Project Director (GEC) Girls Education Challenge Full-Time

Save the Children is recruiting for an experienced Project Director (PD) to lead a flagship girls’ education program in Mozambique. The four-year $10m program started in April 2017 and works across 3 provinces, rolling out at scale a variety of interventions Save the Children has piloted both in Mozambique and around the world. Project implementation is accompanied by a strong impact assessment component which aims to demonstrate how these interventions specifically help the most marginalised girls to access education, stay in school and achieve improved learning outcomes.

The Project Director will be responsible for the planning, financial oversight, monitoring and evaluation (in coordination with the DPDQ and Senior Meal Manager), and coordination with the 3 PPMs for the successful implementation of this project across the three provinces. Although Save the Children is the principle implementer of the project, some elements of the project will be sub-granted to local partners, and hence the PD need to have strong project sub-granting, partner management and budget monitoring skills, PBR expertise, as well as technical skills in education. Research and monitoring and evaluation, will be a particular focus of this role, since project implementation and payment by the donor is contingent on reaching output and outcome related milestones.

Qualifications and experience

Essential

• Prior experience of delivering results based education programming (preferably in a socio-cultural and political context similar to Mozambique);
• Good knowledge of children’s rights and specifically girls related issues in education;
• Experience of project and financial management of multi partner or agency consortia;
• Proven experience in research, learning focused monitoring and evaluation and knowledge management;
• Demonstrated experience of developing and managing relationships with donors (DFiD and others);
• Demonstrated experience in handling budgets in excess of £5m and working with PBR;
• Skills in navigating complex donor requirements and ensuring donor compliance – understanding of Value for Money (VfM) and Payment by results (PbR);
• Demonstrated experience of working with national and/or provincial level government structures on policy design, implementation and capacity building;
• Full fluency in written and spoken English (essential);
• Fluency in Portuguese language skills (but also other Romance language speakers considered);
• Experience of building, leading and developing a team of senior staff with different backgrounds and expertise;
• Strong communication, and interpersonal skills with substantial experience in managing multicultural teams;
• Proven experience of working in changing / volatile contexts;
• Strong in working under pressure, with tight time schedules;
• Willingness to spend above 40% of their time in the implementation provinces;
• Good risk management analysis, monitoring and control to keeps track of the identified risks and to ensures the execution of risk response plans, and evaluates their effectiveness;
• Ability to provide support and performance management remotely and work within a matrix management structure.

Desirable

• Sub granting and partnership capacity strengthening skills;
• Problem solving of complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy-in;
• Dynamic, innovative and creative;
• Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children’s aims, values and principles including rights-based approaches.

Contract length:  1 year 5 months (~from Oct 2020)

The Organisation

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children.  We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.