Programme Coordinator - Nathan Associates Inc

Nathan Associates Inc. is a leading international development consultancy firm headquartered in Washington DC. Founded in 1946, the company uses economic principles and data to guide policies and operations in a way that improves people's lives.

As the Programme Coordinator you will ensure and promote a stable, uniform and integrated operational approach for all interventions and activities across all programme areas. You will be responsible for effectively bringing all ongoing activities and programme operations to a close, in line with the February 2020 end date of MADE.

Your primary responsibility will be to coordinate and manage the day-to-day operations of the programme, supervising and overseeing the implementation and reporting on the programme’s technical (core market development work), financial (including value for money – VfM) and compliance components. The role will be hands-on, enhancing the integration of processes and systems, coordinating and promoting collaborative work across all key areas of programme operations to ensure coherence and consistency of programme delivery.

Operational Management

• Oversee the procedural requirements of asset disposition;
• Ensure the programme is compliant with DFID and Ghana’s laws for asset retention;
• Coordinate the grant and contract close-out processes;
• Work with and support the programme’s Finance Manager (FM), to ensure the programme’s integrity, control and compliance with all aspects of financial management in line with Government of Ghana, DFID/UKaid and Nathan London Ltd., financial management and fund disbursement regulations, policies, processes and procedures.

Technical Management

• Support the programme team to effectively deliver the set goals and objectives on time as outlined in the programme work plan and budgets;
• Monitor the implementation of the agreed work plan to ensure activities, are focused on and contribute to achieving set objectives;
• Support the programme’s in-country team to operationalise the set activities;
• Ensure timely preparation of key programme reports to DFID and other key stakeholders and for internal use by coordinating and supervising the compilation/drafting and reviewing/editing of the reports.
• Support the programme team to prepare good quality reports by coaching and advising them on report writing, the use of appropriate reporting formats and tools.
• Quality assure all major draft reports produced by the team.

Human Resource Management

• Oversee the management of the programme’s office in Tamale ensuring that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of and comply with finance, compliance, security and safety policies.
• Promote and support team performance and performance improvement by monitoring and regularly reviewing implementation of strategies, interventions, etc., as set out in the business plan critical to programme delivery and goal achievement and regularly advising the Chief Technical Advisor and Programme Manager.

Stakeholder Engagement, Influence & Representation

• Work with and support the Chief Technical Advisor and Programme Manager to articulate and share the programme’s overall vision, goals, interventions, activities, expected outcomes and timeframe, lessons learnt, etc., with key stakeholders and the wider public.
• As and when required, represent the programme and/or ensure its representation on platforms and networks, including relevant meetings, with common objectives and/or which are set up to facilitate coordination of resources and efforts by programmes, projects and similar endeavours with objectives similar to those of the programme.

Other duties and responsibilities

As the Programme Coordinator, you may at times be required to perform duties that are beyond the scope, if the need arises.

Candidate Profile

Academic Qualifications and Experience

Essential

• Five years’ experience managing donor-funded international development programmes;
• A Master’s Degree in Development Economics or a related field;
• Experience of working in development context in Sub-Saharan Africa;
• A good understanding of at least one of the areas of expertise of Nathan;
• Experience working in complex and time-pressured contexts.

Desirable

• Experience working in Ghana;
• Previous experience of overseeing operational management in-country;
• Previous experience working on programme close-out;
• Previous experience in effectively ensuring the delivery of a workplan on time, within scope and on budget;
• Experience of delegating and overseeing activities to highly qualified technical experts;
• Ability to effectively communicate and liaise with headquarter staff;
• Previous experience in drafting reports and communication pieces (newsletters, blogs, etc.).

Competences

• Proven ability to plan and manage processes efficiently and effectively;
• Outstanding English written and oral communication skills;
• Excellent inter-personal skills and teamwork;
• Strong attention to detail;
• Excellent IT skills including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project and Visio;
• Proven ability to identify risks and issues and to escalate as appropriate.