Job Title: Senior Program Coordinator, Deworm the World Initiative
Start Date: As soon as possible
Location: IPA-Kenya Nairobi Office
Reporting To: Regional Director, Deworm the World Initiative
Introduction
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a rapidly growing, global non-profit organization with operations in over 40 countries. We are dedicated to discovering what works to help the world’s poor. We design and evaluate programs in real contexts with real people and provide hands-on assistance to bring successful programs to scale.
IPA-Kenya (IPAK) is IPA’s oldest and largest country office and the site of many of its most influential research projects. IPAK is also the site of IPA’s largest scale-up initiatives including Kenya’s National School-Based Deworming Programme and Safe Water Programme.
The IPA-Kenya office was established in 2006 in Western Kenya and now employs over 200 people.
About School-based Deworming
Parasitic worms are a widespread global problem, affecting an estimated 400-million school-age children. These infections have immediate and long-term negative impacts on children’s health, mental and physical development, education, and adult earnings. Leading researchers have demonstrated that deworming through schools is one of the most cost-effective methods of increasing overall school attendance and participation.
Our Scale-up Efforts
The Deworm the World Initiative (DtWI), led by Innovations for Poverty Action and the Partnership for Child Development, actively supports the scale-up of school-based deworming programs worldwide to improve children’s health, education, and long-term development.
To date, DtWI has helped to treat 35 million children across 27 countries. Roughly half of these children were treated through the scale-up of brand new programs for which DtWI provided advocacy and/or in-depth technical assistance to plan, implement and evaluate. The Kenya program is a flagship program of the Initiative.
Role Description
The Deworm the World Initiative seeks a qualified applicant for the position of Senior Program Coordinator for the National School-based Deworming Program in Kenya.
The Senior Program Coordinator is part of a small, high-level team responsible for providing support to Kenyan governmentofficials to scale a successful school-based deworming program to the national level. The program aims to provide deworming medication to over five million children in Kenya in 2012, and every year thereafter for five years.
The Deworm the World team and the Kenyan government will accomplish this task by initiating a training and drug distribution cascade that will ultimately train teachers to deliver deworming medication through Kenyan schools. The program will operate in four provinces, 66 districts, and approximately 10,000 schools. There is a significant monitoring and evaluation component to this program.
The Senior Program Coordinator will be the senior member on a team of other Program Coordinators who will support the government in developing and bringing to fruition a national school based deworming program reaching 5 million children. The Senior Project Coordinator will lead efforts and guide other Project Coordinators in their work with policymakers from Kenya’s Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, experts at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, district-level government officials, and partner organizations.
The Senior Project Coordinator will also take a leadership role in other activities necessary to reach the scale intended for this program. This includes strategic planning as the program adapts to new contexts over time, fundraising and relationship-building, and management issues. This position requires significant leadership experience, cross-cultural awareness, strong problem-solving skills, flexibility, and excellent communication and organizational skills.
Job Purpose
Play a leadership role in accomplishing the program’s mission of supporting the government’s National School-Based Deworming Program, treating 5 million children annually, and strategically planning for future years.
Create and improve systems of program management and coordination between external stakeholders andrelevant members of the Deworm the World technical staff, program coordinators, and policy staff.
