Social Protection Project Manager P4 (DC)

Introduction

The position is located within the Social Protection programme of the Country Office in Zambia (CO-Lusaka).The programme is responsible for promoting enhanced coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all including in Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, through comprehensive, efficient and sustainable national social protection systems, including floors, in line with provisions of the Recommendation concerning national floors of social protection, 2012 (No. 202) and other ILO social security standards, and reflected in the SDGs. It provides, at the request of member States, technical advice for the formulation of national policies, the design of social protection systems, including floors, as well as for their implementation and monitoring.

The incumbent will lead the CO-Lusaka Social Protection Team for Zambia and Malawi and oversee the work of international and national officers and any other international and local consultant hired during the implementation of the programme. 

Within the framework of development cooperation projects and the Global Flagship Programme on Building Social Protection Floors for All (herewith ILO Global Flagship Programme), the incumbent will contribute to the extension of social protection in developing countries, by providing administrative and technical support for the implementation of several development cooperation projects. These projects include:
a.    The Irish Aid/ILO partnership programme included in the Global Flagship Programme on Building Social Protection Floors for All (GLO/22/31/IRL) which aims to assist national governments to use appropriate, well-designed and well-managed social protection measures to accelerate the extension of coverage, adequacy of benefits and the fiscal space for the financing of social protection with a focus on vulnerable groups such as Person With Disabilities (PWDs), to strengthen social protection systems and to promote a culture of social protection, thereby contributing to inclusive economic growth and resilience promotion.

b.    The ILO and the Government of France launched a project (GLO/20/59/FRA) which aims to strengthen universal access to financially sustainable, resilient social protection systems in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire as well as to improve safety and health of workers employed along the value chain in the construction sector in Madagascar. 

c.    The United Nations and the Government of Zambia are implementing the UN Joint Programme on Social Protection (UNJPSP II)-(2019-2024) (ZMB/19/01/CEF), which brings together multiple Government line ministries under the leadership of the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS), three UN agencies – UNICEF, ILO and WFP – and two cooperating partners, Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The ILO is involved in the UNJPSP-II and leads specific interventions including coordination and support to PWDs. 
 

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Reporting lines: 

The Project Manager will report to the Director of the Country Office for Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique (CO-Lusaka). The Project Manager will liaise, work and receive general technical guidance from the Deputy Director of the Social Protection Department (SOCPRO) and Head of the Flagship Programme, and receive technical guidance, support and collaboration from other relevant technical specialists at Headquarters and in the region. 

The Project Manager will also work in close collaboration with the Social Protection Specialist in DWT/CO-Pretoria and DWT/CO-Dakar, and DWT/CO-Bangkok, and the social protection technical officers in Mozambique, Malawi, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Madagascar and Viet Nam, the Social Protection Department (SOCPRO) namely the Programming, Partnerships and Knowledge-Sharing Unit (SOC/PPKS), the Social Policy Unit (SOC/POLICY), the Public Finance, Actuarial and Statistics Unit (SOC/PFACTS), the Actuarial Services Unit (SOC/ASU) and SOCPRO project teams as well as with the Social Protection Global Technical Team and internal departments including EVAL, BUD/DC and PARDEV. 

The position will supervise international staff, external collaborators, national staff and general service staff.
 

Description of Duties

Within the policy and procedural requirements established by the ILO, the incumbent will be responsible for the administrative and technical management of several ongoing development cooperation projects, including GLO/22/31/IRL; GLO/20/59/FRA; ZAM/19/01/CEF. The incumbent will be responsible for: 

