Team Leader

WISH P&S – Job Description: Team Leader

About Palladium

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 4,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.

Background/Programme Information: The Women’s Integrated Sexual Health (WISH)-Dividend programme is FCDO’s flagship sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) investment in Africa, with three components: WISH2, Policy and Systems (P&S), and Evidence and Learning.

WISH P&S is a demand-led, problem-driven technical assistance (TA) programme supporting governments to tackle policy, financing, and institutional bottlenecks that constrain progress on human development, with a focus on demographic transition (DT) and SRHR outcomes. WISH P&S – delivered by Palladium and its consortium partners PRB, EngenderHealth, and BBC Media Action – works closely with FCDO Posts to agree its government-aligned TA priorities and delivers using problem-driven iterative adaptation, with a focus on testing, learning, and adapting. Launched in January 2025, WISH P&S is in its second year. It operates across seven countries – DRC, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda – with an emerging, centrally-managed flexible TA offer across Africa.

Position Details: The Team Leader will oversee the implementation of the WISH Dividend P&S programme across its focus countries, reporting to the Programme Director. Specifically, as the central programme representative and accountable party, the Team Leader will oversee and guide Country Leads in the development and full implementation of annual, demand-driven technical workplans. The Team Leader will likewise shepherd the programme delivery and management function along with the Regional Finance and Operations Manager and Programme Management Unit. Within their remit, s/he will ensure timely and high-quality completion of technical deliverables; robust financial and programme management; the achievement of payment KPIs; progress against logframe targets; the realisation of value for money commitments; and other duties/responsibilities. The Team Leader serves as FCDO’s primary point of contact for programme strategy, technical leadership, and overall day-to-day management and oversight.

Primary Roles and Responsibilities

Strategic and Technical Leadership

• Provide strategic leadership and technical oversight of WISH P&S across all countries and workstreams – from technical delivery, monitoring, evaluation and learning, to programme and financial management.
• Guide and oversee Country Leads towards the effective development and implementation of annual workplans (AWP); ensure delivery is on time, within budget, and meets Client and government partner expectations.
• Ensure principles of problem-driven iterative adaptation, institutionalisation, and sustainability are central to AWP development and implementation.
• Monitor implementation progress via the TA Tracker and work to resolve delivery bottlenecks with Country Leads.
• Own the programme’s live risk register, working closely with Country Leads who are responsible for assessing risks, devising mitigation strategies, tracking, and resolution.
• Oversee achievement of programme KPIs, logframe targets, and value for money commitments. Lead routine programme reporting and learning.

Client and External Engagement

• Serve as the primary point of contact for FCDO centrally on programme strategy, performance, and programmatic and financial delivery. Serve as a key point of escalation for FCDO Posts, engaging with them routinely to gauge satisfaction with AWP implementation across implementation countries.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with key government counterparts in programme countries, and other strategic development partners working in the DT and SRHR domains for alignment and reduced duplication.Represent the programme with external audiences as needed, including high-level meetings, Steering Committees, technical forums, and other government or development partner structures.

Consortium Management

• Provide leadership and oversight of consortium partnerships to ensure coordinated, high-quality delivery, and compliance with partnership principles.
• Support Country Leads, as needed, to manage partner performance across specific AWPs; help resolve any partnership issues.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with WISH Dividend implementing partners (e.g., WISH 2, Evidence and Learning, ONS).

Team Management

• Lead and mentor a multidisciplinary and geographically dispersed programme team, including direct line management of six Country Leads, the MEL Lead, and Regional Finance & Operations Manager.
• Oversee staff recruitment and contracting, performance management, disciplinary and grievance proceedings, and learning and professional development of staff with support of the Programme Management Unit.
• Responsible for overseeing the effective implementation of all safeguarding policies and procedures as related to the project.

Financial and Operational Management

• Oversee and review the development of programme-wide and country-level budgets and forecasts; review financial performance against forecast, and hold Country Leads to account for financial targets.
• Ensure effective implementation of safeguarding, security, and compliance requirements across the programme, including adherence to FCDO and Palladium policies, procedures, and contractual obligations. Input into the development of contract amendments.

Required Skills and Experience

• Proven senior-level experience leading large, complex, donor-funded international development programmes, including multi-country TA and/or health systems strengthening programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Strong preference for previous experience delivering FCDO programmes specifically.
• Proven experience in senior programme leadership roles (e.g., Team Leader, Chief of Party, Country Director, Deputy Team Leader) with accountability for technical and financial delivery.
• Strong technical expertise in SRHR, demography/population dynamics, and health systems strengthening.
• Experience applying PDIA, and proven success driving institutionalisation and sustainability agendas.
• Strong track record of leading the development and implementation of annual or multi-year workplans, overseeing high-quality deliverables, and ensuring progress against logframes, KPIs, and contractual obligations.
• Proven ability to manage large, multidisciplinary, and geographically dispersed teams, including routine line management, performance management, mentoring, and fostering a collaborative one-team culture.
• Extensive experience managing consortium partners and external technical experts, ensuring coordinated delivery, strong partner relationships, and high-quality technical inputs across programme components.
• Demonstrated ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders, including donors, government counterparts, civil society, and development partners, and to represent programmes credibly at high-level meetings and forums.
• Strong financial and operational management skills, including oversight of large budgets, forecasting, contract amendments, budget revisions, and ensuring delivery in line with donor and organisational policies and procedures.
• Excellent communication, reporting, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to produce high-quality donor-facing reports, synthesise complex information clearly, and build trusted relationships.
• Strong judgment, problem-solving, and adaptive leadership skills, with experience operating in politically and operationally complex environments and responding effectively to changing priorities and emerging risks.
• Demonstrated commitment to safeguarding, gender equality and social inclusion, and rights-based programming, with experience embedding these principles in programme design, delivery, and team leadership.