Marie Stopes International Regional Technical Assistance Officer Job Opening in Nairobi Kenya December 2013
The key responsibility of the Regional TA Officer is to coordinate technical assistance (TA) required and/or requested by county programmes in the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) and West Africa and Latin America (WALA) regions (initially in the areas of clinical quality, finance and research, monitoring and evaluation (RME)), which TA is provided by regional advisors reporting to the Nairobi regional office.
The Regional TA Officer will report to the Deputy Regional Director (DRD) for at least an initial period of 6 months, after which the organisational structure will be reassessed. The Regional TA Officer will work in close cooperation with the Regional Office Administrator.
(The term “TA” when used in this document includes in-country TA visits, remote TA support, audits and training, unless the context specifies otherwise. The term “regional advisor” includes In-Country Plus advisors.)
Job Title: Regional TA Officer
MSI is a marketing-focused, resulted oriented social business that uses modern management and marketing techniques to provide quality family planning and reproductive health services in more than 41 countries worldwide.
The primary responsibility of this role is to further MSI’s Goal: THE PREVENTION OF UNWANTED BIRTHS and its mission of ensuring the individuals right to: CHILDREN BY CHOICE NOT CHANCE.
It is a role requirement that the job holder must fully comply with, promote and live MSI CORE VALUES: mission driven, customer focused, results orientated, pioneering, sustainable and people centered
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Planning
Business planning – Assist the regional office team to assess the ability of the team to meet country programme TA requests included in the annual business planning process. Assist the regional office team to review quarterly TA plans received from country programmes, and assess progress against the overall annual plan. Amend the TA plans as required.
Training plans – Assist the regional office team to develop, with the respective technical leads in London, annual training plans that overlay the TA plans.
Clinical quality audits (QTAs) – Work with the Medical Development Team (MDT) in the London office to develop an annual workplan for QTAs across the ESA and WALA regions in accordance with the QTA Pathway guidance document.
Regional strategy – Provide input to the development of regional TA strategy, including B2B.
Measures:
- TA plan reflects the TA needs of country programmes (no more than 20% of TA in a year is not in the approved business plans).
- TA support to each region is proportionately balanced (no greater than 15% variance).
- Improved cost effectiveness of QTAs each year.
- Training, audit and TA plans are effectively integrated into the TA database in a timely manner
Implementing TA plans – Liaise between country programmes (technical leads and management), London technical leads, regional advisors and the DRD to deliver TA agreed to in the approved business plans, as amended quarterly. Ensure that all decisions and issues in those communications are noted and filed appropriately using the TA information management system. Ensure that the TA Database is always current.
Facilitating ad-hoc TA – Coordinate with relevant parties (including the DRD) to prioritise and facilitate the provision of ad-hoc TA, such as technical support after an unexpected resignation of a senior staff member. Ensure that the provision of such TA is integrated into the TA Database and overall TA information management system.
Implementing annual clinical audit (QTA) plan – Work closely with MDT in the London office to coordinate the implementation of the annual QTA plan in accordance with the QTA Pathway guidance document.
Selecting appropriate TA leads – Work with the relevant technical leads in London, the DRD and the regional advisors to source appropriate B2B resources (in-country plus or secondment) and/or external consultants to provide TA where appropriate.
Logistics – Ensure that all necessary logistics are in place to facilitate an effective TA visit, including liaising with country programme administrative staff in regard to visas, accommodation and transport.
Maximising performance – Manage the schedules of regional advisors to ensure that their time is efficiently, effectively and equitably utilised so that the correct proportion of their professional time is allocated to regional work (e.g. 70% for medical and research advisors). Ensure that this time is balanced between in-country TA, remote TA, training, workshops, audits and adequate time in their duty stations. Liaise with the technical leads in the London office in regard to allocating sufficient time in their schedules for the percentage of their time, if any, allocated to global goods.
Measures
- TA plan is at least 85% successfully implemented each year.
- A solution to ad-hoc TA requests is agreed internally within 2 weeks of the request being received.
- Less than 10% changes to the QTA plan in a specific quarter (unless change is country-driven).
- No country programme QTA dates are changed more than once (unless request is country driven).
- 85% positive feedback from Country Directors on B2B resources.
- 90% of TA visits proceed in-country as planned logistically.
- Advisors’ contribution to the teams is fair and balanced (no greater than 10% variations between time spent by different advisors).
Planning – Work with technical leads in London to ensure that workshops and trainings are planned well in advance, and integrated into the overall TA framework, including the TA Database.
