Jobs at Palladium International

Position Details:

• The Team Leader will oversee the implementation of the WISH Dividend P&S programme across its focus countries, reporting to the Programme Director.
• Specifically, as the central programme representative and accountable party, the Team Leader will oversee and guide Country Leads in the development and full implementation of annual, demand-driven technical workplans.
• The Team Leader will likewise shepherd the programme delivery and management function along with the Regional Finance and Operations Manager and Programme Management Unit. Within their remit, s/he will ensure timely and high-quality completion of technical deliverables; robust financial and programme management; the achievement of payment KPIs; progress against logframe targets; the realisation of value for money commitments; and other duties/responsibilities.
• The Team Leader serves as FCDO’s primary point of contact for programme strategy, technical leadership, and overall day-to-day management and oversight.

Primary Roles and Responsibilities:

Strategic and Technical Leadership

• Provide strategic leadership and technical oversight of WISH P&S across all countries and workstreams – from technical delivery, monitoring, evaluation and learning, to programme and financial management.
• Guide and oversee Country Leads towards the effective development and implementation of annual workplans (AWP); ensure delivery is on time, within budget, and meets Client and government partner expectations.
• Ensure principles of problem-driven iterative adaptation, institutionalisation, and sustainability are central to AWP development and implementation.
• Monitor implementation progress via the TA Tracker and work to resolve delivery bottlenecks with Country Leads.
• Own the programme’s live risk register, working closely with Country Leads who are responsible for assessing risks, devising mitigation strategies, tracking, and resolution.
• Oversee achievement of programme KPIs, logframe targets, and value for money commitments.
  Lead routine programme reporting and learning.

Client and External Engagement

• Serve as the primary point of contact for FCDO centrally on programme strategy, performance, and programmatic and financial delivery. Serve as a key point of escalation for FCDO Posts, engaging with them routinely to gauge satisfaction with AWP implementation across implementation countries.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with key government counterparts in programme countries, and other strategic development partners working in the DT and SRHR domains for alignment and reduced duplication.Represent the programme with external audiences as needed, including high-level meetings, Steering Committees, technical forums, and other government or development partner structures.

Consortium Management

• Provide leadership and oversight of consortium partnerships to ensure coordinated, high-quality delivery, and compliance with partnership principles.
• Support Country Leads, as needed, to manage partner performance across specific AWPs; help resolve any partnership issues.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with WISH Dividend implementing partners (e.g., WISH 2, Evidence and Learning, ONS).

Team Management

• Lead and mentor a multidisciplinary and geographically dispersed programme team, including direct line management of six Country Leads, the MEL Lead, and Regional Finance & Operations Manager.
• Oversee staff recruitment and contracting, performance management, disciplinary and grievance proceedings, and learning and professional development of staff with support of the Programme Management Unit.
• Responsible for overseeing the effective implementation of all safeguarding policies and procedures as related to the project.

Financial and Operational Management

• Oversee and review the development of programme-wide and country-level budgets and forecasts; review financial performance against forecast, and hold Country Leads to account for financial targets.
• Ensure effective implementation of safeguarding, security, and compliance requirements across the programme, including adherence to FCDO and Palladium policies, procedures, and contractual obligations.
  Input into the development of contract amendments.

Required Skills and Experience:

• Proven senior-level experience leading large, complex, donor-funded international development programmes, including multi-country TA and/or health systems strengthening programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Strong preference for previous experience delivering FCDO programmes specifically.
• Proven experience in senior programme leadership roles (e.g., Team Leader, Chief of Party, Country Director, Deputy Team Leader) with accountability for technical and financial delivery.
• Strong technical expertise in SRHR, demography/population dynamics, and health systems strengthening.
• Experience applying PDIA, and proven success driving institutionalisation and sustainability agendas.
• Strong track record of leading the development and implementation of annual or multi-year workplans, overseeing high-quality deliverables, and ensuring progress against logframes, KPIs, and contractual obligations.
• Proven ability to manage large, multidisciplinary, and geographically dispersed teams, including routine line management, performance management, mentoring, and fostering a collaborative one-team culture.
• Extensive experience managing consortium partners and external technical experts, ensuring coordinated delivery, strong partner relationships, and high-quality technical inputs across programme components.
• Demonstrated ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders, including donors, government counterparts, civil society, and development partners, and to represent programmes credibly at high-level meetings and forums.
• Strong financial and operational management skills, including oversight of large budgets, forecasting, contract amendments, budget revisions, and ensuring delivery in line with donor and organisational policies and procedures.
• Excellent communication, reporting, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to produce high-quality donor-facing reports, synthesise complex information clearly, and build trusted relationships.
• Strong judgment, problem-solving, and adaptive leadership skills, with experience operating in politically and operationally complex environments and responding effectively to changing priorities and emerging risks.
• Demonstrated commitment to safeguarding, gender equality and social inclusion, and rights-based programming, with experience embedding these principles in programme design, delivery, and team leadership.

