Program Associate

Organization Overview

Ipas is a non-profit entity dedicated to collaborating with partners at local, national, and global levels to enhance sexual and reproductive health and rights, placing a significant emphasis on providing accessible, acceptable, and high-quality safe abortion and contraceptive services and information especially for women and girls.

Position Purpose

Under the supervision of the Senior Health Systems Advisor, the Program Associate offers critical support to technical personnel by coordinating daily project activities. Responsibilities include formulating and monitoring budgets for Uganda-based projects, managing contracts and planning implementations per donor expectations, organizing meetings, managing consultant agreements, and assisting in reporting and disseminating program materials. Based in the Uganda Alliance office, this role also entails managing specific programmatic activities and ensuring integration of reproductive health perspectives of women, notably young women and girls, into Ipas’s strategies and products.

Key Responsibilities

• Participate in drafting strategies, project designs, schedules, budgets, and work plans linked to health systems, policy, and community engagement alongside the country team.
• Facilitate partnerships with organizations and interest groups to promote knowledge and social backing that empower women in exercising sexual and reproductive rights.
• Assist in designing and executing community outreach, training, and sensitization workshops with partner institutions.
• Support partner organizations by aiding strategy development and monitoring work plans and budgets, ensuring alignment with Ipas’s objectives and donor requirements.
• Participate in organizing capacity-building training for NGOs and community-based organizations.
• Help identify new partnership opportunities and support regional initiatives to include abortion and youth issues in programs, fostering youth-led events and strengthening Ipas’s leadership in youth and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
• Engage in monitoring and evaluation of projects and ensure compliance with Ipas reporting standards among community, youth, and women's groups.
• Offer technical contributions to donor proposals and narrative reports.
• Provide broad administrative assistance, including meeting coordination, travel planning, and project tracking.
• Manage contract administration processes in collaboration with relevant units such as finance.
• Develop budgets, review expenditures, and suggest adjustments where necessary.
• Document program activities following Ipas’s systems and support project reporting under guidance from senior advisors.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Project Management, Public Health, Community Development, or related disciplines. An advanced degree in Project Management is advantageous.
• Project Management certification and qualifications.
• Two to three years of experience in project management, financial record-keeping, and related operations.
• Understanding of fund accounting, tax regulations, and accounting standards within local and national contexts.
• Experience with reproductive healthcare programs.

Preferred Skills and Attributes

• Experience handling grants, fund management, and budgeting.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to work independently while meeting clearly defined targets.
• Skilled at coordinating multiple stakeholders effectively.

Selection and Collaboration Criteria

• Collaborate with Senior Health Systems Advisor to design and carry out health system, policy, and community engagement initiatives.
• Coordinate closely with Health Systems unit and Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor for integrated efforts and data sharing.
• Manage communications with external consultants to ensure projects are effectively implemented and community relevance is maintained.
• Maintain relationships with NGOs, CBOs, youth groups, and women's organizations, overseeing program implementation and management.

Work Environment and Travel

The role requires domestic travel approximately 10-15% of the time, with occasional regional or global trips as applicable.

Additional Desired Experience

• Competence in community mobilization, capacity building, and formation of community groups.
• Knowledge of grant management and community entry strategies.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Ipas is devoted to maintaining a workplace free from harassment, discrimination, and inequity, ensuring equal opportunity employment, training, and compensation across all protected characteristics. This commitment accounts for contextual variations in personal characteristics.