THE ORGANIZATION

Yamba Malawi transforms children’s lives by empowering communities to break the cycle of poverty. We acknowledge that strained resources, poor safety nets, and limited caregiver capacity lead to poor childhood development outcomes, particularly during children’s first five years, and have lifelong effects. Limited financial literacy and insufficient access to formal financial services hinder community and caregivers efforts to invest in their children’s futures. And lack of economic opportunity creates a cycle of extreme poverty that increases childhood vulnerability and has lifelong effects on children’s growth, development, and happiness.

Yamba Malawi’s signature Childhoods and Livelihoods program uses a holistic 3-pronged approach to addressing these complex and interrelated set of challenges: 1. improving nurturing care and support for children through the strengthening of community safety nets and services, and increasing caregiver knowledge and skills in best practices for childhood wellbeing and early childhood development (ECD), 2. increasing access to financial knowledge and services, including training, savings and credit, and budgeting to improve the use of income on children’s existing and future need, and 3. improving economic resilience through diverse income generating activities that provide increased income to meet children’s basic needs.

Working at the household and community level, the Program includes a planned, time-bound sequence of activities that pairs the transfer of business assets with training, savings promotion, short-term income stabilization, and critical ECD and childhood wellbeing coaching that enables caregivers to plan beyond immediate needs and build foundations to improve their children’s futures.

The organization is seeking experienced professionals to contribute their high level of expertise to the organization and the program through the following position:

POSITION:

Project Manager (1)

SUPERVISION RECEIVED: Director of Programs

SUPERVISION EXERCISED:

Project Officers

THE POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Project Manager will be responsible for management to ensure the successful implementation of the Tikwere Poverty Graduation program at all levels according to Yama Malawi Logical Framework, Theory of Change and Action Plan etc. The Project Manager will also develop effective project coordination mechanisms which includes building collaborative partnerships with key government and other stakeholders in the district.

This position will be responsible to lead and manage the district project\u00a0teams ensuring effectiveness and efficiency.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Program Implementation

• Ensure the integration of four core poverty graduation pillars, social protection, livelihoods promotion, financial inclusion, and social empowerment, with household-level coaching and mentoring as a cross-cutting intervention.
• Ensure that assessments of the local context prior to implementation in the targeted areas have been done, assessing the context, vulnerabilities, markets and livelihoods, gender and social inclusion, and existing stakeholders and services.
• Ensure rigorous targeting, using multiple steps and verification, that is transparent, gender sensitive and promotes social inclusion, to reach ultra-poor households, engaging local stakeholders including the government and the local community.
• Ensure effective time management for the set implementation period of 24 months.
• Ensure the development of clear exit strategy with linkages to services, markets and community support where households link to social protection services, markets, financial services, and community resources so that families continue to progress after the programme ends.
• Ensure that the project is using the set graduation criteria in the National Ultra Poor Graduation Strategy.
• Ensure that the project has a strong monitoring and adaptive learning framework that measures household progress towards graduation periodically and use this to develop an adaptive learning framework.
• Ensure the effective implementation of the Poverty graduation programming elements, using the appropriate quality assurance tools i.e. ensure adequate ratio of dedicated graduation staff to participants
• Ensure regular household coaching for participants involving regular check-ins by frontline staff.
• Ensure that gender equity and other social inclusion issues are incorporated into the assessment, design, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the project.
• Ensure accountability at all levels, using appropriate finance and performance management systems.
• Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning
• Support the regular technical and methodological monitoring and evaluation according to Yamba Malawi M&E Plan.
• Prepare regular reports on all activities following specified formats and agreed schedules ensuring data quality and adherence to agreed M&E protocols.
• Manage the efficiency and effectiveness of all Project activities to ensure maximum impact and sustainability.
• Conduct monitoring visits to project impact areas to assess progress of activities against targets and to provide supportive supervision and mentorship to project officers, mentors and provide quidance in areas where improvements are needed.
• Conduct project status review meetings with program staff, volunteers, and program participants.

REQUIRED SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

• Experience designing and/ or managing livelihoods or social protection programs, highly preferred.
• 5 years + experience in project management and implementation, working with NGOs.
• Demonstrated understanding of the range of capacity building approaches and their applicability to different contexts and needs.
• Excellent management, interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to convey concepts clearly and concisely.
• Experience in training and facilitation including Knowledge of and experience with participatory training approaches.
• Computer literacy.
• Team player
• Language proficiency in English and Chichewa

QUALIFICATIONS

• Minimum Bachelor’s in Agriculture Economics, Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Community Development or its equivalent required.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Please send your cover letter and Curriculum Vitae to [email protected] no later than Friday, February 3rd, 2023. Specify in the email subject line the position being applied for.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.