ADOLESCENT EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM PROJECT MANAGER– REF: AEP PM/01/2020

  • Contract

Company Description

Founded in 1945, CARE is a leading humanitarian and development organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside women and girls because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. CARE commenced its humanitarian programme in Kenya in 1968. Since then we have built a substantial development and humanitarian program including refugee operations, emergency response, livelihoods, food security, climate change adaption, sexual reproductive and maternal health, women and girls’ economic empowerment, and youth employability.

Job Description

Job Summary
Reporting to the Programme Director, the (AEP) Project Manager will oversee and manage budgets, and ensure efficient and effective attainment of program objectives and goals.  S/He will work with partners especially donors, and key Project Stakeholders in the country including: the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, (MoEST), Kenya Institute Curriculum Development (KICD), Ministry of Health (MOH), financial institutions, project partners (sub-recipients) and key strategic partners.  

S/He will develop and implement monitoring and evaluation plans that are highly integrated with activity implementation and will be responsible and accountable for the technical and human resource management of the Adolescent Empowerment Program as well as promote the growth and positive impact of the Adolescent Empowerment Program in the Country Office.  S/he will facilitate and support staff competence through training, coaching and demonstration where gaps are seen and as part of staff development.   The incumbent works in collaboration with other senior CARE Kenya staff 

Tasks and Responsibilities:

R 1: Technical Project leadership, policy and advocacy (15%) Coordination for all successful project innovations, learning and generation of evidence for outcomes and impact 
1.1.    Provide management oversight to the Adolescent Empowerment Project in Nairobi and Kajiado Counties, which includes but is not limited to: 
1.1.1.    Ensuring adherence to the project’s approved program, implementation and M&E designs for effective, quality delivery of all project components; 

1.1.2.    Distributing tasks among project staff, ensuring that staffing allocations are adequate to deliver project implementation and monitoring plans and that team work is maintained at all times; 
1.1.3.    Coordinating and guiding the preparation and review of the program narrative reports and program activity reports as per donor reporting schedules;
1.1.4.    Ensuring communication flow between all partners and that project concerns and risks are escalated in writing to supervisor, other levels of management at CIK, and focal persons at CUSA in a timely manner while also ensuring that all official processes for external communication are adhered to; 
1.2.    Maintain good working relationships and coordination with other Adolescent Empowerment Project stakeholders within the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, (MoEST), Kenya Institute Curriculum Development (KICD), Ministry of Health (MOH), financial institutions and other players; 
1.3.    Oversee and implement the project’s approved advocacy agenda. 

R 2:  Contract and Budget management and Compliance (15%)
2.1    Oversee the grants management implementation, enforcement and compliance to all contractual requirements of the program. 
2.2    Oversee partner adherence to: the contract clauses as per the contracts signed with CARE on the Adolescent Empowerment Project; implementation plans and delivery mechanisms; M&E plans; and operational and grants accounting manual and sub-grants management to ensure compliance and minimize risk.
2.3    Working closely with the  Grants Manager and supervisor, oversee the grants management plan, taking into consideration all components of the sub grants management cycle: timelines for funds disbursement requests, disbursement transfers, processes for sub-contractor budget preparations and contracting, technical support visits to partners, financial and budget systems review during TA visits to sub contracted partners, financial reporting reviews against contracted targets, developing and operationalizing monitoring plans for funds utilization against activity implementation and review reconciliation reports produced by the grants and contracts manager. 
2.4    Prepare, revise and in a timely manner operationalize procurement plans for the program.
2.5    Review all project financial reports submitted by finance on a monthly basis while providing timely feedback on all aspects to enhance proper and efficient utilization of program funds, explaining budget burn rates against planned activities/expenditure plans
2.6    Ensure there is timely preparation of donor financial reports and that all expenses incurred are dully accounted while ensuring that all taxation matters are addressed and that there is harmony in program and financial reports before submission of reports for review. 
2.7    In a timely manner respond to budget queries raised by management, finance counterparts and program teams. 
2.8    Ensure effective implementation is in line with CARE financial and administrative policies 
2.9    Review financial expense reports on a monthly basis as per contractual requirements to ensure contract compliance for quality and timely reporting.
2.10    Prepare and manage project assets and inventory held by the CARE and partners as per donor requirements and CARE Kenya policies and regulations.
2.11    Support and coordinate preparation of the audits of partners annually in consultation with finance department and Adolescent Empowerment project team and support SM in planning and responding to program audit queries. 

