Project Manager (2 posts)- Link Education Malawi

Job Description

LINK COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MALAWI

ABOUT LINK COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Link Community Development is a family of organizations working in Malawi as well as Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda. Link Education International (formerly Link Community Development International) based in the UK, provides support with programme and finance management, governance, communications, and fundraising.

Link Community Development believes that a child, vulnerable adult, or person at risk should never experience abuse of any kind. We have a responsibility to work in a way that promotes the welfare of all and protects them from harm. We have a zero-tolerance approach to any harm to or exploitation of a child or vulnerable adult by any of our staff, representatives, or partners.

Link Community Development Malawi (LCDM) works to improve access to and the quality of education in Malawi. Since 2006, we have worked with schools to improve the lives of children through unique and effective school improvement models. We support Malawi Government and educators to adopt low-cost solutions to improve learning and support children, with a focus on literacy, numeracy, and inclusion for the most marginalized. We have an ambitious project to support Malawi Government deliver on inclusive education in public primary school in selected 2 districts, and hence vacancies have arisen as follows:

Project Manager – Inclusive Education (2 posts)

Job Title: Project Manager

Accountable to: Team Leader

Location: Respective Assigned District

JOB PURPOSE:

You will lead district project delivery to achieve designated project goals through the management and coordination of project activities, financial, administrative and logistical support. You will be key to managing effective community engagement, partner relations and outreach with all stakeholders. The role requires excellent written and verbal communication and planning skills, training and facilitation skills, as well as knowledge in inclusive education approaches / classroom teaching methodologies. You must be organized and detail-oriented, be a strong team player and able to work effectively within and across teams. You will work very closely with Team Leader, Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist and Country Director both within Link and our consortium partners.

AREAS OF KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Plan and coordinate all project activities within the district according to the agreed work plan.
• Work with school leadership and Primary Education Advisors / Quality Assurance Officers to raise the quality of education in primary schools using national Inclusive Education operating frameworks and National Education Standards
• Engaging MoE partners in project oversight and sustainability; and coordinating the activities of consortium partners in the district
• Ensure that partners are compliant with key policies including child protection and safeguarding, fraud prevention and data management.
• Uphold Link’s child protection and safeguarding standards, supporting training of partners on safeguarding, and facilitate the effective operation of reporting and whistle-blowing processes
• Deliver project activities to high standard and within budget and on time
• Collate information from all school stakeholders for donor reporting, playing a key role in regular narrative and financial reporting writing
• Produce weekly, monthly, termly and annual plans for project activities and a Project Management Cycle
• Build and maintain relationships with all project stakeholders to ensure smooth project delivery
• Organize procurement and distribution of assistive devices – including all steps required for this support.
• Plan and conduct capacity building sessions of various inclusive education stakeholders such as teachers, parents, school leadership, and district council officials among others
• Coordinate and conduct community mobilization and support the work inclusive education with public primary schools
• Monitor the project in all areas, including joint monitoring with MoE, integration of monitoring framework – maintaining accurate data
• Lead in adaptive management process for strategy reviews, sustainability and community voice / ownership
• Generate periodic progress reports , including reflection on successes and challenges, and recommendations for change.

Program Development

• Contribute to the development and updating on annual budgets
• Actively participate in monthly management meetings
• Contribute to the development of new projects and funding proposals
• Document and share successes stories and learning from the project

Staff Management

• Line manage Project Officer – Inclusive Education based in in your district and other support staff (where applicable).
• Oversee work planning and delivery of line managed staff
• Carry our end of probation reviews and annual appraisals with line-managed staff

Other Responsibilities

• Represent Link Malawi at all events and meetings as required
• Any other tasks as required by the Country Director, Project Coordinator or Team Leader

PERSON SPECIFICATION

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Relevant degree in related field.
• Specific professional training in inclusive education will be an added advantage.
• Minimum 5 years’ continuous experience in implementing inclusive education interventions
• Demonstrated experience in working district councils and stakeholders in the education sector.
• Proven experience of managing project deliverables delivering on donor specific requirements and community objectives.
• Knowledge of building capacity for collaborating stakeholders and community to understand and use data.
• Willingness to stay and work in a field office.

Desirable

• Experience working with a small or medium sized international NGO.
• Strong experience data management – database set-up, data collection, analysis and reporting for both qualitative and quantitative.

SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

Essential

• A self-starter, able to work autonomously at all levels.
• Strong facilitation skills – including in the area of inclusive education.
• High level of analytical skill.
• Proven interpersonal skills and the ability to work with colleagues with high workloads.
• Capable of rapid and quality turnaround on a high workload and multiple tasks.
• High IT literacy in MS Office (including presentations).

APPLICATION DETAILS FOR BOTH POSTS

• Please download the full application details on www.linkeducation.org.uk/work-with-us
• Link employees are entitled to a generous leave allowance and pension, health insurance and a staff development allowance.
• Salary is dependent on experience and qualifications.
• Both positions will start around 1^st October 2024.

• Download (at the link above) and submit 1) An Application Form, 2) Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form, and 3) copy of CV (max 3 pages) to recruitment@linkedmalawi.org with words “Application for Project Manager” in the email title.
• Closing date for applications is 12 noon (Malawi time) on Wednesday 31^st July 2024. Any late submissions will not be reviewed.
• A two or three-stage interview will take place for each post immediately after this closing date. All shortlisted candidates should be available to attend to interviews in the second and third week of August.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

NOTE:

Link Community Development believes that a child, vulnerable adult, or person at risk should never experience abuse of any kind. We have a responsibility to work in a way that promotes the welfare of all and protects everyone from harm. We have a zero-tolerance approach to any harm or exploitation of a child or vulnerable adult by any of our staff, representatives, or partners. LCDM is an equal opportunity employer, with no discrimination of any form and qualifying women candidates are encouraged to apply.