Country Director

Malaria Consortium is recruiting for a Country Director to join our team in Nigeria.

Job purpose

The Nigeria Country Director is responsible to providing overall strategic and programmatic leadership, as well as financial and administrative oversight to the Malaria Consortium Nigeria programme

Key working relationships

This role reports to the West and Central Africa Programmes Director. The jobholder line manages the senior management staff in Nigeria office – SCTC, SCPM, CFM, four PDs, Country Operations Manager, Country P&C manager and Country Compliance Manager. Externally the jobholder interacts with donors at the country level and sometimes at the regional and global levels.

Scope of work and key accountabilities

The scope of work and key accountabilities of the role include the following but undertake additional tasks as assigned by the West and Central Programmes Director:

 Representation and Coordination 20%

• Act as principal liaison for Malaria Consortium with the government and donor agencies on contractual and other issues, ensuring financial and programmatic accountability
• Actively provide high level representation (directly or through designated technical staff), particularly at key governmental meetings as well as at donor, UN and NGO coordination fora
• Consolidate and expand Malaria Consortium Nigeria partnerships with MoH/National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), bilateral and multilateral organisations, research institutions, private sector and civil society
• Advocate for increased attention and resources for communicable disease control in Nigeria
• Ensure provision of required information, including regular reporting to West and Central Programmes Director
• Ensure effective linkages between Malaria Consortium Nigeria and the other Malaria Consortium country offices and the UK office, including support to advocacy/global policy activities and wider sharing of experiences or collaborations in line with Malaria Consortium’s global strategy

 Delivery of High Quality Programmes 20%

• Oversee preparation of annual work plans and budgets for delivery of high quality programmes
• With support from senior technical staff, oversee the detailed planning and implementation of Malaria Consortium Nigeria projects, ensuring the technical quality and timely delivery of all programme and project outputs and deliverables
• Work with programme staff to identify support needs and help them mobilise support from regional /UK teams or consultants
• Ensure regular and effective supportive supervision is provided at field level
• Review regular donor and government reporting to ensure that performance indicators are being achieved and that corrective action is taken where improvement is needed
• Ensure final review of project activities are properly documented and internally and externally disseminated

 Administration/finances 10%

• Oversee administrative management of the country office
• Assist the country finance manager in overseeing and ensuring good financial controls, adherence to internal and donors processes and policy, monitoring of budget to actual expenditure and development of accurate and timely financial reports
• Act as budget holder for core budget and for nominated projects as applicable
• Oversee payroll and ensure compliance with statutory regulations
• Ensure, with support from relevant functions, Malaria Consortium policies and procedures are compliant with national law and donor contracts

 Overall management of the Malaria Consortium Nigeria Staff and Other Resources 20%

• Manage and review as required operational systems and coordination between Malaria Consortium Nigeria departments /projects and between Abuja and the state offices
• Ensure project grants and contracts are efficiently and accurately managed and there is full accountability of resources and transparency of financial information
• Review on regular basis staff strength in order to have at all times an optimum team size for efficient programme delivery and support; plan and ensure timely recruitment of staff
• Ensure all HR requirements relating to Nigeria staff are met, including overall responsibility for the setting of staff objectives, monitoring of performance, review of performance prior to completion of probationary period and staff development
• Carry out the above for those staff under direct line management of the Country Director

 Security and Risk Management 15%

• Assume overall responsibility for the safety and security of Malaria Consortium country and project staff, assets and image
• Ensure Malaria Consortium security plans and procedures are being fully adhered to
• Ensure security focal points are aware of their roles and able to deliver on their responsibilities
• Provide security training opportunities to existing and new staff
• Ensure offices and mobile field teams are equipped with the tools required to live and work in a safe and secure environment
• Monitor available security information and ensure security focal points are attending all security coordination meetings to help prevent security incidents from occurring
• Establish contingency planning exercises in anticipation of major events, to provide requisite security whilst minimizing programmatic disruption

 Strategic Planning and Business Development 15%

• In consultation with Malaria Consortium’s senior HQ, regional and technical teams, work with field and country teams to identify gaps and areas of strategic interest of Malaria Consortium programming in Nigeria
• Track in-country donor funding streams to identify opportunities in areas of strategic interest to Malaria Consortium in order to further develop and sustain the Nigeria programme
• Provide support in drafting, reviewing and/or submitting funding proposals

Person specification

Qualifications and experience:

Essential

• Postgraduate and/or doctoral degree in international health or related discipline
• Minimum of ten years international experience at senior management level working in public health, preferably malaria control, in Africa
• Experience and understanding of Nigerian context 
• Experience in advocacy and policy influencing

Desirable

• Fifteen years international experience at senior management level working in public health, preferably malaria control, in Africa
• Experience in managing diverse teams

Work-based skills:

Essential

• At least 5 years work experience as a manager, project director or team leader in international health in developing countries, preferably in Africa
• At least 3 years’ experience in human resource management and supervision
• At least 3 years’ experience in financial management, budget setting and monitoring
• Knowledge of international donor requirements e.g. DFID, USAID
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Track record in resource mobilisation/business development

Desirable

• Demonstrated ability in effectively managing large partnerships
• Superior donor liaison and reporting

Due to the nature of this role we will be reviewing applications on an ongoing basis and the role might be filled and closed before the closing date. Early applications are encouraged.

Qualified female candidates are strongly advised to apply.

We need to keep beneficiaries safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to safeguarding. Please find our Code of Conduct, Safeguarding Policy and Privacy Notice here.