Senior Program Manager, Malawi 148 views0 applications

Reports to: Malawi Director

Location: Lilongwe, Malawi

Start Date: July, 2021

Who we are

D-tree International is a global digital health organization dedicated to ensuring that everyone has access to quality primary healthcare in underserved areas. We do this by working with governments to design, build and deploy digital tools for frontline health workers that improve their ability to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care. D-tree collaborates with governments to demonstrate the effectiveness of digital systems, build the capacity of health workers, supervisors and leaders to use digital systems for health systems transformation, and accompany governments to scale these digital systems nationally.

D-tree has been a trusted digital health partner to the Malawi Ministry of Health (MoHP) since 2011, working with the MoHP and partners such as JSI, CRS, Jhpiego and Save the Children to improve the quality of integrated health service delivery through digital health systems for MNCH, family planning, and integrated management of childhood illness. We now have an exciting opportunity to lead the design, development and implementation of a digital health system to support service delivery, coordination of care and data generation for a large-scale USAID HIV prevention and treatment program. This system will be co-developed with partners and the Ministry of Health and Population, based on government-approved clinical and digital health guidelines, and aligned with the Principles for Digital Development and USAID regulations.

Who you are

We seek a full time Senior Program Manager, based in Lilongwe, Malawi, to lead the day-to-day planning and delivery of this program, ensuring high quality technical implementation and compliance with USAID program requirements. This is a dynamic and challenging role requiring an individual with experience building capacity and managing a multi-disciplinary team and leading a complex technical program. You are someone who is just as comfortable creating a design requirements document for digital health systems as you are managing budgets and work plans. You have the ability to see the big picture, as well as have excellent attention to detail and are very proactive. You are passionate about building the capacity of staff and supporting them effectively to manage projects and supervise others.

What you will do

Project Management & Program Quality (50% LOE)

· Provide strategic, technical, and programmatic leadership and support to country program, working closely with technical counterparts to ensure quality, timely execution of activities against a defined workplan

· Lead regular planning and coordination meetings to ensure the timely, transparent flow of information amongst partners, and between the country office and D-tree’s global support team

· Oversee program budgeting, projections and financial management together with finance and administration manager

· Work with the Malawi Director and partners to set and refine program strategy, with a focus on health systems strengthening, local capacity building and government adoption

· Work closely with D-tree’s developers, design team, and health systems advisors to oversee the development of a responsive digital system that meets the needs of our prime contractor and the Malawi MOH

· Regularly monitor project progress against milestones, intervening when necessary, and escalating when appropriate

· Travel within Malawi to project sites, up to 10% of the time

Staff & Operational Management (30% LOE)

· Supervise project implementation staff, working closely with the Director to proactively identify when to bring in additional support from D-tree’s M&E, programs, technology and finance and operations team to meet project objectives

· Orient, mentor and build the capacity of junior team, helping them set performance goals and ensure they are staying on track to achieve program success

· Develop and implement team building and training to build the skills of team across departments ensuring operational and programmatic excellence and alignment with D-tree core values and annual objectives and key results (OKRs)

· Participate in recruitment and onboarding of new staff for successful implementation and support of program

· Support strong cohesion among team leads, and develop strong structures for collaboration and communication across functional areas

· Together with finance and administration manager, ensure integrity of petty cash, mobile money account/s, and bank accounts and prepare monthly cash requests to global office

Reporting and Dissemination (20% LOE)

· Guide development of programmatic reports and analyses for donor (USAID)

· Understand and contribute to a culture of compliance and ensure adherence to USAID requirements and new donors as D-tree grows as well as D-tree’s financial, procurement and operating policies

· Manage project budget, including ensuring projections align with activities and staffing needs to meet program objectives, and spending is on track

· Proactively communicate project progress to consortium partners and our internal team to keep everyone on track and informed of challenges and maximizing our ability to achieve results

· Together with D-tree’s Communications Manager, generate high-quality, impactful content for external communications aligned with D-tree’s communications strategy

· Work with the Director to ensure the timely submission of all reports to our prime contractor and other stakeholders

· As necessary, work with the Director to represent the project to the USAID/Malawi Mission over the course of regular monitoring visits

What we are looking for

We are looking for a motivated, passionate leader who is willing to wear multiple hats and do what it takes to make our programs and team succeed. The following attributes are a general overview, but we will consider individuals who do not meet all of the details below if you have the right skill set and attitude.

Required Qualifications

● Minimum 6 years work experience, with a digital, primary health and /or health system strengthening focus preferred

● Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. public health, global development)

● Experience leading the implementation of complex health programs (preferably digital health) for frontline health workers serving vulnerable populations

● Experience managing, motivating and mentoring a multi-cultural team and demonstrated success in cultivating a positive, empowering environment for all team members

● Minimum 2 years’ experience living in a low- or middle-income country (Malawi or East Africa preferred)

● Strong project management skills

● Superior analytical skills; ability to think logically and rationally about problems and be solution-oriented

● Must be able to handle complex priorities, collaborate effectively with a distributed team, be persistent and work under tight deadlines with minimal supervision

● Excellent written and spoken English required, knowledge of Chichewa a bonus.

● Experience managing USAID grants