Program Manager I

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

CRS launched its work in Ghana in 1958 and currently has robust programming in Agriculture, Landscapes and and Livelihoods; Maternal and Child Health; Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); and Youth, Social Cohesion and Peace Building. Under the Youth, Social Cohesion and Peacebuilding portfolio, CRS is implementing several donor and discretionary funded projects, such as the flagship multi-country Sahel Peace initiative as well as the Providing Livelihood Opportunities and Support for Kayayei Porters (KAYAPORT) proje ct. In partnership with Investors and Partners (I&P), CRS is rolling out the three-year Education To Employment (E2E) project to improve youth employability in Africa through improved access to quality education and training. CRS Ghana has also recently secured funding to implement the Prevention of Violent Extremism through Social Accountability (POVETSA) project.

Job Summary:

You will manage programming in the Country Program (CP) for Youth and Peacebuilding, designing and implementing projects advancing Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) work in serving the poor and vulnerable. Your management skills and knowledge will ensure that the CP delivers high-quality programming and continuously works towards improving the impact of its programming.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

· Manage and implement all activities throughout relevant project cycles – project design, start-up, implementation and close-out – to ensure efficient an d effective implementation in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practices. Ensure project team and partner staff use the appropriate systems and tools.

· Effectively manage talent and supervise. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching, strategically tailor individual development plans, contribute to the recruitment process of project staff, and complete performance management for direct reports.

· Champion learning with project staff and partner teams. Analyze and evaluate project performance data following MEAL policy. Proactively identify issues and concerns and use participatory processes to overcome implementation obstacles.

· Act as a key resource person in project design and proposal development in respective programming area, gap-filling and taking on growth responsibilities, as needed.

· Coordinate the identification of staff capacity and technical a ssistance needs of partner organizations and capacity strengthening and required interventions to support quality project implementation.

· Help identify, assess and strengthen partnerships relevant to Youth and Peacebuilding, applying appropriate application of partnership concepts, tools and approaches.

· Coordinate and monitor financial and material resources relevant to project needs. Through planning and oversight ensure efficient use of project resources

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

· Strong critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills with ability to make sound judgment.

· Strong relationship management skills and the ability to work effectively with culturally diverse groups.

· Strong written and verbal communication skills with ability to write reports

· Proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented

Preferred Qualifications

· Project ma nagement experience in Youth and Peacebuilding is highly desirable.

· Experience engaging with partner organizations.

· Experience contributing to the development of technical proposals.

· MEAL skills and experience preferred.

· Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information management systems.

Required Languages – List languages required to perform the job

Travel – include percentage of required travel, if applicable. Could be stated as Must be willing and able to travel up to 20 %.

Supervisory Responsibilities (if none, state none)

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: Country Representative, Head of Programming, Partnership Capacity Strengthening Advisor, Business Development Specialist, Regional Technical Advisors, and other CRS staff

External: National Peace Council, Regiona l Peace Councils, Decentralized relevant state departments, ministries and agencies, Catholic Diocesan Church Partners, I/NGO partners, Government partners, technical partners, donors, consultants, research and academic institutions, Local Government Units.

Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.