Summary
Date Posted: Monday, October 24, 2022 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:

The Organisation
Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.
We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.
Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.
We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.
We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 85 years, and are now active in more than 75 countries.

Country Office
Travel required


ORGANISATION OVERVIEW & ROLE PURPOSE
Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child. However, this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination, and it is girls who are most affected. Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners in more than 70 countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas, Plan International’s purpose is to strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality of girls. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. We enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.
The Project Manager is responsible for ensuring that PIU’s She Leads project is implemented in one or multiple programme areas with the highest standards and quality for impact on the lives of children as defined in the Plan International Uganda (PIU) country strategy. The incumbent will be accountable for delivery of the project on time, scope and budget as per project management standards.

ROLE DIMENSIONS:
PIU’s projects are the means by which the Country Strategy is implemented and, therefore, the She LEads Project Manager fulfils a critical role in achieving results, and optimising the beneficial impact on vulnerable youth and children, especially girls. “She Leads” is a joint Programme of Plan International Netherlands, Defense for Children – ECPAT the Netherlands (DCI-ECPAT), African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), and Terre des Hommes the Netherlands (TdH), while Equal Measures 2030 is a technical partner. The She Leads consortium brings together child rights organizations, feminist/women’s rights organizations, and GYW-led groups and aims to increase the sustained influence of girls and young women (GYW) on decision-making and the transformation of gender norms in formal and informal institutions. The She Leads programme is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Power of Voices grant mechanism. The programme started in January 2021 and will be implemented until the end of 2025. The project has three main outcomes areas outlined below.
Outcome 1: Enhanced collective actions of GYW and civil society/networks to influence decision making in the targeted areas of operation by 2025. Emphasis is put towards GYW aged 14-24 years, including (those living in poor, remote areas and urban slums, those experiencing GBV, those with disabilities, out of school GYW, refugees and Internally displaced GYW and those from sexual minorities.

Outcome 2: Increased acceptance of positive gender norms among targeted communities by 2025. Influential actors like cultural and religious leaders, Families, Boys and the media are key stakeholders.

Outcome 3: Government (MoGLSD, MoLG, Parliament, Parliamentary Youth Affairs Forum and Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA), and District Local Governments) enables meaningful participation of GYW in decision making and implementation of national and regional policies and commitments.
The Project Manager provides PIU’s She Leads Project with the high level technical expertise in project management; overseeing project design to implementation, partnership management, multiple donor management and reporting ensuring impact of the project with excellent influence in the Programme Area (s).
The major challenge of the role is to achieve project goals on time and to standard, adaptively managing the project to optimise PIU’s beneficial impact on vulnerable children and youth, especially girls. This requires the job holder to:
• Have accountability for the full implementation of the project on scope, time and budget; responding to changes in context and evidence from interventions to make decisions which ensure the project reaches anticipated impact.
• Hold project team accountable to tasks and on track in their activities, in a dynamic and changing environments with multiple stakeholders.
• Have strong communication and negotiation skills to deal with various stakeholders at local, national and international levels.
• This position is responsible for managing a project budget of around EUR 320,000 annually.

Level of contact with children
• This position has been classified as “high contact”: Significant interaction with children.

Key result areas:
KRA 1: Project Planning & Initiation
• Lead the transition from project design to project implementation, ensuring that detailed plans, resourcing strategies, and monitoring frameworks are in place to ensure project targets are achieved on time and to standard:
• Review the results of situational analysis and baseline studies and ensure full understanding of the project scope, targets and intended impact.
• Ensure a good understanding of other projects (both grant and sponsorship) that are being implemented in the Programme Area (PA); explore opportunities to optimise the PA team’s impact and cost-effectiveness by working together.
• Liaise with members of the Programme Development & Quality team to understand &/or further develop the frameworks for monitoring, evaluation and quality control of the project:
1. Ensure Standard Operating Procedures are in place and fully understood.
2. Ensure the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework is in place, along with relevant and user-friendly data collection tools.
3. Ensure that an effective knowledge management / record-keeping structure is in place.

• Develop a detailed implementation schedule (identifying and sequencing the activities needed to complete the project) and ensure it is uploaded into a project planner / results tracker.
• Define/review the project governance structure as well as the donor reporting requirement; clarify what information will be needed, by whom, to provide effective oversight and accountability.