R3: Program Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (60%)
3.1.    Oversee implementation of a comprehensive M&E Plan, Detailed Program Implementation Plan and Operational Plan, working with supervisor, MERL officer, and project team for the Adolescent Empowerment Project. 
3.2.    Ensure data on project interventions generated through monitoring, evaluation, and implementation efforts is verified, analyzed then applied to inform further project implementation at a minimum of twice per month. 
3.3.    Oversee data collection and quality assurance of data management systems for all components of the project. 
3.4.    Lead the development of learning products in line with the project’s approved learning agenda. 
3.5.    Supervise and mentor the MERL officer to carry out the project M&E plans, including quality control checks on the inputs provided. 
3.6.    Prepare program reports using verifiable program, financial, and M&E reports from partners and project staff and share these at least 20 days before the reporting period to the supervisor for review and input in time to meet contract reporting dates. 
3.7.    Organize field-level support and monitoring visit schedules for ongoing monitoring and review of project interventions, with an intent to ensure activities are being implemented consistently and with high fidelity according to donor standards.   This also includes leading the team in coordinated reflection sessions on the findings from these visits in a structured and documented process.  Develop, in coordination with MERL Officer, TORs for program evaluations and other M&E technical assistance required. Provide active management to program consultancies to ensure deliverables are met to contracted standards. This includes ensuring the project has verified data on the population it will study and contact with individuals for follow-up data collection has been made.  
3.8.    Organize partner review and sharing sessions for CARE and partners to present program progress, lessons learnt and best practices to enhance performance of the  Adolescent Empowerment Project grant 

R4: Staff management (10%)  
4.1.    Supervise four staff of the Project team, while ensuring that they fully understand their responsibilities, work as a team and deliver on their tasks in a timely manner. 
4.2.    Ensure staffs have detailed implementation plans and these are reviewed and updated regularly with feedbacks provided on areas requiring improvements.
4.3.    Guide, supervise, coach, manage, mentor, provide leadership and support to the project staff on a day to day basis to meet program tasks and responsibilities, to deliver within contractual obligations.
4.4.    Support hiring of competent staff and orient them in a timely manner to implement in line with contractual obligations and CAREs policies and procedures.
4.5.    Support staff to develop Individual Operating Plans for purposes of strengthening their performance and the performance of the Adolescent Empowerment Project.
4.6.    Undertake annual staff appraisal in line with JD and IOP requirements on a timely manner.
4.7.    In a timely manner notify and consult the supervisor and human resource department and CAREs management on any staff concerns related to their conduct, performance, confirmation and disciplinary issues while ensuring that policies and procedures are adhered to.

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES:
1.    Education: 

    Degree in Masters Social Sciences, Economics, Public Health, Business Administration, Project     Management or     other relevant discipline coupled 

2.    Experience:     
a)    Minimum of 5 years’ experience in program management capacity in at least two areas covered by this project –         with SRH and Economic citizenship areas the most relevant.
b)    Gender trained, trained in ICT and with demonstrable capacity and experience.
c)    Facilitation skills and training skills
d)    Demonstrable experience in managing government, CSOs and other partnerships.
e)    Managing and maintaining high standards of quality control over a decentralized monitoring system, coordinated         through partners.
f)    Interpreting monitoring and evaluation evidence to adapt implementation strategies accordingly.
g)    Managing external evaluation processes, ensuring the process and final products match project requirements. 

3.    Competencies:
a)    Strong staff and program management skills   
b)    Strong partnership skills
c)    Ability to develop and implement monitoring and evaluation plans
d)    Excellent inter-personal, facilitation skills and communication skills
e)    Strong budget management skills
f)    Person of high moral character and professional integrity

Additional Information

AUTHORITY:
1.    Spending Authority:             
2.    Supervision: Supervises four staff - the M&E Officer, Grants Officer and two Project Officers. 
3.    Decision Making: Decision making on core JD areas of Program Coordination, Contract Management, Compliance and     Budget management, Program monitoring, evaluation and Reporting. Staff management, Technical Assistance,     Lessons Learnt and Knowledge sharing in consultation with the Health Program Director.

CONTACTS/KEY RELATIONSHIPS (internal & external):
Internal: Works closely with the Adolescent Empowerment Project team, CO program quality unit, Sector Managers, M&E Coordinator and Grants Manager, and Country Office M&E Specialist, Country Office Grants Manager and other Program Support Units: Internal Audit, Finance, IT, Administration/ procurement, and Human Resources.
External: Liaison with key Project Stakeholders in the country including: the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, (MoEST), Kenya Institute Curriculum Development (KICD), Ministry of Health (MOH), financial institutions, project partners (sub-recipients) and key strategic partners. The position also interacts with other external parties e.g. auditors, consultants. Etc.

WORKING CONDITIONS:
Normal working conditions in a city setup. However the employee may have to contend with traffic congestion during peak hours.  The employee will also undertake frequent field visits to project locations including remote areas and therefore has exposure to road and air travel risks and security risks.