Program Support Manager, Asia, Transforming Lives

SUMMARY 

Women and children in LMIC often suffer from poor nutrition, which leads to suboptimal health outcomes and diminished wellbeing, including increased risk of mortality.  These risks can be mitigated through the effective provision of proven nutrition services within the context of health and food system strengthening. The goal of the ‘Transforming Lives Through Nutrition’ (TLTN) program  is to sustainably build the capacity of local health and food systems in partnership with local communities and governments to deliver evidence-based, lifesaving nutrition interventions to accelerate the well-being of women and children in LMICs.

The key objectives of the Transforming Lives Program are:

• To enhance the enabling environment for the delivery of an integrated nutrition program
• To strengthen health and food systems towards the delivery of integrated nutrition programming
• To increase and measure effective coverage of integrated nutrition programming and understand complementarities across disciplines
• To ensure that intervention models are sustainable and scalable and share lessons

Scope of Position

We are seeking a Program Support Manager (PSM) to support the Program Director for the Transforming Lives Program which is a growing multi-country, cross-regional portfolio of nutrition programs. These initiatives concentrate on executing life-saving nutrition-specific actions (supplementing women with essential vitamins and minerals during pregnancy, supporting optimal breastfeeding, improving diets for infants and young children, screening children for acute malnutrition and getting treatment to them as early as possible, and delivering vitamin A). Additionally, the programs encompass three nutrition-sensitive actions: Food Systems and Agricultural Production, Supply Chain and Small Market Enterprise (SME) Development, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Ensuring that mothers and children in the 1,000 days window of opportunity receive this continuum of nutrition services has the potential to dramatically reduce child deaths and set children up for improved development. Our program also drives complementary food systems actions that improve women’s diets, protect and promote diets of infants and young children, and secure access to essential nutrients.  

The incumbent will provide programmatic support to "Transforming Lives" projects across participating countries. While in-country project teams spearhead program implementation, a core global team assumes leadership responsibilities, providing strategic guidance, operational oversight, and a spectrum of technical assistance to facilitate quality implementation.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES

Key Objectives of the PSM:

• Provide comprehensive support to country teams, optimizing resource utilization and ensuring timely program implementation.
• Facilitate regional and global coordination efforts, fostering synergy across diverse operational domains.
• Support smooth operation of the projects in each country to facilitate timely implementation and decision making. 

Specific Responsibilities: 

For each supported country, the PSM will:

• Collaborate with TLTN Country Coordinators to support country offices to develop robust, coordinated project implementation plans and liaise with the Global Technical Team.
• Assist country project teams in formulating budgets aligned with program priorities and target demographics, coordinating with the Global Finance Team.
• Support field activities' implementation in adherence to predetermined timelines.
• Identify technical support needs in tandem with country teams and liaise with the Global Technical Team to address these needs comprehensively.
• Convene project review sessions to evaluate activity statuses and proffer support as required.
• Contribute to routine budgetary monitoring exercises and support program evaluation activities.
• Ensure effective communication between the core global team and country offices, ensuring seamless information dissemination.
• Participate in donor reporting, support data compilation and information gathering  from supported countries.
• Spearhead the identification of focal areas for learning and coordination workshops for supported countries, as well as facilitate regional/global workshops.
• Cultivate strategic partnerships with relevant stakeholders and governmental entities during in-country engagements.
• Maintain vigilance over outstanding issues within country offices, facilitating regular follow-up actions.
• Synthesize project-related insights from country offices and update the Program Director.
• Promote intra-regional and inter-country coordination, fostering synergy and collaborations across country project teams.

Requirements

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 

• Master's level degree in Public Health, Health Policy and Planning, or Program Management.
• A minimum of 8 years' experience in Public Health, public health nutrition and project management.
• Proficiency in planning, coordination, communication, and reporting.
• Thorough understanding of maternal and child health and nutrition initiatives
• Exceptional writing and communication skills, coupled with proficiency in basic computer software.
• Experience in, or located in, working in Transforming Lives focus countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kenya, Nepal, Zambia.
• Proficiency in planning, coordination, communication, and reporting.
• Basic understanding of maternal and child health and nutrition initiatives
• Exceptional writing and communication skills, coupled with proficiency in basic computer software.
• Fluent in English and French (for support to Francophone countries)
• Experience in studying and analyzing how smallholder farmers distribute and sell their products;
• Strong interpersonal skills with high emotional intelligence, and the ability to communicate effectively across language and culture barriers; 
• Multi-country field experience is strongly valued; 
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and take initiative on multiple projects at any one time. 
• Ability to balance competing priorities and pivot to respond to time-sensitive requests and needs when required. 
• The position requires at least 30% travel within the designated countries, with the incumbent stationed in one of the Asia based Transforming Lives countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, or Nepal.

LANGUAGE/MATHEMATICAL AND REASONING SKILLS 

• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public. 
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide into all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and per cent and to draw and interpret bar graphs. 
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. 
• Fluency in English is required, including strong writing and verbal skills. Proficiency in Khmer, Bengali, Nepali or Vietnamese is an asset. 

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS 

• None required 

Benefits

Diversity Statement: 

iDE takes pride in our talented and diverse workforce. Minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Hiring, promotion, and compensation of employees are conducted without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, or age.

Salary: $70,000-$75,000

Location: Any of the following locations with existing right to work: United States (Arizona, Colorado, California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington, Washington D.C), Ghana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Zambia, Honduras, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, Bangladesh, United Kingdom

We are accepting applications from Tuesday, May 21st through Tuesday, June 11th at 11:59pm MST.