State Project Manager At Malaria Consortium

Job purpose

To work with the country office team and Project Director to effectively manage project activities and resources, provide leadership and stewardship to the state project team and maintain collaborative links with the project's key stakeholders at national and state level.

Key working relationships

The State Project manager will work with the state team and stakeholders in the state, especially the State Ministry of Health, State Primary Health Care Development Agency, NAFDAC state representatives and LGA Departments of Health/PHC, to manage the rollout and implementation of the SARMAAN II Project. S/he will monitor project partners' activities at the state level and ensure approved terms of reference for partners' work in the project state are adhered to. The State Project Manager will work with the country office project technical and management staff (Project Technical Specialist, Data Analyst, M&E Manager, Senior M & E officer and Project Director) to translate plans and decisions to action at the state level, while ensuring coherence, alignment and proper coordination with appropriate stakeholders. S/he would report to the Project Director.

Scope of work

The State Project Manager will support the programme activities at the state level overseeing implementation to ensure timely delivery of workplans and achievement of set targets and objectives. S/he will liaise with the PD to provide technical and managerial oversight for the state project team and ensure activities are carried out according to approved budget and value for money principles.

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 activity planning in line with donor- approved project workplan.
• Work with the relevant personnel to prepare all necessary project start up and planning tools on time
• Provide performance management oversight for the SARMAAN II project team in the state.
• Work directly with the PD and be responsible for coordinating overall project implementation in the state and see that activities are carried out on time and within budget
• Liaise regularly with the PD to provide timely and comprehensive updates and reports as required
• Liaise with other Roll Back Malaria partners and child health programme implementers relevant for successful project implementation in the state
• Work with the project team to develop and implement annual work plans
• Work closely with the PD 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 accountant to prepare and track progress of project and activity budgets
• Be responsible for State project budget management and reporting
• Work with the project accountant and PD to prepare quarterly financial reports
• Work with the relevant country personnel and the PD to prepare an exit strategy and to implement it, to see to smooth project close-out.
• Coordinate with other donors and implementers to ensure complementarity of implementation of the SARMAAN II project in the state by leveraging resources and harmonizing efforts where possible
• Work with the Senior Country Technical Coordinator, PD, Project Technical Specialist and external relations team for MC to see that a communication strategy is developed and implemented for the project.
• Coordinate the documentation of project activities in form of activity-specific reports and ensure proper archiving of such for easy access and reference
• Contribute to preparations for periodic coordination meetings in form of progress updates and power point presentations
• Be responsible for quarterly lessons identification and learning documentation and dissemination in liaison with the M&E manager and Project Technical Specialists.
• Be responsible for building functional partner relationships among the project's stakeholders and local partners
• 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 Manager and Country Public Health Specialist to ensure that high quality project data is collected, analyzed and disseminated to relevant stakeholders at all levels and reported to the donor.

Technical performance management and quality assurance (30%)

• Work with the project teams, PD and the Senior Country Technical Coordinator to determine technical support needs to implement the project effectively and with high quality. Liaise with the Senior 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
• Oversee monitoring and evaluation of project performance against workplan
• Keep abreast with evidence and best practices that are related to the project

Representation (10%)

• Represent Malaria Consortium at state level meetings related to the project and keep key stakeholders abreast of project implementation.
• Participate in national level meetings and workshops as appropriate with the PD's support.
• Liaise regularly with the PD, keeping the relevant Country Team in loop of communication

Person specification

Qualifications and experience:

Essential

• Postgraduate or Master's degree in Public Health, Health Policy, Epidemiology or another relevant specialty is a minimum requirement
• Extensive experience of working at national or state level in developing countries on a donor-funded project
• Excellent project planning, management and monitoring & evaluation skills
• Experience managing project budgets
• Proven leadership skills and team leading
• Experience in advocacy and policy influencing
• Excellent written and spoken English

Desirable

• Experience in malaria programme implementation
• Experience in leading a project at state level
• Advance knowledge of Microsoft office

Work-based skills and competencies:

Essential

• Proof of strong interpersonal and negotiating skills
• Excellent report writing and presentation skills are also needed
• Understanding of public health issues in West and Central Africa