Project Delivery Officer at Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) entered into a partnership in 2018. The partnership is led by a Strategic Adviser who started in country in September 2018.

The partnership aims to support GSS to deliver on its vision “to be a global leader in the provision of quality statistical services”. GSS see the UK as a natural partner to enable them to make improvements on their governance structures and policies in order for them to modernise their operations and improve evidence-based decision making by stakeholders. ONS is supporting GSS in four key areas: Build a responsive, capable and motivated human resource which is based on a revised institutional structure, mobilise financial resources and cost control to bridge funding gaps, Data capability – ensure full integration of ICT solutions and create an inter-operable, capacitated and resourceful NSS, Improve the production and use of Official Statistics for national development and planning.

The partnership model relies on deploying technical expertise from the ONS, as well as taking advantage of support from other organisations with the appropriate expertise. To effectively deploy this expertise and deliver on the workplan, a substantial amount of networking and collaboration is required both with internal GSS stakeholders as well as externally with both State and non- state actors in the data ecosystem. The Project Delivery Officer will be instrumental in managing, leading and the implementation of several high-level support portfolios.

The position will be managed by the Strategic Advisor with support from ONS Headquarters in the UK. ONS will also ensure that the role stays plugged into the team in FCDO Ghana due to their interest and leadership on Statistics within BHC and to facilitate regular contact with colleagues in the BHC.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

To support GSS to make improvements on how they operate and deliver. It requires a motivated self- starter interested in delivering on a range of topics and building relationships across varied stakeholders. The postholder will need to work independently and be confident in managing, leading and implementing several portfolios. There are technical statistical elements to this work, however the postholder does not need to have technical statistical expertise; rather the understanding of how this expertise should be delivered to achieve planned objectives.

GSS – ONS Partnership:

• Develop a good understanding of GSS and what services they provide, how these are implemented and how they work with other parts of Govt. A keen understanding of the institution and how it is run will be crucial for the job.
• Develop a clear understanding of the partnership Theory of Change (ToC), workplan and activities and develop working relationships with GSS officials as well as Officials in other areas of Govt to ensure that the partnership workplan is well understood including requirements from these colleagues especially for expert visits and training.
• Manage, lead and implement several statistical and partnership portfolios that will help us deliver against our programme objectives, in line with the ToC. This will involve working closely with senior GSS leaders, their staff and broader stakeholders.
• Develop Terms of Reference for short-term visits for technical experts and training ensuring clear gaps are identified and appropriate timelines are set up considering GSS competing priorities.
• Work closely with ONS in the UK to ensure that the right staff and expertise are available and that ONS fully understands GSS needs and working environment in order to effectively deploy experts.
• Manage and coordinate visits including preparing a timetable, organising meetings and booking all the relevant travel and accommodation considering BHC Duty of Care and security requirements.
• Support GSS work on donor coordination by building strong relationships with other donors and develop a collaborative approach especially on areas of shared interest with the partnership.
• Support the implementation of the monitoring and evaluation framework collecting the relevant data using M&E tools to assess partnership performance against objectives.
• Provide quarterly reporting including on the workplan activities, results and the impact of those activities based on the partnership Theory of Change including risk management reporting.
• Support learning activities within the partnership reporting back to the ONS international team lessons and best practise so these can inform implementation of the workplan and future partnership plans.
• Stay connected to the British High commission providing regular briefing on activities of interest to staff.
• Draft and proof-read project terms of reference, memos, reports and other project documents to ensure they meet a good standard.
• Liaise with GSS staff on progress of project activities during expert visits and follow up project reports, plans and schedules with GSS.

Resources Managed (Staff and Expenditure):

• This postholder will manage financial and human resources relevant to their several portfolios. They will be expected to ensure that work stays within budget and the time allocated. They will also have responsibility of managing the risks and issues for these portfolios.
• All resources (portfolio delivery, finance and human resources) will feed into the country programme plans and be reported quarterly to our FCDO UK funders.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Educated to degree level.
• Proven programme/project management experience, including managing complex areas of work, working with a broad range of stakeholders.
• Good understanding of the use of all Microsoft Office Applications.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong customer focus with good attention to detail.
• Display strong organisational, analytical and time management skills.
• Proficient written and spoken English.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Working in Govt managing a programme of work.
• Experience working on institutional building or governance programmes.
• M&E reporting and awareness of a range of M&E tools including those used by FCDO.
• A good understanding of HMG priorities in Ghana.