Manager, Project Delivery, Digital Transformation

About Palladium:

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 4,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities. 

This Opportunity:

Palladium has three portfolios that strengthen and harness digital and data ecosystems to accelerate development investments and outcomes: 1- Information Systems (IS) 2- Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Analytics (MELA) and 3- Digital Solutions and Transformation (DST).

We are proactively building a talent pool for future Manager, Project Delivery positions within our organization. As a Manager, Project Delivery, you will be responsible for supporting projects within our IS, MELA and DST portfolios. The Manager, Project Delivery plays a key role in leading day-to-day management activities of the project team. Through this experience and working closely with their PMU and other teams, Managers, Project Delivery are expected to gain the competencies and skills needed to progress to Director level roles in project delivery or functional areas. This role also typically supervises one or more Associate(s), Project Delivery, ensuring their training in project management duties and best practices, while also promoting their development and growth into future Managers or functional roles.  

Location:

The position is based in Palladium’s Washington D.C. office.

Per company guidance, we are aiming to keep hiring closer to our main U.S. office. If we are unable to find successful candidates who are willing to work from the D.C. office, then as a last resort we may discuss the possibility of considering exceptional candidates to work permanently remotely (from other U.S. states where Palladium is registered).

Please be advised that a final salary offer will be based on various factors, including but not limited to your qualifications, education, experience, skills, seniority, performance, and Palladium’s business or organizational needs. 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the compensation for this position, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We value your interest in our company and appreciate the opportunity to discuss this opportunity with you. 

You and Your Career:

If you are a problem-solver, collaborator, and doer, and you have expertise in digital health project implementation, project management, financial management, technical writing, and digital system design, we are interested in hearing from you. 

We are a learning organization and provide growth opportunities from the start.  We pride ourselves on giving you the freedom, resources, and guidance to chart a fulfilling career!

Reporting Lines:

This role will report to a Sr. Manager or Director, Measurement and Learning, Information Systems or Digital Solutions and Transformation, depending on project assignment.Managers typically supervise or dotted line manage one or more Associates or Sr. AssociatesThe position is based in Palladium’s Washington, D.C. office with an expectation to be physically present 3 days per week. The position may entail overseas travel, at approximately 10% time and for periods averaging 2 weeks.

Primary Roles and Responsibilities:

Project Management

Plan and manage project start-up and closeout, supporting in-country corporate registration as needed
Serve as the project’s primary liaison with corporate services, Managers, Project Delivery, and Compliance and Project

Excellence Hub

Prepare and maintain project specific components of the project management manual
In collaboration with the Compliance and Project Excellence Hub and corporate services, provide training and guidance to project staff on, and ensure compliance with, company policies and client rules and regulations (covering as required risk management, project planning, human resource management, monitoring, reporting, finance, procurement, logistics, IT, communications, audit support and all other project managements matters)
Establish project offices and office infrastructure; facilitate field office leases
Participate in the development, implementation, and monitoring of project work plans, tracking project deliverables and monitoring project delivery against spending forecasts;
Support development and presentation of internal and external reporting (for example: quarterly Internal Project Reviews, CPARs, project risk assessments, annual reviews, and client deliverables)
Ensure project issues and risks are logged, reported on, managed and mitigated; and escalate risks and issues to Practice and Project Excellence and Compliance Hub leadership, as required
In collaboration with Risk Management, conduct spot checks on processes and internal controls including asset management procedures
Ensure all corrective actions for assigned projects are implemented and report back to confirm their completion via the risk register
Serve as a point of contact with service providers and address contractual matters as required
Support development of project subcontractor, grant management, and procurement procedures compliant with internal and client’s rules and regulations
Report monthly on the status of partner budgets/invoicing and grants
Manage planning and coordination of inputs from the company’s security team as needed
Contribute to technical assistance through reviews, engaging in work planning and discussions with the field team, etc. to build skills with the goal of taking on a more senior role, such as director of project delivery or a functional area

Contract and Client Relationship Management

Monitor and maintain compliance with head/prime contracts including agreement action requests (i.e., travel, personnel changes, grant approvals, budget realignments, etc.)
Liaise with C&C to communicate with contracting and agreement officers or other client representatives on any matters that make legal or financial commitments for Palladium;
Monitor and report on overall progress against agreed targets, milestones, outputs and activities
Develop, manage and support contract amendments as required
Liaise with and respond to requests from clients in conjunction with the project’s director, including providing or giving inputs on reporting
Support project advocacy with internal and external stakeholders

