Cameroon: Program Manager II - Health (Cameroon)

About CRS:

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Background

CRS has been working in Cameroon since 1961, with the main office in the capital Yaoundé and three field offices in East Cameroon. The current portfolio is largely health oriented, with a large OVC program funded by USAID in the Littoral, Northwest and Central regions of Cameroon, a UNHCR-funded program providing health, education and social cohesion services in East Cameroon, a health infrastructure development project and two water and sanitation projects. In addition, CRS is supporting the Church’s National Justice and Peace program as well as programming in the Far North of the country through a program for inter-religious dialogue and action as well as strengthening the capacity of Church structures for development and relief. Job Responsibilities:

The Health Program Manager (HPM) is responsible for ensuring the quality implementation of the Cameroon health sector portfolio. S/he will be responsible for the overall planning, management and coordination of health programming. The HPM will establish and implement systems that support high quality programming that ensures learning and innovation and conforms to donor requirements and expectations, best practices, and CRS principles and standards. S/he will identify opportunities for synergy across health programs/projects and actively promote and guide teamwork among staff and partners. In coordination with the Business Development Manager and the Head of Programming (HOP), the HPM will engage staff and partners in prepositioning for new opportunities and in development, design and growth of health programs in line with country and agency strategies. S/he will represent the agency and the Cameroon health program to a wide range of institutional donors and partners, including US Government (USAID, CDC, PMI,), Government of Cameroon (MoH, MINAS, CNLS), multi-lateral organizations and a variety of emerging, non-traditional sources of funding to enhance CRS’ competitive positioning for donor attention and funding. S/he is responsible for management of health staff as well as technical and budgetary management, reporting and representation in technical working groups.**Specific Duties and Responsibilities**

*Program Quality/Technical Assistance:***

Provide strategic direction, technical support and leadership to program managers in line with CRS Agency and country health strategy priorities.

• Keep abreast and ensure that relevant health program managers are informed of programming and technical requirements to ensure that CRS activities are informed by current best and promising practices.
• Ensure that Cameroon health activities are effectively and efficiently contributing to strategic objectives and results are achieved according to expected technical quality standards.

· Guide Health program staff to incorporate innovative practices into new or existing programs as appropriate.

• Support PMs, in collaboration with Business Development (BD) manager, in the development of new health projects in line with CRS project design standards as established in ProPack I.
• Ensure timely and realistic project planning, budgeting, and implementation using best practices and tools as established in ProPack II.
• Ensure health staff have mastery of relevant operation processes, including administrative and financial and budget management procedures and systems.
• Ensure program managers are managing health grants in line with donor rules and regulations and agreement terms and conditions, as well as agency standards.
• Ensure staff understanding and adherence to CRS Health policy, guidance, program standards and Catholic values.
• Identify areas where training and technical support are required and work with technical staff at the country program, regional, and HQ levels to secure, monitor, and evaluate that support.

· Ensure that complete documents are maintained in Gateway.

· In coordination with technical support team, facilitate reviews of project progress including the review of work plans, progress on benchmarks and partner capacity-building plans.

· In collaboration with the Country Representative, support representation of the Health sector to the Ministry of Health, Global Fund and major donors.

Learning:

• In collaboration with the HOP and MEAL managers (and as relevant with regional and HQ technical advisors), identify opportunities for learning, research and publications which can be used in influencing donor and government policy and for leveraging resources for promising health service delivery models.
• Facilitate the dissemination of promising practices and contribute to publications that highlight best practices and innovations of CRS health programs in Cameroon.
• Participate in CRS Agency-level Program Quality Health strategic planning, coordination and training activities and meetings as necessary and disseminate relevant information to country program staff.
• Participate in the regional Health Community of Practice (organized by the RTA for Health/Nutrition)

· Work with program teams to keep the Gateway system regularly updated with health opportunities and project documents based on assigned projects.

*Positioning, Business Development and Representation:***

· Provide leadership and technical assistance in the development and growth of health programs in line with the agency and country health strategy.

· Research, track and analyze new business opportunities, competitive intelligence, and CRS’ competitive positioning within the health sector.

· Identify and proactively pursue program priorities and opportunities for new funding.

· Mobilize proposal design teams and assist in the development and review of technical and financial proposals.

• Cultivate and strengthen strategic agency partnerships within Cameroon, participate in various international, government and local partner health and networks, and represent CRS to external agencies including NGOs, donors, UN agencies, Church, and government of Cameroon entities.
• Anticipate and fulfill donor information needs and regular information requests are responded to in a timely, pro-active manner.
• In coordination with the HoP, maintain and strengthen partnership, collaboration and communication with Catholic Church entities, as related to their development activities

Supervision & Team Building:

· Provide ongoing supervision to support the performance and professional development of direct reports, including national and international staff.

· Orient new health staff to CRS values, culture, tools and processes.

· Ensure that CRS Performance Management System is utilized by direct reports and that they receive regular coaching sessions (informal and formal) during the fiscal year.

· Promote the ongoing development of staff skills (technical and non-technical) and identify relevant opportunities to further the development of staff.

· Conduct regular team meetings and ensure action points are accomplished.

Agency-wide Competencies: (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each program manager to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.

• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationship
• Promotes Learning

Health Program Manager Competencies

· Builds and leads effective teams

· Supervises and Develops Program Staff

· Focuses on Quality

· Leads Growth in programs

· Sets clear goals and manages toward them

· Collaborates effectively with staff and stakeholders

• Manages financial resources with integrity
• Applies program quality standards to project design and organizational learning

Key Working Relationships

Internal*: Country Representative, Head of Programming, Head of Operations, Emergency Program Coordinator, program staff, regional and headquarters technical staff.*

External: USAID, Cameron Government Ministries, UNHCR, peer organizations, other stakeholders.

Regional Office*: Deputy Regional Director for Program Quality (DRD/PQ); Deputy Regional Director for Management Quality (DRD/MQ); Regional Technical Advisor (RTA) for Health and Nutrition and other RTAs for Central Africa Regional Office.*

Key Qualifications:

· Advanced degree in medicine, public health, health economics, or related field.

· 5-7 years progressively responsible experience managing public health programs in developing countries

· Demonstrated experience working in health systems strengthening programs. Exposure to hospital network formation, health economics, or health administration a plus.

· Proven capacity to work with the Catholic Church and faith-based institutions effectively

· Demonstrated ability to write high quality technical proposals and position for health funding from major donors

· Excellent interpersonal, organizational, analytical and written/verbal communication skills, especially in cross-cultural settings

· Minimum of five years of supervisory and team-building experience

· Excellent French and English oral communication skills.

· Excellent English written communication skills. French writing skills an asset.

· Willingness and ability to travel regularly.

Physical Requirements/Environment: Frequent field visits, especially during first year, to familiarize himself/herself with program managers, partners and others engaged in the program.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

EOE

Apply online: https://www5.apply2jobs.com/CRS/ProfExt/index.cfm?fuseaction=mExternal.showJob&RID=2914&CurrentPage=1