MFA CSSP/ CP Projects Manager

The MFA CSSP/ CP Projects Manager leads the implementation and management of MFA Finland funded child protection and child-sensitive social protection projects in Zambia. The role involves overseeing project operations, budget management, partnership coordination, team supervision, monitoring and evaluation, and representing Save the Children in relevant forums to ensure the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and abuse.

Responsibilities

• Lead the implementation of MFA Finland funded CSSP and CP projects and ensure timely delivery against work plans, budget expenditure plans, procurement plans, and HR planning
• Oversee day-to-day projects operations, including direct implementation and partner-led activities, ensuring quality
• Act as overall budget holder for the MFA Finland funded projects, ensuring effective financial oversight, forecasting, and compliance with donor and SCI policies
• Serve as the key link with Finance for budget planning, spending tracking, forecasting, cash requests, and modifications
• Ensure timely and accurate donor and internal reporting, including narrative, financial, and indicator performance tracking, coordinating inputs from across the thematic area and partners
• Work with the partnership, awards & finance teams to identify appropriate partners for implementation of the sector response, including conducting capacity assessments and developing capacity strengthening plans
• Lead the development and management of partner agreements, including budgets, work plans, and review SCI Child Safeguarding Policy and Counter-Fraud, Bribery & Corruption to ensure timely submission of Partner Sub Award Agreements (PAAs) to Awards & Finance teams
• Provide ongoing support and supervision to partners, ensuring alignment with projects’ objectives and compliance and quality standards
• Regularly review partner progress against budget and work plan, and engage with them to support any adjustments needed, especially in response to context changes or operational challenges, to meet projects’ goals
• Review partner narrative, financial reports and MEAL data in line with internal deadlines for MEAL, Finance, and Awards Review Meetings
• Ensure appropriate staffing within the teams and that all staff understand and are able to perform their roles
• Establish performance management for all line-managed staff through clear objectives, ongoing feedback, quarterly reviews, and fair evaluations
• Provide strong, supportive leadership to the team by coaching and mentoring staff, helping them set and achieve clear priorities, and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous learning
• Actively identify and address team challenges, promote well-being, and ensure a collaborative and high-performing work environment
• Promote a culture of shared ownership and accountability, ensuring that team members understand their roles and are empowered to contribute meaningfully to programme goals
• Delegate tasks effectively within the team, balancing workloads and supporting staff development through clear guidance, coaching, and follow-up
• Responsible for the overall projects’ financial and budgetary management including ensuring quality and timely projects’ phased budgets aligned with the Detailed Implementation Plan (DIPs)
• Ensure projects’ implementation meets the monthly financial performance target (100% burn rate) and annual spending against life of awards’ budgets are within approved donor budgets
• Ensure all financial policies and regulations relating to cash flow management, expenditure controls, cash management, accounting information, and advances management are followed by staff and partners
• Hold monthly staff meetings to plan and reflect on projects roll out
• Ensure excellent financial management and accountability in line with SCI & donor policy guidelines anchored on effective and efficient forecasting, monitoring and tracking planned and actuals versus obligated
• Support audits to ensure seamless compliance with donor regulations
• Ensure timely and quality projects’ design and study processes including baseline assessments, research, midline and endline evaluations
• Use monitoring data, including Quality Benchmarks, to inform adaptive planning and projects’ improvements
• Work with MEAL, CSSP & CP Technical Leads to define a learning and projects’ documentation agenda
• Lead pause- and reflect activities to understand what is working well and what adaptations may be needed to achieve projects’ results
• Ensure accountability mechanisms are integrated into all aspects of projects’ management structures including information sharing, beneficiary engagement and excellent collection and management of complaints and feedback
• Ensure regular monitoring of projects’ results, documentation of projects’ impact and achievements, case studies, lessons learnt, significant changes and best practices and coordinating learning and reflection meetings/sessions
• Ensure functional program monitoring and evaluation systems are in place
• Ensure regular engagement with SCF TA's on CSSP & CP to ensure quality implementation of the projects
• Represent Save the Children in relevant coordination forums, regional government meetings, and with other relevant regional as well as national stakeholders
• Support advocacy and policy engagement efforts in collaboration with the Advocacy, Campaigns, Communications, and Media teams
• Promote local partner participation in coordination mechanisms and policy dialogues
• Foster strong collaboration with Programme Development & Quality, MEAL, Awards, Finance, Safety and Security, and Operations teams

Requirements

• Master’s degree in psychology, social sciences, development studies or a comparable area with minimum 5-7 years’ experience in similar position, Additional years of experience can count in lieu of master’s degree to complement an undergraduate degree in a relevant subject
• Experience in the delivery of child protection and child sensitive social protection programmes/projects using right-based approaches
• Solid experience in grant management, including budget holding and donor reporting
• Substantial people and programme management experience within the NGO development sector, with understanding of and experience in working with Government departments and civil society partners
• Good project management and/or development programming in development and emergency context
• Fluency in written and spoken English with good report and proposal writing skills
• Strong communication, interpersonal and representational skills
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team
• Good analytical and writing skills as well as strong organizational skills and the ability to work independently
• Strong networking and advocacy skills
• Willingness to travel across project areas
• Willing to work under pressure and work extra hours, when required
• Knowledge of local language(s)

Skills

• Child Protection Programming
• Child Sensitive Social Protection
• Rights-Based Approaches
• Grant Management
• Budget Management
• Donor Reporting
• Programme Management
• People Management
• NGO Development Sector Experience
• Government Partnership
• Civil Society Engagement
• Project Management
• Development Programs
• Emergency Programming
• Report Writing
• Proposal Writing
• Networking
• Advocacy
• Monitoring and Evaluation

Languages

English