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Position Details:

•  The TA Advisor will provide technical leadership and delivery oversight for the programme’s emerging Window 3 mechanism first and foremost, and likewise contribute to quality oversight of specific TA activities across the programme's 7 countries. In both cases, the role is intended to specialise in the provision of support on demographic transition (DT)-focused TA, including developing decision-ready tools that transform demographic data and insights for planning and budgeting, building government capacity on demographic evidence uptake, and strengthening institutional ownership of the population agenda.
• Specifically, the Advisor under Window 3 will work with FCDO and government counterparts to define TA needs, design high-quality scopes of work, and ensure delivery of practical, high-impact support. Depending on the nature of each assignment, the Advisor may directly deliver technical inputs (either remotely or in-person), identify and manage local or regional consultants, or coordinate inputs from consortium partners and other technical experts. Across all TA assignments, the Advisor will be accountable for ensuring that TA is delivered to a high standard, responds to the needs of FCDO and government partners, and achieves the agreed measures of success. The Advisor is also expected to support the programme’s most strategic DT-focused TAs across its current 7 countries of operation, working closely with each Country Lead to quality assure delivery.
• The Advisor will report to the Team Leader and work closely with the TA Coordinator, Country Leads, and MEL Lead to ensure that Window 3 operates as a responsive, technically credible, and well-managed mechanism within the wider programme.

Window 3 Primary Roles and Responsibilities

• Serve as the main point for technical review of FCDO Post requests via Window 3, including applying agreed prioritisation criteria to shortlist and agree TAs with FCDO centrally.
• Lead the drafting and quality assurance of DT-specific TA terms of reference for Window 3 with FCDO Post colleagues, including the articulation of clear policy and system level problems, initial solutions design, outputs and outcomes, consultant requirements, and approaches to institutionalisation and sustainability.
• Oversee end-to-end delivery of Window 3 TAs, ensuring progress against agreed deliverables, timelines, quality standards, and results.
• Where required, directly deliver technical inputs related to DT, including analysis, facilitation, technical writing, stakeholder engagement, and other strategic advisory support. In other cases, work with the TA Coordinator to identify, brief, and manage local consultants as needed, ensuring that consultant inputs are technically strong, appropriately contextualised, and delivered in line with programme standards.
• Identify risks early, adapting delivery approaches where needed, and escalating issues to the Team Leader or Programme Director as appropriate.
• Maintain strong working relationships with FCDO Posts, supporting clear communication on assignment progress, risks, decisions required, and emerging opportunities for follow-on support.
• Work closely with MEL and knowledge management colleagues to review progress of any Window 3 “small bets”, capture learning, success stories, and any other insights that can inform wider programme adaptation as part of the programme’s problem-driven iterative adaptation approach.
• Contribute to forecasting, resource planning, and spend monitoring for Window 3 assignments, supporting value for money and timely delivery.

Other Programme Roles and Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership on DT across the programme’s 7 countries of implementation, acting as the programme’s principal technical resource on demographics. As part of this:
• Support Country Leads to design DT-focused activities in response to key policy and system problems for annual workplans, including initial brainstorming as well as review of TA terms of reference.
• Work with Country Leads and the MEL Lead to track progress across DT-related TA activities, identifying implementation bottlenecks, risks, and opportunities for adaptation.
  Provide technical review and strategic guidance on the programme’s portfolio of DT-focused “small bets”
• Work closely with the MEL Lead and Country Leads to synthesise evidence, lessons learned, and emerging good practice from DT-focused activities
• Support the development of tools, guidance, thought leadership, and technical resources that strengthen programme-wide understanding of demographic transition
• Contribute to external engagement and representation as required, including providing technical inputs to donor discussions, workshops, learning events, knowledge products, and programme reporting related to DT.

Required Skills and Experience

• Advanced training in demography/population studies or closely related area; strong preference for candidates with formal demographic training.
• Significant technical expertise and advisory experience supporting governments on DT, including a proven track record of translating complex demographic data, projections, and concepts into practical policy, planning, budgeting, financing, and systems recommendations.
• Demonstrated experience supporting government to strengthen its stewardship of the population.
• Demonstrated experience designing and delivering TA for governments, donors, or multilateral partners, preferably in health, population, demography, human development, or systems strengthening.
• Proven ability to develop high-quality terms of reference, scopes of work, technical concepts, workplans, and consultant briefs.
• Strong track record in stakeholder engagement, including working with donors, government counterparts, and technical partners at senior levels. Strong preference for those with priority experience working with FCDO centrally and/or FCDO Posts.
• Experience successfully managing short-term consultants and multidisciplinary technical teams, including quality assuring consultant deliverables.
• Strong understanding of SRHR policy and programming highly desired.
• Excellent analytical, writing, facilitation, and communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical demographic concepts clearly to non-specialist audiences.
• Ability to manage multiple assignments across countries, work under time pressure, and maintain quality while responding to evolving client needs.