Project Manager Job Opportunity at Mott MacDonald

Project Manager

Mott MacDonald

Job Description

The Project Manager will function as part of the Core Team. S/he will be required to work closely with the Team Leader, Project Principal and Senior Management Team. The Project Manager will be expected to have strategic oversight of how Operational functions (Finance, procurement, fiduciary risk etc.) support project delivery. They will also be central to managing our Operational relationships with our client, beneficiaries (regional partners) and our consortium partners. The PM should have a good understanding of the project inputs and deliverables to achieve this. The Project Manager will be accountable to the Project Principal for oversight of Operations, according to Mott MacDonald systems and processes.

The Project Manager Will

• Project Delivery: Operational Management
• Review and refine the project operational strategy and Operational Guidelines
• Support the team leader to ensure inputs are leading to deliverables submitted on time and make team leadership aware if the project is off track.
• Support the technical team in preparing a costed workplan and ensure project staff implement the workplan within budget and record change control when amendments are made.
• Ensure that the team receive adequate operational and logistical support to conduct all technical activities as agreed in the workplan with the client.
• These include but are not limited to: transport and accommodation, organising technical events, managing logistics for large scale studies or fact-finding missions.
• Management of core and downstream partners (contracting, invoicing, relationships).
• Oversight of supplier contracts as managed by the OPS team.
• Attend the weekly SLT meetings and OPS/FIN meetings as well as the Technical Team Meeting to keep abreast of technical updates and issues
• Project Delivery: Execute, Monitor and Control:
• Develop a strong relationship with the client, focusing on finance, human resources, procurement & operations. Serve as first point of contact with the client project manager on commercial matters.
• Lead on client audit and compliance requirements
• Implement anti-fraud actions, training and awareness. Responsible for protecting the company from unethical behaviour.
• Manage performance against PPW and PMP. Make updates and changes when appropriate.
• Manage performance against contract, identify changes and implement change control via contract amendment where appropriate.
• Monitor the internal budget and report to key technical team members and budget holders on financial performance and budget availability on a monthly basis.
• Hold monthly project control meetings with the Project Principal and Responsible for Progress Evaluations on
• Connect Business and monthly updates of PMD.
• Identify and manage project commercial risks. Determine and manage a justifiable contingency against identified risks.
• Responsible (with the support from the finance team) in supplying monthly and accurate financial information to the client in the form of annual and monthly budgets and forecasts.
• Responsible for (with the support from the finance team) billing the client in accordance to contractual billing schedule.
• Manage performance against budget, monitor and update financial management tools monthly.
• Report on WIP values monthly, ensure the value is fully justifiable at all times.
• Lead on value for money initiatives including ensuring the procurement process is followed at all times.
• Support Value for Money reporting by overseeing the allocation of costs against logframe indicators.
• Ensure the recruitment of staff and consultants follow STEP due diligence practices.
• Ensure the engagement of 3 rd party suppliers are in-line with STEP due diligence and supplier selection processes.
• Proactively manage 3 rd party suppliers to deliver quality products and services on time and to budget

Candidate Specification

• Establish the Health Safety and Security Risk Assessment, to be reviewed every quarter and ensure this is communicated and acknowledged by the project team and visiting international staff/consultants.
• Oversee with HR that all project staff complete mandatory training, connected conversations and be a role model of Mott Macdonald core values, including a commitment to: Progress, Respect, Integrity, Drive and Excellence (PRIDE).
• Ensure all project staff and consultants apply project controls correctly
• Work with the Territory Manager to ensure the Group’s Safeguarding Policy is implemented at all times.
• Maintain project records by ensuring the use of Sharepoint by teams and file storage on OneDrive.
• Develop and implement the project closure plan.
• Complete the project on time and to budget.
• Ensure project information is updated on the project database.
• Ensure lessons learnt are recorded and project materials are available on the SharePoint Site.

