Programme Specialist

Mothers2Mothers; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 760,000; Full time

Job summary

Mothers2Mothers is seeking a Programme Specialist in Cape Town to provide hands-on technical support and quality follow-up for country teams and projects. You will help maintain technical decisions and adaptations, and support training for staff and partner organisations.

The role focuses on programme quality, risk monitoring, and content delivery, with no line management or budget responsibility, reporting to the Programme Technical Advisor.

Qualifications

• Reliability and follow-through in completing actions and keeping commitments.
• Clear communication to varied audiences with differing literacy levels.
• Facilitation skills for adult learners, both in-person and remote.
• Ability to distinguish issues to resolve within the role and risks to escalate.
• Respect for frontline staff and Mentor Mothers; sensitivity to country contexts.

Responsibilities

• Provide routine technical support to country teams and projects across the portfolio, addressing technical queries and applying programme standards at site level.
• Track quality actions from the quality improvement framework; verify, follow up and close gaps.
• Maintain the unit's record of technical decisions and model adaptations with rationale for reference.
• Support implementation-readiness assessments and technical assistance visits with evidence gathering and materials.
• Identify early programmatic and technical risks and elevate with evidence and next steps.
• Deliver training on programme content and the technical substance of the m2m model to staff, Mentor Mothers and partners.

Skills

Reliability & follow-through

Clear communication

Facilitation

Guidance adherence

Respect for frontline staff

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Public Health, Nursing, Social Sciences or related field

Job description

The Programme Specialist is the working-level programme technical support role in the Technical Management Unit. Under the direction of the Programme Technical Advisor, the role provides routine technical support and quality follow-up to country teams and projects, maintains the documentation of technical decisions and adaptations, and identifies and escalates implementation risk before it becomes failure.

The role also delivers content training on the substance of the m2m model to staff, Mentor Mothers and partner organisations, using materials designed by the Learning Experience Designer. Technical standards, programme design decisions and the leadership of technical assistance to partners and governments sit with the Programme Technical Advisor; project coordination, workplan tracking, meeting management and donor-reporting inputs for Innovation Hub projects sit with the Programme Officer: Innovation Hub. The Programme Specialist supports the implementation of technical direction and has no line-management or budget responsibility.

Key Performance Areas

Country and project technical support

• Provide routine technical support to country teams and projects across the portfolio - responding to technical queries on the m2m model, supporting the application of programme standards and guidance at site level, and participating in country support visits - according to the priorities and guidance set by the Programme Technical Advisor.
• Follow up on programme quality actions arising from m2m's quality improvement framework: track what was agreed with countries and partners, verify what was done, and follow up on what was not.
• Maintain the Technical Management Unit's record of technical decisions and approved model adaptations across the portfolio, with their rationale, so that country teams and the unit work from a single, current technical reference.
• Support the Programme Technical Advisor in preparing implementation-readiness assessments and technical assistance visits, including gathering evidence and drafting supporting materials.

Programme quality and technical risk monitoring

• Identify programme-quality and technical implementation risks early - sites or countries drifting from programme standards, adaptations made without approval, gaps in the delivery of model components - and elevate them to the Programme Technical Advisor as a clearly described problem with supporting evidence and a proposed next step.
• Maintain a current view of which sites, projects and countries are under-performing against programme standards, and why, drawing on routine programme data with Strategic Information and M&E colleagues.

Content training and facilitation

• Deliver training on programme content and the technical substance of the m2m model to staff, Mentor Mothers and partner organisations, in person and remotely.
• Use training materials designed by the Learning Experience Designer without altering their technical content, and provide structured feedback on what works and what does not to inform revisions.
• The scope of training is limited to programme content and the technical substance of the m2m model. Training on digital platforms (CHARM and SLS) sits with the Digital Platforms Administrator, and training of country users on Salesforce sits with the Senior Officer: Portfolio Operations.

Qualifications, Experience and Competencies

Must Have

• Education. Bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification in Public Health, Nursing, Social Sciences or a related field.
• Experience. At least four years in health programme implementation or programme technical support roles, including direct experience of community-based or facility-based service delivery.
• Field credibility. Direct experience of frontline delivery, with the ability to hold the confidence of country teams and Mentor Mothers.
• Training. Demonstrated ability to facilitate training for adult learners, in person and remotely, using existing curricula and materials.
• Documentation. Writes clearly and maintains accurate records and trackers that others can rely on.
• Judgement. Distinguishes between an issue to resolve within the role and a risk to elevate, and escalates in time.

Nice-to-Have

• Experience in more than one m2m country
• HIV, maternal and child health, or community health worker programming
• Working French or Portuguese
• Quality improvement methods
• Experience using programme monitoring data to identify under-performance

Competencies:

• Reliability and follow-through: closes the loop on agreed actions and keeps commitments visible.
• Clear communication: explains programme content accurately to audiences with varied literacy and technical backgrounds.
• Facilitation: engages adult learners and adapts delivery style without changing technical content.
• Works within guidance: applies standards and materials as designed and raises proposed changes through the Programme Technical Advisor.
• Respect for frontline staff and Mentor Mothers, and sensitivity to differing country contexts.

Reporting & Team Structure

• Reports to: Programme Technical Advisor
• Collaborates with: Programme Technical Advisor; Programme Officer: Innovation Hub; country teams and site staff; Strategic Information Advisor; M&E Specialist; Learning Experience Designer: SLS; Digital Platforms Administrator; Senior Officer: Portfolio Operations
• Supervises: None

Working Conditions

• Employment Type: Full time, 1.0 FTE
• Location: Cape Town, South Africa
• Travel Requirements: Periodic regional travel to m2m countries of operation for training delivery and country support (estimated up to 20% of time)

Compensation and Benefits

• Competitive salary and performance-based incentives
• Comprehensive benefits (health, retirement, leave)
• Opportunities for growth, leadership, and professional development