Project Manager – Global Fund Project

UNDP Belize been the interim Principal Recipient (PR) for the Global Fund (GF) HIV grant since 2011-2015 and for the HIV/TB grant for the period 2016-2018, focusing on delivering a package of comprehensive prevention services to key populations, promoting an enabling environment, improving case detection and treatment rates of TB and MDR-TB.  UNDP Belize has been selected as the PR for the GF transition grant for the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2021 (the Programme).  While the country will no longer be eligible for GF funds for tuberculosis beyond 2021, HIV may remain eligible, however given the small amount of total funds available (USD $1.9 m for 3 years), the Global Fund has advised the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) to transition both disease programmes in conjunction.

UNDP Belize is under the management structure of UNDP El Salvador and under the guidance and direct supervision of the Resident Representative. The Project Manager will head the Project Management Unit and shall supervise and lead support staff, and coordinate activities of the project staff. The Project Manager works in close collaboration with the Global Fund (its representatives Local Fund Agent), the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), operations team, programme staff in other UN Agencies, UNDP HQs staff and Government officials, technical advisors and experts, multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors and civil society ensuring successful Programme implementation. Importantly, the Project Manager will also be responsible for fulfilling the monitoring and evaluation function of the Programme, ensuring proper oversight of Sub-recipients, providing coaching/guidance to the Ministry of Health and civil society partners with the overall goal of ensuring a sustainable HIV and TB response.

Critically, the Project Manager will work closely with government and civil society to develop, implement and evaluate capacity development activities that strengthen systems, processes and policies to promote a sustainable HIV and TB response in Belize.  The project manager will be responsible for the overall programmatic and financial achievement of the grant, ensuring compliance with UNDP and GF rules, regulations, procedures and policies.

1. Project and Human Resources Management:

• Leads and coordinates the planning and implementation of the Programme workplans and budget;
• Oversees the efficient and transparent use of Global Fund resources and assets;
• Ensures timely and efficient reporting of the Programme as required by the Grant Agreement; 
• Analyses programmatic impact agreements and takes decisions to correct possible deviations from Programme targets;
• Advises the CO of strategic issues and recommends appropriate solutions for decision making purposes;
• Ensures project documentation/communication tracking system is in place for effective project closure and any anticipated human resources changes on the Programme;
• Participates in meetings with the government, with the donor community and at international conferences related to Programme components.
• Liaises with Global Fund regional team and UNDP Partnerships Team to ensure optimum information and to receive strategic feedback;
• Leads the Programme Management (PM) team and is responsible for staff management, including staff evaluations;
• Provides a clear sense of purpose to the PM team, inspires a positive attitude and ensures optimal working conditions are in place;
• Strengthens PM team capacity through measures promoting professional development and knowledge management.

2. Ensure the implementation of monitoring and evaluation policies and strategies, focusing on achieving the following results:

• Participates in and contribute to the finalization of Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks for the Programme;
• Develops monitoring and evaluation tools and processes for the HIV and TB grants;
• Provides technical support to the Sub-recipients (SRs) to strengthen their monitoring and evaluation systems for HIV and TB programmes;
• Develops and updates as necessary Monitoring and Evaluation plans for the HIV/AIDS and TB grants, consistent with the national M&E framework, in consultation with the National AIDS Commission (NAC) and National TB Center (NTP);
• Develops systems and tools, and training materials to train the NAC and National TB Programme, SRs and other implementing partners’ personnel (subject to resource availability);
• Oversees new assessments (if necessary)/reviews existing assessments and reports of the SRs capacity in the field of M&E, and develops and leads the implementation of a capacity development plan (if required);
• Provides technical guidance for the implementation of the M&E plans, through training and other on-site support;
• Facilitates review of progress on a quarterly basis; problem solving and development of remedial actions ensuring any disparity between planned and actual outputs are addressed;
• Assists UNDP in the identification of potential implementation problems and bottlenecks and recommend appropriate strategies to address them;
• Prepare quarterly, semester and annual programmatic progress updates on GF programmes.