3.1 Programme management and team leader:
1.    Ensure timely and efficient coordination and delivery of outputs, and monitoring and evaluation of the projects interventions, in conformity with ILO policies, project strategies, programming guidelines and administrative and financial procedures. Promote the application of the ILO’s Results Monitoring tool in the context of these projects. Prepare quality reports and publications concerning development cooperation delivery (including financial delivery), monitoring and evaluation, including providing inputs to the Annual Report of ILO’s Global Flagship Programme, webpages of projects and digital country pages. Coordinate the compilation of annual progress reports to the donor and evaluations of the projects.
2.    Ensure the delivery of the Irish Aid/ILO project interventions foreseen in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Viet Nam and at global/regional levels by providing technical assistance to national processes for the design, governance and implementation of social protection systems, including floors. 
3.    Coordinate the implementation of the GLO/20/59/FRA project with its various components, Global/Regional level, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal components, the research and the OSH components. Ensure the delivery of all components of the project. Provide technical inputs to the activities and products. Coordinate the inputs to the mid-term independent evaluation of the project and liaise with the ILO Evaluation Manager and the project team.
4.    Represent the ILO in the inter-agency coordination and implementation processes of the second GRZ-UN Joint Programme on Social Protection 2019-2022 "UNJPSP-II", and ensure the implementation of the deliverables under the direct responsibility of the ILO 
5.    Manage efficiently the human resources of the CO-Lusaka SP Team including recruitment, performance and talent management aspects. Plan, organize, supervise and monitor the work of officials working under the Irish Aid project, the UNJP on Social Protection in Zambia and forthcoming UN Joint Programmes in the areas of Social Protection covered by CO-Lusaka, in close collaboration with the SP Public Finance Management EC-INTPA project based in Mozambique

3.2 Technical leadership and advice:

6.     Be the CO-Lusaka focal point for Social Protection/Social Security issues in Zambia and Malawi, and in collaboration with the Social Protection project Manager based in Mozambique. Provide technical and policy advisory services in Zambia and Malawi, to ILO constituents and other national and regional institutions in the field of social protection/social security, with a particular emphasis on rights-based public social protection schemes and programmes, including contributory social insurance and non-contributory benefits, as well as on relevant thematic issues, such as climate change and shock responsiveness, in close collaboration with technical specialists in the countries, in the regions, in SOCPRO and in the field. 

 

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7.    Ensure technical coherence among various ILO activities and projects in the area of Social Protection/Social Security in Zambia and Malawi, and in close collaboration with the Social Protection projects in Mozambique, promote linkages between Social Protection/Social Security activities under CO-Lusaka. Ensure technical coherence across  the countries of implementation of the GLO/20/59/FRA
8.    Provide policy advice to ILO's constituents in Zambia and Malawi on institutional strengthening, the application of ILO standards and the promotion of technical cooperation activities on Social Protection/Social Security, and in close collaboration with the SP PFM project based in Mozambique.
9.      Contribute to the strategic reinforcement and wide dissemination of the TRANSFORM (Leadership and Transformation Curriculum on Building and Managing Social Protection Floors in Africa) learning package
10.    Provide technical inputs to the thematic focus on social protection and climate change, as well as, where applicable, on the humanitarian development nexus (HDPN), in the context of the country and regions of the projects GLO/20/59/FRA and GLO/21/52/FRA (Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal), GLO/22/31/IRL (Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Viet Nam); and ZAM/19/01/CEF (Zambia). It includes contributions to reports and organization of technical meetings, resource mobilization and development of partnerships for concrete implementation of the approach in countries.

3.3 Advocacy and partnership development:

11.    Strengthen relationships with the concerned governments, ministries and the employers' and workers' organizations, non-governmental organizations, the target groups and the donors, in the planning and implementation of activities in the Social Protection/Social Security portfolio of CO-Lusaka in Zambia and Malawi, and in close collaboration with the SP PFM project based in Mozambique. 
12.    Liaise with the UN Country Teams to promote ILO's values within UN initiatives in Zambia and Malawi, and in close collaboration with the SP PM based in Mozambique, increase the ILO visibility and facilitate the scaling up of the ILO interventions in the area of Social Protection/Social Security. As well as support cooperation processes between the organization and the officials of UN agencies, International Financial Institutions (WB and IMF), donor agencies and governments for the formulation and operation of country related technical cooperation programmes in the area of Social Protection/Social Security. 
13.    Develop and undertake resource mobilization strategies and activities in the framework of the Global Flagship Programme on Building Social Protection Floors for All, for the extension of social protection and design development cooperation projects. Prepare proposals for mobilization of human, technical or financial resources as well as to support the achievement of the projects in the Social Protection/Social Security portfolio of CO-Lusaka. Liaise with donors and potential partners with a view to securing and expanding Development Cooperation resources and expanding the Office's capacity to undertake various activities in the field of social protection, including South-South and Triangular cooperation, and Public-Private Partnerships. 
 

