Operations Lead for DRC and Niger At Palladium International

Project Overview and Role: Palladium is seeking a French-fluent Operational Lead to oversee and manage the delivery of the Private Sector Engagement Strategic Initiative Phase II in both Niger and DRC. Based on high-quality hands-on engagement, the Operations Lead will ensure the successful delivery of country workplans focused on performance management, capacity building and results-based contracting for both Niger and DRC, thereby substantially improving the performance of existing Global Fund recipients in each country. The Operational Lead plays a central role, (i) working to support Global Fund primary and sub-recipients in both Niger and DRC; (ii) coordinating and supervising the work of the Country Teams – inclusive of a Lead Advisor (LA), a Performance Analyst (PA) and technical lead/advisor (through consortium partner Instiglio) allocated to their respective countries; (iii) communicating progress to the Global Fund central and country teams, the PSE SI II leadership team and Palladium corporate project management team.The Operations Lead ultimately holds responsibility for the quality of client deliverables for each country, as well as ensuring that teams are on track to deliver on agreed outputs, deliverables and targets.

The Operational Lead role is a full-time fixed-term position (12 months, renewable) based out of London, UK. The Operational Lead will report to the Project Team Leader (Senior Manager, Health) at Palladium. Primary duties and responsibilities Program team management – Onboarding, performance management and capacity building of LAs and PAs (e.g., hold regular meetings to oversee progress, feedback on their bi-weekly workplans, and provide strategic direction/support, develop capacity building plan and activities, undertake quarterly performance reviews and identify/address any skill gaps); – Direct any contractual, travel and Safety and Security requirements to Palladium Corporate Project Management team. Direct country support: Engage, Mobilise and Deliver phases – Facilitating stakeholder engagement, and program mobilization alongside LAs (e.g., preparation and facilitation for meetings with Global Fund Country Teams and other in-country stakeholders; working with the LA to develop/refine project workplans, including establishing ways LA and PA will work to support Global Fund country partners/programs etc.); – Facilitate development of costed operating models, contracting approaches (for e.g. ABC, and implementation arrangements alongside LAs and Instiglio Technical Advisor (e.g., establish what success looks like, review the program and management approach, identify areas for improvement and develop performance management framework etc.); – Oversee performance management of reporting alongside LAs; – Support capacity building of in-country stakeholders (in most cases principal recipients, sub-recipients and/or verifiers) driven by LAs and PAs, including conducting organizational capacity assessments (OCA) and designing/implementing OCA-driven activities, with technical inputs from Instiglio technical advisor for Niger and DRC; – Facilitating the execution of the learning agenda alongside LAs and PAs, and Instiglio Technical Advisor (e.g., defining evaluation questions and approach etc.); – Facilitate inputs from MIS/M&E Advisor to ensure operational data is being recorded, key metric for data agreed and PA is trained to undertake the same including analysis of the data, using Power BI tools and dashboards.

External deliverables and reporting – Quarterly workplan for DRC and Niger: facilitate the process, and compile the costed quarterly workplan with inputs from LA, PA and Instiglio Advisor; – Bi-weekly dashboard for GF PSE SI team: compile inputs from LA and Instiglio; – Dashboard review meeting with GF Project Manager: present progress for DRC and Niger and flag any issues/risks to the client; – Project board meeting: Participate in the project board meeting to report on Niger and DRC and flag any issues/risks to the client; – Broader learning sessions with GF: Present/facilitate reporting on Niger and DRC in broader learning sessions of engagement with GF, either through the LA or on your own to share the development and progress in Niger and DRC; – Workplan completion review meeting with GF.

Internal deliverables and reporting – Participate in weekly catch-up meeting with Palladium Project Management team, to update them of the progress in Niger and DRC, and flag key risks and issues, and mitigation steps planned; – Lead weekly check-in meetings with the LA and PA and broader meetings with Instiglio Technical Advisor, LA and PA to plan for the next week and agree on activities, seek technical inputs from Instiglio; – Organise quarterly workplan development meetings, monitor progress against set activities and deliverables, and prepare with team for quarterly workplan review meetings, ensuring quality evidence is shared ahead of the review process (deliverables- facilitate development through LA, PA, and Instiglio Technical Advisor, for that quarter).

Required Qualifications: – Relevant tertiary qualifications or extensive experience in administration or business management; – Relevant work experience, including: managing donor relationships; risk, fraud and compliance management; human resource management; meeting tight milestones deadlines; and developing and interpreting project plans; – Excellent written and verbal communication skills in both French and English required; – Strong interpersonal skills and highly developed negotiation and problem-solving skills; – Demonstrated experience in program management, including experience in proactively managing requests from clients, and reporting on operations schedules and service quality; – Experience in recruitment, selection, contracting, mobilisation and management of personnel; – Ability to work independently and in a team, and ability to work diplomatically and with cross-cultural sensitivity with government, private sector and community stakeholders; – A professional commitment to promote a culture of gender equality and social inclusion; – Knowledge of Global Fund objectives, strategies and policies is desirable; – Willingness and ability to travel as/when required.