Logistics – Working in close collaboration with the technical leads in the London office and support staff in the host country, plan and supervise the logistics for technical workshops and trainings to ensure that these events are cost-effective and run smoothly.
Measures
- Updated database of possible event venues, including negotiated rates with hotel chains.
- Best practice event planning manual developed and implemented 90% of the time.
TA information management system – Act as the Lead Administrator for the TA Database. Update and keep current the TA Database and related systems, including B2B and consultant databases. Provide feedback to the Business Effectiveness Unit in regard to improvement of the system. Ensure that users in the Africa region have appropriate level permissions, and ensure that confidentiality is maintained.
Maximising use of the systems – Provide training to regional advisors and Nairobi support staff on how to view and use the information management system. Facilitate software upgrades, where required.
Reporting – Provide reports as requested by the DRD from the information management system.
Measures
- All advisors and hub staff have access to, are trained on and use the TA Database only in regard to planning and logistics (no parallel systems).
- Recommendations on improvement are fed back to the London office on a quarterly basis.
- Hub KPIs are accurately tracked.
Coding – Ensure all TA expenditure is properly coded to relevant projects, in coordination with the Grant Officers in the London office in line with the SUN 6 accounting system.
Expenditure monitoring – Monitor, review and process of the expenses incurred by regional advisors and authorise for sign-off by the DRD.
Budget monitoring – Liaise with Grant Officers in the London office regarding allocation of hub expenditure (including TA and salaries) to existing projects.
Time sheets – Ensure that regional advisors are accurately and regularly completing timesheets. Provide training where required.
Funding – Act as the liaison to the New Business Development Department in regard to allocations to the Nairobi office under new projects, especially global/ regional projects.
Internal reporting – Coordinate and consolidate all monthly plans and activity reports from regional advisors and in-country plus advisors and submit to the DRD for review by the 10th of each month, with copies to the respective technical leads in London. Coordinate and consolidate reports from B2B resources (e.g. secondment) and external consultants.
Measures
- Every TA trip/ event is accurately coded in advance. Recoding/ reversals less than 10%.
- Advisor expenditure is 95% in accordance with MSI and hub guidelines.
- TA expenditure (including advisor salaries) is consistent with annual budget (20% variance maximum).
- All TA is consistently and timeously documented and filed. DRD is fully aware of plans and activities of all advisors and other TA resources.
Communication – Ensure that all communications from the Regional TA Officer within MSI are courteous, conciliatory and helpful. Foster a service provider-client culture in dealings with various departments and teams within MSI.
Relationship management – Build, nurture and maintain excellent professional relationships with regional advisors, consultants, country teams (technical and management), London technical leads and Grant Officers based on the premise of a service provider-client culture.
Measures
- Feedback on customer satisfaction from technical departments, CDs and others is rated 70% or above.
Develop an excellent working relationship with the Regional Project Officer and Regional Office Administrator.
Any additional duties as necessary and directed by the Deputy Regional Director.
Qualifications:
University degree in business management, social science or a related field.
Experience:
- Minimum 5 years’ experience in office or project management in the business or NGO sector (essential).
- Strong background in logistical support and coordination (essential), preferably at a regional level (desirable).
- Strong background in systems development, including IT (desirable).
- Experience in budget monitoring and management (desirable).
- Proven experience working in a team (essential), preferably at a cross-regional level in a multi-cultural setting (desirable).
- Ability to remain calm under pressure and to respond positively to frequent changes to plans (essential).
- A high standard of written/spoken English.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (verbally and in writing), including ability to work effectively in a multi-cultural team, build relationships throughout and at all levels in the organisation and communicate effectively to a wide-ranging audience.
- Ability to act in a conciliatory and conflict-averse manner, but also to be assertive when the situation requires it.
- Demonstrated team player.
- Excellent organisational and time management skills.
- Ability to multi-task, prioritise effectively and meet changing or multiple demands and deadlines.
- Demonstrated high attention to detail and ability to follow through tasks to completion.
- Ability to work without close supervision and show initiative.
- Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality of information.
- Advanced computer skills, especially Excel. Knowledge of using databases is an advantage.
Successful performance at MSI is not simply defined in terms of ‘what’ people achieve, but equally is about ‘how’ people go about their jobs and the impact that they have on others.
Initiative – Thinking ahead and taking action to make the most of opportunities by finding the optimum solution.
How to Apply
People and Development Dept
pd@mariestopes.or.ke
Marie Stopes International- Kenya
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted
NB: Please clearly indicate on the subject line as ‘Regional Technical Assistance Officer’
Marie Stopes International is an equal opportunity Employer