Country Program Manager

The Project Director (PD)/Country Program Manager provides vision, leadership and direction to ensure the strategic, programmatic, technical, and financial integrity for a Department of State funded malaria project in Cameroon. This project is part of an overall global award.

This project supports the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) to implement activities to reduce malaria morbidity and maternal and child mortality. 

The Project Director/Country Program Manager will have the overall responsibility for leadership and management and reporting of project activities in Cameroon, and will ensure frequent communication with the global project team and alert them of any concerns/risks and highlights. S/he will be responsible for making key decisions and solving problems in short timeframes while ensuring operational and project quality and integrity. S/he will serve as the project’s main point of contact with Department of State in Cameroon on routine and strategic matters. S/he will also ensure effective organizational management and communication with host country governments and key stakeholders at all levels, including international entities. 

The PD/Country Program Manager will also act as the project's in-country representative, with the support of international teams and in line with Jhpiego's technical approaches and operational policies. Where necessary, the Country Program Manager will also support the identification and development of new business opportunities.

Strategic Leadership

• Implement the country strategy and ensure programmatic and financial integrity of Jhpiego’s efforts in country 
• Participate actively in senior management team
• Develop and maintain outstanding working relationships with donors and potential donors, MOH, relevant Government departments, county governments, national and international implementing partners, and others who can help in Jhpiego’s efforts to strengthen support to the country
• Ensure that all Jhpiego activities are in line with country priorities, and include substantial engagement of national partners  

Strategic Growth and Partnerships

• Work with the SMT to develop and implement a country specific positioning/communication plan in line with global and country strategy, and ensure that achievements from donor projects are communicated externally
• Support application to funding opportunities for Jhpiego Cameroon
• Provide strong representation of Jhpiego at public facing events – including preparing and delivering high quality presentations at national fora
• Develop and maintain outstanding working relationships with MOH, relevant Government departments, local governments, national and international implementing partners, and others who can help in Jhpiego’s efforts to strengthen support to the country

Technical and Program Quality Assurance

• Mentor/coach Project team to ensure they are delivering quality projects
• Ensure that all projects in country are adhering to technical and programmatic standards
• Ensure projects are started up and closed out successfully according to donor and Jhpiego guidelines.
• Ensure that annual workplans are high quality and meet donor and Jhpiego guidelines.
• Monitor all projects for completion of deliverables on time, scope and budget
• Work with global GPTE technical teams to assess technical quality of programs
• Alert Country team of any technical or programmatic issues

Financial and Management Compliance

• In coordination with Country Director and Finance and Administration Director ensure that Projects are monitoring their financial expenses according to the workplan and in line with Jhpiego policies and SOPs, and donor and national requirements.
• Serve as bank signatory as needed
• Respond to all requests from compliance team and alert them as soon as possible to any potential incident

Human Resource Management

• Supervise and participate with the HR team in HR management decisions
• Provide coaching/mentoring/professional development opportunities for project staff.
• Create a team environment where staff can thrive and complete their objectives

Supervision

• Provides coaching, guidance and mentorship to direct report(s) where needed
• Sets targets and objectives for assigned area and delivers results
• Grows team expertise to align with program and organizational direction while continually looking for ways to provide / enhance the value delivered
• Tracks, monitors and effectively addresses and / or rewards performance of team members
• Manages employees in compliance with all HR policies, procedures, guidelines
• Shares knowledge, information, skills and subject matter expertise among the team and ensures the timely communication of issues while encouraging good working relationships with other functions / teams
• Recruits for all hires to ensure a highly diverse, qualified workforce with the necessary capabilities needed to achieve goals

• Advanced degree in public health, health economics, business or a related field
• 8-9 years’ experience successfully managing large, multi-year health sector development projects that have implemented activities in malaria control and elimination, case management of malaria, and/or health systems strengthening in Cameroon (5+ years’ experience must have been as Project Director, Deputy Chief of Party, or Sr. Technical Director).    
•  Fluent in French and English

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Technical knowledge in malaria and maternal child health and Cameroon health care system
• Project management:  Demonstrated ability to manage donor funded public health projects and budgets on time and scope. Experience developing successful, replicable and sustainable projects in Cameroon
• Risk Management: Experience implementing risk matrices and managing ongoing risks
• Monitoring and Evaluation: Strong understanding of MEL concepts, ability to work with MEL team to track indicators and identify and adapting best practices to specific project contexts
• HR: Proven track record in successfully managing recruitment, professional development, and managing HR issues.
• Coaching/mentoring skills: Technical skills to coach, mentor and develop technical capacity in program and technical staff
• Compliance: Understanding of different donor’s regulations and reporting requirements, knowledge of local laws related to HR and finance, and experience ensuring a compliant workplace and how to deal with incidents.
• Communications: Fluent in written and spoken English. Ability to prepare and deliver high level presentations and reports

COMPETENCIES

• Diplomacy: Excellent diplomacy skills and a proven ability to establish and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships with multiple donors, host-country counterparts and representatives from other key stakeholders such as NGOs, CSOs, and the private sector
• Strategic thinking: Ability to develop a country strategy with objectives and key results and engage the project team to implement and monitor the strategy effectively.
• Problem solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Proven ability to work in a complex environment charged with multiple tasks, short deadlines and intense pressure to perform
• Partnerships: Experience working within the Cameroon health system and the devolved system of government. Demonstrated ability to build capacity and collaboration between governmental and non-governmental partners and other project implementers and with donors.
• External Communications: Ability to distil main messages from projects and communicate clearly and succinctly to stakeholders.
• Team leader: Proven experience in leading highly skilled and qualified staff (evidence of leading a technical and program team of more than 20 staff), including administrative and finance personnel and fostering a team environment where personnel thrive.  

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

Ability to travel locally for up to 40%