The US Presidents Malaria Initiative (PMI) Impact Malaria project is PMI’s flagship global malaria service delivery project, helping to improve the quality and increase the delivery of malaria diagnosis and treatment services in up to 27 countries around the world. PMI Impact Malaria is a USAID contract hosted and led by PSI as the prime contractor.
PMI Impact Malaria works with national malaria control programs to help tackle these challenges by:
- Closing the gaps in malaria service delivery to get the right medicine, with the correct diagnosis, to patients in need, in the timeliest manner.
- Unlocking the potential of key drug-based approaches, by helping countries to introduce, implement, and scale-up proven innovations to move countries forward in their elimination efforts, according to each country’s unique malaria situation.
- Strengthening malaria health systems and the use of data for decision-making to link operational research and country-led dialogue with global technical leadership for the means of accelerating service delivery improvements and advancing key learnings.
The PMI Impact Malaria (IM) team is a results focused, multi-disciplined and multi-cultured team, based out of Washington DC, working through PSI country offices as well as through our partners Jhpiego, MCDI and UCSF.
The newly created IM Project Management Lead position reports to the IM Project Director and is a member of the IM Senior Management Team. The Project Management Lead serves as a critical link between technical and programmatic activities to ensure the success of IM. The Project Management Lead will be responsible for the development, management and tracking of IM Core Team deliverables (those directly funded through the Core budget) for the project and leading the annual reporting process as a key contract deliverable. The Project Management Lead will work and collaborate closely with members of the IM Senior Management Team – the Project Director, Deputy Project Director, Senior Technical Advisor and Country Operations Director – to inform project activities and key business decisions, as well as ensuring contract deliverables and project activities are delivered and completed on time and to the expectations of the client (PMI). You will be responsible for the development, implementation and monitoring of highly organized workstreams leading to the creation and monitoring of IM technical products in collaboration with the Senior Technical Advisor and technical team. The Project Management Lead will coordinate client meetings to ensure progress on project activities is communicated and represented accurately and in a timely manner. Under the oversight of and in collaboration with the Deputy Project Director, the Project Management Lead will play a lead role in the execution of the annual global IM team meeting.
The ideal candidate is a self-starter with strong written and verbal presentation and communication skills and holds the ability to quickly understand complex, technical concepts, as well as understand client needs and requirements. She/He will be a highly skilled facilitator, able to lead meetings and bring about clear consensus on action points. In addition, the successful candidate will have strong analytical, business and project management skills with an ability to identify needs, develop effective solutions, and manage projects through completion. The successful candidate will be highly organized and able to manage multiple timelines and contrasting priorities to ensure timely results and will be comfortable leading within a matrix environment with multiple players. This position will be based in Washington DC at the project HQ.
Essential Functions
- Develop, manage and track IM Core Workplan, including project management of Core Operational Research; monitor and review project progress and timelines, adjust schedules and plans as needed, identify and resolve issues to ensure project success.
- Lead the development and submission of the IM Annual Report.
- Under the oversight of and in collaboration with the Deputy Project Director, the Project Management Lead will play a lead role in the execution of the annual global IM team meeting including logistics, development of agenda and facilitation.
- Facilitate meetings and working groups geared toward the development of strategies, solutions and products with corresponding workplans and timelines that address the needs of stakeholders from multiple project components.
- Coordinate regular meetings with client, including gathering inputs from project teams to accurately report on project progress and project teams. Facilitate post-meeting debrief sessions with IM HQ Core Team to organize learnings and agree upon next steps.
- Facilitate the creation of technical design documents for complex projects, by interfacing with appropriate internal teams.
- Lead conversations regarding budget, resources, and timeline, and formally capture and communicate the outcomes of those meetings to relevant stakeholders.
- Develop agendas, briefings and communications focused on achieving project deliverables.
- Support the Development of SOPs, documenting processes, and maintaining up-to-date document libraries.
- Comply with all requirements established within awarded contract and ensure adherence to PSI standards and practices.
- Identify and escalate project risks and issues before they become critical.
- Contribute to building a high-performing team and serve as a learning partner team member – from navigating PSI department, systems and Sharepoint to coaching and being a sounding board for team members on solving project related dilemmas.
- Serve as liaison with PSI Program Management Teams at HQ to facilitate engagement of IM within the broader PSI context.
- Performs other duties and projects as assigned.
The candidate we hire will embody PSI’s corporate values:
- Measurement: You use hard evidence to make decisions and guide your work. You set clear goalposts in advance and explain clearly if you need to move them.
- Pragmatism: You’ll strive to deliver the best possible result with the resources available. You won’t be paralyzed by a need to make things perfect.
- Honesty: You own your mistakes and are open about your shortcomings – it’s the only way you’ll learn and improve.
- Collaboration: You’ll quickly establish a mental map of whom you can rely on for what, on your team, at headquarters, and in our country offices – if you try to do it all yourself, you won’t succeed.
- Trust: You accept limits to your sphere of control and give colleagues the benefit of the doubt
- Commitment: You are in it for the long-haul and want to grow with the organization, just like PSI serves its consumers and partners with host-country governments through thick and thin
The basics
- At least 8+ years of program management experience on a USAID or similar donor project with a mix of technical and project management roles. Experience with managing contracts an advantage.
- Strong ability to absorb and deliver highly technical requirements into an action plan delivered downward and upward.
- Outstanding and effective interpersonal skills; able to work across and manage diverse teams in a matrix management environment and bring about consensus.
- Exceptional facilitation and communication skills, both verbal and written, including an ability to clearly articulate complex ideas in simple language.
- Ability to think strategically and move proactively and nimbly to deliver projects within the constraints of schedule, budget and scope. Adaptability to changing requests or timelines will be important.
- The ability to work under pressure and handle multiple tasks simultaneously, including results from multiple countries.
- Cultural sensitivity and adaptability to changing contexts and communication styles.
- Advanced MS office expertise. Skilled in the development of presentations. Knowledge of project management software an advantage
- Ability to travel up to 20% of time.
- Must be able to communicate and work in English, working proficiency in French highly desired.
- Experience of PSI and its systems an advantage.