Province Lead
(Madhesh, Lumbini, Karnali, Sudurpashchim, Koshi, Gandaki and Bagmati Provinces)

Guided by the remarkable legacy of its co-founder, Helen Keller, Helen Keller Intl partners with communities striving to overcome long standing cycles of poverty.  By delivering the essential building blocks of good health, sound nutrition and clear vision, we help millions of people create lasting change in their own lives.  Working in 20 countries – across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States – and together with a global community of supporters, we are ensuring every person has the opportunity – as Helen did – to reach their true potential.

Background  

USAID Integrated Nutrition’s primary goal is to improve the nutrition status of women, adolescents, and children in Nepal’s underserved and marginalized communities. The activity will tackle direct and underlying determinants of malnutrition in Nepal while strengthening the national and local enabling environment to implement multisectoral nutrition programs through four synergistic intermediate results. Achievement of the purpose will be measured by improvements in indicators of nutrition status among women of reproductive age, adolescents, and children. This anticipated five-year position is contingent on Helen Keller being awarded funding.

Position Overview

The Province Lead will manage province-level activities for USAID Integrated Nutrition in addition to leading coordination, networking, representation, and communication. This position will provide strategic leadership for implementing effective, inclusive, accountable, and sustainable nutrition programming, including health, agriculture, WASH, and governance in their respective provinces. The Province Lead will oversee annual co-creation at the province level and support and monitor partner non-governmental organizations' (PNGOs) performance and capacity needs.

In addition, the Province Lead will oversee PNGO sub-awards management within the province, ensuring smooth financial, grant, contract, and operational management under USAID Integrated Nutrition. This role involves supervising a team of senior-level technical, finance, compliance, and operations staff from the consortium partners.

The province Lead will consistently coordinate with government, non-government stakeholders and development partners including private sector actors at the province level to maximize synergy on implementation and outcomes within the province, district, and local government levels and will ensure Gender and Inclusive Development (GID) principles are integrated into the delivery of USAID Integrated Nutrition.

Location: 

• Janakpur, Madhesh Province; 
• Bhaluwang, Lumbini Province; 
• Birendranagar, Karnali Province; 
• Dipayal/Silgadi, Sudurpashchim Province; 
• Biratnagar, Koshi Province; 
• Hetauda, Bagmati Province, 
• Gandaki Province

Functional Relationships

Under the direct supervision of the Director of Program Operations and specific guidance from Intermediate Result (IR) leads and senior Finance and Operations officials, the Province Lead is responsible for project implementation and management in the assigned province. This role requires high-quality project management, coordination, networking, representation, and communication skills.

The Province Lead will be a member of the extended senior management team for USAID Integrated Nutrition. S/he will uphold Helen Keller’s values, committing to the highest standards of ethics, integrity, honesty, fairness, and professionalism, and ensure adherence to Helen Keller’s code of conduct, policies, procedures, and financial accountability.

Direct Line Supervision: Director - Program Operations 
Inter-Line Supervision: Intermediate Result (IR) Lead(s) 
Collaboration with: 

• Internal:  All Staffs
• External: USAID, Governmental and non-governmental agencies at the province, districts, and local levels, program partners, and stakeholders

Specific Responsibilities 

Start-up and Close Out

• Lead the USAID Integrated Nutrition consortium at the province level and perform program and field operations-related actions according to the start-up strategy and subsequent program implementation plans.
• Facilitate the formation of a project steering committee under the leadership of the provincial government to engage key departments/stakeholders in the strategic direction of USAID Integrated Nutrition.
• Assist the Helen Keller Country Office in selecting local partner organizations to implement USAID Integrated Nutrition. This includes preparation of Request for Applications (RFA) or Expressions of Interests (EOI) and leading pre-solicitation meetings at the province and districts as required.
• Coordinate with provincial government and non-governmental stakeholders for effective co-creation.
• Assist in preparing sustainability and exit strategies to facilitate a smooth transition.

Grant & Contract, Operations, and Finance

• Engage the province team in developing partner organization program descriptions, budgets, and budget notes.
• Identify areas for potential revision in current sub-awards and suggest modifications when necessary or as requested by partner organization.
• Manage day-to-day office tasks such as authorizing travel, overseeing vehicle use, and approving timesheets and leave requests.
• Ensure timely procurement, payments, and other administrative actions within the authorized threshold and forward the payment document amount exceeding the threshold to Country Office.
• Ensure that the partners comply with government, organizational, donor, and Helen Keller policies and requirements.
• Oversee the province office's approved operational budget and communicate with the Country Office for amendments as required.

