USAID Jobs – Program Manager at ACTED

Job Title: Program Manager

ACTED (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development) is a non-political and non-confessional international NGO founded in 1993 and headquartered in Paris, France. The organization’s vocation is to save lives, assist vulnerable populations and bring hope to those in need for a better future. ACTED is active in over 36 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Central America.

About Project:

ACTED has been active in Uganda since May 2007, both in the northern region and Karamoja. In the North, ACTED supports the early recovery process with a specific focus on the needs of returning populations displaced by years of conflict. It also expands access, retention, equity and quality of primary education. In Karamoja, the focus is enhanced food security and resilience to disasters, especially droughts, as well as improving the primary education sector.

ACTED focuses its intervention on strengthening livelihoods through improved resource management, conflict mitigation and capacity building.

In Northern Uganda, as internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned home and gained access to land, ACTED is working with farmers on infrastructure and capacity development to rebuild agricultural livelihoods. In the Karamoja/Pokot area, ACTED responds to severe food insecurity caused by the drought in the Horn of Africa, providing support to agro-pastoral communities to increase their purchasing power and protect their assets, reducing vulnerability to natural disasters. As part of its integrated cross-border strategy between Uganda and Kenya, ACTED maintains its community-driven disaster risk reduction (DRR) focus and promotes conflict mitigation to ensure peaceful and sustainable access to shared resources.

In 2013, ACTED maintains a strong focus on this approach and looks at extending it further along the border with Kenya. ACTED continues working with community-level structures and initiatives such as the APFS, the CDMCs or the DEWS to continue building the communities’ resilience to disasters.

Job Summary: The Program Manager will actively contribute to the development of this project, which is a constitutive part of the country strategy, and subsequently manage its implementation.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: 

1. Ensure external representation of ACTED in relevant sectors: The PM will be responsible for managing partnerships and ensuring smooth implementation of work plan activities. The PM and senior management team will be responsible for monitoring, technical quality of program interventions, and accountability. This PM will collaborate closely with district officials and local authorities, as well as the donor.

Representation vis-à-vis provincial authorities:

Participate in technical and sectoral meetings to ensure visibility amongst local authorities;

Representation vis-à-vis Donors:

• Actively participate in technical and sectoral Donor meetings and pass relevant information to the Country Director;

Representation vis-à-vis international organisations:

• Participate in technical and sectoral meetings and working groups involving NGOs and UN Agencies (OCHA, PNUD, UNICEF, FAO, etc.) and all other inter-governmental institutions;
• Significantly contribute to the creation of reports, ensuring the quality and accuracy of technical information provided as well as the confidentiality of internal information as required;
• More generally, the program manager is expected to contribute to the creation of a positive image and overall credibility of the organisation, notably through the application of ACTED’s mandate, ethics, values and stand-point with regard to other actors.

2. Project Cycle Management:

Project implementation:

• Plan the various stages of project implementation;
• Steer the implementation of the project and the methods of follow-up;
• Manage project finances, logistics and materials;
• Liaise with all internal and external counterparts of the project;
• Assess the activities undertaken and ensure efficient use of resources;

Project reporting requirements:

• Set up a clear timeline of reports to be submitted to project Donors;

• Draft narrative reports and contribute to the development of financial reports through regular budgetary follow up;
• Ensure adherence to FLAT procedures.
• More generally, communicate systematically to the relevant Country Director or Area Coordinator on project progress and planning.

3. Provide Relevant Technical Expertise:

Make sure that technical quality and standards are considered during project implementation:

• Collect technical information and analyse associated opportunities and risks;
• Identify relevant technical authorities and partners, and propose formal partnership and/or contracts.

Responsible for instituting quality control measures:

• Analyse technical added-value and project impact;
• Set up technical evaluation exercises during and following implementation.

4. Oversee Program Staff and Security

 Guide and direct program staff:

• Organise and lead project coordination meetings;
• Prepare and follow work plans with each project member;
• Make sure a positive working environment and good team dynamics (solve out potential conflicts);
• Promote team working conditions in the limit of private life;
• Adapt the organigramme and ToRs of project personnel according to the project development;
• Carry out regular appraisals of directly supervised colleagues and pass appraisal forms to the Country or Area Administrator with recommendations (new position, changes to contract or salary etc.);
• Ensure a building of capacity amongst technical staff in the relevant sectors.

Actively contribute to the recruitment of expatriate staff:  When requested by HQ, undertake interviews to assess technical abilities of expatriate candidates living in the country.

Oversee staff security:

• In cooperation with the relevant Security Officer, monitor the local security situation and inform the Country Director or Area Coordinator and Country or Area Security Officer of developments through regular written reports;
• Contribute to the updating of the security guidelines in the project area of intervention;
• Ensure that security procedures are respected by each member of the project team.

5. Identify Best Practices and Lessons Learned

• Collect information and tools employed for project implementation;
• Draft memos detailing lessons learned and best practices identified during the project;
• Share such memos with internal and external partners;
• Communicate such information to the Country Director or Area Coordinator, to Regional
• Support Offices and to HQ Reporting Department.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience: 

• Demonstrated expertise as a PM with at least five years’ experience managing large complex infrastructure programs preferably within an African context.
• Past exposure and experience working on USAID program; familiarity with USAID regulations.
• The Program Manager should have extensive relevant experience managing the mobilization and oversight of multi-faceted projects, including those in the infrastructure sector.
• The Program Manager should also have demonstrated the ability to quickly and effectively assemble and manage a highly-skilled, interdisciplinary team; to effectively collaborate and coordinate with and lead a broad range of governmental and non-governmental actors and institutions across sectors in a developing-country  setting; and to implement high-profile and politically sensitive programs.
• Prior experience leading collaborative efforts with multiple stakeholders—i.e., between other USAID and NUDEIL recipients, INGOs, Local NGOs and GoU.
• Excellent track record in managing large teams effectively.
• Possess the ability to be collaborative across projects, flexible and creative;
• Excellent communications and interpersonal skills with evidence of ability to productively interact with a wide range and levels of organizations (government, private sector, NGOs).

Job Terms and Conditions:

• Salary defined by the ACTED salary grid; educational level, expertise, hardship, security, and performance are considered for pay bonus
• Additional monthly living allowance
• Free food provided + housing allowance
• Transportation costs covered, including additional return ticket + luggage allowance
• Provision of medical, life, and repatriation insurance + retirement package

How to Apply for the job: 

All suitably qualified and interested candidates are encouraged to send their applications including cover letters, CVs, and three references via E-mail to: jobs@acted.org. Ref : PM/UG/SA

Deadline: 31^st October, 2014