GENERAL CONTEXT
Médecins Sans Frontières is an international independent medical-humanitarian organization, which offers assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation.
MSF is a civil society initiative that brings together individuals committed to the assistance of other human beings in crisis. As such MSF is by choice an association.Each individual working with MSF does it out of conviction and is ready to uphold the values and principles of MSF.
The MSF movement is built around six operational directorates. MSF OCBA is one of those directorates. The operations are implemented by field teams and the mission coordination teams; together with the organizational units based in Barcelona and decentralized in Nairobi, Dakar and Amman. The field operations are guided and supported by 5 Operational Cells, the Emergency Unit and other departments supporting operations, including Projects & IT Office.
GENERAL OBJECTIVE AND CONTEXT
The Project Manager will work within the Projects & IT Office team, and s/he will be hierarchically and functionally accountable to the Head of the PMO and IT Governance. His/her overall objectives are:
- Plan, oversee and lead the project from ideation through to completion. You will be responsible to deliver the project on time, on budget, in scope and to the required quality specification for each project. You deliver the project with the direct support of the project team and the Project Management Office, and with the strategic guidance and supervision of the governance structures created ad-hoc for each project (sponsor, steering committee, or similar).
- Develop the detailed project management & execution plan of your assigned project and implement them together with your assigned project team. Oversee all aspects of projects: set deadlines, assign responsibilities and monitor and summarize progress of project; prepare reports for upper management regarding status of project.
- Work hand in hand with internal and/or external suppliers to complete all required works, commissioning of equipment and/or systems until complete handover to the business and/or functional area that manages the service.
MAIN FUNCTIONS, RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS
1. Manage the plan and the scope of the project
- The PM Assists in the definition of project scope and objectives, involving all relevant stakeholders and ensuring technical feasibility.
- The PM develops detailed (comprenhensive) project management & execution plans and manages their respective implementation by:
- Leading project planning sessions.
- Sharing project planning with clients as well as other staff members.
- Tracking, reviewing and maintaining a detailed project plan.
- Managing project deliverables in line with the project plan.
- Implementing the project management plan according to the required project charter (customer requirements).
- The PM manages day to day operations alongside the project team and ensures project targets (scope, schedule, cost, quality) are constantly monitored to ensure project delivery & success. The PM manages project elements incuding but not limited to, schedule, cost, resources and risks, focus on the critical technical project management elements for each project he/she manages.
- The PM ensures that all projects are delivered on-time, within scope and within budget, ensuring projects meet deadlines.
- Creating long and short term plans, including setting targets for milestones adhering to deadlines and allocating resources.
- Making effective decisions when presented with multiple options for how to progress with the project.
- Adjusting schedules and targests on the project as needed.
- The PM Manages changes to the project scope, project schedule and project costs using appropriate verification techniques.
2. Manage the project budget and resources
- The PM meets budgetary objectives (established by the project governance and MSF direction) and makes adjustments to project constrains based on financial analysis and prior approval of the project sponsor (and SC).
- The PM constantly monitors cost with the support of the Finance Department and reviews invoices to ensure that paymens never get ahead of the work, and they are properly allocated.
3. Manage suppliers & third parties
- The PM leads the tender processes, with the participation of the designated internal stakeholders, and manages the submission and qualification of the proposals, in order to select the most suitable offer and the most feasible supplier for achieving the objectives of the project.
- The PM manages the process of hiring the contractor, leading the elaboration of the respective contract with the support of the Legal Unit, including as well security and privacy clauses defined by the Data Protection Office, and ensuring the sign off of the persons entitled to do so.
- The PM is responsible for the appropriate execution of the different administrative tasks needed for the project.
- The PM establishes and maintains relationships with third parties/vendors that participate in the project. The PM coordinates internal resources and third parties/vendors for the flawless execution of projects.
4. Manage the project team
- The PM directly leads/manages the assigned project team to ensure project objectives and stakeholders’ expectations, at the interest of the organization, working closely with other stakeholders and sub project teams to ensure proper interfacing and alignment in the overall project plan.
- The PM also works closely and in collaborarion with other roles, such as organizational/functional managers, subject matter experts, and those involved with business analysis, to achieve the project objectives and to ensure the project management plan aligns with the portfolio or program plan when applicable, as well as with the strategic ambitions of MSF.
