Project Manager - Mbale job at Q-Sourcing

Background information about the job or company

Q-Sourcing Limited trading as Q-Sourcing Servtec is a manpower management solutions firm operating in the East African Region in the countries of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and South Sudan.

On behalf of our client Ripple Effect in the NGO Sector, we are looking for 3 (three) competent, skilled, and experienced PROJECT MANAGERS to work in Mbarara, Mbale, Soroti.

The Youth Economic Empowerment through Livestock Development (YEELD) Program is a five-year initiative aimed at improving the socio-economic well-being and resilience of financially disadvantaged young people aged 18–35 years in the Teso, Bukedi, and Ankole sub-regions of Uganda through livestock value chains. The program seeks to create 250,000 work opportunities, including for 200,000 (80%) young women, 5% persons with disabilities (PWDs), and 3% refugees and displaced persons (RDPs). YEELD is being implemented across 20 districts in the three sub-regions through a consortium coordinated by Ripple Effect, dfcu Foundation, and Multi Community Based Development Initiative (MUCOBADI), in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.

Role Purpose

The Project Manager provides project management and takes lead in the implementation, coordination, and oversight for the YEELD project in the region. The role ensures delivery of high quality, inclusive, and climate smart interventions across livestock production, processing, skilling, enterprise, and financial workstreams. The Project Manager ensures proper planning, implementation of project activities, achievement of targets, reporting, financial management, compliance with donor and organizational requirements, provides vision and hands-on leadership for strategy, technical quality, team performance, coordinates partnerships, and knowledge exchange positioning YEELD as a leading rural transformation program for young women in Uganda.

Working under the strategic direction of the Project Director, the Project Manager is responsible for day-to-day programme management, partner coordination, field implementation, and performance monitoring at regional level. The postholder ensures that project interventions translate into tangible and inclusive youth employment outcomes within livestock value chains.

Responsibilities or duties

• Provide Strategic and Technical Leadership for Program Design and Execution
• Programme Implementation & Delivery
• Coordination & Partnership Management
• Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Reporting
• Financial Management & Compliance
• Team Leadership & Supervision
• Stakeholder Engagement & Representation
• Risk Management & Adaptive Programming
• Safeguarding
• Other Duties

Qualifications or requirements

Requirements

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree preferably in Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, Agriculture.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of Program Management experience at strategic level, of which 5 years in a development related sector.

Experience and knowledge

• He/she will possess at least (5) five years of experience designing and managing large and complex inclusive market systems, value chain development projects with large teams.
• Proven experience working with the private sector, local and international institutions.
• Proven experience in agriculture, livestock value chains
• Experience managing budgets and overseeing programme implementation.
• Experience in youth employment or livelihoods programming.
• Familiarity with donor requirements.

Skills and Attributes

Essential:

• Strong programme management and implementation skills.
• Excellent stakeholder coordination and partnership management skills.
• Strong leadership and team management abilities.
• Demonstrated expertise in monitoring and evaluation, data analysis, and data-driven decision-making.
• Proven ability to develop and implement comprehensive strategic and operational plans, and budgets.
• Strong understanding of risk management frameworks and the ability to proactively identify and mitigate risks.
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Excellent communication and reporting skills.
• Strong problem-solving and adaptive management capabilities.
• High level of integrity and accountability.
• Willingness to live and work within the assigned region and travel frequently.
• Experience in gender, youth, and social inclusion approaches.

Any other provided details

At Ripple Effect, we are committed to creating a safe and rewarding environment for all of our people, including staff, participants, partners, volunteers, children, and vulnerable adults. It is a shared responsibility to ensure that everyone is treated properly and protected from harm, exploitation, and abuse. To fulfil this commitment, we have established a robust Safeguarding Policy that everyone working with us is expected to follow, along with a confidential whistle-blowing procedure that allows individuals to raise any concerns they may have.

The Project Manager is responsible for ensuring that safeguarding principles are fully integrated into programme implementation and partner operations, in line with organisational policies and procedures.

• Provide strategic leadership and technical guidance across all program workstreams, ensuring alignment with the YEELD results framework.
• Lead the co-creation and continuous improvement of inclusive, market-led livestock value chain models targeting young women and complementary sectors.
• Serve as an advisor to the Project Director on strategy, innovation, and partner alignment.
• Lead planning, execution, coordination, and supervision of YEELD activities at regional level in line with approved work plans and budgets.
• Translate programme strategy into actionable regional implementation plans with clear targets and timelines.
• Ensure timely, high-quality delivery of interventions across livestock value chains.
• Ensure all workplans, deliverables, and technical milestones are tracked and met using the Management Information System (MIS).
• Monitor progress against work plans and take corrective action where needed
• Provide field-level technical backstopping and supervise regional consultants and short-term experts.
• Lead quarterly technical reviews, audit follow-ups, and performance assessments.
• Supervise and coordinate field-based and regional implementation teams, ensuring consistency and problem resolution across geographies.
• Lead technical inputs into partner selection, project vetting, conducting DD, capacity assessment.
• Coordinate implementing partners, local governments, private sector actors, and community stakeholders within the region.
• Support partner onboarding, planning, and alignment with project objectives and standards.
• Conduct regular partner review meetings to track performance and address challenges.
• Promote collaboration, learning, and harmonization of activities across partners.
• Oversee rollout of the communication strategy, ensuring visibility, brand alignment, and technical messaging.
• Guide production of quarterly reports, knowledge briefs, policy notes, and donor communications referencing communications plan.
• Support implementation of the MEL framework at regional level, ensuring accurate data collection and reporting.
• Monitor outputs, outcomes, and impact indicators, ensuring data quality and integrity.
• Produce timely regional reports (weekly, monthly, quarterly) in line with Leadership and donor requirements.
• Facilitate quarterly learning reviews and adaptive planning cycles at regional levels.
• Document lessons learned, success stories, and emerging best practices
• Support development of scalable best practices, tools, and technical guidance notes.
• Represent YEELD in technical learning forums, learning alliances, and sector-wide discussions
• Collaborate with the finance and operations teams to develop and review annual program budgets, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities.
• Manage and monitor regional budgets, ensuring efficient and compliant use of resources and adherence to financial controls.
• Track expenditures and ensure alignment with approved budgets and donor requirements.
• Provide quarterly financial performance input during program reviews and recommend adjustments to improve cost-efficiency.
• Support partner financial oversight, including reviewing reports and ensuring accountability.
• Ensure compliance with procurement, financial, safeguarding, and operational policies.
• Ensure timely reallocation of resources in line with emerging implementation realities and donor-approved protocols
• Provide day-to-day technical leadership to regional and thematic leads, fostering collaboration and accountability.
• Supervise and support regional project staff, consultants, and field teams.
• Set performance objectives, provide mentorship, track KPIs, and conduct monthly performance reviews.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team environment.
• Ensure staff wellbeing and adherence to organizational values.
• Promote a learning culture through cross-team exchanges, innovation showcases, and professional development.
• Maintain performance dashboards and recommend structural or capacity adjustments where needed.
• Represent YEELD at regional stakeholder forums, coordination meetings, and relevant platforms.
• Build and maintain relationships with district local governments, technical agencies, and community leaders.
• Support engagement with national-level stakeholders as required.
• Identify implementation risks and develop mitigation measures.
• Provide timely updates to the Project Director on emerging issues.
• Support adaptive management by providing field-level insights to inform programme adjustments.
• Ensure safeguarding policies and practices are implemented at regional level.
• Promote safe, inclusive, and respectful engagement with programme participants.
• Report and respond to safeguarding concerns in line with organizational procedures
• Ensure compliance with Ripple Effect policies and relevant legislation.
• Contribute to programme learning, reviews, and audits.
• Perform other duties as reasonably assigned by the Project Director.
• Effective and timely delivery of YEELD programme activities at regional level.
• Achievement of regional targets related to youth employment, inclusion, and livestock productivity.
• Strong coordination and performance of implementing partners.
• High-quality, accurate, and timely reporting aligned with donor requirements.
• Efficient and compliant management of regional project resources.
• Strengthened relationships with regional stakeholders and government actors.
• Documented lessons, innovations, and success stories from the field.
• Safeguarding standards consistently upheld.

• Strong programme management and implementation skills.
• Excellent stakeholder coordination and partnership management skills.
• Strong leadership and team management abilities.
• Demonstrated expertise in monitoring and evaluation, data analysis, and data-driven decision-making.
• Proven ability to develop and implement comprehensive strategic and operational plans, and budgets.
• Strong understanding of risk management frameworks and the ability to proactively identify and mitigate risks.
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Excellent communication and reporting skills.
• Strong problem-solving and adaptive management capabilities.
• High level of integrity and accountability.
• Willingness to live and work within the assigned region and travel frequently.
• Experience in gender, youth, and social inclusion approaches.

• Master’s Degree preferably in Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, Agriculture.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of Program Management experience at strategic level, of which 5 years in a development related sector.
• At least (5) five years of experience designing and managing large and complex inclusive market systems, value chain development projects with large teams.
• Proven experience working with the private sector, local and international institutions.
• Proven experience in agriculture, livestock value chains
• Experience managing budgets and overseeing programme implementation.
• Experience in youth employment or livelihoods programming.
• Familiarity with donor requirements.