Organisational background
Established in 2003, Malaria Consortium is one of the world’s leading non-profit organisations specialising in the comprehensive prevention, control and treatment of malaria and other communicable diseases among vulnerable and under privileged populations. We increasingly find our work on malaria can be effectively integrated with other similar public health interventions for greater impact and therefore expanded our remit to include child health and neglected tropical disease interventions.
We work in Africa and Asia with communities, governments, academic institutions, and local and international organisations, to ensure effective delivery of services, which are supported by strong evidence.
Our areas of expertise include:
- disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment
- disease control and elimination
- systems strengthening
- research, monitoring and evaluation leading to best practice
- behaviour change communication
- national and international advocacy and policy development
Country and project background
Malaria Consortium is one of the leading implementers of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC). Starting with an early implementation pilot in Nigeria in 2013, we then led the rapid scale-up of SMC through the Achieving Catalytic Expansion of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention in the Sahel (ACCESS-SMC) project in 2015–2017, reaching close to 7 million children in Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and The Gambia. Since 2018, Malaria Consortium has continued to implement SMC in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Sudan, Togo and Uganda, mainly using philanthropic funding received as a result of being awarded Top Charity status by GiveWell.
In Togo, SMC has been supported by the Global Fund and UNICEF since 2014. Malaria Consortium established a country office in 2020 to support Togo’s Programme National de Lutte contre le Paludisme (PNLP), with the aim of complementing the quality delivery of SMC campaigns. In 2022, over 500,000 children 3-59 months in three regions were targeted for SMC.
Job purpose
The Country Director is responsible to providing overall strategic and programmatic leadership including financial and management support and business development/fundraising to ensure the success and growth of Malaria Consortium’s SMC programme and the development of the Togo country programme beyond the single project.
Scope of work
The position holder is responsible for managing the Malaria Consortium country office in Togo. leading the SMC programme, providing financial oversight and maintaining high compliance with organisational and donor policies. The position holder will lead business development efforts to secure additional funding for the country programme.
Key working relationships
The key working relationships within the role are both external and internal. They include direct reports in the country office in Lomé, the regional team based in Nigeria and the Global Programme Director-SMC based in London. Key external relationships are with the Togo PNLP, international NGOs and donor agencies in Togo
Key accountabilities
Representation and Coordination (15%)
- Provide high level representation (directly or through designated technical staff), particularly at key governmental meetings as well as at donor, UN and NGO coordination fora
- Act as principal liaison for Malaria Consortium with the government and donor agencies on programming and contractual matters
- Consolidate and expand Malaria Consortium Togo partnerships with MoH/PNLP, bilateral and multilateral organisations, research institutions, private sector and civil society
- Lead in-country media relations, effectively raising the profile of Malaria Consortium and ensuring that external communication is in line with our mission and objectives and support safety and security for staff, partners and beneficiaries of our work in-country
- Ensure effective linkages between Malaria Consortium Togo and the other Malaria Consortium country offices and the UK office, including support to advocacy/global policy activities and wider sharing of experiences or collaborations in line with Malaria Consortium’s global strategy
Delivery of High-Quality Programmes (30%)
- Develop, cost, monitor and report on monthly, quarterly and annual work plans, budgets and quarterly project reviews for delivery of high-quality programmes
- Directly support the Senior Programme Officer for efficient implementation of project activities according to the approved workplan, within the agreed timeline and compliance to the set quality standards.
- Develop and monitor the implementation and accountability of sub-grant agreements with the Ministry of Health
- Actively oversee management of project budgets, including compliance with established cost categories, monthly review and correction of transaction list, analysis of monthly budget versus actual reports and quarterly financial forecasting.
- With support from senior technical staff, work with the CTC to ensure the research conducted by partners in Togo and technical aspects of the project, ensuring the technical quality and timely delivery of all programme and project outputs and deliverables
- Conduct and oversee regular and effective supportive supervision is provided at field level
- Review regular donor and government reporting to ensure that performance indicators are being achieved and that corrective action is taken where improvement is needed
- Ensure final review of project activities are properly documented and internally and externally disseminated
Finance/Administration (15%)
- Ensure accurate financial management, including leading annual and quarterly budget development, reviewing monthly management accounts, signing off on monthly check list and serving as budget holder for
- Assist the country finance manager in overseeing and ensuring good financial controls, adherence to internal and donors processes and policy, monitoring of budget to actual expenditure and development of accurate and timely financial reports
- Oversee national payroll and ensure compliance with statutory regulations
- Ensure, with support from relevant functions, Malaria Consortium policies and procedures are compliant with national law and donor contracts
Overall Management of the Malaria Consortium Togo Staff and Other Resources (20%)
- Take the lead in setting up the new country office including ensuring MC’s registration with relevant local authorities, opening of bank accounts, office and residential accommodation, finalising management, HR and financial systems for MC office to function effectively and efficiently
- Line manage in-country staff
- Manage and review as required operational systems and coordination between Malaria Consortium Togo and Ministry of Health under programme sub-grant agreements
- Ensure project grants and contracts are efficiently and accurately managed and there is full accountability of resources and transparency of financial information
- Ensure all HR requirements relating to Togo staff are met, including overall responsibility for the setting of staff objectives, monitoring of performance, review of performance prior to completion of probationary period and staff development
- Work with Malaria Consortium’s Global Management Group and other Country Directors to identify and address challenges and opportunities
- Act as a safeguarding focal point for the country programming ensuring that organisational conduct policies are followed
Security and Risk Management (5%)
- Assume overall responsibility for the safe guarding, safety and security of Malaria Consortium staff, assets and reputation
- Ensure Malaria Consortium security plans and procedures are up to date and fully adhered to
- Ensure security focal points are aware of their roles and able to deliver on their responsibilities
- Ensure offices and mobile field teams are equipped with the tools required to live and work in a safe and secure environment
- Monitor available security information and ensure security focal points are attending all security coordination meetings to help prevent security incidents from occurring
- Establish contingency planning exercises in anticipation of major events, to provide requisite security whilst minimizing programmatic disruption
Strategic Planning and Business Development (15%)
- In consultation with Malaria Consortium’s senior regional teams, rollout the country strategy.
- Track in-country donor funding streams to identify opportunities in areas of strategic interest to Malaria Consortium in order to further develop and sustain the Togo programme
- Play a key role in drafting, reviewing and/or submitting funding proposals together with the regional, technical and business development teams
- Undertake additional tasks as assigned
Qualifications and experience:
Essential
- Master’s degree in public health, management or relevant discipline
- Extensive work experience as a senior manager or team leader in developing countries, preferably in Africa, and a proven ability to deliver programme growth and impact
- Extensive experience in human resource management and supervision
- Experience in implementation of large scale health programmes and providing financial oversight
- Demonstrable experience in business development in the health sector
- Experience developing and leading high performing teams
- Fluency in French and English languages