Program Manager – Nursing Leadership for Surgical Excellence (NLSE)

POSITION DETAIL

Job title: Program Manager – Nursing Leadership for Surgical Excellence (NLSE)

Organization: Lifebox

About us: Global nonprofit making surgery and anaesthesia safer worldwide

Reporting to: Head of Programs for East and Southern Africa

Key relationships: Nursing Clinical LeadProgram team colleagues; project partners; consultants; clinical team; Lifebox staff

Location: Preferably Ethiopia or Liberia

ABOUT LIFEBOX

Lifebox is a global nonprofit founded to tackle the crisis of unsafe surgery. By investing in tools, training, and partnerships, we address critical gaps in surgical systems to make surgery and anaesthesia safer worldwide. Lifebox’s work focuses on three core areas: anaesthesia safety, surgical teamwork, and reducing surgical infection. Since 2011, Lifebox has worked in over 116 countries, trained more than 12,000 healthcare providers, and made 181 million surgeries safer. www.lifebox.org

NLSE PROJECT

In 2022 Lifebox was awarded a three-year grant to deliver a leadership project for nurses working in perioperative settings. The project concept is rooted in learning gained by Lifebox teams over years of safer surgery program implementation in collaboration with nurses, surgeons, and anesthetists. This project is the first opportunity for Lifebox to design, test and implement a program which meets the specific needs of nurses working in perioperative care areas.

The Nursing Leadership for Surgical Excellence project was initiated in April 2022. The project objectives are:

• To improve the team work, communication and leadership skills of perioperative nurses
• To develop and pilot training modules that improve the soft skills of perioperative nurses, in order to enhance the quality of surgical nursing care.
• To support trainees to implement Quality Improvement projects in their hospitals.

Since its inception, significant progress has been achieved, including:

• Created an Advisory Team of nine senior professionals with nursing backgrounds and from different countries & institutions
• Selected pilot countries – Liberia and Ethiopia – as well as pilot sites.
• Agreements have been reached with pilot facilities
• Training curriculum drafted and training materials consisting of ten modules created
• 18 NLSE trainers identified

Upcoming steps involve a review of the training material and modules to facilitate the finalization of its development, designing an M&E framework and tools, and engaging with trainers and partners to commence recruitment of trainees and national mentors. Pending activities will be finalized, and a revised work plan developed to support program launch and start of training.

PURPOSE OF ROLE

The Program Manager will ensure that all aspects of the Nursing project are managed and delivered to the highest standards. The Program Manager will work closely with a core project team, including the Head of Programs, Nursing Clinical Lead and Nursing Fellow.

The Program Manager will manage all aspects of the program’s design and delivery, managing and working closely with the project and Lifebox teams in Liberia, in Ethiopia, and partner hospital coordinators. The Program Manager will ensure that all trainees, trainers and mentors are supported in order to ensure high quality and timely delivery of key milestones. Additionally, the Program Manager will ensure that the project objectives and critical milestones are delivered on target throughout the program period, working closely with the other program and clinical team members; other external collaborators; and Lifebox staff. This will involve creating and tracking tasks and deliverables against a milestone chart including scheduling and organizing project activities, organizing and minuting meetings and teleconferences, drafting project reports and updates for Lifebox and other stakeholders.

Working with the Lifebox Finance Manager, the PM will ensure that all spending is in line with the grant budget, appropriately tracked and documented.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Overseeing all aspects of the project to ensure that it is managed and delivered to the highest standards.
• Input into the project design and scope, ensuring that it is appropriate, relevant and of the highest quality in order to meet the overall goals
• Work closely with the Nursing Clinical Lead and Nursing Fellow
• Facilitate the review, finalization and execution of project deliverables including training materials/modules, budgeting, action plans and monitoring processes
• Develop and implement a project plan that is aligned with project objectives.
• Lead the development of an M&E framework and tools to effectively monitor and evaluate project progress.
• Work closely with and guide the Clinical Lead, Nursing Fellow and the Head of Programs to conceive of research and academic papers; develop and submit abstracts, conference presentations, and manuscripts for publication
• Document key decisions and progress towards goals
• Submit activity reports, meeting minutes and financial reports as required by Lifebox and the project funder
• Monitor project activities and project expenditure, and coordinate work with country based staff members
• Work with the Lifebox communications team to create materials and events to increase awareness and understanding of the project amongst stakeholders
• Ensure close collaboration and coordination of the project in the pilot countries, with effective learning and experience sharing
• Plan on future steps of scale up from the beginning
• Other duties as assigned.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

Qualifications: A Postdoctoral or Master’s degree in nursing, public health or health management

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of work experience in nursing leadership, healthcare management or project management in global health, ideally with a focus on perioperative nursing care
• Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of perioperative nursing care in the context of global surgery
• Experience in project management, including budget management, stakeholder engagement and reporting
• Proven ability to analyze data and information, and share key messages and themes with a range of audiences
• Ability to effectively manage and prioritize multiple work streams, and to work independently and proactively
• Experience of designing budgets and managing and monitoring expenditure
• Excellent written and spoken English

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong leadership, mentorship and coaching skills
• Excellent computer literacy, with proficiency in Google Drive, data analysis software and online communication tools
• Ability to manage a complex and dynamic workload with competing priorities within tight deadlines
• Proven ability to work independently and as part of a team

Language:

• Fluency in English, both written and spoken

Desirable

• Experience in working with international organizations
• Proven experience in designing, implementing and evaluating training programs for nurses
• Knowledge of Quality Improvement methodologies, with experience in implementing quality improvement projects in healthcare settings
• Fluency in Amharic and/or French
• Experience in working with perioperative nurses in low-resource settings