Senior Programme Manager

About the role

Location: Zimbabwe or any other country where we have an office

MAIN JOB PURPOSE

This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the Crown Agents PMO’s reputation in programme excellence as a knowledgeable programme manager and trusted advisors for internal and external clients. Manage and support Crown Agents’ programmes in line with corporate procedures, project management compliance requirements and identify opportunities for continuous improvement and growth, this includes on-selling the programme and supporting business winning activities, with a key focus on delivering US donor funded programming.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES OF JOB

Manage:

• Manage and/or support the full lifecycle of complex programmes and bids within time, scope and budget to a high quality including but limited to projects funded by MCC, USAID, State Department, GSA and/or USTDA
• Performance manage more junior PMO team members as appropriate if requested to do so
• Manage your own time utilisation, ensuring that billable days are allocated to programmes and overhead time is within pre-agreed targets.

Deliver:

Directly manage and support programmes to a high standard ensuring:

• Contracted financial target is met or exceeded.
• Deliverables are produced on time and to the highest quality. This will include coordinating inputs of the programme team to meet key stakeholder requirements.
• Provide timely status reporting, including monthly RAG and quarterly Contract Review Reports updated on time to a high quality standard
• Ensure internal workplans and agreed action plans are followed by programme teams, including consortium partners when relevant.
• Ensure corporate compliance requirements are followed on programmes, this will include safeguarding and security.
• Ensure strong risk management on all programmes, risks are mitigated and escalated as needed.
• Strong internal and external communication is supported, including regular minute taking where appropriate.
• Effective dissemination of cross-organisational learning(s) regarding project delivery are disseminated effectively
• The mobilisation of long and short-term programme team members is supported.
• Excellent relations with stakeholders are maintained and liaise with client, partner and other relevant individuals and organisations as required.
• Management visits to programme countries are undertaken as and when required.
• Target for billable days are achieved as forecast.
• Payment for suppliers and contractors are arranged with the programme accountant.
• The programme accountant is supported to arrange timely invoices, financial reports, forecasts and cashflow projections for internal monitoring purposes and for the client in line with contractual terms.
• Partner expenditure is monitored against budgets, ensuring invoicing is on time and in line with agreed reporting.
• Appropriate monitoring and lesson learning mechanisms are put in place
• Any post-contract issues are documented and resolved as appropriate.

Win:

• Manage and/or support bids as you would a project, ensuring targets are met, finances are managed and reported on, deadlines are adhered to and the quality of deliverables remains high.
• When bid managing, lead the bid process from pre-EOI stage through to commercial negotiations on top priority proposals.
• When bid managing, ensure the bid team meet deadlines, holding team members at all levels accountable to agreed deliverables.
• Identify opportunities to ‘build-out’ from live programmes you manage.

Build:

• Share and enable learnings from programmes and bids to be embedded into corporate processes and future delivery and winning opportunities.
• Share you knowledge of best practice programme delivery with others in the company, providing advice and guidance as needed.
• Continue to build your own knowledge and experience in programme management working closely with PMO team members and others throughout the company.

Be aware of and adhere to company quality standards and procedures in accordance with Crown Agent’s commitment to working to the highest quality standards and striving for continual improvement

Any other duties as appropriate to the position, as requested

About you

Requirement

Qualification

• Degree level or equivalent working experience.

Experience

• Demonstrable experience working in complex and time-pressured contexts
• Demonstrable experience managing or coordinating multi-stakeholder programmes in developing countries
• Experience using Microsoft applications
• Ability to prioritise competing demands and challenging requirements
• Experience coordinating input from consortium partners and senior management
• Experience in managing budgets for effective delivery; closely monitoring cashflow and ensuring strong forecasting and reporting to clients.
• Experience in communications with clients, consortium partners and other programme stakeholders.
• Demonstrable experience of supporting and/or managing teams, supporting innovation and delivering project management excellence
• Experience of delivering programmes on behalf of MCC, USAID, State Department, GSA and/or USTDA as well as other donors/clients
• Exposure to and/or knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, USAID Assistance Regulation (AIDAR) and Automated Directives System (ADS), and other donor regulations related to training, management of field staff and human resources, project accounting and finances, and solicitation and negotiation for project procurements and subawards preferred.

About us

You’ll be working with Crown Agents which is a high impact social enterprise passionate about transforming the future for millions of people. Since our creation in 1833 we have worked across the globe to improve public services and drive economic growth. Our expertise is finding new solutions to difficult problems for clients in the areas of health, governance, economic growth, humanitarian action and supply chain services. We work with and train leaders at local, national and international level to achieve lasting change drawing on our insight and experience.

Crown Agents is committed to diversity and will promote diversity for all candidates at all times as well as a business culture that reflects that belief. Crown Agents will treat everyone equally irrespective of race, religion, colour, sex, age, national origin, disability or sexual orientation, and places an obligation upon all staff to respect and act in accordance with the policy. Crown Agents shall not discriminate unlawfully when deciding which candidates are selected for interview, or in any terms of employment, and will ensure that each candidate is assessed only in accordance with their merits, qualifications and abilities to perform the role. Crown Agents is committed to being an organisation enhanced by diversity and encourages applications from anyone who shares our values and commitment to improving the lives of communities affected by poverty or conflict.

About what’s on offer

Crown Agents offers a competitive benefits package.