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3.4 Capacity building and knowledge management: 

14. Ensure the development and promotion of information and knowledge management approaches for ILO in the area of Social Protection/Social Security, including the TRANSFORM initiative. Prepare periodic and ad hoc reports on the status of programme planning and implementation, develop or supervise country briefs on the development of social protection in the two countries (Malawi and Zambia). 
15. Coordinate the Learning Hub and the sharing of knowledge between the countries of the ILO Irish Aid partnership programme (Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Viet Nam). This includes coordinating the collection and dissemination of the knowledge products, the development of joint knowledge products, organization of knowledge-sharing events and South-South learning.
16. Coordinate the dissemination and sharing of knowledge of the projects managed (GLO/21/59/FRA) and ZMB/19/01/CEF.   
17. Review and revise Social Protection/Social Security related publications and materials prepared by CO-Lusaka in Zambia and Malawi, in close collaboration with the SP PFM based in Mozambique. In addition, collaborate with the ILO Social Protection Department and DWT/Pretoria and ensure that country and regional products feed the production of global products. 
18. Perform other relevant duties as assigned by the responsible manager.
 

Required qualifications

Education

Advanced university degree in economics, social sciences, business administration, law or a relevant field. 
 

Experience

At least seven years of professional experience in the field of Social Security/Protection including three years at the international level. Demonstrated experience in policy analysis and applied research. 

Proven management experience, preferably with the ILO or a UN agency, with sound knowledge and experience in all aspects of project cycle management, i.e. from design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Experience working in Africa for reputable NGOs would be an advantage. 
Proven experience in partnership building and networking and in effective fundraising, resource mobilisation and donor relations.

Languages

 Excellent command of English and French. Working knowledge of Portuguese would be an advantage.  

Competencies

•  Proven ability to take ownership of all responsibilities, to act with integrity and transparency by maintaining social, ethical and organisational norms, and to meet all commitments within the prescribed time, cost and quality standards.
•   Ability to develop clear strategic goals consistent with the project/programme’s objectives, and to design and synthesise strategies for programme development.
• Excellent skills in managing complex and multi-country programmes 
• Excellent leadership skills, ability to work effectively in a team and excellent interpersonal skills.
•  Ability to develop training materials, alternative courses of action, project proposals, policy, procedural matters and present them at high-level meetings. 
•  Ability to promote knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office, and to focus and guide others to meet objectives at individual and group level. Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to write accurate reports and to build networks to obtain cooperation with partners. 
• Ability to synthesize research and reach empirically based conclusions on related subjects; provide seasoned advice on best practices, to address broader issues outside the field of specialization; formulate new concepts and methodologies; develop training materials, alternative courses of action, project proposals, policy, procedural matters and present them at high-level meetings
• Proven capacity to initiate and implement development co-operation programmes and activities with ILO constituents and NGOs, including negotiation skills with governments, social partners and to mobilise the support of international donor agencies and provide quality services. Ability to plan and support the development of individual’s skills and abilities for a more effective fulfilment of job/role responsibilities. 
• Ability to design and synthesize strategies for programme development in member States; produce reports (e.g. reports for regional conferences and ILC, technical publications, training manuals and draft resolutions) and evaluate and monitor technical cooperation activities and projects.
• Ability to maintain effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work tasks or environment, and to adjust effectively to work within new work structures, processes, requirements, or cultures; Drive to seek or encourage others to seek opportunities for different and innovative approaches to organisation challenges and opportunities for improvement. 
• Capacity to provide relevant and effective technical advice on the technical area and related topics.
• Excellent writing skills in English and French to draft reports and prepare guidelines relating to programme development and implementation. Ability to provide technical support to senior specialists carrying out research, project formulation and implementation.
• Good computer skills in MS Word, MS Excel and MS PowerPoint. 
• The ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.