Operations Manager

Coffey International Development is a global development consultancy focused on making a difference by improving the lives of world communities. We are the trusted advisers to many donor agencies, national governments, and private sector organisations around the world. We come from all over the globe, to create an organisation with approximately 1,350 people working in over 70 countries.

Coffey International Development is currently managing Strengthening Transparency Accountability and Responsiveness in Ghana (STAR-Ghana), a multi-donor fund programme which addresses the need to increase civil society and parliamentary influence in Ghana to foster better governance of public goods and services. In doing so, it aims to develop efficient and transparent mechanisms which can link civil society with and to the actions of government, traditional authorities, and private enterprise.

According to the STAR-Ghana logical framework, the overall goal of the programme is “to increase the accountability and responsiveness of government, traditional authorities and private enterprises to Ghanaian citizens”. Its purpose is “to increase the influence of civil society organisations (CSOs) and Parliament in the governance of public goods and service delivery”.

Position Title and Reporting Lines

Position Title:

Operations Manager

Reporting to:

Programme Manager

Direct Reports:

• Civil Society Support Manager
• Results Manager
• Finance and Compliance Manager
• Programme Support Manager
• Parliamentary Support Officer

The Role

STAR-Ghana is currently recruiting an Operations Manager.

The Operations Manager will be responsible for leading programme operations and their implementation on the ground in Ghana, in accordance with the strategy, logframe and the workplans.

The Operations Manager will oversee the delivery of project outputs, ensuring compliance with donor and project requirements, and will provide support to the programme leadership in the daily activities of the project team in Ghana.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Project Management

• Support the Programme Manager in delivery of the programme to the highest quality standards, in collaboration with the project team, donor partners, grant partners, and consortium members;
• Support development of programme priorities, plans and long-term strategy through close collaboration with the Programme Manager and Unit Managers;
• Prepare and/or make necessary operational adjustments to project workplans, while ensuring that they reflect available resources and respond to available funds and in-country realities;
• Lead on the delivery of project workplans, in collaboration with Unit Managers;
• Oversee the work of the Results Team to oversee the implementation of monitoring and evaluation processes and maintain effective project evaluation and reporting systems;
• Manage timelines and responsibilities for donor reporting;
• Work with the Programme Manager and Unit Managers to coordinate and oversee the work of external Technical Advisers (consultants);
• Manage the delivery of the parliamentary workstream, including overseeing the work of the Parliamentary Support Officer;
• Update the Operations Manual and ensure compliance to country policies, contracts, procedures and other project processes, including Finance, HR and HSSE;
• Stay abreast of the latest technical developments in the field of transparency and accountability to ensure that the project’s work remains relevant, innovative, and aligned with current best practices; and
• Incorporate a gender perspective into the management of the programme, and the design and implementation of its strategies and workplans.
• Review, revise and update STAR-Ghana Media Strategy and ensure that the strategy is in line with project objectives;
• Implement the Media Strategy and make operational adjustments as needed; and
• Incorporate a gender perspective into the Media Strategy.

Financial Management

• Working together with the Project finance teams, ensure the effective management of grants; and
• Identify potential resource constraints and work with the Programme Manager as necessary to ensure the project’s financial sustainability.

Staff Management and Development

• Promote positive management behaviours to strengthen the project management capabilities of all PMT staff; and
• As necessary, participate in the recruitment and selection of staff.

Communication

• Develop and maintain proactive, positive and professional relationships with all of STAR’s stakeholders, including grant partners, other CSOs and NGOs, donor partners (DPs), key government officials, Technical Advisers, Coffey and consortium members; and
• Report to the Programme Manager on key project and staff issues, in accordance with established procedures.

Other Duties

• Carry out any other duties as may be required for effective delivery of STAR.

The Person

The candidate will be a Ghanaian national, with a Postgraduate degree in a relevant field (international development or related fields); with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience. The candidate will ideally have previous work experience in the development sector, in particular with development partners such as DFID.

Experience working with major civil society organisations (local and international) would also be an advantage.

The candidate will meet the following requirements:

• Excellent experience in project management, with multiple stakeholders, preferably in more than one country;
• Demonstrable M&E experience;
• Experience working with civil society organisations in Ghana and/or abroad;
• Excellent people management experience;
• Experience working with donor regulations, information analysis and report writing;
• Experience capturing results and overseeing reporting systems;
• Good judgement and discretion to represent STAR-Ghana, Coffey and the DPs in a highly professional manner;
• Strong analytical, leadership, organisational and problem solving skills;
• Excellent attention to detail;
• Ability to respond to shifting needs with flexibility while maintaining a positive approach and sense of humour;
• Relationship-building and communication skills: ability to interface with both internal and external stakeholders in a culturally sensitive manner; and
• Functional use of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Operations Manager