3. Ensures effective oversight of the Programme in line with UNDP’s grant agreement with the Fund and in accordance with UNDP’s rules, policies, procedures and rules and the Global Fund rules, focusing on achieving the following results:

• Ensures that project monitoring arrangements comply with UNDP’s Grant Agreement, both programmatically and financially and that the provisions of the Grant Agreement are fully observed;
• Reviews the management information systems of the SRs and agree on required changes, support and resources to ensure that data quality standards are monitored and met;
• Reviews the quality of existing data sources, the methods of collecting them and the degree to which they will provide good baseline data for mid-term and end of project evaluations. Based on this review, consult partners to develop approaches to address identified gaps;
• Prepares Terms of Reference (TOR) for on-site verification, baseline, mid-term, and end-line surveys including methodology preparation, sample selection and staff training if needed, and provide overall technical direction for the conduct of the surveys;
• Provides technical support to the SR and Sub-Sub-Recipients (SSRs) to strengthen their monitoring and evaluation systems for HIV/AIDS and TB programmes;
• Together with the M&E Officers of SR and SSRs, strengthens, harmonizes and standardizes the existing HIV/AIDS data collection, analysis and reporting system, in line with the national HMIS Plan and Programme indicators;
• Assists in the development of systems and data collection tools to capture data on HIV/AIDS and TB indicators in the Performance Framework of the Grant Agreement;
• Develops a regular review process with field sites to evaluate the utilization and impact of ongoing monitoring tools in order to measure improvements in programme quality, giving feedback to field sites, SR, SSRs and M&E staff in the NAC;
• Works with the M&E staff of NAC, NTP, SRs and SSRs to collate and analyze data for reporting;
• Validates the quality of collected data;
• Coordinates the preparation of reports e.g. quarterly, semester, annually and other programme reports in a timely manner;
• Assists in the identification of potential implementation problems and bottlenecks and take corrective action;

4. Ensures facilitation of knowledge building and knowledge sharing in the area of programme management, and monitoring and evaluation, focusing on achieving the following results:

• Identifies and formulates lessons learned and document best practices from evaluations and studies to be integrated into Programme reports;
• Collaborates and coordinates with other UN agencies, government agencies, NGOs, and other organizations on monitoring and evaluation issues;
• Leads the design and delivery of M&E training and/or capacity building to personnel of NAC, NTP, SRs and implementing partners involved in the implementation of HIV and TB grant;
• Maintains cooperative relationships with all key stakeholders, including NAC, SRs and SSRs, policy makers and donor partners; and
• Participates in external supervision and evaluation missions of the Global Fund and other agencies by facilitating access to M&E data as required.
• Any other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the Supervisor.

IV. Impact

The key results have an impact on the success of country programme within specific areas of cooperation. In particular, the key results have an impact on the design, operation and programming of activities, creation of strategic partnerships as well as reaching resource mobilization targets.

Competencies

Organizational Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Building Partnerships:

• Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build alliances
• Identifies needs and interventions for capacity building of counterparts, clients and potential partners
• Displays initiative, sets challenging outputs for him/herself and willingly accepts new work assignments

Client Orientation

• Anticipates client needs
• Demonstrates understanding of client’s perspective
• Solicits feedback on service provision and quality

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

• Understands advanced aspects of primary area of specialization (HIV, human rights and key populations)
• Continues to seek new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work of the unit
• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/herself professionally

Planning and Organizing:

• Demonstrated openness to change and ability to manage complexities.
• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal examples.
• Capacity to work under tight deadlines, manage stress and adapt to rapidly evolving situations.

Managing Relationships:

• Demonstrate well developed people management and organizational skills.
• Excellent negotiating and networking skills.

Functional:

• Strong analytical and communication skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products.
• Ability to consolidate information from multiple sources.
• Able to prepare strategic information for decision makers in concise and attractive manner.

Project and Resource Management:

• Ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs.
• Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs.
• Sound judgment, strategic thinking and the ability to manage competing priorities.

Judgment /Decision-Making:

• Mature judgment and initiative.

Communications and Advocacy:

• Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences and speak clearly and convincingly.
• Strong capacity to communicate clearly and quickly.
• Strong inter-personal, negotiation and liaison skills.
• Ability to work as part of a team, sharing information and coordinating efforts within the team and various stakeholders.

Education:        

• Master’s degree in business, economics, social sciences or public health, or any other relevant field.

Experience:       

• A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience in project management, including overseeing and managing monitoring and evaluation processes and working collaboratively with demonstrated results achieved with multiple national counterparts.
• Ability to communicate in a clear and concise way and to establish strong relationships with national authorities and international interlocutors.
• Experience working with UNDP and/or UN agencies desirable.
•  Experience working with Civil Society Organizations, particularly in Belize and/or the Caribbean is highly desirable.
• Strong experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc).
• Advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, including web-based management systems is highly desirable
• Knowledge of financial systems in Global Fund-funded programmes is highly desirable.

Language requirements:             

• Fluency in English with strong oral and written skills. Spanish knowledge an asset. 

Important applicant information

All posts in the GS categories are subject to local recruitment.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Workforce diversity

UNDP is committed to achieving diversity within its workforce, and encourages all qualified applicants, irrespective of gender, nationality, disabilities, sexual orientation, culture, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

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