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:
- Plans and manages own workload effectively
- Is familiar with Malaria Consortium’s mission and current strategic plan
- Understands own contribution to Malaria Consortium’s objectives.