Assistant Programme Manager

Job Description:

The Assistant Project Manager will be responsible for ensuring due diligence on partners and sub-consultants and will be managed by our Project Manager in Sierra Leone. He/she will also have support from a strong network of APMs across the countries in which we work. A key role will be to support timely and appropriate communication with independent consultants, sub-consultant partners and international staff.

1. The APM will be responsible for the contract management cycle of our independent consultants and our sub-consultant partners.

   1. Run due diligence reports on any new third party, and updating existing DD status, when necessary, in a timely, initiative-taking and compliant manner.

   2. Draft contracts for sub-consultants, including collating all necessary documentation, consulting with the Commercial and Legal teams, ensuring approvals and signatures from both sides, and appropriate record keeping that respects GDPR and BMS/STEP requirements.

   3. Assist project team in provision of administrative support for the lifespan of project, through confirming consultant availability and sharing the scope of work with them.

   4. Review and process international consultants’ invoices and build and maintain a contract tracker system.

   5. Ensure record of performance is completed for all sub-consultants and independent consultants when applicable.

2. The APM will be responsible for organising travel for staff and consultants to our project.

   1. Be the contact person for international staff and consultants for all matters related to travel overseas, including coordinating pre-visit compliance with IDS travel policy, mandatory trainings, security and management approvals, and briefings and visa arrangements.

   2. Consult with our travel providers to make travel bookings for international consultants and project staff and with in-country programme operation teams to obtain necessary invitation letters, as required.

3. The APM will support the financial management of independent and sub-consultants/partners contracts.

   1. Update and maintain the sub-consultants’ trackers and monitor payments of invoices and report status.

   2. Process sub-consultants’ invoices and allocate for approval.

   3. Review, monitor and identify risks in the project, reporting progress periodically.

4. The APM will support the administrative management of partners and sub-consultants.

   1. Be the programme’s first point of contact supporting the Project Manager in Connect Business and STEP for all MM specific tools, apps, documents and procedures including on incident reporting, health and safety risk assessments, audits and monthly project controls, and lead on all project BMS requirements.

   2. Maintain the project SharePoint site and ensure internal and external project members have the correct access.

   3. Support with producing, formatting, editing and distributing documents, including supporting the preparation of presentations for internal and external meetings, preparation of minutes of meetings, and project updates and final deliverables.

   4. Ensure that project operations and administration comply with MM information security, H&S, due diligence and sustainability requirements at all times.

   5. Conduct trainings and refreshers with the local team in MM procedures such as contracting, due diligence and travel booking.

Candidate Specification:

• Excellent communication skills with spoken and written fluency required in English.

• Educated to Degree level or equivalent.

• Full diligence and accuracy. Patience and ability to remain calm under pressure.

• Proficient in using MS packages, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint (creating documents, formatting, manipulating data, creating graphs, etc.) and SharePoint, Connect Business, BMS apps, etc.

• Competent numeracy skills with experience in creating and monitoring budgets and finances.

• Flexibility and team working skills. Demonstrable people skills. Understanding of and sensitivity to cultural differences.

• Ability to plan, organise own work, and support others with the same. Initiative-taking and able to use own initiative to solve problems and seek opportunities for continuous improvement.

• Initiative-taking and willing to step in to support colleagues across administrative, operational and output support functions.

Job Profile:

In March 2023, FCDO awarded Mott MacDonald trading as Cambridge Education the contract to implement Pillar 2 (system strengthening and technical assistance) of the Sierra Leone Secondary Education Improvement Programme (SSEIP) 2, which builds on the work of the first phase of SSEIP, also called Leh Wi Lan (Krio for “Let’s Learn”) – which we also led, from 2017 to 2023.

The programme supports the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) to improve learning outcomes for boys and girls at secondary level, and to increase the enrolment, retention and well-being of girls and children with disabilities in school. 

The programme is working at national scale to deliver outputs including:  

• Improvement of the secondary education system in Sierra Leone and to create safer and more enabling environments for girls, boys, and all children with disabilities to access education and achieve learning results.

• Overall systems strengthening to improve areas such as treaching and learning including teacher capacity building, school leadership, data systems for decision-making, PFM, and systemic approaches to supporting girls (e.g., adolescent life skills; gender-based violence)

• Supporting the implementation of major policies such as Free Quality School Education and Radical Inclusion, and support policy development in new areas by Pillar 1, with a particular focus on Pillar 2-relevant areas such as school leadership, in-service teacher education, and climate resilience.

• Gender and Disability inclusion (linked to the national policy for Radical Inclusion), with improved access and results for girls, pregnant girls and young mothers in particular, students with disabilities, and other vulnerable students.

• Community engagement and community messaging to challenge social norms, improve links to good healthcare for girls, improve access to services, and build positive messages for education of girls, boys, and individuals with disability.

• Using data, research, and adaptive management to identify what works and inform programme direction.

The team consists of different technical and programme support leads who work together closely to ensure coordinated and streamlined delivery as one programme team under the overall direction of the Team Leader.

We are now seeking for an Assistant Project Manager (APM) to join our team in Sierra Leone. The APM plays a key role in the successful delivery of our programme. The role is fast paced and the APM is often required to work across a range of outputs with various deadlines to be met. The role will include remote support and opportunities for in-country activities and capacity building of national colleagues.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We put equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they have the opportunity to contribute.

Agile working

At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team and personal commitments. We embrace agility, flexibility and trust.