Planning, Implementation, and Capacity Building

• Facilitate co-creation workshops at the province and municipal levels to formulate a detailed implementation plan for USAID Integrated Nutrition, aligning with the nutritional needs and problems of province and municipality under the framework of the Multi Sector Nutrition Plan.
• Provide guidance and assistance to provincial staff and PNGOs in developing monthly plans and budgets.
• Ensure provincial technical officers provide adequate technical support to PNGOs and government counterparts and efficiently execute the activities as per the detailed implementation plan.
• Identify and seek timely technical support from the central team.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and supervision to the province and PNGO teams to implement program activities to achieve objectives, goals, and intended results.
• Ensure tailored technical assistance to generate and utilize evidence for effective planning, implementation, and monitoring.
• Identify the capacity needs of the PNGOs and develop and execute the capacity development plans.
• Support and guide the province and PNGO teams to integrate gender and inclusive development in all program efforts.

Collaborating, Learning, and Adaption 

• Support in baseline, end-line, mid-term, and final evaluation processes.
• Conduct regular field visits with appropriate tools and checklists to ensure technical officers and field staff are effectively mobilized and to ensure the quality of work.
• Ensure support to the province government with a quarterly review based on the data generated from the systems.
• Undertake quarterly pause and reflect sessions with project staff and partners identifying project strengths and weaknesses and develop action plans to address issues. to improve their capacity in cost efficiency, accountability, and organizational performance. 
• Facilitate communication and information sharing within the province and liaise with the central team of the USAID Integrated Nutrition.

Coordination, Representation, and Networking

• Coordinate with provincial government authorities to establish institutional relationships for effective implementation of USAID Integrated Nutrition in the government programs and mechanisms.
• Ensure the representation of USAID Integrated Nutrition at multi-sector nutrition platforms including nutrition and food security steering committees at the province and municipal level.
• Engage with government stakeholders and advocate for sustained financial resources for health and nutrition programming.
• Establish functional relationships and two-way communication with USAID Integrated Nutrition and the concerned stakeholders in the province.
• Establish strong institutional relationships with local municipalities and relevant stakeholders, ensuring effective linkages and coordination with relevant line agencies (provinces and local municipalities) and UN agencies, USAID projects, and academia, for collaborations and synergetic effects.
• Strengthen coordination at different levels of implementation, accountability mechanisms, annual work planning, and budgeting processes.
• Participate in USAID 225 Working Group for mutual learning and convene partners for sharing insights and lessons learned.
• Coordinate with the Central Team to ensure timely technical and program operation support, and to effectively mobilize the team for smooth implementation of the program.
• Represent USAID Integrated Nutrition, and Helen Keller at the provincial level, maintaining strategic relationships with stakeholders, including external development partners.

Required Qualifications/Competencies

Education: Bachelor’s or higher degree in a relevant discipline (for example, management, social science, public administration, public health, health science, or other related disciplines)

Experience: Minimum of 8 years of experience in senior-level management in I/NGOs, UN agencies, development partners, and the private sector. At least 6 years of experience must include managing diverse teams to successfully implement development/health programs.

Demonstrated track record of: 

• Managing large-scale programs with grants and budget management across diverse geographies and partners.
• Coordinating with multiple stakeholders and partners including government stakeholders at the local, district, and province levels. 

Skills:

• Effective communication and listening skills, balanced and reasoned problem-solving, inspiring trust and confidence, and openness to differing viewpoints.
• Proven ability in decision-making in dynamic environments with a far sight on how future needs may affect those decisions; willingness to iterate strategies and approaches, with the ability to course-correct as necessary.
• Excellent time management, personal organization, capacity building, team building, management, and coordination skills, with the ability to delegate responsibilities effectively and coach and mentor staff.
• Excellent coordination and communication skills with a diverse range of stakeholders, including implementers, government officials, and development partners. Confident and diplomatic in dealing with high-level government authorities.
• Proficiency in English and Nepali, both written and spoken; proficiency in major local languages of the applied province is strongly preferred.
• High computer literacy, with proficiency in software relevant to job duties.
• Strong organization management and planning skills.