Bilingual Program Director, Africa Region

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is the national umbrella organization for the nation’s leading network of women’s health care providers, educators, and advocates, serving women, men, teens and families. Planned Parenthood Action Fund is the advocacy and political arm of PPFA. For over 100 years, Planned Parenthood has done more than any other organization in the United States to improve women’s health and safety, prevent unintended pregnancies, and advance the right and ability of individuals and families to make informed and responsible health care decisions. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and Planned Parenthood Global seeks a Seasoned, dynamic and dedicated Bilingual Programs Director in the Africa Regional Office (ARO). This job reports to the Regional Director, ARO and can be based in Kenya, Uganda or Senegal.

S/he will support Program Leads/Officers in their work with partners to strengthen the programmatic, institutional, and financial capacity to implement sustainable Sexual and Reproductive Health programs in line with their respective missions. The Africa Regional Office provides technical, financial, and programmatic support to PP Global funded partners in the Africa Region

Purpose

The Bilingual Programs Director/Coordinator oversees all aspects of project implementation within the Africa Region. S/he supports Program Leads/Country Program Officers in their work with partners to ensure/assure optimum impact and results.

S/he will be responsible for the effective implementation and management of all ARO projects. In this role s/he will also be responsible for strategizing, creating and facilitating processes throughout all project lifecycles including, maintaining annual budgets, workplans and reports. S/he will oversee all operational related aspects of ARO projects ensuring alignment of activities with budgets, while supporting program teams to meet reporting deadlines and monitoring the progress of projects against key performance indicators on a routine basis. This position requires an individual to work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders routinely ensuring all parties are kept informed of changes or updates to project deliverables or timelines

KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

In consultation with the Regional Director, and working with US based colleagues, provide oversight support and guidance to Country Teams on the following

Work plans

• Development of partner project implementation plans and budgets in collaboration with Program leads/Country Officers
• In consultation with Regional Director and Program leads in ARO, develop and facilitate the implementation of project work plans in a coordinated and integrated manner.
• Monitoring programmatic and financial performance of projects through site visits (with leads and officers) and review and analysis of programmatic and financial reports. Virtual meetings can substitute site visits when the situation so dictates.

Technical Assistance

• Identification of partner training and technical assistance (TA) needs and tailoring training and TA to ensure programmatic, organizational, and financial strengthening; and as needed, development and implementation of programmatic M&E plans (including tools) and financial monitoring.
• Provide guidance to program leads on the provision of technical support on project implementation and management to in-country programs as needed and ensure that they meet the expected agreed targets.
• Work with ARO Regional Director, program leads, LARO, HQ and ARO Program Officers supporting projects for additional technical assistance support for implementation by partners.
• Ensure that program staff are trained in carrying out TA and other program management functions, including follow up on systems development, supervision, service delivery, financial and commodity management, and project evaluation issues. Keep with other TA related tasks.
• Provide on-site/virtual Technical Assistance (TA) and obtain specialized TA for grantees as required.

Finance

• Works with the Grants & Compliance team on overall project financial management to ensure pipelines are accurate, meet timelines for the set objectives.
• Ensure timely and regular reporting of all project’s activities and expenses to Africa Regional Director, donors and HQ
• Work with finance to provide financial oversight for all project activities.

Reports/Proposals/Writing

• Coordinates the production of project donor reports in a timely manner and works with the Regional Director and other program leads/teams on finalizing donor reports for submission to HQ.
• Guide program leads/officers in writing project updates and reports as needed and share with the Regional Director, Africa.
• Provide guidance and leadership to program leads on writing abstracts and articles for publication and makes presentations at meetings and conferences.

Monitoring/Review/Learning

• In collaboration with the Evidence Learning & Impact(EL&I)Team, oversees overall program Monitoring and Evaluation through reports and on-site visits as well as ensuring accurate data for purposes of reporting, program improvement and donor accountability.
• Work with partner organizations and project staff in conducting project reviews and development of refunding proposals based on results of the review processes.
• Promote learning, knowledge management and testing of innovative approaches to address critical challenges in program implementation.
• Work collaboratively with Latin America and US-based headquarters staff to promote cross-regional learning and collaboration; .
• Collaborates on program evaluation and other relevant SRHR research activities.
• Work with the Operations team to ensure program teams remain compliant to PPG processes and procedures

Strategy/Planning

• Work with ARO Senior Management Team members and country teams to plan, develop and align ARO strategies and interventions across programs with the divisional strategic priorities.
• Track progress towards PP Global’s strategic plan and specific donor objectives.
• Participate in strategic planning and the design of new project initiatives,

General

• Manage, lead, and develop in country focal point persons, to ensure effective management and high performance.
• Assists/leads on new partnership opportunities including the development of technical proposals.
• Participation in the orientation of new (program) staff on PP Global systems and procedures and project management.
• Monitor the operational environment with respect to increased level of threat on implementation of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) by PP Global partners.
• Attend meetings as may be necessary, which is part of this role
• Perform any other duties as may be assigned by the Regional Director.

Engagement:

Regularly interacts with other regional office staff (ARO/LARO) and collaborates with New York office staff, as appropriate to ensure work is on time and meets performance goals. Divisional policy, work plan and project needs determine the nature and frequency of external contacts. These include a well-defined constituency that has a moderate influence on regional office activities, assigned projects or operations. Requires regular contact with in-country partners, colleagues, and sister organizations, to advance PPFA/PP Global interests.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):

Education: Master’s Degree, or related number of years of experience, in public health, SRHR, international development, sociology or related field required.

Experience working on SRHR is required

Experience: Ten to Fifteen years of experience in project planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, and working with programs to identify and address training and technical assistance needs, preferably with a reproductive health and rights focus.

Experience working in multi-sector programs.

Skills or Related Knowledge: Ability to work independently and as a member of a team. Ability to synthesize information and generate persuasive and clear verbal and written communications; strong time management skills and the ability to multitask and meet deadlines with a keen attention to detail and follow through; self-directed; and able to anticipate, prioritize, and manage tasks.

Excellent written and oral English communication skills and French. Must demonstrate good interpersonal and negotiation skills, in addition to ability to work autonomously, using good decision making and computer skills (word processing, spreadsheet and statistical analysis applications). Analytical problem solving using systematic approaches to analyze and propose solutions is part of everyday activities, and cultural sensitivity is imperative. Knowledge of reproductive health issues.

TRAVEL :

Ability to travel a minimum of 50% of time within the country and outside the country.