Project Director

Project Director

• Job Type Full Time
• Qualification BA/BSc/HND , MBA/MSc/MA , Professional Certificate
• Experience 12 years
• Location Nairobi
• Job Field Project and Program Management

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Project Governance

• Provide overall strategic leadership and direction for the project.

• Translate project objectives and contractual commitments into clear priorities, implementation approaches and measurable results.

• Establish effective governance, accountability, decision-making and performance management mechanisms.

• Provide strategic oversight across participating countries while ensuring interventions are adapted to country contexts and priorities.

• Champion equity, innovation, sustainability, local ownership and value for money.

• Country Implementation & Project Delivery

• Provide strategic oversight of project start-up, country planning and implementation.

• Ensure country teams translate project strategy into realistic, prioritised and measurable implementation plans.

• Oversee delivery of agreed milestones, outputs and outcomes within approved timelines, resources and quality standards.

• Ensure effective coordination across country, technical, operational and functional teams.

• Lead timely corrective and adaptive action where implementation deviates from approved plans or expected results.

• Government, Consortium & Strategic Partnerships

• Serve as the senior project representative with donors, governments, consortium partners and other strategic stakeholders.

• Build and maintain effective relationships with government ministries, procurement agencies, regulatory bodies, financing institutions and other national stakeholders.

• Promote government leadership, ownership and sustainability.

• Lead effective coordination across consortium partners, ensuring clear roles, accountabilities and delivery expectations.

• Represent inSupply Health in relevant national, regional and international forums.

• Financial & Resource Stewardship

• Provide overall accountability for effective stewardship of project resources.

• Ensure resources are strategically allocated across countries, interventions and activities to maximise results and value for money.

• Review financial performance, forecasts, expenditure and material variances and ensure timely corrective action.

• Work closely with Finance and Operations leadership to ensure effective financial controls, forecasting, budget management and donor reporting.

• Ensure personnel, consultants and other project resources are appropriately planned and deployed.

• People Leadership & Project Capability

• Lead multidisciplinary and geographically dispersed teams, fostering a collaborative, inclusive and accountable environment.

• Establish clear performance expectations, decision rights and accountability across the project leadership structure.

• Guide, coach and support Project Managers, technical leads and other project leaders.

• Ensure the project has the skills, capacity and leadership capability required to deliver its objectives.

• Promote staff engagement, wellbeing, safeguarding, inclusion and organisational values.

• Quality, Compliance, Risk & Safeguarding

• Provide oversight of compliance with donor agreements, contractual obligations, applicable laws and organisational policies.

• Oversee strategic, financial, operational, implementation, safeguarding and reputational risks.

• Ensure high and critical risks have clear owners, mitigation measures and escalation pathways.

• Ensure material compliance issues, audit findings and management actions are addressed within agreed timelines.

• Promote a culture of integrity, accountability, ethical conduct and safeguarding.

• Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Evidence

• Provide strategic oversight of monitoring, evaluation, learning and reporting systems.

• Ensure reliable data and evidence inform strategic decisions, adaptive management and resource allocation.

• Monitor progress towards improvements in MNH product access, including on-shelf availability of selected tracer products.

• Lead cross-country learning and knowledge exchange.

• Promote documentation and dissemination of evidence, innovations and good practices to support replication and scale-up.

• Sustainability, Scale & Project Development

• Provide strategic leadership for project sustainability, institutionalisation, scale-up and transition.

• Strengthen local systems, government ownership and institutional capacity to sustain results beyond the project period.

• Identify opportunities to leverage complementary investments, partnerships and financing.

• Provide senior-level input into proposals, concept notes, project extensions, partnerships and resource mobilisation opportunities.

• Project Reporting, Communication & Close-Out

• Ensure accurate, timely and high-quality donor, technical, financial and management reports.

• Communicate project performance, achievements, financial status, risks, challenges and opportunities to senior management, donors and stakeholders.

• Lead periodic project performance reviews and ensure agreed actions are followed through.

• Provide strategic oversight of project close-out and transition planning.

• Ensure final evaluations, reports, knowledge products, stakeholder handovers and sustainability or transition plans are completed to the required standards.

• Qualifications & Experience

• Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Project Management, Business Administration, Public Health, Development Studies, International Development, Supply Chain, Economics or a related field.

• A Master’s degree in a relevant discipline is mandatory.

• Professional Qualifications

• Membership in a relevant professional body, such as PMI or an equivalent recognised professional association.

• Professional certification in Project or Programme Management, such as PMP, PRINCE2 or an equivalent internationally recognised qualification, is highly desirable.

• Additional certification in Monitoring & Evaluation, Results-Based Management, Risk Management, Agile Project Management or another relevant discipline is an advantage.

• Professional Experience

• At least 12 years of progressively responsible experience in global health, international development, health systems strengthening, health supply chains or a related field, including substantial senior project or programme leadership experience.

• Demonstrated experience providing strategic leadership for complex, multi-country, donor-funded projects, with accountability for strategy, implementation, budgets, teams, partnerships, compliance and results.

• Experience working with government institutions and public-sector health systems, preferably across multiple countries and operating contexts.

• Strong understanding of health systems and supply-chain ecosystems, including systemic barriers related to access, financing, procurement, policy, data, regulation or service delivery.

• Proven experience leading multi-partner or consortium-based projects.

• Demonstrated experience engaging and influencing donors, government institutions, implementing partners and senior stakeholders.

• Experience leading multidisciplinary and geographically dispersed teams.

• Experience overseeing workplans, budgets, forecasts, risks, contractual deliverables and performance frameworks.

• Demonstrated experience in monitoring, evaluation, learning, evidence generation and adaptive project management.

• Experience in maternal and newborn health, health products, pharmaceutical or medical supply chains, procurement, market shaping or related areas is highly desirable.

• Key Competencies

We are looking for a leader who demonstrates:

• Strategic & Systems Thinking

• Multi-Country & Consortium Leadership

• Government & Stakeholder Engagement

• Results & Adaptive Management

• People & Resource Leadership

• Risk, Integrity & Accountability

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