Senior Regional Manager, Africa, Data FI at Palladium International

Data.FI is a five-year global project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support the HIV and COVID-19 response. Data.FI partners with programs to accelerate and sustain access to and use of high-quality data to expedite HIV and COVID-19 epidemic control and maintenance. By improving global, regional, national, and community/local in-depth analyses of HIV and COVID-19 epidemiologic and programmatic data, Data.FI expedites program achievements to improve client services and attain and sustain control of the epidemics. Data.FI supports host country governments to enhance existing health information systems (HIS), informing management responses to gaps in programming and sustaining impact by supporting local partner transition.

The Senior Regional Manager, Africa, Data.FI will backstop country programs, ensuring the delivery of the highest quality, and on-time services and products, and adherence to sustainable business principles. Data.FI has activities in 23 countries, each with an HQ country manager. Large buy-ins also have Country Directors, that manage country-based teams. The postholder will backstop HQ country managers and Country Directors, for Africa buy-ins, and will act as a country manager for at least one large buy-in. The postholder will also lead project growth in the region.

You And Your Career
If you have exceptional project, staff and relationship management skills, a strong sense of initiative, fine-tuned business development skills, a keen understanding of USAID/PEPFAR and USAID/COVID-19 programming across Africa, and an interest in data analytics and digital health, we are interested in hearing from you.

We are a learning organization and provide growth opportunities from the start. We pride ourselves on giving you the freedom, resources, and guidance to chart a fulfilling career!

Reporting And Supervision

1. This position will report to the Project Director
2. This position can be located in Washington, DC, Nairobi, Kenya or Pretoria, South Africa

Primary Duties And Responsibilities

The Senior Regional Manager will oversee the management of all project buy-ins in Africa and will have responsibility for establishing new buy-ins and new partnerships in the region. Specific responsibilities are:
Project Management:

1. Serve as point person for any new buy-ins in the region, with responsibility for managing the workplanning process, client communications, partner engagement, staffing up the country team. Through this, implement transparent processes for partner and staff work assignments
2. Support timely project mobilization for all new projects in the region, as well as close out for existing projects, involving relevant country program, and ensuring follow-up and appropriate documentation is in place
3. For continuing buy-ins, support country teams in developing work plans, including budgets and staffing plans
4. Provide management support to country teams, with a focus on client and partner engagement, ensuring compliance, risk management, and the advancement of sustainable business strategies and cost-share goals
5. Support and ensure that the program teams regularly update, share, and follow project management tools, such as detailed implementation plans, spending projections, procurement plans, M&E plan
6. Through this, ensure implementation of project policies, standard operating procedures, guidelines, workflows and risk management structures within country workplans
7. Assist country teams in planning for quarterly activity reviews and tracking program actions and issue resolution and preparing status reports for internal and client consumption
8. Travel to country offices to provide support, monitoring, capacity building as per program needs, including gap filling of key program positions and/or surge capacity as needed
9. Act as county manager for at least one large activity, backstopping the Country Director
10. Actively support the constant improvement of program quality and management efficiency through contributions to country, regional and global initiatives, such as SOP/tool/template development/refinement
11. Provide routine updates to the Project Director on the status of the Africa program, flagging risks and issues for under or overspending of budgets, under-achievements, and other implementation challenges
12. Deputize for the Project Director, as needed
13. Supervise and mentor staff, including the Data.FI/Palladium Country Directors of Africa buy-ins
14. Support managers in the induction and onboarding for new country managers on Data.FI tools and processes
15. Other project management functions, as required
16. Communications and Learning:
17. Analyze recurring and/or cross-cutting portfolio implementation achievements and challenges, highlighting how to leverage successes, implement lessons learned, mitigate risks, and address challenges
18. Develop and implement efficient ways to better share program information and best practices among Data.FI activities on the continent such as through routine meetings and other communications
19. Work with the Data.FI Communications team to produce regular programmatic updates/briefing materials/capacity statements/country profiles
20. Growth and Business Development:
21. Lead all project marketing in Africa, staying abreast of country priorities, contextual issues, and managing relationships
22. Build partnerships in the region that help to strengthen country ownership of HIS projects and create new opportunities
23. Contribute proposal development through contributions to strategy, partnerships and written contributions to the technical approach and capability statements

Key Competencies Required

1. Senior-level experience in a client-facing management role on large USAID programs with specific experience working with partner consortiums; preference for experience managing teams on a global project with field support buy-ins
2. Intricate understanding of the current PEPFAR operating context, the COP process, and current experience managing PEPFAR programs
3. Experience in COVID-19, highly desirable
4. Familiarity with USAID Cooperative Agreements
5. Working knowledge of and interest in health information systems and data science. More senior level technical skills in a Data.FI strategic area: digital health, data governance, data analysis and use, CLA or local partner capacity building and transition, preferred
6. Existing relationships within PEPFAR operating units in Africa, highly desirable
7. Demonstrated ability to coordinate complex activities, meet deadlines, and exercise sound judgment and discipline
8. Willingness to think outside the box, approach challenges with creative solutions
9. Demonstrated ability to work effectively as part of a team with a high degree of drive, initiative, and autonomy
10. Prior experience of working in a fast-paced, solution-focused and dynamic workplace, with expert skills in multi-tasking
11. Ability to work cross-culturally with flexibility to work across time zones, accommodating meeting times beyond the regular workday
12. Ability to travel regionally throughout Africa, up to 30%
13. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
14. Project Management:
15. Demonstrated high level project management skills. Current use of project management software, highly desirable.
16. Experience supporting the management of programs in a regional capacity
17. Senior level diplomacy and negotiation skills – ability to negotiate workplans and build consensus between clients, partners and colleagues
18. Strong risk management ability to think through potential scenarios and mitigating interventions to delivery project objectives
19. Senior level skills in workplanning, including pricing/budgeting
20. Staff Management and Mentorship:
21. Senior level staff management and supervision skills. Ability to mentor and manage country directors and other senior staff to build their capacity to manage USAID and government stakeholders. Experience managing staff remotely, highly desirable
22. Communications and Learning:
23. Experience catalyzing learning across teams
24. Proven ability to consolidate learnings and impact for different audiences
25. Growth and business development
26. Experience in building business with USAID across Africa through partnerships and marketing
27. Professional Expertise/Competencies Preferred
28. French language skills, strongly preferred