Job details

Senior Public Health Project Manager, Program Delivery Group

The Senior Manager (SM) leads project support teams in the home office, providing strategic management support to projects throughout the full lifecycle, including business development. The SM is a senior position in the Center of Project Management Excellence (CPME) within the Program Delivery Group and contributes thought leadership to strategic initiatives of the Group. The SM is a confident leader and seasoned professional with expertise in health project management and support.

Project Support

The SM is the primary home office point of contact for project directors, and ensures cohesion and effective collaboration and communication among the Project Director, Portfolio Director, the CPME support team, technical experts, and MSH business units. The SM provides strategic guidance to the Project Director, project team, and home office staff to establish efficient and effective project management and implementation strategies, navigate challenges, and solve problems. The SM is knowledgeable about donor requirements, contractual requirements, and MSH policies and procedures and provides guidance to the project team to ensure compliance and the use of best practices.

The SM actively monitors deliverable timeliness and quality, performance against indicators in the MERL plan/PMP, Workplan implementation progress, execution of the strategic management plan, project quality improvement, etc. The SM provides guidance to projects and directly contributes to strategic reports, presentations, and correspondence to donors, clearly describing project results and strategies, including compelling data visualization. The SM is knowledgeable about the project and country context and will represent the project internally and externally.

In partnership with the Portfolio Director and Technical Strategy Lead, the SM supports excellence in program implementation in line with MSH’s standards, values, and mission. The SM plans and coordinates all home office support on assigned projects to ensure that the project achieves stated objectives and meets all targets on time and within budget. The SM oversees the CPME staff supporting the projects and provides leadership and guidance to maximize their efficiency and work quality.

Business Development

The SM is a key liaison to MSH’s business development activities, including providing project management input for positioning, proposal development, key personnel selection, proposal review, award negotiation, pre-award preparations, and handover to start up teams.

PDG and CPME Management

Senior Managers are members of the CPME and PDG management teams, and contribute to conceptualizing, leading, and implementing departmental, cross-departmental, and organization-wide initiatives. The SM ensures that the CPME maintains standards and consistency across the entire MSH project portfolio, including designing tools, systems, and processes, and creating and delivering trainings.

Supervision

The SM may be responsible for directly supervising one or more CPME project support staff. SMs will mentor and coach supervisees to help them grow professionally. In our matrix environment, the SM is also expected to provide professional growth opportunities and mentorship to all CPME staff with whom they work.

Management of home office support to the Project Director (75%)

Lead the home office project support team to provide excellent day-to-day and strategic project management support and ensure a collaborative, compliant, and effective working environment. Ensure that all project support functions are carried out effectively by the team (and execute any tasks as needed depending on the staffing levels of the team).
Ensure the Project Director (PD) and the project team is aware of and complies with all donor regulations, award requirements, and MSH policies, procedures, and personnel standards (technical, contractual, financial, business ethics, etc.).
Understand the project environment, donor, network of stakeholders, constituents and counterparts; and support Project Director and Portfolio Director-HQ in the management of these relationships by providing perspective, engagement strategies, and strategic correspondence.
Responsible for timely completion of technical, financial, contractual, and other deliverables in partnership with the TSL and PD, and assure high quality of technical deliverables.
Create a collaborative approach to develop, review, and monitor the work plan, budget, PMP, progress reports, EMMP, strategic communications plan, STTA plan, risk management plan, standards of implementation excellence, and ad hoc reports. Ensure that reports and presentations clearly articulate the project results and strategies and include robust data analysis and visualization.
Assure responsiveness to clients’ needs and requests. Establish effective communication methods and productive relationships with clients and other key stakeholders.
With the project senior management team and the Portfolio Director, routinely analyze the project’s performance against objectives and indicators; develop strategies to overcome delays, insufficient results and other challenges, and ensure improvement.
With the project senior management team and the Portfolio Director, routinely analyze project’s financial performance and develop and monitor cost-share plans.
Oversee and ensure that compliant management and operations systems are in place to effectively support the project’s technical activities and safeguard MSH.
Collaborate with shared services to address any gaps or performance challenges in these systems which include, but are not limited to, human resources, procurement, security, information technology, finance and accounting, and communications.
Support the Project Director in the development of a comprehensive project risk management plan to ensure a strong control environment and that project risks are identified, assessed, prioritized, mitigated, and monitored. Proactively identify and address emerging issues and escalate to Portfolio Director-HQ and the Vice President, Program Delivery as appropriate
Ensure subaward monitoring and mitigation plans are developed and implemented.
Serve as lead for project start-ups and closeouts in accordance with MSH procedures.
Assist the PD to partner with client and donor for preparation and execution of external evaluations and audits and ensure timely resolution of issues identified.
Conduct on-site project management support to projects, as needed, to observe and review project management aspects of program delivery and to obtain “on the ground” experience with project implementation challenges, lessons, and successes.
Represent the project to the MSH leadership team, donors, and other stakeholders as needed, ensuring appropriate messaging for the audience.
Promote knowledge exchange and lessons learned by working with the project team to identify and document challenges, solutions, innovations, best practices, and lessons learned.

