Senior Program Manager, Program Strategy & Performance

This role was posted on July 07, 2023. Please note that we will review applications on a rolling basis and prioritize those received within the first two weeks of posting.

As of March 1, 2022, Last Mile Health requires staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 wherever legally allowable and adhere to COVID-19 vaccination requirements to perform core work activities in all locations. To learn more, review our policy.

The Role

At Last Mile Health (LMH), we are all stewards of our reputation and our resources. Do you have experience with international institutional funders, international NGOs with regional and global focus, and knowledge of compliance requirements for major donors, including public sector funders? If so, you may be the perfect fit for the Senior Program Manager position on our Program Strategy & Performance (PSP) team!

Reporting to the Senior Director, Program Strategy & Performance (PSP), the Senior Program Manager, PSP will be responsible for enabling effective management of LMH’s  institutionally funded  restricted grant and award portfolio with a focus on strengthening cross-team management of projects funded by institutional donors. Last Mile Health manages a portfolio of approximately 50 grants and awards, with about 10-15 of those grants being programmatically restricted and therefore requiring technical and financial tracking, management, and reporting. 

This position  is located within the Program Strategy and Performance team, which acts as a Project Management Unit--providing project management support and oversight to projects and serves as a central hub, linking in-country project teams with global shared services such as finance, HR, operations, technical assistance, compliance, etc. towards effective launch, management and close out of restricted grants and awards. 

The ultimate purpose of this role is to support the strengthening of Last Mile Health’s project management of grants and awards to improve the organization’s ability to deliver on its commitments and ready itself for management of a more diverse set of funding partners, such as public sector funders. 

This position will be based in Accra, Ghana and is only open to candidates who are Ghanaian Nationals currently located in Ghana with work authorization. 

What You'll Do

Project Management Support

• Review award documentation and develop project specific compliance matrices and project management tools for successful and compliant implementation
• Support and lead award launches, ensuring shared understanding of roles across teams for project implementation and alignment on management approach; ensure activities and budget are integrated into program dashboards/work plans
• Support programs teams to monitor  award deliverables: develop and/or utilize  scorecards or similar tools to facilitate shared understanding of progress; monitor subcontracts as needed
• Conduct mid-term review and close out meetings
• Work with budget managers and Global Finance to monitor project specific budgets for spend rates, pipeline budgets, project ceilings and allowability of project costs
• Serve as a liaison between LMH and funders on assigned projects to ensure appropriate and timely communications on deliverables and with award compliance requirements in coordination with Director, Donor & Award Compliance here
• Identify and communicate internally the need for key award modifications as they arise, such as changes to deliverable timelines and targets, budget revisions/reforecasts, no-cost extensions, etc. Ensure clear roles for advancing next steps.
• Ensure that all teams understand and adhere to requirements as outlined in the award contract or agreement 
• Assist in preparing, reviewing and submitting project progress reports, communication, and technical deliverables in close coordination with global and country project teams.

Information Management 

• Coordinate with partnerships & communications, finance and programs teams to develop and maintain award overviews and (for high priority awards) risk management scorecards
• Work with  partnerships & communication, finance and programs teams to document learnings and successes from each award
• Maintain global, cross-team grant portfolio support hub with most updated information and facilitate global and country specific portfolio risk review meetings (i.e. getting timely inputs from all team members, developing agenda, documenting notes, maintaining project pending lists and following up on action steps)
• Ensure award related files are managed and retained  in compliance with donor and LMH policies

Cross - team Coordination 

• Work with the Senior Director, PSP to support an efficient and effective project management support unit and post award management  function
• Organize the team around a set of objectives and key results
• Ensure good understanding of roles and accountability 
• Help build team culture, systems and processes
• Act as a resource for finance and partnerships and communication teams to strengthen financial management and reporting processes
• Work with Senior Director, PSP to develop and deliver recommendations to Last Mile Health leadership about the skills and capacities needed to strengthen post-award  management functions across the organization

Portfolio Oversight, and Risk Management Support

• Work with programs teams to set up systems for  monitoring and risk management (i.e. deliverable, target and budget trackers, risk registers); coach/mentor teams to identify patterns and trends in  performance and effectively implement mitigation strategies- moving from problem identification to problem solving
• Integrate award performance into organization wide performance practices at the country program and leadership council levels
• Identify, synthesize and communicate risks and performance learning to senior leaders and the executive team, providing recommendations for action as needed

What You'll Bring

• Several years of experience with USAID and other institutional funders (Global Fund, GAVI, Gates Foundation, etc) required in a fast paced international NGO, preferably with a regional or global focus
• Extensive knowledge of compliance requirements for major donors, including public sector funders such as USAID, EU, UKAID and institutional foundations such as CIFF, Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation
• Several years experience in a project management role working across global and country teams; strong project management and time management skills; highly organized and detail oriented
• Experience with applying risk management frameworks 
• Experience delivering results short time frames and in complex, fast moving work environments
• Experience establishing compliance systems and/or setting and revising policies and procedures while brokering buy-in from all stakeholders
• Ability to work as a team with program staff at all levels without holding any direct line management authority (i.e; ability to influence without authority)
• High level skills in coaching, mentoring, and capacity building, around donor compliance requirements
• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain effective project files for accountability and audit purposes     
• Demonstrated customer service orientation
• High degree of English fluency required
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office Products (i.e. Word, Powerpoint, Excel) and Google Drive Products (Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Drive).           

You'll Impress Us If

• Ability to manage multiple projects across different teams, cultural contexts, time zones, work habits, etc.
• Effective process manager (develops processes necessary to get things done; knows how to organize people and activities; understands how to separate and combine tasks into efficient work flow; can see opportunities for synergy and integration where others can't; can simplify complex processes; gets more out of fewer resources)
• Organizational agility; knows how to get things done both through formal channels and informal networks
• Ability to work as a team with program staff at all levels without holding any direct line management authority
• Ability to work independently and proactively developing solutions with limited guidance and direction
• Mission-driven with a commitment to health, social justice and gender equity 
• Strong communication, facilitation and interpersonal skills; ability to interface with diverse stakeholders in a range of multidisciplinary settings.

Compensation Information

At Last Mile Health, we strive to reward our employees equitably and transparently. This means that we pay our employees based on a clear and consistent methodology and without regard to the identity or personal relationships. We have made this model fully transparent so that everyone has access to all information related to compensation. We hope this helps you better understand Last Mile Health’s values and commitments to our employees. We look forward to answering any questions you may have during the hiring process.

Before applying to this role, please take a moment to learn more about our approach to compensation and how compensation works in each of the countries where we operate. Please find the link to our compensation model and benefits overview below:

OVERVIEW OF LAST MILE HEALTH’S COMPENSATION MODEL

Compensation for this position:

The Band for this position: GHA-3

For Ghana, the range is $37,100 - $51,940 USD depending upon experience doing an equivalent role. Please note that this compensation is subject to Ghana taxes. 

About Last Mile Health

Last Mile Health partners with governments to design, scale, strengthen, and sustain high-quality community health systems, which empower teams of community and frontline health workers to bring life-saving primary healthcare to the world’s most remote communities. LMH is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. For more information, visit www.lastmilehealth.org.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at LMH. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.