DRC: Program Manager II - Health/Nutrition/WASH Lead

Dec 5, 2016 | Catholic Relief Services
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The Health/Nutrition/WASH Purpose Lead will lead implementation of health and nutrition activities, strategic planning and coordination and will oversee a team of corresponding technical staff. S/he will ensure that health/nutrition/WASH targets are met and will be responsible for coordinating with state and church health providers to strengthen community-level nutrition interventions to sustainably reduce stunting. S/he will lead financial and programmatic reporting on Purpose 1 outcomes according to donor requirements and will identify and disseminate best practices and lessons learned for better adapted interventions in the Kasais. In addition, this position will establish a platform for alignment and coordination with the Integrated Health Program (IHP) and will work closely with other Purpose Leads to integrate nutrition across purposes.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS)/CRS will be submitting a proposal in response to the 2015-16 USAID Food for Peace (FFP) Development Food Assistance Program (DFAP) Request for Applications (RFA). CRS/DRC will serve as the prime on the application and will develop the proposal in consortium with other international non-governmental organizations, local implementing partners and international/national research institutions. The proposed program will involve a multi-sectoral response to addressing food insecurity and vulnerability across the former Kasai provinces in DRC. The estimated timeframe for this program is 2016-2021.

Specific Responsibilities:

Project Conception and Organizational Learning

  • Support the implementation, strategic planning and coordination of the Infant and Young Child Feeding Caregiver groups and HNW activities in the context of DFAP and ensure sustained linkages between activities of the various intervention areas (Gender, Ag/Livelihoods, Youth and Governance) and with local health system structures
  • Key participant in formative research activities and gender the gender analysis and ensure results are reflected in HNW activities
  • Lead the development/ revision of best practice guides, manuals and other technical resources to reflect findings from formative research and ensure they in compliance with GODRC guidance and best practice
  • Act as the resource person for all HNW related information and learning within the consortium
  • With the MEAL Coordinator, develop nutrition-specific data collection tools and establish feedback mechanisms on the quality of implementation on the ground
  • Support MEAL Coordinator to document lessons learned in nutrition and facilitate their effective use to improve program quality
  • Support MEAL Coordinator in developing a learning agenda for nutrition and coordinate its implementation across the consortium

Project Implementation and Reporting

  • Refine program strategies and provide input to the development and regular review of operations guidelines
  • Oversee the integration of activities with other sector programming in collaboration with Sector Leads, Gender Advisor and national and provincial actors
  • Work in close collaboration with the Senior SBCC Specialist and other technical staff in the implementation of the project’s social and behavior change communication (SBCC) efforts
  • Promote and contribute to the identification and scaling‐up of best practices in nutrition-specific and cross-cutting interventions
  • Ensure integration in all HNW activities of the program’s gender strategy, capacity-building efforts and governance support
  • Participate actively in health/nutrition/WASH forums and platforms, including SUN with government partners and UN and other donor partners
  • Prepare technical reports according to agreement requirements

Partnership/Capacity-Strengthening

  • Ensure regular accompaniment of nutrition technical staff through regular supervision visits in collaboration with Ministry of Health officials and partners

Management, Finance and Donor Compliance

  • Develop and monitor the nutrition budget and report on expenditures
  • Manage and supervise a team of CRS health/nutrition and WASH programming staff , and mentor and provide technical leadership to partner health/nutrition/WASH staff

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.

  • Serves with Integrity
  • Models Stewardship
  • Cultivates Constructive Relationships
  • Promotes Learning

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party, Meal Coordinator and MEAL Team, Purpose Leads, Gender Advisor, SBCC Specialist, Grants & Compliance Manager, Other Health/Nutrition/WASH Specialists

External: Ministry of Health, Ministry of Water, CARITAS, local and international technical partners (NGOs, projects, platforms, decentralized structures, etc.), donors

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

  • Demonstrated analytic capacity and ability to write high quality reports
  • Experience in establishing MEAL systems and conducting participative research of qualitative and quantitative nature
  • Excellent partnership skills and the ability to interact effectively with donors, collaborating agencies, local and government partners
  • Excellent organization and planning skills and ability to resolve problems constructively
  • Understanding of current best practices and challenges while coordinating to implement the DFAP nutrition strategy through a participatory approach
  • Computer literate, with strong knowledge of MS Office applications, spread sheets, database programs, and statistical software packages.
  • Flexibility, persistence, and ability to work well in a multi-sectoral and multi-cultural team
  • Ability to work in a challenging and stressful environment with unexpected challenges

Qualifications:

  • Masters or PhD degree in nutrition or health.
  • Minimum of 5 years’ experience working with CRS or other humanitarian agencies on a health/nutrition or rural development project in a management capacity
  • Proven skills, knowledge and experience in program areas of health, nutrition, and WASH, as well as community empowerment and community systems strengthening
  • Demonstrated ability to strategically lead high quality technical staff and program managers
  • Knowledge of USAID and USG grant regulations and procedures, USAID/FFP-specific policies and procedures in Title II Food Programming preferred
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills in French required
  • Working knowledge of English is a plus
  • Willingness to be based in the Kasais

Major Responsibilities of Position: Technical leadership, team building, strategic leadership, coordination, monitoring/evaluation, mentoring/training, supervision, and report writing.

Travel: 40% travel to Kinshasa.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skills, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with this position. Also, this position is conditional upon award of funding for the DFAP.

Note: All internal applicants are encouraged to apply within the 10 day internal posting period.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.