Project Manager at International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

Responsibilities

The assignment shall entail:

Program reporting and administration

• Plan the project cycle for grants, including defining timelines and deliverable endpoints for all project work packages in conjunction with the relevant Principal Investigators (PIs) and Program Manager.
• Work with academics and students in the project to plan, organize and implement field data collection and laboratory activities.
• Co-ordinate project components with other members of the project team, on behalf of the PIs.
• Pro-actively work with all project team members to ensure work plans are documented and on track and to identify problems before they arise, ideally achieved through regular (every 2 weeks) meetings with each of the project teams to oversee ongoing activities and catalyse the solving of any issues.
• Implement and maintain projects database systems for lab and field data collection
• Take primary responsibility for ensuring project data are collected appropriately with the support of project Principal investigators.
• Manage existing online collaborative tools and contribute to the creation of new ones / or revise existing ones based on lessons learnt.
• Maintain a contacts database for all project staff, students and visiting academics.
• Maintain the project output repository in liaison with the ILRI communications staff in the Animal and Human Health program (for open access on the ILRI repository).
• Write monthly summary reports for dissemination to all project members, summarizing project progress and progress in meeting project targets.
• Travel internationally as required, for example to funder meetings overseas or programme-wide meetings in any country proposed by the funders.
• Act as a liaison between the project and other aligned research activities in ILRI’s Animal and Human Health program as well as within the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health and CGIAR Research Program on Livestock.
• Develop and maintain a Risk register and assist the PIs in managing risks to projects timely delivery.
• Ensure compliance of all projects through Institutional Research Ethics Committee (IREC), Institutional Animal Care and Use committee (IACUC), Institutional Biosafety / Biosecurity committee (IBC) etc.

Budget management

• Work with the program accountant and institutional program managers to oversee, plan and track the project budget. 
• Partner institutes have their own budgets (for staff expenditures), but the post holder will be responsible for tracking expenditure across all partner institutes.
• Ensure timely sharing of budgetary information with senior budget staff.
• Follow up with ILRI finance department to ensure disbursement of funds to partners.
• Assist the Program Accountant in the monthly routine accounting duties.
• Oversee day to day project field expenditure. 
• In consultation with the PI and co-PIs, draft annual reports to the donor/funder.
• Manage stores supply/ordering with external suppliers and maintain up to date inventories of supplies and consumable shipping, including tracking budgetary allocations for these project activities.

Communication

• Act as a primary point of contact for all issues related to the projects. This will include being the contact person for the project’s primary stakeholders, with whom a long running positive relationship should be established.
• Meet regularly with project stakeholders (facilitated through the ILRI co-PIs).
• Support communication by coordinating communication with project partners, including government officials, collaborators and local administrators.
• Develop and implement a project internal communication strategy, including ensuring that all project meetings are recorded and logged (in collaboration with the communication specialists in the ILRI Animal and Human Health program).
• Organize conferences, workshops, science write shops, internal and external meetings, project annual retreat and quarterly meetings, and other events as required in liaison with the program admin staff.
• Participate actively in annual project meetings, some of which will be held internationally.
• Contribute to the online presence of the project, including maintaining project website, twitter feed and newsletter in collaboration with the Communication specialist.
• Plan and oversee logistics for project meetings (internal/multi-partner).

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Program Management or related field
• Project Management certification – desirable
• Professional training or demonstrable practical experience in leadership and project management.
• At least 5 years relevant experience in project management working in an internationally focused research or development organization.
• Knowledge of administrative and financial management of development programs and/or donor funded projects/programs.
• Experience in managing work plans, results-based budgets and systems to monitor and report progress.
• Strong English language skills, both written and spoken. French language skills will be an added advantage.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and an engaging personality.
• Experience with science communication will be an added advantage.
• Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary environment.
• Strong IT skills.
• Experience with data entry in electronic databases will be an added advantage.
• Experience of working with epidemiology and public health researchers will be an added advantage.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with interdisciplinary teams of scientists and partner organizations.
• Ability to communicate with different stakeholders.
• Ability to handle electronic data entry and data management.
• Willingness to travel outside of Kenya (regionally in Sub-Saharan Africa, and perhaps overseas).