Programme Manager

Focus of the Role

Please note that we require all successful candidates to be in post by the beginning of January.

Job Introduction

Our Governance (Africa) pillar supports the governments and leaders of developing and emerging states to enhance their effectiveness. We are focused on helping governments and leaders make their vision for the development of their country a reality. We work in the centre of government and key line ministries and our work is shaped by national priorities.

Key Responsibilities

Following the recent Presidential election, the Federal Government of Nigeria has set agriculture transformation as a top priority. It is establishing an agriculture coordination secretariat in the Office of the Vice-President, with responsibility for the coordination of the implementation of two flagship programmes: the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) and the Green Imperative (GI) - a partnership with Brazil to improve access to mechanization and technology in Nigerian agriculture.

The Programme Manager will be assigned to work with the Office of the Vice President to ensure overall management of the award including ensuring timely grant disbursements, through close collaboration with TBI’s Finance Department. The role will work closely with the Head of the Unit, the Lead Delivery Advisor and the MEL Advisor and will report to the Lead Delivery Advisor.

This role is a designed to be a three year contract subject to funding of the programme.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

The responsibilities of the role include:

• Through close collaboration with the Finance Department, ensure award management is deployed in line with planned expenditure and donor expectations
• Work with internal partnerships team to ensure regular reporting to Gates Foundation, including quarterly and annual project implementation reports, and ad-hoc reporting requests and anticipated supplemental activity
• Work with the finance and legal departments, ensure compliance with Gates frameworks and regulations including but not limited to invoices, expenses, flights, contracts and timesheet management
• In line with TBI’s advisory MEL practices and approaches, monitor the overall implementation of the programme as articulated in the partnership agreement/final proposal
• Work with MEL lead to analyse monitoring data, discuss findings in regular meetings and collate into reporting
• Work with Lead Delivery Advisor to review consultants’ / experts’ timesheets against expected milestones and deliverables
• Work with Admin and Finance to develop procedures, processes and templates for effectively running the office including but not limited to HR manual, activity budget request forms, travel request template, fleet management etc.
• Ensure effective functioning of internal systems as per audit recommendations
• Monitor risks related to the partnership implementation and relevance and positioning
• Provide generic management support, as required, to the Head of the Secretariat and the Lead Delivery Advisor

Person Specification

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:

• Ideally 8 years’ experience of program, financial and operational management, of which 3 years on international development programs, experience on Gates Foundation programs preferable
• Significant line management experience, and program management experience for large teams
• Experience within complex programs, developing, owning and implementing work plans
• Experience working with an agriculture or market systems development partner-funded program would be an asset
• Significant Africa experience with a strong preference for Nigerian contextual experience
• Hands on approach to work, with the ability to deliver on deadlines in a fast-paced and fast-changing environment, with minimal or no supervision
• Experience in procurement also desirable

ESSENTIALS SKILLS:

• Exceptional oral and written communication and interpersonal skills
• Effective inter-personal and leadership skills with an ability to develop and foster relationships across a wide range of diverse and senior stakeholders on behalf of TBI
• Ability to operate and succeed in a highly political environment;
• Strong analytical and management skills, including sound knowledge of strategic planning and project management tools;
• Ability to use own initiative and actively look for opportunities to have an impact rather than simply be reactive
• A decent understanding of how governments, businesses and international development organisations operate and how to succeed in them
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Office products Word, Excel and PPT and other relevant  software and tools

PERSONAL SPECIFICATIONS:

• Drive, motivation and ability to consistently achieve results in a fast-paced environment.

• Experience of living and working in developing countries is desirable but not essential.

VALUES WE LOOK FOR:

• COURAGE… because to tackle global challenges, we must innovate and take smart risks
• COLLABORATION… because when we work together and with external partners, we can overcome even the largest problems
• COMPASSION… because our work is ultimately about improving people’s lives
   

About The Institute

At the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change we are dedicated to making globalisation work for the many, not the few. We do this by helping countries, their people and their governments, address some of the most difficult challenges in the world today – beginning with those where we think we can break new ground, offering leaders new thinking and new approaches. Our staff – over 200 of them, based all over the world – are working on some of the most intractable problems around issues of co-existence, governance, the peace process in the Middle East and renewing the centre.