Financial Management

Ensure company policies for financial management are implemented and are compliant with the client’s rules and regulations
Ensure that project levels of delegated authority issued are in accordance with Palladium’s Expenditure Approval and Signature Authority Policy and Guidelines and manage the process for higher-level approvals as required
Collaborating with Financial Management establish project charge codes, ensuring they meet client and project requirements for cost allocation, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting
In collaboration with Treasury, facilitate project bank accounts set-up with appropriate company and project signatories
Ensure the project financial calendar is adhered to including monitoring, reconciling, and reporting expense advances monthly
Leads monitoring budget progress against forecast as one metric to track project progress against its work plan; proactively seeks to solve shortages or overages against the frozen forecast as needed
Review monthly Funds Transfer Requests (FTRs) to ensure they reflect budget progress and forecasting and seek approval for them as needed
Review cashbooks / field vouchers and ensure supporting documentation is complete
Serve as a coordinator for service providers and approve (or obtain approval for) work orders and invoices; ensure the accuracy of client invoices (including monthly, milestone and performance based invoices)
Monitor, reconcile and report expense advances monthly
Support the external audit process as needed and ensure retention of project records is compliant with company and client policy

Human Resource Management and Recruitment

Oversee project human resource planning, recruitment, contracting, with field teams and coordinate inputs from Compliance, HR, and Talent Acquisition teams (i.e. benefits, local labor law, etc.)
Working with associate, maintain project data on relevant HR systems for short-term and long-term staff and consultants; is maintained accurately
Lead the mobilisation and demobilisation of all international staff (short-term and long-term) including contracting (in coordination with HR) and travel management
Serve as primary supervisor to one or more Associate(s), Project Delivery, or Senior Associate(s), Project Delivery
In conjunction with the PMU, engage in employee onboarding and training, educating new staff on policies, procedures, tools, and Palladium’s culture
Actively monitor, review, correct, and provide feedback on all supervisee’s work products, providing additional training and support where necessary
Take a proactive role in staff development, including working with supervisees to identify professional development opportunities, and holding monthly coaching sessions to advise them on project management best practices, core competencies, and general work skills and behaviours

Business Development / Other

Contribute to company growth by ensuring assigned projects are managed well, ensuring Palladium is seen positively by clients for consideration in future business development
Participate in capture planning, providing inputs on implementation requirements
Provide input and support business development of the company as required
Complete other duties as assigned

Essential Criteria:

Demonstrated ability to learn from prior experiences and adapt/improve processes, work, communications accordingly
Proven ability to work on multiple activities/projects simultaneously and adapt to new work priorities as they change
Demonstrated management of multiple activities in a time-sensitive environment
Sound problem solving and decision-making skills
Ability to meet deadlines with exceptional attention to detail and to quality
Proven ability to manage and train people
Proven experience identifying and applying complex program management processes
Proven experience building partner relationships and networks.
Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to interact professionally with culturally diverse staff, clients, and consultants  
Demonstrated ability to work as an effective team lead in a complex and fast-paced environment
Excellent written and oral communication skills (in English) as demonstrated by speaking engagements and/or contributions to written documents  
Financial acumen and the ability to generate, interpret, and analyze financial reports and forecasts using Excel and other financial reporting/forecasting systems as demonstrated by experience
Ability to manage multiple simultaneous tasks and/or complex projects/assignments
Experience working on developing country issues and/or contexts
Ability to travel and work in developing countries for extended periods of time

Desirable Criteria:

Experience working within an international organization or business
Experience supporting work implementing USAID- or other donor-funded projects
Experience working in a developing country or in a project-based environment
Experience with conceptualizing and making presentations, both in-person and virtually
Experience networking across the development community, including with donors, implementing partners, and developing country organizations and governmental institutions
Experience configuring or implementing open-source Global Goods tools such as DHIS2, CommCare, iHRIS, and others
Experience in visualization or business intelligence tools such as Tableau or Microsoft Power BI, or open-source platforms like Metabase or Apache Superset
Excellent English language communication skills and fluency in international language

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status. 

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse.  All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.