Job Opportunity for EAII Advisors National Program Manager at Evidence Action in New Delhi

Position Overview

Job Title: National Program Manager

Employment Status: Regular

Position Location: New Delhi

About the role:

The National Program Manager – will report to and support the Associate Director to oversee implementation of all EAII’s technical support programs to state governments in select states in India. Through the respective State Program Manager, this position is responsible for managing all aspects of state level program implementation, including strategic planning, development of operations plans, capacity building, IEC and community mobilization efforts, advocacy and reporting, state annual budget preparation and monthly analysis with guidance from the Director Programs (PD) /Associate Director (AD). The National Program Manager will be responsible for engagement with government and non-government stakeholders, coordination with team members, identifying risks and planning for mitigation, status reporting, communication and documentation, including proposal/concept note writing.

The National Program Manager will be required to travel to state-based programs for about 40% of the time. Travel is primarily during business days, while occasional weekend engagements may be expected. 

Program Management

●        Work closely with and supervise state teams in select states to develop and maintain a high level of support to state governments for effective implementation of Evidence Action programs under Nutrition domain in the state.

●        Lead in developing and managing program work-plans and timelines with team/individual responsibilities assigned to ensure timely and high-quality reports/ deliverables for internal and external purposes.  Ensure that the Associate Director – Programs is kept up to date on progress against the program work plan and timelines.

●        Lead the development of guidelines, trackers and tools to be used by state teams for program implementation and monitoring.

●        Support the development and review of program activities and reports with state offices on a monthly/quarterly basis and identify and correct performance issues

●        Keep a track of program activities and budget expenditure, prepare progress reports for submission to stakeholders on time;

●        Support state teams to use program monitoring and evaluation data for strengthening program strategies for better outcomes;

●        Responsible for coordinating with the SPMs to ensure timely State level planning, budgeting and maintenance of the various databases;

●        Collaborate with grants team to track the expenditures, commitments and balance of funds under the program budget, draft project budget revisions, and related record keeping.

●        Carry out field visits to state offices to provide program and technical support as needed.

Program Design & Development

●        Conduct scoping exercise, identify and assess areas of expansion, various program benefits and risks associated with providing technical assistance to state governments on health & nutrition program, and develop mitigation strategies to overcome any such risks.

●        Coordinate with state-based teams, work with stakeholders (including departments of Education, Women and Child Development and Health) to ensure that the design and implementation of Evidence Action programs follows standard protocols, Evidence Action’s operational practices and are aligned with Government efforts in order to improve program quality and effectiveness.

●        Support with the design of M&E processes and developing data collection tools, in support of and coordination with the MLE team. Identify human resource needs at national and state level and work with the program and HR team for recruitments as necessary;

●        Support in development of communications and advocacy plans and work with EAII communications unit for preparation of press releases, project brochures/flyers and others communications material related to programs;

●        Provide inputs/support other teams in the design and development of program communication and training materials for uses as per the guidelines issued by the government.

Stakeholder engagement and partnership building

●        Identify and guide external opportunities for strategic engagement to advance Evidence Action’s priorities in country including technical working groups at national and state levels.

●        Develop and maintain strategic partnerships and networks with multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder platforms to engage diverse set of actors (e.g. social activists, technical agencies, and media, academia, and civil society, members of the medical community, influential CSOs and networks) and identify opportunities for strategic engagement to advance Evidence Action’s priorities in India;

●        Attend meetings with governments, other technical agencies and partners related to promoting – Evidence Action programs’ integration and expansion, as well as disseminating results and lessons learned.

●        Report to and support the Associate Director – Programs on stakeholder alignment, replication, mainstreaming and scaling up of best practices and evidence. 

Technical Assistance

●        Provide critical and technical support on research, monitoring and evaluations of the Evidence Action’s programs within existing states and for expansion of technical assistance on Evidence Action programs (currently IFA supplementation and deworming) to other states as appropriate.

●        Conduct landscape analysis, policy review, advocacy and donor scanning related to focused thematic areas.

●        Scope new program opportunities in collaboration with the Accelerator global team.

●        Support in identifying funding opportunities and coordinating the development of project proposals under the guidance of Program Director, Associate Director and in close coordination with fundraising nodal, Communication and MLE teams.

●        Work with state teams to plan and organize a broad range of advocacy efforts, such as stakeholders’ meetings and dissemination opportunities to improve program.

●        Work with Monitoring & Evaluation team for effective utilization of the results and findings for improvement in program quality.

●        Assist in developing program budgets. 

Knowledge Management (KM)

●        Work closely with the Director – Programs, Associate Director Programs to engage with the domain experts and support in developing country specific evidence-based policy briefs and to generate a discourse on system strengthening and improving program outcomes.

●        Support and develop KM products, briefs, policy notes and engage with key policy makers and eminent and influential leaders to help position Evidence Action viewpoints into public policy and legislations and function as a repository of latest evidence and improve access to information.

●        Engage with stakeholders on critical technical issues to share findings from Evidence Action’s implementation experiences, ongoing and completed research studies and to generate a public discourse.

●        Ensure program documentation is kept up to date for institutional memory.

●        Ensure the Evidence Action program’s knowledge management practices adhere to internal knowledge management guidelines with respect to file storage and access.

Requirements

Essential Qualifications, Experience, and Competencies 

Essential:

●        Post graduate degree in nutrition, social sciences, public health, health management or related disciplines.

●        Minimum 10 years of experience working with national / international organizations, particularly on program delivery. Experience of technical and advisory services to Governments or working with Governments on development sector (preferably health sector) at any level will be a bonus.

●        Result-oriented with proven ability to manage, track and coordinate complex multi-partner large-scale programs.

●        Demonstrated successful experience in leading, building and managing high performing teams through a culture transformation towards empowerment, transparency and accountability.

●        Strong knowledge of public sector (preferably health) systems, structures and programs.

●        Highly motivated to achieve exceptional quality of results, and the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

●        Strong analytical, communication, presentation and documentation skills in English are essential for reports and brief writing. 

●        Ability to synthesize information clearly and produce good quality documents keeping to tight deadlines.

●        Ability to network and negotiate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders to achieve the objectives of the program.  The position will particularly require a strong ability to engage and negotiate with senior government officials at state and national level in India.

●        Ability to assess programmatic risks and develop and manage effective mitigation strategies.

●        Ability to use effectively tools and systems for financial planning and tracking (e.g. disbursement tracking systems).

●        Exceptional ability to work with minimal supervision, while also proactively and regularly communicating upward relevant progress updates and bottlenecks requiring attention or support from leadership.

●        Willing to travel at least 40% of the time.

Desirable:

●        Action-oriented, flexible approach and entrepreneurial problem-solving, with an ability to manage multiple competing deadlines

●        Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels of the organization.

●        Strong interest in the development sector and desire to be a part of a young and diverse team. 

Disclaimer: The duties and responsibilities described are not a comprehensive list and that additional tasks may be assigned to the employee from time to time.

Benefits

Compensation:  Competitive and commensurate with the individual’s credentials, experience, and previous pay scale.