Senior Programme Manager

Jhpiego is an international, non-profit health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University. For 50 years and in over 155 countries, Jhpiego has worked to prevent the needless deaths of women and their families. In Eswatini Jhpiego is implementing the Reaching Impact Saturation and Epidemic Control (RISE) project. RISE is a multi-country project funded by the U.S. Government to save lives and improve health through integrated, evidence-based approaches to address urgent gaps in lifesaving services. RISE works across all levels of the health system to strengthen the HIV/TB epidemic response, to limit the spread of deadly disease outbreaks through Global Health Security (GHS) programming, and to reduce preventable morbidity and mortality through integrated maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), nutrition, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria services. Since 2019, RISE has supported programs in more than 25 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The Senior Program Manager serves as the Chief of Party’s principal implementation management and coordination lead, ensuring effective execution of project activities, operational excellence, and achievement of project results. SPM translates strategic plans into actionable work plans and provides day-to-day oversight of project execution across technical, operational, financial, monitoring and evaluation, and administrative functions.

Working closely with the Chief of Party, technical leadership, finance, operations, M&E and field teams, the SPM ensures the project activities are effectively coordinated, implemented on schedule, compliant with donor and organizational requirements, and aligned with national priorities. The SPM serves as the primary focal point for implementation management, facilitating communication, problem solving, risk mitigation, resource coordination, and adaptive management across all project work streams. This position will also proactively identify opportunities to implement quality improvement and assurance initiatives in the assigned project area.

S/he will work within the project team to develop and deliver solutions to further enhance effectiveness of the projects. The SPM is responsible for the delivery of program activities within the established scope, budget and timeline. This position is accountable for ensuring that strong project management methodology, practices and tools are being applied.

Key Responsibilities

Program Leadership, Coordination and Implementation

• Partner with the Chief of Party on strategic planning, prioritization, and decision-making, independently leading the operationalization and adaptive management of resulting decisions.
• Own and drive the project workplan and implementation calendar, ensuring alignment across all technical, operational and field implementation activities.
• Coordinate the quarterly program performance monitoring meetings and drive timely follow-up and resolution of action items arising from meetings, assessments, reviews, and field activities.
• Champion a culture of quality improvement, accountability, learning, and innovation throughout project implementation.
• Design and lead implementation of process improvements and operational efficiencies.

Strategic Growth and Partnerships

• Lead engagement between the Eswatini country office and the Global SGP team on new business development opportunities
• Independently identify and pursue new funding opportunities with local and international donors
• Lead proposal development efforts in close collaboration with technical teams and the Chief of Party

Supervision and Performance Management

• Provide direct supervision, mentorship, coaching, and performance management to supervisees
• Foster a culture of teamwork, collaboration, continuous improvement, problem-solving, and results-oriented implementation.

Government, Partner and Stakeholder Communication and Reporting

• Serve as a key operational liaison with government counterparts, implementing partners, subrecipients, donors, and other stakeholders.
• Coordinate implementation of above site activities at regional level in supporting the RHMTs
• Build and maintain productive working relationships with government agencies, donors, implementing partners, and consortium members, keeping the Chief of Party informed of key developments.
• Represent the project in technical, operational, and coordination forums as delegated by the Chief of Party.
• Facilitate alignment of project activities with national priorities, policies, guidelines, and implementation frameworks. 

Documentation, Reporting and Knowledge Management

• Establish and maintain comprehensive project documentation systems within the Jhpiego systems including work plans, meeting minutes, risk registers, implementation trackers, lessons learned, technical briefs, success stories and progress reports.
• Lead the preparation and submission of ad hoc requests for project leadership, donors, government counterparts, and other stakeholders.
• Lead development of presentations, briefing materials, success stories, technical briefs, communication products, and project updates.
• Ensure timely documentation and dissemination of project achievements, lessons learned, and implementation experiences.

Required Education & Experience

• Master’s degree in public health, Business Administration, Project Management, or a related field. .
• Minimum of 8-9 years of experience in program management, operations management, or project coordination within international development or health programs in Eswatini.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex program implementations involving multiple stakeholders and work streams.
• Prior work experience in United States Government health programs, strong familiarity with local health systems, government structures, and donor-funded programs strongly preferred. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong project and program management skills.
• Excellent leadership, coordination, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and competing deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience working and writing proposals
• Strong facilitation, negotiation, and relationship management skills.

Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and project management tools.

• Ability to work effectively in multicultural and multidisciplinary environments.
• Demonstrated commitment to quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Working Conditions

• Location: Based at the Mbabane office with frequent travel to regional and site offices as needed to support program implementation.
• Travel: Expected to travel up to 40% of the time to support operational and program activities.
• Work Schedule: Standard business hours with flexibility required to accommodate stakeholder meetings and program deadlines.

Jhpiego offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive employee benefits package.

Please apply at www.jhpiego.org/careers

Applicants must submit a single document for upload to include: cover letter, resume, and references. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis due to the urgency of the appointment

For further information about Jhpiego, visit our website at www.jhpiego.org

Note: The successful candidate selected for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation.

Jhpiego is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer

Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University affiliate, is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, other legally protected characteristics or any other occupationally irrelevant criteria. Jhpiego promotes Affirmative Action for minorities, women, individuals who are disabled, and veterans.

EEO is the Law

RECRUITMENT SCAMS & FRAUD WARNING

Jhpiego has become aware of scams involving false job offers. Please be advised:

• Recruiters will never ask for a fee during any stage of the recruitment process.
• All active jobs are advertised directly on our careers page.
• Official Jhpiego emails will always arrive from a @Jhpiego.org email address.
• Please report any suspicious communications to Info@jhpiego.org

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