• Company: The Population Council
• Location: Lusaka, Lusaka Province, Zambia
• State: Lusaka
• Job type: Full-Time
• Job category: NGO Jobs in Zambia

TITLE: Project Director

REPORTING TO: Country Director, Zambia

STARTING SALARY: Depends on qualifications and experience

LOCATION: Lusaka, Zambia

ASSIGNMENT LENGTH: 2 years, depending on funding

JOB DESCRIPTION:

The Population Council confronts critical health and development issues—from reducing unintended pregnancy and preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and curbing the spread of HIV, to enhancing access to quality care and ensuring that young people lead full, productive lives. Through social science, public health, and biomedical research in 50 countries, we work with partners to deliver solutions that lead to more effective programs, policies, and technologies to improve lives around the world.

The Population Council is seeking a Project Director to strengthen the Government of Zambia’s national Health Management Information System; strengthen the research capacity of individuals and institutions in key governmental and non-governmental partners; and expand the evidence-based to health programming for malaria, nutrition, family planning, maternal and child health, and HIV prevention.  The Project Director will have primary technical and fiscal responsibility for this initiative and be the lead representative for the project to USAID and the Government of Zambia. S/he will lead a project team and will develop and enhance partnerships with local and international organizations to carry out project activities. S/he will report project findings, lessons learned, opportunities, and challenges to USAID, and to local counterparts and will also oversee the dissemination of project results, lessons learned, and best practices on a variety of platforms for national and international audiences. This position is contingent upon award of the contract.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide overall vision, leadership, and management to the technical and scientific direction and implementation of the project and oversee the financial and administrative components to ensure project goals, objectives, and requirements are fulfilled.
• Be fiscally responsible to USAID and the Population Council for this multi-million-dollar initiative and oversee the project’s spending, development of budgets and financial reports, and timely implementation of project activities according to the budget timeline.
• Oversee and ensure timely completion of all project deliverables, development of regular technical and financial reports and other documents as required by the project and donor, deployment of project personnel, etc.
• Supervise project technical staff to ensure project goals and objectives are achieved.
• Serve as the primary reporting and point-of-contact representative of the project with USAID and with key governmental and non-governmental counterparts on project-related technical and management issues.
• Travel to project sites as needed, to provide managerial and technical support to staff, counterparts, and government agencies.
• Represent the project and the Population Council at meetings, events, and policy and program development fora.

QUALIFICATIONS

• A Master’s Degree or higher in public health, social sciences, or equivalent field
• Demonstrated experience leading, managing, and implementing large international development projects in sub-Saharan Africa, including supervision of technical staff
• Robust expertise in research, evaluation, and monitoring in a range of public health programs
• Solid knowledge and practical experience with the development, implementation, and management of data collection archival systems for health, and the collection, quality assurance, analysis, interpretation and use of data for decision-making
• Demonstrated ability to establish and sustain professional relationships and to work collaboratively with host government agencies, civil society and community-based organizations, and other donors
• Strong leadership, communication and interpersonal skills, including ability to develop and communicate a common vision to diverse partners and a multi-disciplinary team
• Significant experience with and management of USG or USAID-funded agreements or contracts
• Strong oral and written communication skills in English, including evidence of quality report writing and presentations.
• Ability to represent the Population Council with high-level donors, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, civil sector society, and organizational counterparts, and to discuss the project’s activities, lessons learned, opportunities, and challenges in a compelling and articulate way
• Proven ability to lead, motivate, and supervise a multi-disciplinary group of senior program and operational staff to achieve high-quality performance and project vision
• Excellent diplomatic, representational, problem solving, management, and interpersonal skills

The Population Council provides equal opportunity; it does not discriminate against any person with regard to age, color, creed, national origin, disability, political belief, veteran status, religion, marital status, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Decisions on employment are based on an individual’s qualifications as related to the position for which s/he is being considered. The Council has an affirmative action plan and especially encourages applications from qualified women and members of minority groups. The Population Council is international in the composition of its board of trustees and its staff, as well as on the nature and deployment of its activities.

 

How to Apply

If you interested in the above position, please send your CV to [email protected] on or before 2^nd November, 2017