Country: Malawi
Closing date: 30 Nov 2015
This position is contingent on successful acquisition of the contract.
About CRS
Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
Background:
CRS/Malawi is a sub-recipient on a bid for the USAID Agricultural Diversification for Income and Nutrition contract, on which ACDI/VOCA will prime. ACDI has identified nutrition, WASH, savings-led microfinance (SILC) as well as some aspects of agricultural production and district level management as CRS components. The Request for Proposals in the range of $25-50m is expected out at any time, the Request for Information (RFI) having been issued in early August.
Primary Function:
Nutrition and WASH Lead will oversee the programming aspects of CRS-led components of the ADIN Project and ensure that activities are effective and implemented according to proposal objectives and donor requirements.
Specific Responsibilities:
Facilitate the consortium to achieve high levels of program quality through technical service provision
- Provide technical direction on Nutrition and WASH.
- Manage a team of technical staff in various sectors (nutrition, WASH, savings-led microfinance and agricultural production).
- Ensure all sectoral strategies are aligned with Government of Malawi priorities and intervention models.
- Address bottlenecks and scale up best practices to achieve high quality program implementation.
- Develop systems of reporting, targeting and monitoring in consultation with the Consortium.
- Develop and manage the review of mechanisms to ensure synergy between sectoral interventions.
Promote Innovation in Nutrition and WASH
- Identify innovation in the respective technical area from elsewhere and facilitate its adaptation and application within the context of the situation in Malawi with all consortium partners.
- Regularly review the project nutrition and WASH strategies to ensure relevance and enhance program impact by suggesting appropriate alternative strategies and changes to the Prime Contractor.
- Promote and facilitate innovation through capacity building and motivation of implementing staff.
- Along with the CoP, periodically review progress and direction of the project and identify appropriate actions to achieve planned outputs.
Facilitate Learning Across Consortium
- Support M&E Coordinator in developing a "learning approach / knowledge data base etc" for the technical area and coordinate the implementation across the consortium
- Enhance cross-learning within consortium through exchange visits, exchange of staff and other practical ways.
- Support M&E Coordinator to record lessons learned within the technical area and facilitate its effective use to improve program quality.
- With the M&E Coordinator, develop mechanisms, including Quality Improvement Verification Checklists, for regular feedback on the quality of on the ground activities and targeting of supervisory support. Coordinate and support the M&E Coordinator in developing and conducting surveys and studies.
- Provide inputs into developing communications and networking systems (Newsletter, website, events with Government & stakeholders).
Monitor Progress towards impact on behalf of the Prime Contractor
- Fulfill relevant reporting requirements in a timely manner in coordination with Finance and M&E and take the lead to write the report and submit to the Chief of Party
- Support and develop guidelines to accompany the data collection and analysis tools for reports in consultation with project M&E staff.
- Analyze and interpret data from surveys and reports
Finance
- Develop and monitor the budget for the Nutrition Outcome.
- Monitor and report on expenditures.
Liaison
- Support Chief of Party to liaise with other stakeholders from Government, International Agencies and NGOs
- Lead in establishing linkages with nutrition and WASH technical persons from the Ministries
- Support Consortium Members to develop strong working relationships with District Administrations, Sectoral Offices, and other large project implementers within the districts
- Support Chief of Party in linking with USAID.
- Support Chief of Party to represent project in programming areas
- Contribute as a member of the Project Management Team
Human Resource Management
- Responsible for all the performance reviews of programming staff in project nutrition and WASH unit
- Support in recruiting staff of project nutrition and WASH unit
Supervisory Responsibilities:Manage technical staff: Nutrition, WASH, Savings-led Microfinance and Agricultural production
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff): *
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.*
- Serves with Integrity
- Models Stewardship
- Cultivates Constructive Relationships
- Promotes Learning
Key Working Relationships:
Internal: Chief of Party, CRS Country Representative, CRS Head of Programs, CRS Head of Management Quality, Deputy Chief of Party Finance & Administration, PMU Programming staff.
External: Primarily Program Managers of Consortium Members and Technical service providing agencies. Others consist of Consortium members, USAID, GOM, other stakeholders
Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
- Most suitable managerial skills for this position are: situation leadership; strategic; analytical; participatory; and supportive and mentoring.
- Excellent partnership skills and the ability to interact effectively with donors, collaborating agencies, and local partners demonstrated through close work experience with international PVOs and for-profits.
- Experience in management of large projects required.
- Effective negotiation and representation skills in order to mentor program teams from the consortium to follow uniform procedures (while ensuring each organization's uniqueness) and facilitate learning from each other.
- Demonstrated capacity to understand the current best practices and challenges while coordinating to implement program strategies through a participatory approach.
- Computer literate, with strong knowledge of MS Office applications, spread sheets, database programs, and statistical software packages.
- Ability as a trainer and capacity to transfer knowledge through formal and informal training.
- Personal qualities include flexibility, persistence, and ability to work well with people and cross cultural skills
Qualifications:
- Masters or PhD degree in nutrition or health.
- Minimum of 7 years' experience with CRS or other humanitarian agencies.
- Minimum 5 years' experience as Head of Programming or equivalent position demonstrating management of a diverse team
- Minimum 3 years' experience in Africa in a senior position that demonstrate mentoring African national staff to achieve program results.
- Proven skills, knowledge and experience in program areas of health, nutrition,and WASH, as well as community empowerment and community systems strengthening; with minimum level of relevant experience in agriculture; agribusiness and enterprise development; and village savings and loan that demonstrate ability to strategically lead high quality technical persons and program managers.
- Knowledge of USAID and USG regulations and procedures - understanding of contracts preferred
- English, excellent written and oral communication skills in English
Major Responsibilities of Position: Technical leadership, Team Building, Strategic Leadership, Coordination, Monitoring/Evaluation, Mentoring/Training, Supervision, and Report Writing.
Travel: Willingness to travel approximately 40-50% of the time to remote areas of the country.
Disclaimer:This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skills, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with this position.
CRS' talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
Equal Opportunity Employer
How to apply: