Position: Senior Project Officer (HIV/AIDS)
Programme: Merlin Kenya HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Care Project
Responsible To: Merlin Kisii Project Coordinator
Location: Kisii, Kenya
Start Date: ASAP
Duration: 12 Months
Salary: Ksh 138,000 Gross Per Month
Benefits: Currently includes 24 days annual leave, medical cover, bonus and gratuity
Only
short-listed applicants will be contacted. Due to the urgency of this
position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we
may offer this post before the closing date.
Merlin International Profile
Merlin
specialises in health, saving lives in times of crisis and helping to
rebuild shattered health services. Each year, Merlin helps more than 15
million people in up to 20 countries.
Context and Background
Merlin
has been working in Kenya since 1998 and in Somalia since 2004. In
Kenya Merlin is currently operational in two regions: western and
northern Kenya. Merlin projects in Kenya range from the implementation
of MNCH, nutrition and emergency preparedness and response programmes;
HIV prevention, care and treatment programmes and malaria prevention and
control programmes.
The HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment
programme is being implemented in partnership with CARE Kenya as prime
recepient and district health authorities under the consortium name of
Chagua Maisha.
The program that is located in Kisii South, Kisii
Central, Marani, Gucha South and Nyamira North and South districts is
planned to be implemented for 5 years starting October 1 2010. The goal
of the comprehensive program is to reduce HIV infections and improve
quality of life of people infected and affected by HIV in Nyanza
province.
This will be realized by increasing the quality, access
and utilization of HIV prevention, care and treatment services at the
community and facility levels and strengthening the capacity of
indigenous institutions and MoH to implement HIV prevention, care and
treatment services at the community and facility levels.
Main purpose of the role
The
Senior HIV/AIDS Project Officer is responsible for leading Merlin
HIV/AIDS team and providing technical support and capacity building of
the team for successful planning and implementation of programme
activities.
The Senior HIV/AIDS Project Officer will work closely
with the Project Health Coordinator, Operations Manager, and Project
Coordinator in ensuring delivery of quality integrated and comprehensive
HIV/AIDS – TB prevention, care and treatment programme.
In
addition he or she receives technical advisory and management support
from technical lead (TL)-HIV Care and Treatment and the Senior Program
Manager of the Chagua Maisha Consortium and is a member of programme
leadership team. The Senior HIV/AIDS Project Officer will be stationed
in Merlin Kisii office with over 50% of time spent in field operations.
Overall Objectives (scope)
This
position demands both the technical knowledge and the work experience,
needed to coordinate a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, care and
treatment programme that includes TB collaborative activities.
The
Senior HIV/AIDS Project Officer will be responsible for ensuring that
the programme is executed in line with country and international
standards and donor guidelines.
This position demands an ability
to manage, organise and support all aspects of the programme; including
other agency liaison, training and supervising Merlin and local staff
using techniques and tools available and appropriate to Kenya.
Responsibilities
Budget Management
- Responsible
for development of program operational budget based on consolidation of
needs of the program and responsible for budget management
- Undertake monthly reviews to monitor potential budget under and overruns.
- Together
with Operation Manager and finance staff review financial expense
reports on a monthly basis as per contractual requirements to ensure
contract compliance.
- Together with logistics team prepare
procurement plans at the start of program and quarterly to ensure flow
of goods and services to support implementation of program
- Together
with finance staff ensure timely preparation of financial reports and
ensure that there is harmony in program and financial reports
Programme Management
- Prepare programme implementation plans as per templates provided by the prime
- Provide leadership in management of the program, timely implementation of approved work plan, budget and performance indicators.
- With
the support of project health coordinator ensure that there is
effective coordination of duties among program and program support staff
- Provide program updates to Technical Lead, HIV Care and
Treatment during program leadership team sessions to facilitate early
identification of gaps and challenges
- Support the Chagua Maisha
Senior Programme Manager (SPM) and program leadership team in organizing
partner review meetings as per work plan.
