Programme Specialist

The Programme Specialist will lead activity efforts to network with and build strategic alliances and relationships with key provincial and district stakeholders in the Adolescents Girls and Young Women, gender and sexual violence field and act as a thought leader at high level engagements representing NACOSA.

**The duties and responsibilities of the Programme Specialist will include but not limited to**:

- Support an implementing partner recruitment and selection process as per NACOSA’s Grant Management Guidelines and support grant and programme orientation for implementing partners.
- Coordinate and manage provincial programmatic workplans and ensure that grant implementation is in alignment with the approved workplan, budget and targets.
- Provide in-depth programmatic guidance, mentoring, technical assistance and leadership to implementing partners.
- Monitor and analyze the programme performance of implementing partners and provide course correction where needed.
- Document all work and maintain complete and accurate paper and electronic files.
- Lead in periodic assessments of program quality and support data and finance quality assurance assessments with implementing partners.
- Review and analyze implementing partner reports and site visit findings to identify service delivery gaps and enable meaningful consideration of performance, risks and programme progress and impact. Address shortcoming and risks immediately and effectively.
- Develop Risk Mitigation Plans for implementing partners and update periodically.
- Produce periodic reports on programme objectives, implementation plans and performance.
- Network with and build strategic alliances and relationships with key provincial and district stakeholders in the AGYW, gender and sexual violence field and act as a thought leader.
- Represent NACOSA at high level technical meetings and forums at provincial and district level.
- Conduct mapping of implementing partners service delivery points and district stakeholders for improved coordination and service linkages.
- Manage the Provincial DREAMS Implementation strategy and ensure collaborative relationships and bi-directional linkages with other USG funded DREAMS implementation partners.
- Attend quarterly engagement with PCAs, DACs and other relevant provincial and district structures to provide programme progress update.

Required qualifications, skills and experience.
- B-degree (Health or Social Science
- post-graduate qualification will be advantageous)
- Minimum of 5 years managing programmes against specific milestones. Proven track record of programme management with an emphasis direct implementation of services and on deadline management. (Programme Management Certification will be advantageous)
- Experience within the HIV/AIDS sector required.
- Experience in Adolescent Girls and Young Woman or Gender Based Violence fields would be advantageous.
- Knowledge of programme monitoring and evaluations
- Excellent writing skills, including report writing. Able to communicate in a clear and concise manner.
- Strong Leadership Management skills, including the ability to lead and motivate a team, delegate tasks effectively, and make decisions.
- Excellent MS Office skills including Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint
- A valid driver’s license and able to travel locally and regionally.

**Personal Competencies**
- Mature; able to take direction; can self-manage to deadline; assertive.
- Able to work independently; is assertive, self-motivated and driven; can work to deadline and is task-orientated and enjoys logistics.
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively as well as independently and manage multiple stakeholder relationships.

**_ PLEASE NOTE:_