KRA 2: Partnership Management
• Ensure that the partner on-boarding process is well coordinated and implemented in a timely manner; maintain ongoing relationships with partners to support effective implementation of the project:
• Work with the Partnership Manager to translate strategies/standards for Partner selection into concrete plans and timelines for partner on-boarding; support any partner selection processes that are still ongoing (e.g. by participating in procurement committees).
• Meet with the leadership of potential partners to develop joint project concepts in line with PIU mission / Project goals; ensure that partners are supported to develop & submit project proposals (including detailed work plans and budgets).
• Organise and coordinate colleagues in carrying out partner due diligence and capacity assessments, ensuring that the information gathered is incorporated in the project plan as well for planning capacity-building efforts.
• Once project proposals have been approved, develop partner MOUs and liaise with the Partnership Manager for review and formal signing by both PIU and the partner.
• Organise partner induction coaching and training, liaising with PIU colleagues (and any expert consultants) to ensure that the partner fully understands and agrees to:

Their role & responsibilities.
The MEL framework & data collection tools and responsibilities.
• All risk management & accountability requirements (including safeguarding, gender equality, and any project-specific SoPs).
• Ensure ongoing monitoring and management of partners, in coordination with the MEL and finance teams, to make sure project activities and spend are on track, and that they will lead to impact desired.
• Organise regular review meetings with partners, and assist them to adaptively manage in response to contextual changes, evidence from implementation and results achieved, and work closely with PAMs, partnership manager, and finance manager as needed to deal with any issues which arise with partners.

KRA 3: Communicating for Influence
• Actively participate in the development and implementation of an innovative influencing & communication plan for the She Leads project; ensure that plans will result in key programme stakeholders being influenced effectively:
• Work with senior colleagues and the Influencing & Communications Manager to implement an influencing & communications plan that will support the achievement of PIU’s outcome and impact targets and raise PIU’s profile with important stakeholders.

Contribute to the implementation of the Influencing Strategy in target programme areas::
• Build relationships with key actors, and implement influencing interventions that drive change.
• Build strategic partnerships, networks, coalitions and alliances relevant to the project and link with national level strategic engagements.
• Spearhead, coordinate and promote project-specific advocacy, lobbying and influencing initiatives.
• Represent Plan International, at all times behaving in line with Plan’s values and Code of Conduct (CoC) to give a faithful representation of the organisation.

Work with implementation teams to ensure internal PIU’s Principles of Communication are embraced.
• Work collaboratively with Programme Area Managers (PAM) and other colleagues to develop and implement a cost-effective and impactful community engagement strategy, ensure an accurate representation of the project benefits is communicated, and carefully manage expectations.
• Ensure that regular community awareness meetings about Plan programs and approaches are done across all Communities, in particular ensuring that sponsored families and communities are updated on Plan’s interventions and the graduation process.

KRA 4: Ensuring Impactful Implementation
• Manage and coordinate the implementation of She Leads Project, so that results are achieved and quality outputs are delivered in line with the Strategic Plan; ensuring that learning from interventions is fully utilised to maximise impact and innovation:
• Execute the project according to the project plan, ensuring that all activities are carried out on time, scope and budget; provide timely justification for any changes or modifications required.
Collaborate closely with the PD&Q and MERL team to ensure collection of data, analysis of results and identification of opportunities for improvement in a blame-free spirit of academic enquiry:
• If desired results have been achieved, initiate strategies for widespread awareness-raising.
• If desired results have not been achieved, support the partner / implementation team to adapt their approach.
• Periodically review theories of change, revising as appropriate.
• Ensure the project is implemented in line with project management minimum standards; including development and regular updating of workplans, procurement plans, budget analysis, sustainability plans.
• Ensure gender considerations are mainstreamed into project implementation, to provide gender aware and gender transformative outcomes across project interventions.
• Review the quality of the work completed with the project team on a regular basis to ensure that it meets the project standards; ensure that Programme Quality Policy and Procedures are followed.
• Implement all the transition activities to ensure proper closure of the project (lessons learned, financial and contractual closure activities, etc.); aim to ensure the impact of the project is sustained post-funding.

