Programme Officer

DFID is recruiting a Programme Officer, to be based in Maputo, Mozambique.

Description

• DFID is the UK Government’s Department for International Development: leading the British government’s fight against world poverty; Over the last six months DFID Mozambique has re-orientated its strategy, portfolio and structure in the face of a challenging external environment in Mozambique
• The portfolio and office is now structured around a twin-track strategy to promote poverty reduction: through immediate support to human development and resilience; and longer term support for accountable governance and inclusive growth
• The corporate effectiveness team supports the office in all aspects of delivery
• DFID Mozambique is looking to recruit a Programme Officer for its office in Maputo; Project Officers play a key role in both programme and financial management of projects with a clear focus on supporting and enhancing compliance with the organisation’s rules and policy

Duties

• The role of the Programme Officer (PO) is to provide high quality and timely programme management advice and implementation of tasks to enable effective and efficient programme delivery
• Under the direction of the Programme Manager (PM), the PO will be responsible for ensuring that assigned programmes are managed efficiently and effectively in accordance with DFID rules, policy and procedures
• The PO will work jointly with a Lead Adviser in each programme providing high quality programme management support and advice; Every DFID programme has a ‘Senior Responsible Owner (SRO)’ whose duty is to ensure effective programme delivery in compliance with the rules; In most cases the SRO will be the Lead Adviser; In some cases for smaller projects this may be the PO
• The PO will support the broader programme team through provision of information from their own projects, and may manage one or more team-wide tools, as defined by the PM
• You will be responsible for managing a project’s delivery cycle
• Design Phase: Contribute to the development of a Business Proposition/Business Case and Log Frame, manage the design schedule ensuring project team stays on track
• Lead routine Due Diligence exercises to assess an organisation’s capacity and capability to manage the proposed DFID programme, including assessment of its systems and processes and mapping of all other partners involved in its delivery chain to implement the DFID programme
• Set up programmes on DFID’s systems and draft agreements to be signed with implementing partners
• Mobilisation Phase: Manage project team’s commercial engagement with DFID Procurement Specialists
• Understand project budget cost drivers to support achievement of value for money (vfm) from planned contract/funding agreement
• Lead the development of the Project Delivery Plan which sets out the monitoring and delivery (and where applicable, lesson learning and evaluation) over the lifetime of the programme
• Carry out first drafts of straight forward terms of reference (ToRs)
• Implementation Phase: Specific responsibilities include, but are not restricted to: Delivery Plan Monitoring: maintain the Project Delivery Plan and use it to prompt project team actions in good time
• Risk Management: Contribute to development of project risk strategies, focusing on mitigating the risk of fraud and corruption
• Maintain project risk register, proactively highlighting and escalating concerns, risks and issues to appropriate level
• Construct straight forward delivery chain map showing flow of DFID funds to end beneficiaries and key issues/risks at each stage
• Ensure follow up on Due Diligence issues or actions as required
• Financial Management: Proactively manage financial forecasts, working closely with spending partners and advisers to create realistic and up to date spending forecasts over the Financial Year, and accurate budget profiling for outer years, ensuring these are regularly updated
• Provide accurate financial information to team and business unit as required. Review partner/supplier financial reports checking for variances and vfm issues
• Manage audit requirements, ensuring reports and/or Annual Audited Statements are received, reviewed and findings pro-actively followed up
• Ensures payment of invoices meet DFID’s financial rules, and are linked to agreed project milestones and/or partner or supplier reporting obligations
• Partner & Supplier Management: Develop and maintain strong, ethical relationships with project partners and suppliers, being the recognised first point of contact on project management issues (financial, commercial, general project management) and refer technical or policy issues to advisers. Review partner/supplier reporting, identifying areas of concern to project team and recommending remedial actions where required
• Represent DFID in project discussions on pre-agreed (with Adviser/SRO) areas or subjects
• Project Monitoring: Contribute to Annual Reviews/Project Completion Review (PCR) exercises, including contributing to drafts of ToRs and final reports depending on experience and as agreed within project team
• Organise field visits and ensure findings feed back into project Delivery Plan
• Organise spot checks on project assets as required
• Closure Phase: In line with DFID rules, manage/ensure closure actions are taken, within the prescribed period
• Contribute to/find information for briefing and high level papers, including for draft ministerial submissions and replies to Parliamentary Questions and MPs’ letters
• Expected to have basic understanding of the technical concepts of projects working on and collaborate effectively with Advisers on technical issues
• Expected to support project management learning and development within team, and across business unit, by sharing experiences and skills
• May be assigned additional corporate responsibilities for team and/or business unit according to capability and workload considerations
• The post holder will need strong organisational skills and be confident working independently and as part of a team
• Applicants will need to demonstrate evidence of the following competencies
• Programme Management competencies: Financial Management - This competence is about managing resources effectively, promoting a culture of financial rigour and compliance, achieving value for money, and applying robust financial management throughout the project cycle
• Commercial Acumen - This competence is about maintaining a long-term value for money focus in all activities, and applying a commercial mind-set to ensure all activities and services maximise the impact of each pound spent on behalf of UK tax payers
• Managing Risk & Issues - This competence is about identifying when and how risk can be taken, applying risk management best practice, and understanding when risks become issues and taking action to respond to those issues
• Engaging Others - This competence is about establishing effective relationships, and, when needed, being able to communicate, influence, negotiate and manage stakeholder relationships in support of programme objectives
• Delivering at Pace - delivering timely performance with energy and taking responsibility and accountability for quality outcomes
• Collaborating and Partnering - create and maintain positive, professional and trusting working relationships both internally and externally
• Changing and improving - open to change, suggesting ideas for improvements to the way things are done, and working in smarter, more focused ways
• Making Effective Decisions – objective, using sound judgement, evidence and knowledge to provide accurate, expert and professional advice
• Leading and Communicating - leading from the front and communicating with clarity, conviction and enthusiasm

Requisites

• At least 3 years’ experience with a donor, government and/or NGO in managing development programmes and projects
• Graduate qualification in development, financial management or contract management
• Knowledge and understanding of international aid
• Proven track record of delivering tasks and managing multiple priorities
• Proven track record in financial management
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to take initiative, prioritise and manage own workload
• Capacity to work effectively with a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds
• Fluent Portuguese and English
• Citizenship or an existing legal right to live and work in Mozambique

Notes

• Only short listed applicants will be contacted
• Civil Service competencies: Selection for interview is competency based; Candidates are expected to show understanding of the competencies for the post by motivating their answers with relevant examples of past experience; Refer to the Civil Service Competency Framework
• The Application form and Civil Service Competency Framework can be found on: goo.gl/7mckte
• The candidate must complete and send the completed Application Form to email with a copy of their most recent CV in English; The subject line must read “Moz/002”
• Failure to follow the outlined procedure might result in the application not being consideres; The closing date for the vacancy is cop Thursday, 20 July 2017; If no response has been received after 2 weeks from closing date, consider the application as unsuccessful
• If you experience any problems with your application, request the application pack from the same email address listed above

How to Apply

1. Documentation

• Cover Letter
• Curriculum Vitae

2. Application

• Send your Documentation via email to africahrhubrecruit@dfid.gov.uk with the Subject line “Moz/002”