Skills

Candidate Specification:

• Ability to prioritise and work under pressure.
• Ability to work in a collaborative team setting.
• Understanding of and sensitivity to cultural differences in developing countries
• Proficient in using MS packages, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Strong organisational skills, reliability, and adherence to ethical standards
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Strong people leadership and influencing skills
• Fluency in written and spoken English, able to also work in Kiswahili preferred.

Experience

• Managing and leading sizeable teams of finance and operations professionals
• Experience of navigating complex project structures including multiple clients and internal consortia groups
• Experience in operations management for large-scale, international development projects, ideally for FCDO/ UK government
• Experience with procurement, contracts management requirements, and cost accounting principles
• Experience in providing administrative, logistical and financial support to projects
• Extensive experience of setting up and managing multi-million-pound project budgets.
• Extensive experience with stakeholder engagement, including international donors and local government, and the ability to develop partnerships with local government, private sector, and the wider international community

Knowledge

• Educated to a degree level (International Business, Economics, Finance, Project Management, or equivalent)
• Undertaken Project Management Professional Qualification (PRINCE, APM)
• High degree of commercial acumen and knowledge of planning and project controls
• Good understanding of contractual issues and risks relating to delivery of projects

Desirable criteria

• Current knowledge of Tanzanian procurement, labour, tax, banking, and other laws and regulations
• Able to work without hindrance in Tanzania

Job Profile

Shule Bora (Quality School) officially commenced in August 2021 and is planned to run for six years until March 2027. It is led by the Government of Tanzania (GoURT) and supported with a budget of 80m GBP in UK aid investment in education reform. The scope of targeted project outcomes was expanded to improve the capacity of GoURT to reach more marginalised children across Tanzania. The current outcomes of the project are improving learning for all children, improving the quality of teaching, nimproving inclusion with specific focus on girls staying and learning in school, children with disability having equal access to learning in school, and keeping all children safe in the school environment, and strengthening GoURT systems set up to deliver quality learning for all children.
The project will maintain a national scope in providing TA support to enable GoURT to achieve its Disbursement Linked Results (DLRs) while working intensively in nine regions selected by GoURT to test and implement interventions aimed at delivering the four project outcomes above. The nine Shule Bora regions are Dodoma, Katavi, Kigoma, Mara, Pwani, Rukwa, Simiyu, Singida and Tanga. The project is also expected to work collaboratively with two other contracts funded by UK aid to ensure interventions are robust and evidence based: a project of research, evidence and learning led by DIME and a data verification service to provide independent assessment of DLRs and whether they are being achieved (service provider yet to be identified).

Cambridge Education (CE) is the lead implementing partner for the project working with three core partners in ADD International (experts on disability inclusion), IRC (experts on school safety) and Plan International (experts on girls’ education).

This Project

Works with Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) and the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) to test, adapt and implement at scale quality, gender-transformative, disability-inclusive and safe to learn education approaches in nine regions, generating learning and evidence on how to achieve these outcomes affordably and at scale.
Supports GoT with the timely and effective implementation of the Payment for Results (PforR) mechanism through technical assistance and capacity building, with a strong focus on data verification, financial management and risk management. Support lesson learning processes from PforR so that these can be embedded into government processes and shared with development partners and other key stakeholders. Ensure that lessons and best practice from (1) are used to inform the PforR mechanism.
Manages and coordinates project activities, with a strong focus on (i) ensuring a high quality project and financial and risk management oversight, (ii) working with an independent Learning and Evidence (L&E) provider on establishing regular, rigorous and community-driven monitoring and evaluation activities, and (iii) developing and implementing a strategy for effective communication of Shule Bora objectives, results, and lessons learned to a range of target audiences.

Other Information

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.

More About Mott MacDonald

We’re a global engineering, management and development consultancy.

Our purpose is to improve society by considering social outcomes in everything we do, relentlessly focusing on excellence and digital innovation, transforming our clients’ businesses, our communities and employee opportunities.

A fundamental part of this is respecting each person’s differences and striving to meet their needs.

Our values: progress, respect, integrity, drive, excellence

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