Project Director

Job Details

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is seeking a Project Director to provide leadership and overall management of the child development, care, and protection project in Uganda. The position is based in Kampala and is accountable for day-to-day project leadership, donor compliance, subaward management, and effective coordination with consortium partners and government stakeholders including the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD). The role reports as a senior leader, proactively manages security and mitigates security risks, and advances CRS’ work in serving the poor and vulnerable. Travel up to 30% to project locations and field offices outside Kampala is required. This is a full-time position contingent upon successful award of the project. Work Hours: 8.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as lead relationship manager and representative with all in-country stakeholders including MoH, MGLSD, foreign governments, civil society partners, other FBOs, and community networks; oversee identification, assessment and strengthening of partnerships applying CRS partnership principles, tools and approaches
• Lead all aspects of development, implementation and consolidation of the project in Uganda; provide management, guidance and technical oversight throughout the project cycle to ensure design, start-up, implementation and close-out are in line with CRS quality principles, donor guidelines and industry best practices
• Manage integration of child protection project processes and activities with the global project team and establish a safe environment for sharing ideas, solutions and difficulties with capacity to detect, analyze and respond quickly to deficiencies
• Oversee development of staffing plans and recruitment of senior staff; effectively manage senior programming and operations talent, manage team dynamics and staff well-being, provide coaching and mentoring, tailor individual development plans and complete performance assessments for direct reports
• Manage and mitigate risk through monitoring national and regional issues that may impact staff and programming; ensure all staff understand and adhere to CRS staff safety and security policies and plans
• Oversee project technical assistance and capacity strengthening activities for staff and partner organizations to enhance program quality and impact; ensure project is co-created and implemented to meet donor expectations in timely and quality results, budget, and strategies for phase out and sustainability; ensure adherence to CRS program quality standards per MEAL policy and procedures
• Lead development of program learning and share how the project contributes to thought leadership; identify opportunities for learning, research and publications; facilitate dissemination of promising practices and lessons learned; ensure integration of innovations and best practices
• Promote, uphold and model efficient use of agency and donor resources; ensure compliance with donor guidelines including financial tracking and oversight of partner budgets, finance, milestones, administration and reporting; approve program expenditures, budget adjustments and cost modification requests to donors
• Oversee development of communication strategies and materials, complying with donor and CRS branding and marketing requirements

Qualifications, Skills and Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in a health-related field, international development, or international relations required
• Minimum 8 years' relevant management and health technical experience required
• Minimum 5 years' experience managing donor funds, including multi-country grants; strong knowledge and experience in budget management required
• Minimum 2 years' experience managing staff and abilities conducive to a learning environment; experience coaching senior program staff required
• Master's or Doctorate Degree in social work, education, health or a related field preferred
• Recognized leader in sector as demonstrated by peer reviewed publications, conference presentations etc. preferred
• Experience engaging partners and strengthening partnerships including government at national and sub-national levels; knowledge of CRS partnership strategy preferred
• Demonstrated understanding of service delivery systems in the health sector, primary health care, national health strategies, and role of governmental, civil society and faith-based partners
• Strong relationship management abilities; ability to lead and manage partner relationships at high levels and relate to people at all levels internally and externally
• Demonstrated experience of successful program management, leading and coaching diverse, multi-disciplinary teams; strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking and problem-solving skills
• Strong communications and presentation skills; able to develop tailored and persuasive messaging for varied audiences
• Experience in MS Office package (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio), Web Conferencing Applications, and information and budget management systems
• Strong written and spoken English required
• Must be willing and able to travel up to 30% to project locations and field offices outside Kampala