KRA 5: Risk, Compliance & Accountability
• Ensure that all project activities comply with global, country and statutory policies and guidelines; lead the effective identification and management of risks, in particular those associated with procurement, finances, safeguarding, and staff health, safety and security:
• In collaboration with the Risk Assurance Manager, ensure that all risks and compliance-requirements relevant to the project are comprehensively mapped; ensure that the project risk management matrices is developed and rigorously implemented.
• Lead the project team to understand and implement all relevant policies, procedures and guidelines (e.g. finance, procurement, security, IT, gender equality & inclusion, harassment, bullying & non-discrimination policy as well as Children and Young People Safeguarding policy etc.).
• Ensure that staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.
• Manage all project funds according to established accounting policies and procedures, ensuring value for money and strong accountability; monitor all budgeted project expenditures and cash flow projections and report actual cash flow and variance to senior management on a regular basis.
• Ensure compliance to donor requirements, especially through quality and timely project outputs and communications; work collaboratively with the assigned Grants Accountant if budget extensions are required.
• Support the Resource Mobilization Unit and the Technical Advisor in developing proposals that may facilitate the continuity of the project.

KRA 6: Leadership & Staff Management
• Lead the Project Team in a manner that empowers them to contribute effectively towards achievement of PIU’s strategy:
• Ensure that the project is resourced with the expertise necessary for success through a combination of recruitment and management of staff, mobilization of community volunteers, and procurement of consultants.
• Lead and manage the team towards high standards of performance through clear roles & responsibilities and provision of appropriate support; coordinate effectively with others to ensure high performance within PIU’s matrix operating structure.
• Develop and encourage talent through on-going staff development, succession planning, career management; proactively address poor performance through timely constructive feedback, coaching and appropriate corrective action.
• Foster an inclusive environment by implementation of policies and ways-of-working that provide for diversity and equal opportunities and utilisation of a leadership style that will drive employee engagement.
• Ensure that staff are managed in accordance with good HR management practice and provided with a safe and conducive working environment; includes ensuring that all legal and statutory obligations are fulfilled.


KRA 7: Safeguarding, Gender Equality & Inclusion
Ensure that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS:
Qualifications
• A Degree in a relevant field.
• Certification in Project Planning and Management (PMD Pro ideally) and M&E certification is an advantage.
• At least 5 years’ post-graduation experience, with a minimum of three years’ experience in implementing specialism preferably with an International Non-Governmental Organization and/or private sector.
• At least three years prior experience of managing partnerships as well as implementing donor projects

Leadership Competencies
Myself as a Leader
• Leads through influence rather than position, and role models our values, accelerating gender equality inside and outside PIU; leads change by developing new ideas and strategies.

Lasting Impact
• Sets and communicates ambitious but realistic work goals and priorities, explaining how these contribute to Plan International’s purpose.

Open & Accountable
• Ensures effective delivery by leading through others, working closely with our support functions, keeping abreast of what is going on in own business unit or function and responding quickly if problems arise.

Work Well Together
• Builds positive relationships outside their own work area, communicates clearly and persuasively with large and diverse groups of people; willing to compromise own preferences to achieve our broader purpose and longer-term impact.

Inclusive & Empowering
• Delegates tasks and decisions, trusting and stretching others but ensuring they have the resources and support they need; adopts a coaching approach with the people they manage or advise.

Skills & Knowledge
• Creates space for reflection and uses external evidence and internal evaluation to identify what and how we need to improve; creates a safe environment for others to challenge self or raise concerns; leads the team to implement changes as a result of what has been learned.

Critical Business Management Competencies
• Broad and deep understanding of the political, social, financial and cultural drivers of inequality; with practical experience of developing and implementing strategies for change
• Demonstrated expertise in designing and leading the impactful implementation of significant projects; utilising good practice in MERL to set targets and adaptively managing to ensure achievement of results.
• Good grasp of financial management including understanding relevant funding sources, ability to budget and accurately estimate costs, experience with reading financial reports and taking appropriate action based on the results.
• Strong ability to analyse and interpret an appropriate range of data and evidence, both internal and external, using sound judgement to make balanced decisions, based on insights gained, or projection of trends.
• Strong written and spoken communication skills, including in relevant local languages, with an ability to effectively adjust content and presentation to suit varied audiences internally and externally, to get key messages across.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills with an ability to relate effectively to a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds; proven track record of leading collaborative working relationships and resolving conflicts between parties with differing interests.
• Critical Technical Competencies
• Experience of leading others with a track record of delegating work effectively, supporting good performance of others and promoting staff wellbeing and motivation.
• Demonstrated budget management experience (with experience managing full project budgets an advantage).
• Demonstrated experience working with youth empowerment and advocacy programmes in Uganda, with demonstrable skills and understanding of issues facing young women in Uganda.
• Experience of the project management cycle, especially on the participatory approach, and a track record of successful delivery of impactful projects.
• Desirable: Experience in networking with poor children and their families, local and international NGOs, local government partners, and local community-based organizations.


Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 60

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

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