- Participate in joint field visits by Merlin and Prime for ongoing monitoring and review of project implementation
- Conduct
supervision oversight of on going project activities with a view to
ascertain that activities are on going and on track
- Provide
support to Project Health Coordinator and Program Coordinator in
developing reports and ensure the timely submission of reports as per
contractual obligations
- Provide support to program M&E personnel in development of an electronic information and data management system
- Together
with Project Health Coordinator ensure documentation of lessons learnt,
good practices and share these internally and with partners
- Ensure
team cohesiveness and harmonization within the consortium in
operational area to enhance programmatic performance and joint technical
support to strengthening health systems and capacity of government
partners.
- Provide management technical oversight to program
consultancies and contractors to ensure deliverables are met according
to stipulated standards
- Support Merlin’s achievement of strategic interventions as outlined in the country strategic plan
Staff management and capacity building
- Management
supervision of program officers and other programme staff to ensure
coordination of management functions at all times.
- Manage,
guide, supervise, coach, mentor, provide leadership and support to the
Chagua Maisha HIV Program staff hired under Merlin’s contract and where
need be, others hired under CARE Chagua Maisha, on a day to day basis to
meet program tasks and responsibilities
- Participate in the
hiring of competent staff and in their orientation to implement
programme activities in line with contractual obligations and in line
with Merlin’s policies and procedures
- Support staff to develop
individual work plans for purposes of strengthening their performance
and the performance of the Chagua Maisha program
- Undertake annual staff appraisal
- Provide staff with technical guidance, training, resources and tools related to HIV/AIDS and TB programmes
- Assess the training needs of staff and develop a training programme to meet these needs.
- Participate in training activities related to the field of work
Coordination
- Liaise with the Ministry of Health and other agencies to ensure appropriate provision of service and use of resources.
- Keep
the Project Coordinator, Project Health Coordinator, and Country Health
Director appraised of all activities and any difficulties that may
arise.
- Establish good working relationship with the consortium
Prime partner staff and Chagua Maisha partners (Government and non
Government stakeholders) to facilitate smooth program implementation
- Coordinate with other Merlin-Kisii program project officers in enhancing health programming outcomes in the region.
- Attend
district annual operations planning meetings and represent Merlin in
district/county coordination meetings and related HIV forums
Person Specification
Essential
Qualifications, experience and competences
- Medical
Doctor or Nurse or Clinical Officer or other relevant discipline with
MPH and comprehensive HIV/AIDS programme expertise
- Minimum of 5 years experience in program management capacity in health programming
- Minimum
of 3 years experience in HIV&AIDS Programming in Kenya (prevention,
HIV care and treatment programs, Sexual and reproductive health
- Understanding of Kenya’s health systems infrastructure
- Strong staff and program management skills
- Strong partnership skills
- Excellent inter-personal, facilitation skills and communication skills
- Strong budget management skills
- Demonstrated experience in conducting monitoring and evaluation activities
- Experience in designing and implementing training programmes
- Experience in writing donor reports-
- Experience
in representation and interaction with donors, government officials,
international organizations, and NGO representatives concerning health
issues and initiatives
- Strong computer skills including word processing, and Excel and English fluency
Preferred
- Good team player, flexible and capable of working with a multinational country team.
- Ability and willingness to travel to rural locations and live in sometimes basic conditions.
- Appreciation of and sensitivity to local culture.
- Experience
of a flexible approach to managing and prioritising a high workload
and multiple tasks in a fast paced environment with tight deadlines
- Experience of proactively identifying and addressing issues
- An understanding of and commitment to Merlin’s mission and values
Data ProtectionPlease
note, on submitting your application, you are agreeing to Merlin
holding and using the information that you have given for the purposes
of recruitment and employment – should an offer be made. Where
required by donors funding requirements, some job offers are
conditional on our ensuring that potential employees’ names do not
appear on counter terrorism lists generated by the United Nations,
European Union or the United States. On
submitting your application, you are agreeing to Merlin using the
information that you have given for checking that your name does not
appear on these lists. How to Apply:Should
this role be of interest to you, please send you application, clearly
indicating “Senior Project Officer HIV/AIDS” in the subject line, to
recruitment@merlin-kenya.org by 5pm on Wednesday, 29th March 2012. Alternatively,
you may wish to post your application to, HR Department, Merlin,
Nairobi Office, P.O Box 3350 – 00200, Nairobi, Kenya. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
