Programme Delivery Manager at Mary’s Meals International

We are delighted to be recruiting for a talented Programme Delivery Manager (PDM) to join our team in Lodwar, Turkana County in Kenya.

Reporting to the Programme Delivery Lead, the PDM will provide strong technical oversight and leadership for the Programme Delivery function across Mary’s Meals school feeding programme in line with our School Feeding Delivery Model (SFDM). He/she is responsible for the implementation and management of the school feeding programme. You will contribute to continuous improvement and efficiency activities across our programme delivery, and support alignment to our MM School Feeding Approach (SFA), helping to ensure quality, stewardship, and simplicity across our programme.

Key duties & responsibilities for the role include:

Programmatic Excellence

• Support the Programme Delivery Lead in the implementation and adherence to the SFDM, policies, procedures and tools, continuous improvement, and operational excellence
• Plan and manage the end-to-end school feeding delivery and school feeding expansions activities
• Supervise School Feeding Managers (SFMs) to ensure effective running of the school feeding programme
• Support and develop community capacity building, sensitization, and engagement
• Ensure efficient and safe utilization of motorbikes, vehicles, and fuel
• Enhance wholesome collaboration with the School Feeding Managers to ensure effective high data quality management from data collection, review and drawing trends/conclusions to inform programme delivery and development decisions.
• Manage programme data collection and delivery monitoring
• With guidance from the Programme Delivery lead, proactively contribute to annual/periodic programmatic planning, risk management and reporting.
• Proactively identify issues, concerns, and trends arising from data and feedback from SFOs, SFMs and pass these to the relevant Programmes team member (Programme Quality Assurance Manager and/or Delivery Lead).
• Manage actions from ex-ternal audits conducted by MMI Risk & Assurance

Leadership and Team

• Actively attract, develop, and nurture talent among all school feeding managers in the programmes department to ensure high performing teams by enhancement of their capacity, attitudes, and competencies qin all engagements.
• Build a robust personal development review process through interactive one on one sessions with active identification of growth opportunities and succession planning.
• Enhance team confidence, cohesiveness, and motivation through clear communication of operational structures and defining key functions and areas of responsibilities in each role.
• Support the human resource, learning and development teams to actively identify capacity building gaps, opportunities and develop training methodologies.
• Develop a high-performing, resilient, and sustainable delivery team through constant coaching and mentoring
• Manage communication by ensuring that all staff, stakeholders (relevant government sectors), partners and other functions within MMK are adequately supplied with all communication regarding MMK’s programme delivery information in a timely fashion.
• Ensure tasks, work plans and schedules set by the Programme Delivery Lead and other programme team member are completed and updates communicated.
• Clearly communicate the Mary’s Meals Model and guiding principles to all stakeholders and ensure all issues / feedback are properly communicated to and from the school feeding manager, schools, communities, and other stakeholders.
• Build strong relations with the wider school feeding communities right from initial community entry at expansions and sustain continuous meaningful engagements to ensure the community are adequately mobilized and supportive of the programme as part of the eyes and ears open approach.

Communication

Working with others

• Ensure strong, ongoing training and coaching for all stakeholders of Programme Delivery, in close collaboration with Programme Delivery Lead
• Facilitate information sharing across the country team i.e., with direct reports, colleagues, and other supportive functions
• Work closely with the Programme Delivery Lead to develop meaningful weekly, monthly, and annual plans, and measure performance against agreed plans.

Additional information:

• To represent Mary’s Meals externally as required, and appropriate, with communities, schools, and other stakeholders
• This role undertakes regulated work with children and is required to register with the Protected Vulnerable Group Scheme or local equivalent.
• The role will require to travel to locations in which Mary’s Meals programmes operate.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience:

• Degree qualification (e.g., social sciences, business administration, logistics) or demonstrable significant experience in a similar role, with 5 years relevant post qualification experience
• Strong commitment to Mary’s Meals vision, mission, and values
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to focus on and prioritize key tasks and effectively drive forward and implement agreed actions
• Very good computer literacy with high proficiency in Excel and relevant data processing computer applications
• Well-developed, interpersonal skills, with the ability to network widely, persuade and influence others
• Highly resilient, self-reliant, and motivated, with the ability to organize own work and prioritize tasks
• Cultural sensitivity and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of people in different countries and settings.
• Has a warm, engaging, and inspiring personality, with good networking and interpersonal skills
• Team management experience, including engaging and motivating a team of staff
• Experience of monitoring and reporting against agreed strategy

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience:

• A postgraduate degree in a relevant subject is desirable
• Experience of a flexible approach to managing and prioritizing a high workload and multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines