Support Coordinator (Program Manager – maternity cover)
Vanuatu Skills Partnership

Please note this is a fixed time, 0.8 full-time equivalent (FTE) (negotiable) maternity cover contract until February 2024. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and interviews may be conducted prior to the closing date.

Project Overview and Role:
The Vanuatu Skills Partnership (VSP) requires a Support Coordinator to provide and facilitate corporate support (finance, IT, HR, logistics, communications) to the Vanuatu Skills Partnership (the Partnership), a locally-led, service delivery reform initiative, which is already delivering strong outcomes in skills development for prosperity.

The Partnership is a co-investment of the Governments of Australia (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)) and Vanuatu. The Partnership supports reform of the national skills system to better link skills training to economic outcomes within a quality assured framework, in line with the decentralisation agenda of the Government of Vanuatu (GoV). It has a dual focus on stimulating the development of ni-Vanuatu entrepreneurship in environmentally sustainable ways, and creating pathways for further formal training and employment opportunities. In the context of regular disasters , the Partnership is now also functioning as a key service delivery recovery mechanism for the GoV at the sub-national level.

Scope Global has been contracted as the Support Contractor for the Partnership since 2017. The role of the Support Contractor is to provide flexible program management and operational support (independent of the Contractor’s own systems and processes) to enable the Partnership to achieve its objectives, in line with its iterative, adaptive and contextually-responsive modality.

NOTE – In 2022, the Scope Global entity was acquired by the Palladium Group and a transition to the adoption of Palladium processes and policies by Scope Global legacy programs is underway. Notably, the Head Contract for the Vanuatu Skills Partnership remains with Scope Global, and Partnership staff remain on Scope Global employment contracts. For this reason, references to both Palladium and Scope Global are used interchangeably

Pri mary Duties and Responsibilities:

The Support Coordinator will work as part of a team (known as the Support Hub), providing project management support to the operational aspects of implementation, ensuring that all corporate support services are responsive to evolving Partnership and DFAT requirements. In particular, the Support Coordinator will ensure that alignment with the Partnership’s core principles of local leadership, inclusion and Melanesian values underpin all corporate support activities.

The Support Coordinator will develop supportive working relationships across the Partnership team, including with in-country-based local personnel and remotely-based international advisers, to facilitate effective program delivery. It is therefore essential that the Support Coordinator demonstrates and exercises flexibility, cultural and political sensitivity, has outstanding relationship-building skills, and possesses the ability to develop and implem ent creative solutions in collaboration with the national team in a complex operational environment.

Please see the attached Job and Person Specification for a detailed summary of the objectives and responsibilities of this position.

Required Qualifications:

Essential

Relevant tertiary qualifications.
Excellent program management skills, including an ability to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines, across all areas of the program life-cycle.
Exemplary financial management skills, including the ability to present financial data in a manner that is accessible to colleagues working in non-financial roles
Demonstrated ability to meet client expectations.
Outstanding cross-cultural communication skills.
Personnel management experience
Knowledge and understanding of the DFAT and Australian aid landscape and political economy, and Palladium/Scope Global (or similar Contractor) corporate structures and ways of working

Desirable

Experience working in Vanuatu and an understanding of the socio-political and cultural context of the Pacific Islands.
Demonstrated experience in DFAT program delivery in developing country contexts.
A comprehensive understanding of DFAT policies and operational procedures.

Company Overview:

About Palladium – Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with governments, businesses, and investors to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. With a team of more than 3,000 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of over 35,000 experts, we help improve economies, societies and, most importantly, people’s lives.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion – Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardl ess of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a ri gorous due diligence process.