Project Manager - Nutrition & Health System Strengthening

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Employee Contract Type:

Job Description:

World Vision International – Lao PDR (WVIL) is a partner of the UNICEF Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) initiative and in partnership with UNICEF and the Ministry of Health (MOH), aims to strengthen maternal and child nutrition services and reduce child waste in 15 districts of Savannakhet province. WVIL will work closely with Provincial and District Health Office, Health Center, Village Health Volunteer (VHVs) and communities to strengthen the prevention, early detection and treatment of acute malnutrition, improve maternal and child nutrition services including Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS), enhance preventive nutrition services, promote positive nutrition behaviors, and pilot innovative food-based solutions for complementary feeding and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) management.

The Project is 33 months in duration and will focus on achieving the following expected outcomes and outputs:

-         Strengthened quality and coverage of Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM/CMAM) services through improved community screening, referral, treatment, follow-up and supportive supervision systems.

-         Improved access to and utilization of maternal nutrition services, including maternal nutrition counselling, weight gain monitoring, IFA and MMS for pregnant and lactating women.

-         Improved access to and utilization of integrated preventive nutrition services, including maternal nutrition, Growth Monitoring and Promotion (GMP), Vitamin A supplementation, deworming, breastfeeding support and MIYCN counselling for pregnant women, caregivers and children under five.

-         Strengthened capacity of health workers, Village Health Volunteers and local authorities through training, coaching, mentoring and supportive supervision on nutrition service delivery and acute malnutrition management.

-         Improved caregiver knowledge and practices on infant and young child feeding, dietary diversity, complementary feeding and care-seeking behaviors through Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) interventions

-         Increased adoption of innovative food-based solutions, complementary feeding approaches and locally available nutritious foods for prevention and treatment of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM).

-         Strengthened coordination, monitoring, evidence generation and learning system to support sustainable nutrition programming and improved nutrition outcomes in target communities.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITES

Activity

Project and Team Management

·      Lead and be accountable for high-quality implementation of the SPOON Project, in alignment with the requirements of the donor (UNICEF), internal standard and processes of the organization, and government counterparts.

·      Responsible for producing annual, quarterly and monthly action plans across 15 target districts, ensuring quality implementation of activities and achievement of project outputs.

·      Lead and supervise the project team (3 team members) capacity building and mentoring, through on-the-job coaching, work planning, honest and timely feedback, field monitoring, and identification of learning/training needs and opportunities.

·      Ensure effective coordination and integration of other World Vision projects in the same target districts and provinces

·      Provide technical leadership and input to the project to ensure objectives and outcomes are achieved as per plan.

. Provide strategic and technical oversight for Maternal Nutrition, IFA/MMS, Growth Monitoring and Promotion (GMP), MIYCN, Family MUAC, IMAM/CMAM, complementary feeding and food-based solutions for MAM prevention and treatment.

Reporting, monitoring, evaluation and learning

·      Responsible for writing accurate and quality quarterly and annual reports for donor and Government, including producing expected annexes (beneficiary lists, photos, stories, etc.) in English.

·      Ensure M&E system of the project is in place, monitoring tools are in place, and timely baseline and evaluation are conducted

·     Supervise data collection, and conduct quality assurance spot checks.

·      Analyze quarterly data to identify gaps, and reflect on improvement to be incorporated for project implementation. Consistently look for more effective and efficient implementation methods and opportunities to increase impact.

·      Actively engage with field work, monthly site visits and field-based coaching. Ensure that the project team is actively monitoring progress, identifying lessons and reviewing plans together on a monthly basis in a way that creates awareness, teamwork and ownership.

·     Facilitate learning of best practice by ensuring a continuous learning process is developed and in place with key staff and partners.

·      Lead project baseline and endline progress including sharing with appropriate partners.

·      Monitor project performance against key indicators related project interventions.

 . Ensure routine data quality assessments, data review meetings and evidence-based decision making are integrated into project implementation.

