Senior Project Manager, VisionFund International at World Vision Kenya

Role Responsibilities

Development of Project Plans:

• Creates comprehensive project plans that identify resources and budgetary needs.
• Develops and manages a detailed plan of how the Institutional Strengthening Plans (ISP) and project plans will be rolled out in the MFIs and Business Lines and other departments respectively.

Development of pre-implementation plans:

• Oversee pre-implementation plans (IA, ISP), business line project pipeline and support MFI in making its plans which include review of change management business impact, human resources and risks.
• Identifies project dependencies prior to the start of the project
• Lead on the design and development of GC-led project management initiatives
• Identifying the specific needs of GC functions and building tools to manage their projects and initiatives effectively.

Project Management execution:

• Oversees the implementation of projects and ensure all projects are effectively managed;
• Develops, work breakdown structures and continually updates detailed project management plans and schedules;
• Supports MFIs/BLs during implementation of all projects and participate in issue-resolution decisions and capacity building. 

Risk Management:

• Identifies the elements of risk in a project.
• Analyzes, prioritizes and consolidates project risks and assesses its potential impact to the client.
• Develops and maintains risk plans, processes and systems in order to mitigate risk.
• Creates action plan for risks that occur and follows through on plan.
• Maintains issue list, proactively escalating issues to project and departmental leadership to mitigate risk.
• Recommends and takes action to direct analysis and solution of problems.

Relationship management and provision of on-going support:

• Ensure that adequate support is in place internally at the MFI level for the Project Managers;
• Negotiates conflicts and resolves issues that arise;
• Resolves any issues and solves problems throughout the project life cycle;
• Ensures scope, goals, milestones, budget, risk, status, change requests and critical issues are effectively communicated to the client and project team with accordance to the governance structure;
• Conducts regular communication to all stakeholders.

Change Management:

• Articulates change in the projects in the ISP and other project plans for BLs and other departments;
• Actively and visibly supports and/or leads the change process;
• Provides frequent, communication to department/organization and clients about the change (i.e., rationale, expected outcomes, the "big” picture) and the impact of the change (individual and business);
• Supports and provides guidance the development and execution of the change management strategy at the field/local level.
• Identifies and removes obstacles to change

Conduction of the monitoring, evaluation, reporting and documentation of the project:

• Reviews and aid drafting of project creation, development and execution;
• Plans, monitors and evaluates how the projects are progressing and inform stakeholders of issues, blockages in alignment with the governance structure. Tracking what is happening in MFIs assigned on a regular basis.
• Facilitates regular check-ups with team members and managers to discuss progress, address challenges, and provide updates.
• Assists in developing and enhancing the reporting framework to monitor progress for management and stakeholders;
• Monitors approved scope, timelines, budgets and progress to make sure projects are on track on the assigned projects;
• Manages and plan for risks in the project and communicate timely with relevant stakeholders.
• Oversees the assessment of a post-implementation review and lead on any findings / recommendations of the same.

Capacity Building:

• Ensures that MFIs follow proper PM standards, methodologies and tools as defined by the PMO and is trained to do so;
• Ensures that the Project Managers in the MFIs have the skills and competencies both within the project management and business functions to use their skills to support the plans;
• Identifies knowledge gaps that need to be addressed, and support field/local teams in skills training and capacity building so that they become more capable in managing projects;
• Provides technical advice, feedback, coaching and encouragement to the team involved throughout the project lifecycle.
• Train and coach the PMO’s Project Managers as well as MFI’s, Business Lines’ and other department’s Project Managers and VFI GC PMs.

Required Professional Experience

• Degree or equivalent ideally in information technology or related discipline
• Certification in Project Management methodology, including one of PMP, AGILE, PRINCE 2, LEAN  / SIX SIGMA etc.
• Proficiency in project management tools
• 5+ years of MicroFinance experience, ideally in an operational / business management role (understanding the needs and opportunity of process and IT solutions);
• 5+ years of project management experience working to recognized PM methodologies
• Significant experience of leading or participating as Project Manager of a number of successful microfinance/banking systems implementations.
• Demonstrated ability to write reports (e.g. Business Cases, Risk Management plans, project close out reports, etc.) and reporting at Senior Management level.
• Understanding of microfinance/retail banking operations, from a credit, financial, risk or systems perspective;
• Service orientation with ability to lead teams, organize, prioritize, and delegate tasks while transferring knowledge and expertise;
• Ability to work under pressure and on multiple tasks and projects concurrently;
• Good organizational skills to be able to analyze, judge risk, recommend solutions;
• Cross-culturally sensitive and be able to work with staff from across the world and in a virtual environment;
• Facilitation and Communication skills;
• Leadership capabilities and hands-on experience in managing and successfully implementing systems in banks and/or microfinance institutions;
• “Can do” attitude towards work and challenges.

Preferred knowledge and qualifications

• Operational experience in MicroFinance
• Knowledge acquired on experience working on:
• Projects within a Financial Services context, including elements of people, processes and platforms.
• Digital Finance / Innovation projects including one of: credit, savings, data, accounting.