Company Profile

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. CRS Ghana was established in 1958, a year after Ghana gained independence. In Ghana, CRS works with local partners to tackle poverty on several fronts including improving health and nutrition; increasing access to safe water and improved sanitation; promoting agriculture to enhance food security; and increasing financial assets through Savings and Internal Lending Communities. 

Job Description

• Job Title: Project Manager (SCORE ECD III)
• Department: Health
• Grade: 9
• Reports To:  Head of Programming
• Country/Location:   Northern Region/Ghana

Job Summary
The Project Manager will manage programming in the Ghana Country Program for SCORE ECD III, designing and implementing projects that advance CRS’ work in serving the poor and vulnerable. Your management skills and knowledge will ensure that the CP delivers high-quality programming and continuously works towards improving the impact of its programming.

The Project Manager – Early Childhood Development will work closely with the National Association of Religious Women, Ghana, our Local Implementing Partners to coordinate and oversee the development and implementation of SCORE ECD III with a focus on Sisters working with children 0-5 and with health challenges. All planning and implementation will be done in close coordination with Association Of Sisterhoods of Ghana (AOSG) to increase the organizational sustainability of Sister Congregations.

Job Responsibilities

• Manage and implement all activities throughout relevant project cycles - project design, start-up, implementation, and close-out - to ensure efficient and effective implementation in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practices. Ensure project team and partner staff use the appropriate systems and tools.
• Effectively manage talent and supervise team members. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching, strategically tailor individual development plans, contribute to the recruitment process of project staff, and complete performance management for direct reports.
• Champion learning with project staff and partner teams. Analyze and evaluate project performance data following MEAL policies and procedures. Proactively identify issues and concerns and use participatory processes to overcome implementation obstacles.
• Act as a key resource person in project design and proposal development in the respective programming area, gap-filling and taking on growth responsibilities, as needed.
• Coordinate the identification of staff capacity and technical assistance needs of partner organizations and capacity strengthening and required interventions to support quality project implementation.
• Help identify, assess and strengthen partnerships relevant to Early Childhood Development applying the appropriate partnership concepts, tools and approaches.
• Coordinate and monitor financial and material resources relevant to project needs. Through planning and oversight, ensure efficient use of project resources.

Supervisory Responsibilities: The Project Manager will supervise; SILC Project Officer and IMBC Project Officer

Key Working Relationships

• Internal: CRS/Ghana programming and operations departments, SCORE-ECD Program Manager, CRS HQ and regional staff, CRS ECD staff in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia, REST4D Senior Project Officers- Community Mobilization, REST4D Senior Project Officer, MEAL-REST4D Project Manager, Health Technical Advisor, MEAL Coordinator

• External: National Association of Religious women, Ghana, Partner congregations and Sisters, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, ECD experts, Ghana Health Service, District Assemblies, Local Leaders/Chiefs, District Director of Health Services and other stakeholders.

Required Skills or Experience

Basic Qualification:

• Master's Degree in International Development, International Relations or in the field of social sciences required. Additional experience may substitute for some education.
• Minimum of 5years of relevant field-based experience in coordinating or managing light to moderately complex projects required, preferably with an international NGO.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Project management experience in Early Childhood Development, Education, Social Work or related field is highly desirable.
• Experience engaging with partner organizations.
• Experience contributing to the development of technical proposals.
• MEAL skills and experience preferred.
• Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information management systems_.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strong critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills with the ability to make sound judgment.
• Strong relationship management skills and the ability to work effectively with culturally diverse groups.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to write reports
• Proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented

Required Language: Fluency and proficiency in English language is preferred

Travel Required: The successful candidate must be willing and able to travel up to 15 % to project sites.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship