CARE International works around the globe to save lives, defeat poverty, and achieve social justice. We seek a world of hope, tolerance, and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and all people live with dignity and security. We put women and girls at the centre because we know that we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities.

CARE International in Zambia, in partnership with Children Sentinel Trust Zambia (CSTZ), is implementing the Nyenyezi Plus Project in Eastern Province (Sinda and Chipangali districts) and Southern Province (Choma and Monze districts). The project seeks to improve the well-being of children, adolescents, and young parents by expanding access to quality early childhood development, foundational education, and life skills.

A key component of the project is a longitudinal study that will generate evidence on the interconnected impact of its integrated interventions across early childhood development, education, financial inclusion, and community engagement. The findings will contribute to improved programming and inform future investments in holistic child and adolescent development.

CARE Zambia, an International Non-Governmental relief and development organization with various projects in Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, and Southern provinces of Zambia, is looking for an experienced, innovative and motivated individual to fill the following position;

Job Title: Project Manager

Reports to: Education Program Manager

Location: Chipata

Type of Contract: Fixed Term

Job Summary

The Project Manager will provide strategic leadership and overall management of CARE Zambia’s SOAR III Nyenyezi Plus Project, ensuring effective implementation of interventions that improve foundational learning, early childhood development, and alternative education for children, adolescents, and young parents. The role will oversee project delivery, partnerships, stakeholder engagement, team leadership, and performance to achieve project objectives. The incumbent will lead the scale-up of SOAR models, strengthen ECD, literacy, numeracy, and life skills interventions, and oversee the longitudinal study to generate evidence that informs programme improvement, policy influence, and sustainable educational outcomes.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Project Planning and Coordination (20%)

· Provide managerial oversight on project implementation partner, and other project players.

· Develop, revise, and manage project workplans, timelines, budgets, and resource allocation.

· Ensure project delivery in accordance with CARE Zambia’s operational plans, Terms of Reference for the project, as well as project methods and standards.

· Fields and explores challenging issues arising from project activities; confers with project stakeholders and provides direct advocacy, training, mentoring and assistance as required.

Research Management and MEL (20%)

· Provide strategic oversight of project research, monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) activities, ensuring alignment with project objectives and donor requirements.

· Lead the implementation of the longitudinal study, ensuring compliance with research protocols, ethical standards, quality assurance, and timely achievement of milestones.

· Coordinate research partners, consultants, and field teams while overseeing high-quality data collection, analysis, validation, and reporting.

· Monitor project performance against agreed indicators, targets, and deliverables, recommending corrective actions to enhance implementation and results.

· Promote evidence generation, learning, and knowledge sharing to strengthen programme effectiveness, inform policy engagement, and support the scale-up of successful interventions.

Stakeholder Engagement (15%)

· Coordinate and strengthen partnerships with government, donors, research institutions, implementing partners, and community stakeholders to support effective project implementation.

· Represent the project in technical working groups, sector coordination forums, donor meetings, and other relevant stakeholder engagement platforms.

· Organize stakeholder meetings, workshops, learning events, and dissemination forums to share project progress, research findings, lessons learned, and best practices.

· Facilitate collaboration for the project's longitudinal study, ensuring effective coordination of research, data collection, analysis, and dissemination activities.

· Promote the use of project evidence to inform policy, programme improvement, advocacy, and scale-up initiatives while ensuring effective communication, stakeholder participation, and sustained partnerships.

Team Leadership and Supervision (15%)

· Provide overall leadership, management, and supervision of project staff, consultants, and field teams to ensure effective implementation of project activities and achievement of project objectives.

· Offer technical guidance, coaching, and mentorship to project team members, fostering high performance, accountability, and continuous learning.

· Lead all people management processes, including workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding, work allocation, performance management, and staff development in line with organizational policies and procedures.

· Promote a collaborative and results-oriented team culture by inspiring teamwork, strengthening communication, and facilitating effective coordination across project teams and partners.

· Monitor, evaluate, and report on individual and team performance, ensuring timely feedback, performance improvement, and alignment with project goals and organizational standards.

Financial and Administrative Management (10%)

· Monitor project finances, budgets, and expenditures to ensure compliance with donor regulations, organizational policies, and statutory requirements.

· Coordinate with Finance and Grants teams to ensure accurate financial reporting, budget tracking, forecasting, and effective financial controls.

· Oversee procurement, contracts, consultant agreements, sub-awards, and vendor management in line with organizational and donor requirements.

· Ensure effective management of project documentation, records, and filing systems, maintaining compliance with contractual, legal, and regulatory requirements.

· Support audits, reviews, and financial reconciliations by ensuring timely processing of transactions and the availability of accurate financial and administrative documentation.

Project Reporting & Documentation (10%)

· Lead the preparation and timely submission of high-quality donors, organizational, and statutory reports in line with approved reporting requirements.

· Monitor project implementation against work plans, budgets, targets, and performance indicators, consolidating technical, financial, monitoring, evaluation, and research data into comprehensive progress reports.

· Document and disseminate project achievements, lessons learned, best practices, innovations, and success stories to promote learning and knowledge management.

· Provide regular project performance updates, including findings from the longitudinal study to senior management, donors, government counterparts, and other stakeholders to inform decision-making and policy advocacy.

· Maintain accurate project records and ensure timely reporting of implementation challenges, risks, and compliance issues while recommending appropriate corrective actions.

Resource Mobilization (5%)

· Prepare high-quality technical reports for donors and stakeholders.

· Support the drive for growth of the funding portfolio for CARE Zambia.

· Proactive identification of programming opportunities, supporting the development of competitive concept notes and proposals.

Risk and Compliance Management (5%)

· Identify and mitigate operational, financial, and research-related risks.

· Ensure compliance with ethical approvals, safeguarding standards, and donor regulations.

· Identify and mitigate financial and operational risks, implementing appropriate controls to safeguard project assets and ensure accountability.

· Monitor compliance with donor agreements, organizational policies, and relevant legal and regulatory requirements, addressing any audit findings or compliance issues.

Qualifications, experience, and personal attributes:

v Degree in Social Sciences or Development Studies

v At least 5 years’ relevant working experience.

v Knowledge and experience in managing a social research project.

v Knowledge and experience in managing education programming; especially foundational learning level and alternative education pathways.

v Qualification in Project Management with at least three years’ experience in managing projects involving multi partners and stakeholders added advantage.

v Demonstrated ability to write process and outcome reports.

v Required to interact with other staff and community members, District and Provincial Education teams, as well as District and Provincial Health teams.

v Proven ability to make project-related decisions involving staffing, budgets, assets and approaches.

v Ability to proactively manage relationships with donors, government, partners, other CARE members and recipient communities.

v Ability to manage and work in a team.

v Excellent interpersonal skills and communication skills.

v Must have good computer skills.

Contacts/Key Relationships

This role is expected to establish and maintain open, professional, and cordial relations with the Country Office internal, CARE Regional/CMP and external customers. These include but not limited to:

· Country Office internal: Resource Mobilization Manager, Priority Program Area Leads, Technical Advisors, Other Project Managers, Deputy Country Director, and Country Director.

· Regional and CARE Member Partners (CMP): Regional Advocacy and Communications Teams, CMP Focal Points.

· External: Populations of concern and their communities (including children, women, and girls); Civil Society Organizations; Officials of Government Line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); current and potential program supporters (funders or donors); different levels of staff from partner and peer organizations.

Suitably qualified and interested members of the public are invited to submit their applications through the Thornsoft Recruitment Portal by logging in here. Or https://royalty.thorn-soft.com/recruitment/login.php

Closing Date: 8^th August 2026

Kindly ensure that, all academic qualifications are verified by the Zambia Qualifications Authority (ZAQA).

CARE is an Equal Opportunity Employer promoting equity and diversity. Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

As part of CARE’s commitment to preventing sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse and child abuse, we conduct reference checks on all final-stage candidates in line with the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. By applying for this role, you are giving us consent to contact your previous employers to seek information in line with this scheme.

CARE Zambia

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