Programme Manager – Disability Inclusion at Sightsavers

About the role 

 We are looking for a skilled and knowledgeable programme manager with demonstrable experience of consortium working to oversee and coordinate a high-profile portfolio of projects which make the world more inclusive. You will join at an exciting time as these consortium projects are nascent and expanding and involve Sightsavers providing disability inclusion expertise, programmatic activities and/or technical support to a mainstream health, jobs/livelihoods, or education programme or provider. The successful candidate will be required to travel internationally for up to 8 weeks a year.  

 Key duties will include:  

Consortium relationship management/liaison 

• Act as first point of contact for the consortium lead (prime) agencies on work planning, programme delivery, schedules of work, MEL, and finance for the portfolio of disability inclusion projects. 
• Maintain global oversight of performance, and report on progress, risks and issues to the prime agencies. 
• Cascade consortium requirements and deadlines to the Sightsavers project team (country, technical and global representatives), and mobilise colleagues to deliver.  
• Ensure agreed deliverables are met. 

 Project delivery 

• Mobilise the Sightsavers project team to respond to prime agencies’ project start up and inception procedures. 
• Liaise with country and technical colleagues to coordinate the quarterly/ annual work planning process within Sightsavers. 
• Chair regular check-in meetings with the Sightsavers project team to monitor progress.  
• Support project team with editing and proofing of key deliverables, to quality assure and to check for accessibility.  
• Review quarterly/annual reporting submissions and support the institutional funding team to finalise report content. 

 Financial and risk management  

• Liaise with finance colleagues regarding budget, financial risk and oversight of overall financial performance and value for money across the portfolio. 
• Maintain oversight of project risks and risk management measures. 

 Communications, learning and influencing 

• Work with the prime agencies and/or consortium partners, country teams, and Sightsavers MEL and communications teams to coordinate, consolidate and disseminate programme learning. 
• Promote and publicise success stories and case studies emerging from the programmes, in liaison with Sightsavers communications teams. 

 This is a highly varied and involved role and the above is not an exhaustive list of duties or required professional skills. Please see the Job Description for full details. 

 About you 

 Jobholder Requirements 

 Essential: 

• Demonstrable experience in project management within large, complex programmes or projects.  
• Experience of consortium working and of coordinating and mobilising multiple stakeholders/partners.  
• Understanding of the challenges and complexities of delivering international or multi-country projects/collaborations within time, scope, and budget.  
• Understanding of, and commitment to, equality of opportunity for people with disabilities. 
• Experience of working within the international development sector.  
• Knowledge or understanding of disability-inclusive programming (of particular advantage if this is within the fields of health, education, or livelihoods).  
• Experience of risk management; the ability to identify, mitigate and monitor risks, and drive decision-making accordingly. 

 Desirable: 

• Experience of working with USAID and/or Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) grants and contracts. 
• Experience of managing project budgets and monitoring financial performance.  

 Skills  

• Highly technologically competent. 
• Ability to prioritise in a fast-moving environment with competing deadlines. 
• An understanding of programme management challenges in a development context. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 
• Strong influencing and negotiating skills. 
• Ability to balance attention to detail with understanding the big picture. 
• Highly numerate and confident when working with numbers or statistics 
• Sound knowledge of Microsoft Office products, particularly Word and Excel, and experience of manipulating data.  
• Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills 
• Fluency in French is advantageous, but not essential. 
• Able to travel for up to 8 weeks per year for no longer than 2 weeks at a time.