Administration and Financial Management of the Project

* Work closely with the finance department to monitor project finances, expenditure, cash flow, and financial risks, ensure compliance with World Vision Guidelines

* Analyze of project spending and plan for remaining budget and project timeline

* Approve project expenses according to the Limit of Authority (LoA). For expenses beyond the LoA, review and confirm them before purchases are approved.

Representation, networking and advocacy

* Lead regular communication and coordination at National and Province level

* Coordination in the area of implementation, including seeking cooperation for joint advocacy opportunities at district, provincial and national level

* Coordinate with UNICEF project coordinator to conduct field monitoring

* Conduct joint monitoring visit with government counterparts

* Regularly participate on different technical working groups relevant to the projects.

* Sharing learning in the internal meeting and learning platforms

* Coordinate with UNICEF Child Nutrition Fund (CNF) partners, Government counterparts and other nutrition, health and food security programmes to strengthen coordination, learning, complementarity and avoid duplication of efforts.

Other duties as assigned by the Program Operation Director, as illustrative examples

* Commitment and support in case of humanitarian emergency

* Provision of technical support in existing health, nutrition programs and design of new opportunities

KNOWLEDGE/QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE ROLE

Required Professional Experience

• Public Health, Nutrition, Health Sciences or related qualification with minimum 7-10 years of experience implementing health and nutrition programmes preferably with an International Non-Government Organization.
• Demonstrated experience in maternal nutrition, MIYCN/IYCF, wasting prevention and treatment, IMAM/CMAM programming and health system strengthening.
• Experience working with heath workers, village health volunteers, and communities to strengthen nutrition services delivery and behaviour change interventions.
• 5-8 years’ experience of project or operation management of a grant funded project with strong leadership and team management skills.
• Experience and competent skills in project planning, budgeting, monitoring, team managing and donor reporting.
• Demonstrated coordination experience with Government, UNICEF and development partners at Provincial and National levels.
• Strong IT skills to support tool development for monitoring of the project progress.
• Good experience from field work and project monitoring to ensure quality deliverables of the project
• Demonstrated strong understanding of project financial management
• Ability to plan and work independently, result driven according to project targets.
• Demonstrated coordination experience with Government and development partners at Provincial and/or National level
• Demonstrated organizational and time management skills, working in a team and the ability to work under pressure and to organize and manage workload to meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated experience in following standard policies, procedures and processes and ensure the implementation of basic standard transactions including the management and acquittal of a cash advance.
• Demonstrated good interpersonal skills, sound judgment, planning, problem solving and team and local partner building skills.

Required Education, training, license, registration, and certification

• Bachelor or Master Degree in Public Health, Nutrition, Medicine, Community Health, Health science or related field
• Have strong IT and M&E skills
• Excellent English writing skills
• Proven experience in capacity building, health system strengthening and community interventions in Health and Nutrition.
• A willingness to understand and agree with WV’s vision, mission and core values.
• Excellent ability in Microsoft Word, Excel and numeric skills.

Preferred Knowledge and Qualifications

• Experience working with UNICEF-funded nutrition programmes.
• Knowledge of National IMAM Guidelines, CMAM approaches and Family MUAC.
• Experience in maternal nutrition, IFA/MMS programming, MIYCN/IYCF and Growth Monitoring and Promotion.
• Experience in DHIS2, nutrition information systems and data quality assessment.
• Experience implementing complementary feeding interventions and innovative food-based solutions for MAM prevention and treatment.
•  Experience leading Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) strategies and community-based behaviour change interventions.
•  Experience managing multi-district nutrition programmes and coordination with Provincial and District Health Offices.
  

Travel and/or Work Environment Requirement

Based at Province level, with the willingness to travel often (50% of the time)

Physical Requirements

In good health and physical conditions to move frequently among districts, and reach remote villages.

Willingness to travel and stay overnight at community.

Language Requirements

English, Lao (preferable) and preferred local ethnic minority language of the district.

Applicant Types Accepted: