Vacancy title:
Programme Manager

[Type: FULL_TIME, Industry: Public Administration, and Government, Category: Management]

Jobs at:
British High Commission

Deadline of this Job:
Monday, September 15 2025

Duty Station:
Lusaka | Lusaka | Zambia

Summary
Date Posted: Tuesday, September 2 2025, Base Salary: Not Disclosed

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JOB DETAILS:

Main purpose of job:

• Your main role will be to lead the management of a broad portfolio of primarily development programmes, in partnership with relevant Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) and Programme Responsible Owners (PROs) to ensure strong compliance with FCDO standards across the portfolio and strong financial performance. You will also act as Project Lead on more complex and/or higher value projects, partnering the Lead Technical Adviser and involving other specialist Advisers as necessary throughout the programme cycle. This includes building and maintaining effective relationships with external partners, and excellent financial, risks and results management.
• The post holder will be expected to support other colleagues and to adhere to and advise colleagues as necessary on programme management compliance and standards, including FCDO Programme Management guidance and standards.

Roles and responsibilities:

Portfolio Management:

• Ensure strong financial management and compliance with key FCDO requirements and standards across a portfolio of programmes, including but not confined to UK legislation; transparency; risk management; audit and performance milestones; Annual Reviews (ARs) and Project Completion Reviews (PCRs).
• Advise team members on programme delivery, including on aid agreements and FCDO’s commercial processes.
• Build team capacity in programme management and contribute to cross-office efforts to better plan and prioritise across the range of programmes in the portfolio.

Management of individual programmes: Management of the programme cycle: 

• Manage, where relevant, the design schedule for the development of Business Cases and associated documents, ensuring Advisers and other relevant colleagues are consulted as required and the project team stays on track
• Lead Due Diligence exercises (both routine and more complex), subsequently ensuring any follow up actions are carried out
• Draft agreements, ensuring all key information is included.
• Lead the development of project Delivery Plans. Subsequently, lead execution and maintenance of plans, ensuring key partner/supplier deliverables are tracked within them. Use plans proactively to prompt project team actions in good time, advising the SRO, PRO and wider team on all upcoming milestones / requirements, including follow-up to annual reviews.
• Monitor and review regular reporting from partners – identifying and sharing key lessons with the wider team as appropriate (including learning from failure).
• Work with partners and Comms & Press Affairs colleagues to develop effective communications stories.
• Lead or contribute to ARs and PCRs, including drafting all or portions of Terms of References and final reports, as agreed within project team
• Organise field visits and ensure findings feed back into the Project Delivery Plan.
• Ensure asset registers are established, spot checks on project assets take place and follow up actions are delivered.

Risk management:

• Contribute to the development of risk analysis and project risk strategies.
• Ensure risks are reviewed quarterly and link to portfolio risk discussions.
• Ensure follow-up and application of lessons-learnt from scrutiny bodies where relevant (IAD, NAO, ICAI)

Commercial engagement and supplier management: 

• Manage the project team’s commercial engagement, ensuring key commercial process milestones are delivered on time.
• Apply a commercial mind-set and understanding of project budget drivers to support achievement of value for money (VFM) from planned contract/funding agreement.
• Analyse and challenge partner performance across the range of core programme management tasks (risks, results, finances)
• Act as programme management lead on new procurements, working closely with the Delegated Procurement Officers in  developing timelines, maintaining close contact with FCDO central Procurement and Commercial Department and coordinating the procurement process.
• Ensure Duty of Care and Safeguarding guidance is followed for all contracting.

 Financial Management: 

• Proactively manage financial forecasts. Be accountable for developing and maintaining robust and realistic forecasts over the Financial Year, and accurate budget profiling for outer years, working closely with spending partners, Advisers, PROs and SROs.
• Analyse and challenge partner forecasts; identify ways to incentivise improved forecasting and to deal with poor performance (as appropriate within contract/agreements types).
• Ensure all changes are updated in a timely manner in line with systems requirements (and those set by the finance manager).
• Review partner/supplier financial reports checking for variances and Value for Money issues.
• Ensure all requisitions, purchase orders and receipting/payment of invoices meet FCDO’s financial rules, are linked to agreed project milestones and partner reporting obligations.
• Manage audit requirements, ensuring reports and/or Annual Audited Statements are received, reviewed and findings pro-actively followed up.

Policy Engagement and Leadership:

• There will be scope for the post holder to build leadership in areas of policy engagement with the broad areas covered by the team.
• The focus of this work will be based on skills of the post holder and needs of the team.

Other tasks:

• Quality assurance of more junior programme officers’ work, act as mentor on areas for development and providing timely and constructive feedback.
• Ensure that timely, quality responses to letters, corporate returns and submissions relevant to own programmes are produced,
• Provide cover for colleagues as needed, contributing to coherent team working.
• Proactively contribute to cross-office efforts across a range of corporate issues, including better delivery, people issues, etc.
• Provide support as required on high-level visits or briefing requests.
• Remain flexible and be prepared to carry out additional or alternative duties if needed.

Administrative:

• All FCDO staff are expected to undertake some administrative tasks to support delivery of work related to their job.
• This includes saving own documents to the corporate record, arranging relevant meetings, making travel arrangements and processing expenses claims.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Minimum 5 years relevant experience in project management
• Demonstrated experience delivering complex programming with oversight and responsibility for budgets and compliance.
• Experience with a range of implementing partners (NGOs, CSOs, multi-laterals) and working with government
• Experience of leading a team/mentoring junior staff
• Strong skills in budget analysis, work planning and presentation to leadership groups
• Understanding of risk assessment and value for money
• Working for a donor and as part of a multicultural team
• Understanding the programme management cycle.
• Experience in managing programmes/projects, risk and compliance and programme finances.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• Managing Programme Cycle
• Programme Leadership (Practitioner)

Required behaviours  

Communicating and Influencing, Developing Self and Others, Making Effective Decisions, Seeing the Big Picture

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 60

Level of Education: bachelor degree

Job application procedure

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