Team Leader

Job Description

The IRC is seeking a qualified Team Leader for an anticipated three-year World Bank-funded project, which will be managed by the Federal Ministry of Health. The project is called “Improving Healthcare Services in Somalia (Damal Caafimad)”. The Team Leader will be responsible for providing overall vision, leadership, and guidance for the project, which is focused on expanding the coverage of high-impact health and nutrition services in select geographic areas. The Team Leader will be based in Somalia in the region where the project is focused (location TBC), with travel to project sites.

Background:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a leading humanitarian and development organization working in more than 40 countries to help people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and crisis to survive, recover and gain control of their future.

The IRC began working in Somalia in the early 1980s - initially to assist people seeking refuge in the aftermath of the Somalia-Ethiopian conflict. The focus of IRC Somalia programming is on Health, Nutrition, Economic Resilience, Recovery and Development, Governance, WASH, Women’s Protection and Empowerment interventions to crisis affected communities in most of the targeted locations. With headquarters in Mogadishu, the IRC oversees field offices in Dhusamareb, Gaalkayo and Garowe in Puntland, Galmudug and Benadir Region. IRC programming in Somalia adopts an integrated approach, in which each sector provides mutually reinforcing services to at-risk populations.

The upcoming Damal Caafimad project will support the rapid expansion of high-impact health and nutrition services within the Government of Somalia’s Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS). The project also aims to develop the Federal and State Ministries’ of Health capacity to act as stewards of the health sector. The project will focus on primary healthcare, improving the availability of pharmaceuticals, strengthening the quality of care, and developing strong management systems. Robust community level health services and engagement will also be a critical part of the project. The World Bank is funding the project, which will be delivered through Federal Ministry of Health contracting of NGOs.

Scope of work:

The Team Leader will provide overall leadership, as well as strategic, technical, operational, administrative and logistical oversight and management of the Damal Caafimaad project in order to achieve the project goals in Nugaal region. They will manage a project team that includes senior technical, monitoring and evaluation, finance, and operations personnel. The Team Leader will be the point of contact for the IRC with Ministry of Health representatives (at Federal and Federal Member State levels), the World Bank, and other key stakeholders. They will engage with the MoH’s Project Management Team on review of deliverables and technical conversations to ensure high quality essential health service delivery.

The Team Leader is responsible for planning, organizing and monitoring all project activities, including activities undertaken by partners and/or sub-contractors. They will provide quality assurance of all activities, which involves conducting regular field monitoring visits to ensure compliance, coordination, and high-quality implementation of all project activities by the IRC and partners. They will work closely with the Health Technical Manager and the Financial Manager & Deputy Team Leader to ensure that project delivery is high quality, that the project takes an adaptive approach to incorporate learnings and proactively troubleshoot and address challenges, and that implementation follows IRC, Ministry of Health and World Bank requirements. This includes ensuring that the environmental and social safeguards requirements are implemented and reported on. Finally, through their leadership, the Team Leader will promote strong team spirit and provide oversight and mentorship to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.

This position reports to the IRC Somalia Country Director. It is contingent on the IRC being awarded funding; we anticipate that the project will begin in 2022.

Requirements:

• A minimum of 10 years of increasingly responsible experience of managing health service delivery projects (preferably high value projects of $10million+)

• Experience of working on health projects in Somalia – preferably managing essential health service delivery – and of working with Ministry of Health at state & federal levels

• Demonstrated experience establishing management systems for health service delivery and experience with health service quality improvement preferred

• University degree with post graduate degree (MPH, MBA, or MPA)

• A minimum of five years of experience working in fragile contexts

• Excellent management and leadership skills, with a minimum of eight years of experience with staff and project management

• Adept in planning, budgeting, adaptive management, and supervising diverse teams

• Excellent diplomacy skills and a proven ability to develop and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships with donor community, partners, host country governments, and other key stakeholders (e.g., INGOs, NGOs, CSOs, private sector)

• Outstanding communication, analytical, and organizational skills

• Strong written, oral presentation and facilitation skills in English required, including the ability to synthesize complex information for use across different audiences

• Highly motivated, possesses strong sense of integrity and a positive attitude

• Willingness to travel within Somalia (remote settings), as needed

Safety & Security Situation

All staff must comply with all IRC Somalia security policies and procedures.

Standards for Professional Conduct: The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Equality, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability.

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