Program Support Manager, Asia, Transforming Lives

SUMMARY

Women and children in LMIC often suffer from poor nutrition, which leads to suboptimal health outcomes and diminished wellbeing, including increased risk of mortality.  These risks can be mitigated through the effective provision of proven nutrition services within the context of health and food system strengthening. The goal of the ‘Transforming Lives Through Nutrition’ (TLTN) program  is to sustainably build the capacity of local health and food systems in partnership with local communities and governments to deliver evidence-based, lifesaving nutrition interventions to accelerate the well-being of women and children in LMICs.

The key objectives of the Transforming Lives Program are:

• To enhance the enabling environment for the delivery of an integrated nutrition program
• To strengthen health and food systems towards the delivery of integrated nutrition programming
• To increase and measure effective coverage of integrated nutrition programming and understand complementarities across disciplines
• To ensure that intervention models are sustainable and scalable and share lessons

Scope of Position

We are seeking a Program Support Manager (PSM) to support the Program Director for the Transforming Lives Program which is a growing multi-country, cross-regional portfolio of nutrition programs. These initiatives concentrate on executing life-saving nutrition-specific actions (supplementing women with essential vitamins and minerals during pregnancy, supporting optimal breastfeeding, improving diets for infants and young children, screening children for acute malnutrition and getting treatment to them as early as possible, and delivering vitamin A). Additionally, the programs encompass three nutrition-sensitive actions: Food Systems and Agricultural Production, Supply Chain and Small Market Enterprise (SME) Development, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Ensuring that mothers and children in the 1,000 days window of opportunity receive this continuum of nutrition services has the potential to dramatically reduce child deaths and set children up for improved development. Our program also drives complementary food systems actions that improve women’s diets, protect and promote diets of infants and young children, and secure access to essential nutrients.  

The incumbent will provide programmatic support to "Transforming Lives" projects across participating countries. While in-country project teams spearhead program implementation, a core global team assumes leadership responsibilities, providing strategic guidance, operational oversight, and a spectrum of technical assistance to facilitate quality implementation.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES

Key Objectives of the PSM:

• Provide comprehensive support to country teams, optimizing resource utilization and ensuring timely program implementation.
• Facilitate regional and global coordination efforts, fostering synergy across diverse operational domains.
• Support smooth operation of the projects in each country to facilitate timely implementation and decision making.

Specific Responsibilities:

For each supported country, the PSM will:

• Collaborate with TLTN Country Coordinators to support country offices to develop robust, coordinated project implementation plans and liaise with the Global Technical Team.
• Assist country project teams in formulating budgets aligned with program priorities and target demographics, coordinating with the Global Finance Team.
• Support field activities' implementation in adherence to predetermined timelines.
• Identify technical support needs in tandem with country teams and liaise with the Global Technical Team to address these needs comprehensively.
• Convene project review sessions to evaluate activity statuses and proffer support as required.
• Contribute to routine budgetary monitoring exercises and support program evaluation activities.
• Ensure effective communication between the core global team and country offices, ensuring seamless information dissemination.
• Participate in donor reporting, support data compilation and information gathering  from supported countries.
• Spearhead the identification of focal areas for learning and coordination workshops for supported countries, as well as facilitate regional/global workshops.
• Cultivate strategic partnerships with relevant stakeholders and governmental entities during in-country engagements.
• Maintain vigilance over outstanding issues within country offices, facilitating regular follow-up actions.
• Synthesize project-related insights from country offices and update the Program Director.
• Promote intra-regional and inter-country coordination, fostering synergy and collaborations across country project teams.