implementation and consolidation of the project in Uganda. Provide management, guidance, and technical oversight of the Liberia FCI project throughout the project cycle to ensure project design, start-up, implementation and close-out are in line with CRS quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices. Manage integration of CP project processes and activities with the global project team. Establish a safe environment for sharing ideas, solutions, and difficulties and the capacity to detect, analyze and respond quickly to deficiencies. Supervision: Oversee the development of staffing plans and the recruitment process of senior staff. Effectively manage senior programming and operations talent, ensuring coordination between program and operations leads. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching and mentoring. Strategically tailor individual development plans and complete performance assessments for direct reports. Manage and mitigate risk through monitoring national and regional issues that may impact staff and programming. Ensure all staff understand and adhere to CRS staff safety and security policies and plans. Program Quality: Oversee the project technical assistance and capacity strengthening activities for staff and partner organizations to enhance program quality and impact. Ensure the project is co-created and implemented to meet donor expectations in terms of timely and quality results and budget, including strategies for phase out and sustainability. Ensure the CRS program quality standards are adhered to per MEAL policy and procedures. Program Learning: Lead the development of program learning and share how the project contributes to the thought leadership of the industry. Identify opportunities for learning, research, and publications. Facilitate the dissemination of promising practices and lessons learned to contribute to the agency's knowledge management agenda. Ensure integration of innovations and best practices. Stewardship: Promote, uphold and model a commitment to the efficient use of agency and donor resources. Ensure compliance with donor guidelines, including financial tracking and oversight of partner budgets, finance, milestones, administration and reporting. Approve program expenditures, budget adjustments, and cost modification requests to donors. Communications: Oversee the development of communication strategies and materials, complying with donor and CRS’ branding and marketing requirements and procedures. Basic Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in a health-related field, international development, or international relations. Minimum 8 years’ relevant management and health technical experience. Minimum 5 years’ experience managing donor funds, including multi-country grants. Strong knowledge and experience in budget management. Minimum 2 years’ experience managing staff and abilities that are conducive to a learning environment. Experience coaching senior program staff. Preferred Qualifications Master’s or Doctorate Degree in social work, education, health or a related field. Recognized leader in sector as demonstrated by peer reviewed publications, conference presentations etc. Experience engaging partners and strengthening partnerships, including government at national and sub-national levels . Knowledge of CRS partnership strategy. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Demonstrated understanding of service delivery systems in the health sector, primary health care, national health strategies, and the role of governmental, civil society, and faith-based partners. Strong relations management abilities. Ability to lead and manage partner relationships at high levels, and to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship. Demonstrated experience of successful program management, leading and coaching diverse, multi-disciplinary teams. Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions. Strong communications and presentation skills; able to develop tailored and persuasive messaging for varied audiences. Experience in MS Office package (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio), Web Conferencing Applications, and information and budget management systems. Required Languages: Strong written and spoken English required Travel: Must be willing and able to travel up to 30% to project locations and field offices outside Kampala Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff): Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes for all staff. When demonstrated, these practices create an engaging workplace, help staff achieve their best, and assist CRS in achieving agency goals. These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfil his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results. Personal accountability: consistently taking responsibility for one’s own actions. Acts with Integrity: Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission. Is considered honest. Builds and Maintains Trust: Shows consistency between words and actions. Collaborates with Others: Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams. Open to Learning: Seek out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things. Agency Leadership Competencies: Lead Change: Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation. Develops and Recognizes Others: Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance. Strategic Mindset: Understands the role of translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities. Key Working Relationships Supervisory: Senior Project Officer, Senior MEAL Officer, Grants & Compliance Officer. Internal: Head of Programming, Program Managers, MEAL Manager, Partnership Capacity Strengthening Program Manager, Operations colleagues. External: Donors, government representatives, local partners, peer agencies, and others. Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skills, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.