Program Officer – Jhpiego Ethiopia Country Office Full Time

Title:     Program Officer                                                Salary Grade: D

Department:     Ethiopia Country Office, A/A            Date: February 2022

Summary Scope of Work:

The Program Officer provides management support for the implementation of activities under the health workforce improvement program (HWIP). S/he plays important role in planning, implementation and monitoring of project activities and supports team leaders/project directors/chief of party/technical team leaders/Senior Program Officer to ensure that project expenditures are aligned with approved budgets, and activities are implemented in line with compliance requirements. The Program Officer contributes to new business development and to negotiation and implementation of sub-agreements and other contracts with local partners and relevant stakeholders. S/he also actively contributes to documentation and reporting of program achievements and knowledge sharing. S/he ensures appropriate information sharing and coordination among operations, program, finance, technical and M&E teams.

Reporting Structure:

Position Reports To:                  Senior Program Officer (SPO)

Positions Supervised:                None

Responsibilities: 

All staff members of Jhpiego, regardless of the level of their responsibilities are expected to:

• model the mission stated above
• participate in the business development process
• contribute to the knowledge sharing and transfer process
• make responsible decisions that result in time and cost containment and clear accountability

Result Areas:

Leadership

• Represent Jhpiego at external meetings as required, demonstrating a thorough understanding of the organizations technical approaches and capacities, as well as articulating the goals, objectives, activities and current status of the program s/he supports.

Program planning and management

• Support the development of project work plans and activity matrices.
• Support the development of project activity budgets in collaboration with technical, finance and M&E teams;
• Coordinate with HWIP team and track cost share documentation
• Participate in interdepartmental Program, Finance and Operation team meetings to facilitate efficient operations and program management; Pro-actively provide practical solutions for any challenges faced.
• Coordinate the process of developing scopes of work, budgets and other information required to develop project and other technical contracts, including consultant agreements, MOUs, technical service contracts, etc.
• Coordinate and manage implementation of planned events (trainings, workshops…
• Provide coordination for routine aspects of program management such as regular key staff meetings, international travel, translation of technical documents, procurement, etc
• Provide guidance and oversight to program assistants for the coordination with event management
• Any other task requested by the Country/Deputy/Technical Director and Technical Team Leader/Senior Program Officer. This could include preparation of ad-hoc reports to be submitted to donors or the FMOH or other stakeholders.

Sub grant management

• Provide management support to sub grantees to ensure completion of activities as per approved work plans, including ensuring that they receive the technical, programmatic and financial capacity building required to implement activities and manage funding received.
• Monitor the implementation of sub-agreements, coordinate regular meetings with sub grantee staff, review reports and follow up on deliverables and invoices to ensure that the latter are paid on time.
• Collaborate with grant and finance team for timely transfer of funds and reporting on spending

Knowledge Management

• Provide support in development of program reports, including collecting required report inputs, drafting or editing reports, and developing additional documentation required such as success stories, etc.
• Working closely with SPO to ensure that all project documents, reports, technical resources, training packages, etc are branded and systematically filed and made easily accessible to all staff. Also assist to post relevant documents on the Jhpiego website.
• Assist the knowledge and communication specialist/SPO in developing project related communication materials.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Lead tracking of activity progress and provide regular update in collaboration with MEL team
• Track project spending against budgets and make recommendations for adjustments as needed.

Communication and Business Development

• Develop and maintain excellent relationships with colleagues in the FMOH and other partner organizations and stakeholders.
• Contribute to preparation of submissions for new or additional funding for the relevant program area (e.g. for Country Operation Plans or USAID work plans). Support the preparation of proposals as needed (gathering intelligence, collecting support documents, editing, etc…).

Required Qualifications

• BA degree with at least five years of work experience in program planning, budgeting and management is required; degree in specialized field of Business Administration, Sociology, Community Development, Public Administration, and technical experience in a health program is desirable.
• Excellent verbal, writing and presentation skills.
• Computer proficiency in MS Applications including Excel, MS Word and Power point.
• Fluency in writing and listening English.

Abilities/Skills:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; Proven ability of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Ability and willingness to gain a basic understanding of project technical approaches and strategies as it relates to program management.
• Ability to interact skillfully and diplomatically with stakeholders.
• Willingness and ability to travel outside duty station for at least 50% of the time
• Ability to work in a complex environment with multiple tasks, short deadlines and intense pressure to perform.
• Comfortable with a team approach to programming and ability to manage several major activities simultaneously.
• Ability to work proactively, organize and manage own work and assist others to do the same.