Specific Responsibilities
Program Support
- Support the design and implementation of the national program, collaborating with a team of project coordinators and other relevant staff internally and externally
- Manage key elements of the national program such as training, drug supply and monitoring and evaluation, and ensure all resources, personnel, and information is coordinated and established. Systems for coordination and management should be organized and shared effectively for future use
- Be actively involved with country office staff in personnel and program management including maintenance of basic HR records, financial management, and programmatic review
- Provide leadership to2-3 project coordinators and technical staff to optimize implementation
- Play a leadership role in creating effective and positive team dynamics and deliver basic management for the team of Project Coordinators
- Communicate with policy and technical staff to ensure that the program is consistent with changes in the Kenyan policy environment and with other stakeholders
Strategic Management Tasks
- Participate in high-level strategic discussions surrounding school health, working with national officials, and deworming in a global context
- Think critically about program costs, resource management, and personnel management to improve program efficiency
Relationship Management
- Engage in discussions with high- and mid-level personnel from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education
- Coordinate and provide guidance to a team of other Project Coordinators to improve their relationships with key stakeholders
- Support DtWI amongst key stakeholders by maintaining positive communication with high-influence policymakers, NGO’s, and other international actors
Policy and Program Outreach
- Support project coordinators, policy staff and technical staff through briefings, memos, and communication materials describing program implementation
- Communicate with key stakeholders in the government of Kenya and in NGO’s
- Attend and potentially speak at press events, conferences, and meetings with media outlets
Data Management
- Understand and utilize existing program data and create implementation systems with an eye toward clear data collection and research-based program implementation
- Oversee project coordinators and technical staff to ensure consistency of information sharing
- Oversee and communicate with data management staff to accurately apply targeting data to implementation plans
- Coordinate M&E efforts and utilize M&E data to improve program efficiency and accuracy in subsequent rounds
Logistics
- Oversee details of procurement, coordination, and communication between project coordinators, technical, and support staff
- Manage task delegation and information sharing between team members
- Assist in the preparation and organization of training sessions for master trainers, district-level personnel, and individual teachers
General Administrative Tasks
- Assist in general office functioning by creating and maintaining systems of organization and communication
Qualifications
Education: Bachelor’s degree or higher in economics, public policy, health, or relevant social sciences; master’s degree or higher preferred
Experience:
- At least 8-10 years of experience working in a Project/Program Coordinator or similar role in a public, nonprofit or private sector office
- Experience large scale public health and/or education sector programs desired, school-based health preferred
- At least 2 years of experience engaging with Kenyan government programs and/or policy in some professional capacity, preferably in issues surrounding health or education
- Computer skills necessary include: thorough knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet/Email
- Experience working on large scale distribution of goods and services in any sector desirable
Knowledge and Skills
- Leadership ability and skills
- Ability to think critically about work flows, time and resource management, and program management issues
- Strong critical thinking and judgment skills
- Clear understanding of the Kenyan working environment (culture, people, geography, etc.), ability to leverage that knowledge to help the team make good decisions about operations and program management
- High level of attention to detail
- Proven organization skills
- Effective communication, verbal and writing skills
- Strong ability to develop relationships with a diverse team
- Familiarity with major actors in global public health and education, particularly school based health preferred
- At least basic knowledge of strategies for addressing neglected tropical diseases
- Fluent in English and Swahili
Desirable Characteristics
- Mature and professional composure
- Natural and comfortable leadership
- Highest level of honesty and integrity
- Eagerness to develop personally/professionally, willingness to learn, develop new skills, and take on more responsibilities
- Openness to working in a flexible work environment with fast evolving systems and procedures
- High level of initiative in improving the organization’s working environment
- Results oriented to the point that person is willing to engage hands-on with duties of all variety
To Apply
Applications can be submitted via email to jobs-kenya@poverty-action.org.
Please ensure the subject line reads “Senior Program Coordinator DtW-2011_12_02”.
Please attach the following documents:
- Cover letter explaining interest in the position and fit for the role
- CV/resume, including three references, daytime phone number(s), and email address.
Your CV should include your scores or grades and other measures of academic achievement, and details about any relevant work experience.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted by email for an interview.
Applicants are encouraged to apply early, as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the position may be filled prior to the application deadline.
The application deadline is January 10, 2012.
Disclaimer:
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by the Senior Program Coordinator.
The statements are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, tasks, and responsibilities.
Management reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet organizational needs as necessary.
Please note that IPA will never request any form of payment from an applicant.
Applicants are encouraged to confirm the information listed above with IPA prior to releasing any extensive personal information to the organization.
Please direct questions to jobs-kenya@poverty-action.org
