Health Project Manager at Première Urgence Internationale

Starting Date : 1st June 2021

Location : Tibú, Colombia

Duration of Mission : 11 months

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious international aid organization. Our teams are committed to supporting civilians’ victims of marginalization and exclusion, or hit by natural disasters, wars and economic collapses, by answering their fundamental needs. Our aim is to provide emergency relief to uprooted people in order to help them recover their dignity and regain self-sufficiency.

The association leads in average 190 projects by year in the following sectors of intervention: food security, health, nutrition, construction and rehabilitation of infrastructures, water, sanitation, hygiene and economic recovery. PUI is providing assistance to around 5 million people in 20 countries – in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe and France.

Find out about our history and values.

General Context

The PUI Colombia Mission has been officially in operation since January 2019, in a consortium with Solidarités International, with a focus on meeting urgent needs of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, as well as vulnerable Colombians. This is planned to be achieve through a multi-sectoral, integrated program focusing on health, shelter, protection, food security, and water, sanitation and hygiene, within programs located in North Santander, Santander and Arauca.

Since 2013, Venezuela is enduring a socio-economic crisis triggered by the fall of oil prices, contested economic measures, and ambitious social policies that fueled insecurity and a decline in the previously richest economy in Latin America. The political and humanitarian crisis worsened in 2018, with UNHCR[1] estimating that thousands of Venezuelans were leaving their country each day to reach and remain in various destinations in Colombia. According the 2020 Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP), Colombia remains the country most impacted and largest host of arrivals from Venezuela, with an estimated 1,630,903 Venezuelans in the country as of December 2019 (52% male and 48% female, with only 641,825 having legal status), and the return of approximately 500,000 Colombians. This influx has put considerable strain on the Colombian system, meaning that those arriving now are facing harsher conditions than those of the past, as well as those arriving being generally poorer than those who were able to travel earlier.

The 2019 Colombian Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) stated that there are 1.9 million people in need in Colombia, consisting of 1,467,000 Venezuelan refugees or migrants and 403,000 Colombians. Of this, there is approximately 946,000 males (including 232,000 under 18 and 23,000 over 59 years old) and 925,000 females (including 227,000 under 18 and 24,000 over 59 years old). However, it is important to recognize that the data on Venezuelans is potentially underestimated, because it is believed that thousands are not registered due to crossing into the country informally, and it only reflects disaggregated data for people who have been assessed in need of humanitarian assistance in Colombia.

Beginning in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spread quickly and exponentially throughout the world, and entered Colombia in March 2020. The Colombian government has since taken continually increasing measures to contain the virus, including shutting down the border (including that with Venezuela), installing curfews and travel restrictions, and imposing social distancing rules on gatherings. The general situation and conditions has significant impact on Venezuelan migrants and vulnerable Colombians, drastically increasing vulnerability throughout the country.

PUI’s Position/ Strategy in the Country

PUI has been operational in Colombia since 2019, and launched the first programs in partnership with Solidarités International. In 2020, PUI will launch humanitarian projects in North Santander/Santander and Arauca covering health, MHPSS, and protection. In North Santander/Santander, PUI aims to support Venezuelan migrant and refuges, particularly PWSN, on the dangerous migration route from the border, while in Arauca PUI will operate several clinics supporting primary healthcare and MHPSS. PUI will also be seeking to expand its humanitarian program into 2021, with a new country wide strategy taking into consideration the current and impending challenges related to the COVID-19 crisis.

As part of our activities in Colombia, we are looking for a Health Project Manager in Tibú.

Overall Objective

The Health Project Manager, under the direct supervision of the Field Coordinator, is responsible for the implementation and supervision of all health activities in the PUI Tibú base, and manages all human and financial resources dedicated to the health activities.

Tasks and Responsibilities

Programs: He/She ensures proper implementation and monitoring of medical program(s) falling under his/her responsibility, while observing PUI’s health policy.
Human Resources: He/She supervises the Medical Team (PUI salaried employees and, as the case may be, daily paid workers).
Logistics and Administration: He/She ensures compliance of activities falling under his/her responsibility with logistical and administrative procedures.
Representation: He/She represents the association before partners, authorities and local actors involved in the implementation of medical programs.
Safety: He/She contributes to efforts aimed at ensuring compliance with safety rules at the site, and transmits all information relating to safety concerns to his/her immediate supervisor.
Strategy: He/She contributes to the development of new interventions on the basis of identified needs

Specific objectives and linked activities

ENSURE IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING OF MEDICAL PROGRAM/S

Implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health, according with the strategy defined.
Works in close collaboration with the Field Coordinator and Medical Coordinator on the strategy for the health projects he/she is managing.
Works in close collaboration with the MHPSS team in the field to ensure an integrated approach.
Proper functioning of health projects falling under his/her responsibility and ensures compliance with goals defined in the project proposal/s.
Ensuring that beneficiary and host populations understand the project objectives, participate actively in their implementation and the design of potential new interventions,
Follow-up and analysis of epidemiological data, in collaboration with the Medical Coordinator and medical teams.
Responsible for the data collection, analysis and reporting.
Proper archiving of all the documents, tools and training materials produced in the context of project/s and ensures the availability of the verification sources mentioned in the proposals.
Reports on medical supplies consumption and undertakes needs assessments of his/her projects in relation to medical equipment, medical consumables and pharmaceuticals in close collaboration with the pharmacist;
Reporting content for the activities
under his/her management. He/she contributes to the monthly report of the mission and to the contractual semi-annual report to be submitted to the donor.
Guarantee the relevance of programs and their respect for the health policy and framework of operations of PUI.
Continual analysis of emergency context and leads/supports design and implementation of appropriate response.
Support of the learning and knowledge management of the project, context, etc.