Supervision of CPME Project Support Staff (5%)

The SM may be responsible for directly supervising one or more CPME project support staff.
Mentor, coach, and supervise team members and ensure that staff receives thorough onboarding and appropriate training; create and encourage learning and growth opportunities.
Conduct annual review process and goal setting for direct reports and actively monitor performance. Guide direct reports in this process for their own direct reports

Business Development (15%)

Take the lead in providing PDG inputs in new business development by gathering intelligence, positioning, and contributing to proposals. Contributions include assessing the feasibility of implementing proposed technical and implementation strategies, creating the management strategy and start-up plan, designing partner and staffing plans, interviewing and selecting key staff, developing budget assumptions, and reviewing proposals.
Lead pre-award project preparations for priority bids.

PDG and CPME Management (5%)

Actively participate in staff meetings, assigned working groups, information sessions, etc. Contribute the perspective of CPME, PDG, and projects. Gather information to bring back to PDG to keep PDG informed.
Identify staff training needs and support the roll out of new policies and procedures

QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Experience

A graduate degree in public health, international relations, or a field of study relevant to job responsibility is highly preferred. Or a bachelor’s degree in a related area and a minimum of 12-15+ years of relevant work experience supporting or leading global public health or international development projects.
Demonstrated experience in the oversight, management, and implementation of USAID and other donor-funded projects (e.g., CDC, Global Fund, Gates Foundation), including an understanding of donor requirements, trends in donor priorities, and best practices for donor reporting and relations. Experience with USAID PMI projects encouraged.
Demonstrated experience ensuring compliance and successful completion of USAID contracts, and knowledge of USG contractual requirements and restrictions.
Experience working in the home office of global nonprofit organizations or funders, with an understanding of organizational structures and management. Experience supervising professional staff. Experience working successfully in a matrix environment, building professional relationships and communications to collaborate seamlessly with staff on adjacent teams.
Relevant experience working in a lower income country environment on a long-term assignment or multiple short-term assignments.
Experience working in and familiarity with the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, encouraged.

Knowledge and Skills

Proven track record in budgeting and financial management of international projects.
Demonstrated experience planning, writing, and ensuring the quality of project deliverables, including progress reports, technical reports, and documents, as well as other high-level project correspondence and documentation.
Strong interpersonal skills and a demonstrated capacity to lead global teams and to collaborate with colleagues and partner organizations to achieve results.
Demonstrated ability to provide relevant advice to senior project management teams, bringing different perspectives (external, client, MSH corporate, etc.). Ability to guide project teams and support teams in navigating processes and systems.
Strong writing and oral presentation skills in English and a second language as appropriate for the portfolio of countries under supervision.

Competencies

Strategic and cross-cultural agility, business acumen, cross-cultural sensitivity, comfort communicating with higher management, dealing with paradox, perspective, dealing with ambiguity, attention to detail while understanding the big picture, managing diversity and relationships, motivating others, managing for results, prioritization and time management, organizational resilience.
Able to work in a fast-paced, multicultural, results-driven environment.
Proven ability to work independently with minimal direction.
Strong ability to problem solve.
Proven ability to anticipate needs and plan in advance.

Physical Demands

Up to 20% U.S and international travel, keyboard use, pulling drawers, Lifting papers <10lbs

The expected salary range for this position is: $96,900.00 - $125,000.00 annually (U.S. locations only).

MSH considers multiple job-related factors when determining an offer, including but not limited to, business and organizational needs, candidate qualifications, internal equity, location, and internal budget.

Salary is just one of many aspects of our total rewards package; at MSH, our goal is to provide you with a comprehensive set of competitive benefits that includes a substantial vacation, sick and holiday policies, training and development programs, competitive insurance coverage for health, vision, dental, life, short-term and long-term disability, 401k plan, Flexible Spending Account, among others.

The selected candidate is expected to work from one of MSH's offices in the US.

MSH is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, religion, creed, citizenship, national origin, age, veteran status, or disability unrelated to job requirements. MSH will take affirmative action to ensure that qualified applicants are employed and that employees are treated without regard to their race, age, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran and disability status. In compliance with U.S. Department of Labor Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, and Section 4212 of the Vietnam Era Readjustment Assistance Act, MSH has developed and maintains an affirmative action program and plan.

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