Overview

Job Title: Project Manager
Company: Self Help Africa
Location: Malawi
Contract type: 1 Year fixed term, full time
Reports to: Deputy WASH Programme Manager

About Self Help Africa

Self-Help Africa (SHA) Malawi is an international non-governmental organisation working to create opportunities for lasting improvement in peoples’ lives. We work in partnership with others to support a range of livelihoods and food security, WASH and health, sustainable energy and gender equality programmes reaching over 1,000,000 people a year across Malawi. Globally, we work in nine countries across Africa, Asia and South America, however our Malawi programme is by far and away our largest and most established country programme. SHA currently operates in 17 districts in Malawi, supporting 24 on-going projects, and a team of 180. Since 2012, we have constructed boreholes and distributed emergency food and cash assistance to over 1 million people making us one of the key emergency response players in the country. This includes reaching over 200,000 people after the devastating 2019 floods with immediate supplies, coordinating WASH in evacuation camps, and recovery support across nine districts and being one of the first responders in WASH during the COVID-19 and Cholera outbreak in Malawi.

SHA Malawi is seeking to recruit a talented and dynamic individual to start work 1st March 2024 for our The One Foundation funded WASH programme called Beyond Boreholes. Since 2021, SHA has been implementing annual projects for the first three phases of Beyond Boreholes in Thyolo District primarily targeting underserved communities in close collaboration with relevant Government line ministries’ and WASH actors. SHA will be implementing phase 4 of the Beyond Boreholes Program effective 1st January 2024. The goal of the program is to reduce morbidity and mortality of rural people of Thyolo, especially under five children caused by WASH related diseases. The objective is to increase access to safe water and improved sanitation and hygiene practices in target communities and selected schools and ensure sustainable operation and maintenance of WASH facilities by beneficiaries in partnership with the district councils and private sector. The team we are recruiting must all be firmly committed to delivering lasting positive improvements to the communities that we serve and delivering SHA’s mission and upholding our values of integrity, dignity, and environmental respect.

Job Purpose
Reporting to the Deputy WASH Programme Manager, the Project Manager will be responsible for project-level technical leadership, and the coordination of district-level planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of the project. This includes ensuring expenditure is in line with the budget and implementation is on track to meet expected targets, plus managing the district project team and other resources available to the project and is responsible for creating and nurturing a team that will successfully implement the project. S/he will line manage WASH Field Facilitators and Civil Technician. S/he will work in close collaboration with Project Accountant and Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Coordinator.

Key duties and responsibilities:

  • Responsible for day-to-day operations of the project activities, ensuring effective and efficient delivery of project results.
  • Developing and maintaining good relationships with DEC and DCT members
  • Develop, implement and monitor project-level work plan and budget, in line with project log frame, agreed deliverables, and resources. This includes ensuring effective project budgetary control and monitoring in line with SHA’s financial procedures and guidelines, and fraud and risk management policies.
  • Ensuring expenditure is within budget
  • Deliver expert technical support and guidance in all aspects of project implementation and budgets. This is particularly in terms of community-based management, stakeholder coordination, capacity building, and gender equality into the implementation of the project.
  • Line manage the WASH Officers and coordination of project activities.
  • Ensure close collaboration and networking with all district partners, including government and communities, in liaison with other SHA projects, during all stages of project implementation.
  • Closely monitor and assess SHA project activities to ensure relevance, effectiveness, efficiency.
  • Represent the SHA project and organisation at national and district level WASH Cluster emergency forums, where appropriate.
  • Develop and submit weekly updates and monthly monitoring and documentation reports to Deputy Program Manager and Program Manager.

Education Knowledge, Experience and Other Requirement

  • At least a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Water Resources Management, or Environmental Health, Community Development, Engineering and any other relevant field
  • At least 3 years’ experience of working in WASH-related development projects in an International NGO.
  • Strong planning and budgets skills and experience.
  • Fluency in spoken and written English, Chichewa, including good English report writing skills.
  • Well-refined people management, team working and interpersonal skills.
  • Strong respect and empathy for rural communities, and an affinity to SHA’s mission and values of integrity, dignity and environmental respect.
  • Team player that thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative, and entrepreneurial environment
  • Ability to build/maintain good relationships with stakeholders – especially government staff and communities
  • A full clean driving licence and ability to drive a four-wheel drive manual vehicle is essential.

How to apply

Qualified and interested candidates who meet the stated requirements must submit a completed Application Form. The completed application form should be uploaded together with the Cover letter, Curriculum Vitae and Copies Certificates saved in your name to this link. The Job Description is available here.

No hard copies / physical applications will be accepted. Please note zipped Folder will not be accessed.

Closing date for the receipt of completed application forms is 12:00 Midnight of 19th February, 2024. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

All candidates offered a job with Self Help Africa will be expected to sign Self Help Africa’s Safeguarding Policies and Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents.  Specific roles may require Police/DBS/ vetting. Self Help Africa takes the safety and well-being of all those we work with, and our staff, very seriously. We have a zero-tolerance policy on abuse. Our recruitment is safe, meaning that we recruit staff with the highest values and standards of ethical behaviour. Self Help Africa has a Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults Policy, which reflects our commitment to protecting the people with whom we work. All candidates will be expected to comply with this policy and its procedures.

For more information about the organisation, please visit our website at www.selfhelpafrica.net.

SHA is an equal opportunity employer.