Organization: Management Sciences for Health
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 30 Sep 2015
Grant Management Solutions (GMS) provides technical support to countries receiving grants from the Global Fund. GMS’s new mandate now includes three main objectives:
Objective 1: GMS’s prime objective is to provide urgent, short-term, management-related technical support to Global Fund grantees. GMS’s unique form of technical support allows countries to ask for exactly the kind of help they need most to succeed and to move to their next disbursement or phase of funding. This support generally falls into the following areas:
- Governance and leadership
- Financial and grant management
- Procurement and supply management (PSM) of pharmaceuticals and commodities
- Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and reporting
Objective 2: GMS aims to develop the capacity of regional organizations and consultants so that they, rather than GMS or other projects or entities, may offer urgent technical support to improve performance of CCMs, PRs and SRs.
Objective 3: GMS aims to develop tools and other materials for the Global Fund community and platforms for sharing them.
The Technical Support Team organizes and oversees the urgent technical support activities to be provided to client CCMs and PRs under Objective 1 of the GMS project. The Team also collaborates with the Capacity Building and the Results & Knowledge Management Teams. The Technical Support Team is divided into two sub-teams: the technical managers and the logistics coordination staff. The logistics coordination staff is managed by the SPO/TS with one Project Specialist (PS), and four PAs.
The PAs are responsible for organizing all logistical and administrative support to the technical support teams (comprised of 3-4 consultants) to carry out short-term country assignments. Each PA coordinates the logistics for up to fifteen teams at a time in collaboration with the technical managers, and is expected to master at least one additional Global Fund language as well as English. PAs are responsible for working with other GMS, MSH and MSH-partner staff to coordinate team logistics for travel and to obtain required authorizations and visas from the US Government and client countries. The PAs keep staff, consultants, partners, and clients informed of the logistical arrangements of travel and project activities. The PAs work with the Operations Support Team for day-to-day financial administration of country-specific activities, including advances, invoices, travel expense reports, and workshop budgets and expenses. PAs are responsible for the archiving of materials, correspondence and reports for their teams.
PAs have an important role in the trip reporting process. For each assignment, USAID requires a report within 10 days of completion of a trip; assignments usually comprise three trips. The PA enters relevant data in to the project Information Management System (IMS). The PA works with the Program Officer, Results and with technical managers to train team leaders in the use of the on and off line trip reporting processes, and provides occasional technical support to team leaders as they enter data following trips.
The GMS Capacity Building Team organizes the semi-annual consultant orientations and other training events. The PAs of the Technical Support Team collaborate with the Capacity Building Team to organize and support these events. PAs may also travel to client countries to support field-based training and orientation events, and civil society workshops, when local logistical support is unavailable. The PAs collaborate as needed with the Results Team to ensure collection and transmission of results information, reporting forms, and follow-up monitoring of the technical support teams’ outputs and outcomes. From time to time, PAs are asked to contribute to other results, communications, and partner coordination activities.
Specific Responsibilities
Operations 30%
- Serve as a primary operational liaison and resource person for GMS technical support (country) teams on all administrative and logistical matters.
- Develop and maintain project tracking sheets for ongoing activities and pending items.
- Schedule, attend and document preparatory and debrief team meetings.
- Orient and brief new consultants and new staff members regarding GMS administrative and financial procedures.
- Adhere to and contribute to managing GMS administrative systems for efficient and effective coordination of activities.
- Carry out the organization and logistics for consultant orientation meetings, including catering, venue, A/V, travel, visas, accommodations, and production of materials.
- Coordinate logistics for workshop activities in compliance with USAID and MSH regulations. Contribute to the preparation of workshop agenda and any necessary materials as well as any follow-up correspondence with participants after completion of workshops.
- Coordinate with and assist other PAs to ensure adequate coverage during their absence (i.e., vacation, sick leave).
- Act as the administrative backstop on ad-hoc project activities, as assigned.
Finance 10%
- Track related expenditures, deliverables and level of effort for project related activities.
- Initiate and review advances, invoices and expense reports from consultants for timely submission to the GMS finance team in accordance with program requirements and MSH procedures.
- The PA is aware of, and adheres to, MSH’s Procurement Integrity standards in all activities.
Information Management 10%
- In collaboration with the assigned program managers, PAs ensure open, ongoing communication flow between GMS, project partners, and project teams.
- Support technical managers and team leaders throughout the entire trip reporting process (training, data entry, data verification, technical support to TLs.)
- Maintain responsibility for electronic and paper file management, consultant database management and dissemination of programmatic and team information.
- In collaboration with project managers, contribute to maintenance and updating of project Web pages.
- Email, place phone calls and draft communications in a second language as requested.
- Contribute to the collection of project information, the documentation of progress towards results and the coordination of the preparation of reports including maintenance of the GMS electronic platforms, monthly tracking database, and library.
- Research and download information from the Global Fund and other related Web sites.
- File, fax, photocopy, and complete other support tasks as requested.
Travel 50%
- Coordinate all international/domestic travel and hotel arrangements related to GMS project activities. Ensure that all travel arrangements are in compliance with USAID regulations and GMS procedures.
- Process visa requests as necessary.
- Submit Electronic Country Clearances (ECCs) as needed.
- Coordinate logistics processes with team members and ensure proper information sharing and communication at all times.
- Provide travelers with GMS logistics memo (containing all travel details) prior to departure.
- Provide general support to technical support team members and partners when traveling.
- Willingness to travel, usually not more than one trip of 1-2 weeks to a client country per year (subject to USAID approval) and one trip to Boston (MSH head office).
Qualifications
- One year of work experience in a related field or organization.
- Experience working with US Government systems (USAID, State Department, CDC, etc.) a plus.
- Experience living or working in developing countries (at least 1 year) that aids in understanding program context, field realities, and technical needs is strongly preferred. Peace Corps, other volunteer abroad programs, foreign work study, or similar experiences acceptable.
- Fluency in English (written and oral) required and ability to speak and work in a second Global Fund language required (French, Spanish and Portuguese, Russian or Arabic). French strongly preferred.
Knowledge and Skills
- Strong writing, organizational and communication skills and ability to learn complex program procedures.
- Demonstrated ability in computer skills for word processing, databases, spreadsheets, and presentations (Microsoft Office applications, including Access, preferred); and ability to learn new software packages.
Competencies
- Demonstrated competence to assess priorities and manage a variety of activities in a time-sensitive environment and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality. Excellent time management and multi-tasking ability.
- Experience working with teams to achieve results as well as ability to work independently, take initiative, and use good judgment.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with professional colleagues in a broad range of indigenous, nongovernmental, governmental, and international organizations within multiple socio-cultural contexts.
Physical Demands
- Travel requirements <5%
- Keyboard use, pulling drawers, lifting papers <10 lbs.
How to apply:
Visit the MSH website to APPLY!
https://jobs-msh.icims.com/jobs/8451/project-associate–technical-support/job
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