PROJECT DIRECTOR At CARE USA

CARE is an international NGO with local staff and community partners in more than 90 countries. We create local solutions to poverty and inequality and we seek dignity for everyone every day and during times of crisis. These solutions have a broad range, from clean water to access to education; from microfinance to ensuring that everyone has nutritious food; from agriculture and climate change to disaster response. CARE puts women and girls at the center of everything we do because they have proven to be the best hope for creating lasting change in the world. Our staff live where they work, which makes us effective at understanding the challenges they face. We’ve been doing this for over 70 years, since World War II. It started with the world’s first CARE Package® of food for the post-war hungry in Europe. Our work today is as important as ever, we believe that poverty and inequality are historic injustices that we can end within a generation, for good. If you share our core beliefs: poverty is an injustice; poverty is solvable; and together, we have the power to end it, join us, and fight with CARE.

The Project Director will have overall leadership and management of the country office health and health related projects including the design, planning, coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, networking and advocacy. In particular, She/he will provide strategic leadership and guidance on health and nutrition, humanitarian assistance, SRH and HIV projects to improve program quality while ensuring the project’s objectives/outputs are achieved according to the work plan and within the contracted project period. She/he will be fully responsible for the smooth, cost effective, efficient and timely implementation of project interventions. S/he will ensure that CARE’s interventions are well integrated, complementary, synergistic and appropriate to new operating context and thereby contributing significantly to reducing poverty and social exclusion. She/he will be required to liaise with donor, implementing partners (IPs) and national and district government agencies, and Ministry of Health and Sanitation. The position will be based in Freetown, with occasional trips to the field project sites. She/he will report to the Country Director and coordinate with the program support unit: logistics, Admin and Finance to ensure a smooth and coordinated approach to project implementation. She/he will represent CARE in coordination meetings with IPs, national and district authorities as well as other international organizations and relevant UN Organizations.

Responsibilities:

• Project Leadership and Management: Leads the CO projects design, planning, coordination, implementation and management in accordance to CARE policies and guidance as well as relevant donor regulations while ensuring alignment with approved workplan and budgets. Provide oversight functions and promote good stewardship and high accountability in the utilization of project resources through cost effective and efficient mechanisms that improves program interventions. Ensure compliance to contractual obligations and monitor project expenditures to avoid under and over spending of committed funds.
• Coordination, Collaboration, and Networking: Responsible for the coordination of key project operations in collaboration with Senior Management Team and Program support units including administration, logistics, finance, ICT etc to ensure efficient and cost effective program implementation. Responsible in cultivating good donor and partnership relations and networking at all levels. In particular maintain good working relations with relevant government ministries, department and agency at district and national levels as well as with local and international NGOs and UN Organizations. Coordinate the project steering committee.
• Monitoring, Evaluation, Documentation and Reporting: Establish and implement project monitoring and evaluation system to support documentation of project progress and impact. Coordinate the evaluation of the project as per contractual obligations and in alignment with the CO monitoring and evaluation requirements and use information to improve program quality. Support project result and impact information sharing in collaboration with the SMT and CD as applicable. Compile and submit donor narrative reports and oversee financial reports in collaboration with finance director in line with CARE and donor requirements.
• People Management: Lead capacity building plan for project staff including local partners staff on salient aspects of programming to improve the quality of program implementation and promote sustainability through training and mentorship to build local capacity. Conduct performance appraisals for project staff as required. Promote team building with colleagues and project staff to improve work relations and positive work environment that aligns with CO team building approaches. Lead recruitment of staff for key project positions in collaboration with PC and ensure staff understand their roles and responsibilities.

Qualifications:

• Health professional ,with Master Degree in health public health
• At least 5 years of experience in leadership position at international level
• Experience in result-based programme management and budget formulation and tracking
• Excellent skills in fund raising and donor dynamics
• Experienced in reporting compilation and donor reporting
• Must have excellent skills in word processing including excel / spread sheets
• Must have advanced written communication skills in English