Project Manager

Overview

The Project Manager (PM) is responsible for strategic leadership, planning, implementation, monitoring, and successful delivery of donor-funded and organizational projects. The role ensures that projects achieve their intended results on time, within scope, within budget, and in compliance with donor agreements, organizational policies, and national regulations.

The Senior Project Manager provides technical, managerial, and leadership oversight across multiple projects or a large, complex project and serves as the primary link between program teams, senior management, donors, and support functions.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Project Leadership

The Project Manager shall:

• Provide overall strategic and technical leadership for assigned projects or portfolios.
• Translate organizational strategy and donor commitments into clear programmatic direction.
• Ensure coherence, consistency, and quality across multiple projects or locations.

Expected outputs:

• Clear strategic direction for projects
• Aligned implementation approaches across teams

Project Planning and Performance Oversight

The Project Manager shall:

• Lead or approve consolidated project workplans and implementation schedules.
• Review project progress against outputs, outcomes, and timelines on a regular basis.
• Identify underperformance and direct corrective actions where necessary.
• Ensure projects remain within approved scope and objectives.

Expected outputs:

• Approved workplans
• Documented performance reviews and corrective actions

Supervision and Management of Project Officers

The Project Manager shall:

• Provide direct supervision, coaching, and technical guidance to Project Officers .
• Ensure Project Managers understand roles, responsibilities, and performance expectations.
• Review and validate monthly and quarterly progress reports submitted by Project Officers.
• Contribute to staff performance appraisals and capacity development plans.

Expected outputs:

• Supervision records
• Improved Project Officers performance and accountability

Donor Compliance and Reporting Oversight

The Project Manager shall:

• Ensure projects comply with donor agreements, indicators, and reporting schedules.
• Lead or oversee preparation of high-quality donor narrative reports.
• Review and approve programmatic sections of donor reports before submission.
• Serve as a primary technical focal point for donor communication and reviews.

Expected outputs:

• Timely, high-quality donor reports
• Effective donor engagement and follow-up

Budget Oversight and Coordination with Finance

The Project Manager shall:

• Coordinate closely with Finance to monitor budget utilization and expenditure trends.
• Review budget-versus-actual reports and flag programmatic risks early.
• Support re-budgeting, no-cost extensions, or donor modification requests as required.

Expected outputs:

• Early identification of budget risks
• Program inputs to financial planning decisions

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL)

The Project Manager shall:

• Ensure effective integration of MEAL systems into project implementation.
• Promote use of monitoring data and evaluation findings for adaptive management.
• Support evaluations, learning reviews, and accountability mechanisms.
• Ensure reported results are credible, verifiable, and evidence-based.

Expected outputs:

• Evidence-informed management decisions
• Learning actions documented and applied

Stakeholder, Partner, and Government Engagement

The Project Manager shall:

• Represent the organization in strategic coordination forums with government, donors, and partners.
• Maintain strong relationships with relevant authorities and stakeholders.
• Ensure project alignment with national policies and local priorities.

Expected outputs:

• Documented coordination engagements
• Strengthened stakeholder relationships

Risk Management, Quality Assurance, and Safeguarding

The Project Manager shall:

• Identify strategic, operational, and contextual risks affecting project delivery.
• Ensure mitigation measures are developed and implemented.
• Uphold safeguarding, accountability, and ethical standards across all projects.
• Ensure incidents are reported and managed according to policy.

Expected outputs:

• Updated risk registers
• Compliance with safeguarding and accountability standards

Documentation and Organizational Learning

The Project Manager shall:

• Ensure key project decisions, lessons learned, and best practices are documented.
• Contribute to organizational learning and system strengthening.
• Support audits, evaluations, and reviews as required.

Expected outputs:

• Complete and audit-ready program documentation
• Documented learning and improvement actions

Required Qualifications

Reports To

• Deputy Country Director

Works Closely With

• Finance & Operations, MEAL Unit, HR & Administration, Project Officers, Government Counterparts, Donors, and Partners

Duty Station

• Head Office, (with frequent field travel to project sites)

Employment Type

• Contract

Contract Type

• Full time

Duration

• 6-month contract with the possibility of extension based on performance.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Development Studies, Project Management, Social Sciences, or a related field

Experience

• Minimum 7–10 years of progressive experience managing NGO or development projects
• Proven experience managing donor-funded projects
• Demonstrated experience supervising Project Managers or senior program staff

Computer Skills & Digital Competencies

• Microsoft Excel (advanced planning templates)
• Microsoft Project (or equivalent)
• Experience using task and workflow management systems, including:
  • ClickUp
  • Trello
  • Asana
  • Monday.com (or similar tools)
• Ability to assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor completion
• Use of dashboards to track team performance and deliverables
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel for:
  • Progress tracking
  • Budget vs. activity monitoring (coordination with Finance)
  • KPI and performance dashboards
• Ability to review and interpret:
  • Program progress reports
  • MEAL data summaries
• Ability to consolidate information from multiple teams into clear management reports
• Professional use of email and virtual meeting platforms (Outlook, Gmail, Zoom, Teams)
• Ability to coordinate teams using:
  • Shared calendars
  • Cloud-based file systems (OneDrive, Google Drive)
• Experience facilitating virtual meetings and documenting action points
• Power BI or basic dashboards
• Online forms (Google Forms, Microsoft Forms)
• Document management systems

Core Skills

• Strategic project management
• Team leadership and performance management
• Donor compliance and narrative reporting
• Risk management and problem-solving
• Strong written and verbal communication

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a relevant field
• Experience managing multi-project portfolios
• Strong familiarity with MEAL systems and results-based management
• Experience working in rural Ethiopian contexts

SALARY

• Based on the organization scale