SUPERVISE THE MEDICAL TEAM AND ENSURES CAPACITY BUILDING

Ensures the application of the Internal Rules of Procedure of PUI for the mission, and guarantees that they are known and respected by the teams.
Plans and organizes recruitments according with the needs of the projects, by creating and/or updating job profiles / job descriptions and participating actively in the hiring process (interviewing, testing, etc.).
Participates in any decisions related to the termination of employment contracts of team members.
Ensures that each staff is subject to a written evaluation at least once per contract period and per year, and at a minimum before leaving office.
Creates coordination mechanisms specific to the projects and ensures proper management of all the medical staff.
Identifies the training needs of the team and addresses them (organizational and medical support, methodology, organization of training sessions…).
Constructs the organizational chart of the team, and has it endorsed by the Field Coordinator and Admin Base.
Ensures technical supervision of the medical staff with the support of the Medical Coordinator, and provides advice/guidance to improve the practices.

ENSURE LOGISTICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT FOR MEDICAL PROGRAMS

On a monthly basis, provides the Administrator with all information necessary for the development of cash flow estimates specific to his/her program(s).
Ensures that HR documents (attendance sheet, leave request, etc.) are communicated to the Administrative Manager on time.
Ensures that the monthly budget tracking of the program(s) falling under his/her responsibility is up-to-date, participates in analyses, detects possible anomalies, and proposes adjustments.
In coordination with the Logistics Manager, he/she organizes the logistical components of his/her programs (delivery, distribution, on-site storage, etc).
Communicates to the Logistics Manager on a weekly basis his/her needs related to vehicles and communication equipment for the implementation of programs.
Prepares purchase requests according with the projects’ needs and ensures proper communication of specifications.
Contributes to the analysis of supplier bids for purchases with highly technical specifications.
Participates actively in the preparation of calls for tender, as the case may be, in collaboration with the logistics manager of the base and Logistics Coordinator.
In coordination with the logistics department and pharmacist, he/she ensures appropriate storage of pharmaceuticals, medical consumables and equipment specific to his/her programs

ENSURE THE REPRESENTATION OF PUI BEFORE HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

Reporting continuously to the Field Coordinator on the achievement of his/her objectives, the implementation of the program and the needs identified on the field.
Reporting to Medical Coordinator on the required technical aspects.
Communicating the needs and requests of his/her team to the other departments, using the proper communication channels, and ensuring his/her team does the same with proper anticipation and level of formalization.

ENSURE THE SAFETY OFPROPERTY AND PEOPLE

Ensures that the safety plan is known by the team falling under his/her responsibility, and that safety rules are respected.
Contributes to data collection on safety issues in his/her field of operations and disseminates them to the Field Coordinator regularly or on an ad-hoc basis if urgent.
Ensures that projects, methodologies, or selection criteria do not place beneficiaries, PUI staff or any other persons at risk of harm.
Ensures that members of his/her team and daily paid workers, as the case may be, are provided with safety gear adapted to their activities (for example: PEP kits [post-exposure treatment kits], gloves…).
Responsible for the compliance to the security policy on the activity sites, in PUI subbases and during the movements of his/her team.
Reporting on the security situation to Field Coordinator and to Log/Security Assistant.
Ensuring PUI security regulations are implemented by the program team, and that the proper validations are obtained.
Contributing to PUI’s security analysis by his/her input upon request.

CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPOMENT OF NEW PROPOSALS

Participates in identifying health-related needs in coordination with the Medical Coordinator and Field Coordinator.
In the context of identifying new operations, he/she contributes to the preparation of project proposals for the health sector or other, as per request.
Participates in the strategy development of the mission.

Required Profile

Training: Health professional (medical doctor, nurse, pharmacist, psychologist or other)

Professional Experience: Humanitarian / International / Technical

Knowledge and skills:

Good writing skills
Strong project management skills
Knowledge of international health standards and procedures
Solid programmatic, financial, and organizational planning skills
Knowledge of MHPSS programming

Language: Spanish and English mendatory

Required Personal Characteristics

Independence, ability to take initiatives, sense of responsibilities
Good resistance to stress and particularly in unstable circumstances
Pragmatism, objectivity and an ability to take a step back and analyze
Ability to provide/structure instructions clearly and concisely both orally and in writing
A high sense of discretion and integrity when dealing with sensitive HR information
High degree of responsibility, initiative, alertness, emotional stability, the ability to prioritize a heavy workload and to delegate accordingly
Professional attitude and the ability to build successful working relationships with contacts outside of the projects.
Demonstrate ability to integrate local environment into operations, in its political, economic and historical dimensions
Self-motivated, flexible and adaptable to the needs of the team and organization
Strong commitment to support/develop capacity of national staff and developing second layer of leadership
Team player: proven management ability and inter-personal skills
Excellent communication skills
Problem solving and leadership skills
Ability to remain calm and level-headed
Sense of diplomacy and negotiation
Analytical (discernment, pragmatism) and synthesis skills
Organization, rigor and ability to prioritize and meet deadlines
Ability to manage people remotely
Ability to work in volatile and secluded contexts

Proposed Terms

Employed with a Fixed-Term Contract
Monthly gross income: from 1 815 up to 2 145 Euros depending on the experience in International Solidarity + 50 Euros per semester seniority with PUI
Cost covered: Round-trip transportation to and from home / mission, visas, vaccines…
Insurance including medical coverage and complementary healthcare, 24/24 assistance and repatriation
Housingin collective accommodation
Daily living Expenses (« Per diem »)
Break Policy: 5 working days at 3 and 9 months
Paid Leaves Policy: 5 weeks of paid leaves per year + return ticket every 6 months