- The PM coordinates and manages staff and internal resources.
- Motivating people involved in the project to complete tasks on time.
- Serving as a point of contact for teams when multiple units are assigned to the same project to ensure team actions remain in synergy.
- Guiding the team to work together to focus on what is really essential at the project level.
- Delegating tasks on the project to employees best positioned to complete them.
5. Manage stakeholders, communication & change
- The PM works with the project sponsor to understand the strategic objectives and ensure, with the PMO Head and PMO Advisor, the alignment of the project objectives an results with those of the portfolio, program and business areas. In this way the PM contributes to the integration and execution of the strategy.
- The PM performs communication between the project sponsor, team members, and other stakeholders, this includes providing direction and presenting the vision of success for the project.
- The PM manages relationships with clients and all stakeholders by:
- Meeting with clients to take detailed ordering briefs and clarify specific requirements of each project.
- Communicating with the Project Steering Committee (or equivalent body) to keep the project aligned with their goals.
- Communicating all stakeholder about the progress of the project by, spending sufficient time communicating, managing expectations accepting feedback graciously, giving feedback constructively; asking and listening.
- The PM manages relationships and conflicts by: building trust, satisfying concerns, seeking consensus, balancing copeting and opposing goals, applying persuasion, negotiation, compromise, and conflict resolution skills, developing and nurturing personal and professional networks…
6. Manage risks, opportunities and issues
- The PM manages project risks to minimize their impact in the projects, and similarly manages project opportunities to maximize their potential benefit for the overall project success. The PM identifies and manages potential risks, opportunities and liabilities of the project, defining risk mitigation and opportunity maximization plans, to be followed-up and applied during the full project cycle.
- The PM inititates, records, manages and resolves project issues, that could arise during the lifecycle of the project, and escalates when needed to the appropriate governance structures of the project.
- The PM works with the project sponsor or other key stakeholders to address internal political and strategic issues that may impact the team or the viability or quality of the project.
7. Manage project control & reporting
- The PM performs quality control on the project throughout development (planning) and monitoring project metrics to maintain the standards expected.
- Measure project performance using appropriate systems, tools and techniques.
- Track project performance, specifically to analyze the successful completion of short and long-term goals.
- The PM conducts project review and creates detailed reports.
- Measuring project performance using appropriate tools and techniques.
- Providing status update to the key stakeholders via regular meetings and reports, including specific reports for the executive staff.
8. Apply standard frameworks, participate in cross project coordination, and manage project documentation
- The PM manages the project following MSF standard Project Management framework and guidelines, and is supported and monitored by the PMO & IT Governance unit, in charge of ensuring adherence to PM guidelines, directives and standards, including information security and privacy policies.
- The PM, with the support of the PMO Advisor, will be responsible for applying the most suitable methodology and adapting standard MSF practices for a successful management of the project.
- The PM, under the supervision of the P&IT Lead and the Head of PMO & IT Governance, proactively interacts and coordinates work with other project managers in Projects & IT and other departments, to ensure potential cross-impacts between projects are properly managed, and resources are prioritized in the best way to meet overall MSF strategic ambitions.
- The PM is responsible for all project documentation, and oversees their communication in/out, ensuring they are properly gathered and stored or archived in MSF document management systems.
SELECTION CRITERIA
- Academic background: an advanced degree in computer science, engineering or business.
- 4 years’ experience in project management.
- Experience in managing change acceptance & transitioning.
- Experience with project management frameworks, budget management and risk management.
- Experience with applicable project controlling tools.
- Knowledge of best practices frameworks and standard methodologies: PMBOK, Agile, PRINCE2
- Good command of Microsoft Office and/or Open Office, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Visio, Intranet based on MS Sharepoint, Office 365.
- Proficient knowledge of communication tools.
- Used to work in matrix reporting environment with various stakeholders.
- English required; French and Spanish desirable.
- Experience and knowledge of change management principles, methodologies and tools is an asset.
- Field experience in humanitarian projects with MSF or other organizations is an asset.
CONDITIONS
- Temporary position based in Barcelona at the Médecins Sans Frontières OCBA Headquarters.
- Full-time job.
- Duration of the contract: 1 year.
- Annual gross salary: HQ-4A – 41 711.09€ (divided into 12 monthly payments) + secondary benefits based on the MSF-OCBA Reward Policy.
- Starting date: March 2023.