PNG Assembly of Persons with Disability (PNGADP) Project Manager, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

PNGADP Project Manager | PATH

Location: Port Moresby

• Contract duration: up to 31 December 2026
• Open to PNG Citizens only

About the Program

The Papua New Guinea (PNG) Australia Transition to Health (PATH) is a six-year (2020-2026) health sector program funded by the Australian Government under the PNG - Australia Partnership for Development. PATH works with the Government of PNG (GoPNG) to improve coverage and quality of health services for the people of PNG through effective, equitable, efficient, and inclusive interventions. Guided by the National Department of Health (NDoH), Provincial Health Authorities (PHAs) and the Bougainville Department of Health (BDoH) are responsible for the delivery of health services across PNG.

PATH assists NDoH, PHAs and BDoH to strengthen systems for health service delivery targeting infectious diseases, and reproductive, maternal, newborn child and adolescent health, with a focus on promoting women's leadership.

PATH's end of investment outcomes (EOIOs) are:

PHAs more able to lead provincial health reform and manage effective, efficient, equitable and quality essential health services in selected provinces.

PATH's intermediate outcomes (IOs) are: Provincial Health Authority Leadership, Enhanced GEDSI Capacity and Essential Health Services.

PATH is a locally led, adaptive, and politically informed program that seeks to maintain flexibility to respond to changing and local circumstances over the life of the program.

Project Background

The Papua New Guinea Assembly of Disabled Persons (PNGADP) is the national umbrella Organization of Persons with Disabilities (OPD) in Papua New Guinea. PNGADP represents the rights, interests and aspirations of persons with disabilities and works to promote disability-inclusive development in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and Papua New Guinea's disability-related legislation and policy frameworks.

As the national representative body for people with disabilities, PNGADP plays an important role in advocating for equitable access to services, strengthening the voice and participation of people with disabilities, and supporting disability-inclusive approaches across government, civil society and development programs.

The PNG-Australia Transition to Health (PATH) Program, funded by the Australian Government and implemented by Abt Global, is supporting PNGADP to implement a Disability Inclusive Health Services Training Program tentatively across five Provincial Health Authorities (PHAs): East New Britain, Morobe, West Sepik, Western Highlands and Western Province. The program aims to strengthen health workers' capacity to provide inclusive, accessible and respectful health services for people with disabilities and to support the integration of disability inclusion into routine health service delivery.

In addition to supporting implementation of the training program, PATH is partnering with PNGADP to strengthen organizational systems, processes and capacity to enable PNGADP to effectively manage grant-funded activities and position itself for future growth and sustainability. This includes targeted support in areas such as grant management, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, governance and organizational development.

To support both successful implementation of the Disability Inclusive Health Services Training Program and broader organisational strengthening objectives, PNGADP is seeking a Program Manager to provide day-to-day leadership, coordination and oversight of grant activities and organisational development initiatives.

Position Overview:

The Program Manager will provide operational leadership and organizational strengthening support to the Papua New Guinea Assembly of Disabled Persons (PNGADP) to ensure the successful implementation of the Disability Inclusive Health Services Training Program and associated grant-funded activities.

The position will be responsible for overseeing program implementation, stakeholder engagement, budget management, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, and compliance requirements, ensuring activities are delivered on time, within budget, and in accordance with agreed quality standards.

In addition to supporting grant implementation, the Program Manager will work closely with PNGADP leadership, PATH and technical assistance providers to strengthen organizational systems, processes and capacity. This role will contribute to PNGADP's long-term sustainability by supporting improvements in areas such as grant management, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, governance, and organizational development.

The Program Manager will serve as a key coordination point between PNGADP, PATH, Provincial Health Authorities (PHAs), Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), and other stakeholders, ensuring effective collaboration and communication throughout implementation.

Management and Reporting Arrangements

The Program Manager will be recruited and employed by PATH through an open and competitive recruitment process and embedded within PNGADP for the duration of the grant.

Day-to-day supervision, work planning and implementation oversight will be provided by PNGADP leadership. The Program Manager will maintain a close and collaborative working relationship with PATH's GEDSI Team, which will provide technical guidance and support in relation to disability inclusion, safeguarding, monitoring and evaluation, reporting requirements and grant implementation.

The Program Manager will be required to:

Attend a project inception meeting with PNGADP, PATH and other relevant stakeholders upon commencement.

• Develop and submit an inception report and detailed implementation workplan within two weeks of commencement, including implementation timelines, key milestones, stakeholder engagement approaches, monitoring arrangements and budget phasing.
• Complete safeguarding training and comply with all relevant PNGADP, PATH and donor safeguarding requirements.
• Provide regular verbal and written progress updates to PNGADP and PATH.
• Coordinate closely with Provincial Health Authorities (PHAs), participating health facilities, provincial focal points and other implementation stakeholders throughout all phases of implementation.
• Participate in regular coordination meetings with PATH and other relevant stakeholders to discuss progress, challenges, risks and support requirements.
• Make themselves available for review, reflection and debriefing sessions with PNGADP, PHAs, NDOH, PATH and other stakeholders as required.
• Ensure timely submission of all agreed monitoring, financial and narrative reports in accordance with approved reporting schedules.
• Submit a comprehensive final report at the conclusion of the assignment.

Safeguarding and Ethical Standards

The Project Manager must demonstrate a strong commitment to safeguarding and ethical conduct throughout all project activities. Specifically, the Project Manager must:

Adhere to PNGADP's and Abt's safeguarding policies and Code of Conduct

• Apply "Do No Harm" principles in all project activities, particularly in the engagement of vulnerable populations
• Ensure meaningful consultation and participation of persons with disabilities throughout all project phases
• Maintain confidentiality and apply principles of informed consent in all data collection and reporting activities
• Comply with PNG laws and regulations and applicable international human rights standards
• Complete safeguarding training prior to field activities

Key Responsibilities

The Project Manager will be responsible for the following key areas : 1 Program Implementation and Coordination

Lead implementation of the Disability Inclusive Health Services Training Program in accordance with approved workplans, budgets, timelines and grant requirements.

• Coordinate delivery across participating provinces, including scheduling, participant selection, venues, accessibility requirements, logistics and provincial engagement.
• Act as the primary coordination point between PNGADP, PATH, PHAs, OPDs, trainers, facilitators and other implementation stakeholders.
• Identify implementation risks, issues and support needs, and escalate these promptly to PNGADP and PATH.
• Ensure safeguarding, disability inclusion, accessibility and “Do No Harm” principles are embedded across all activities.

2 Training Quality, Materials and Follow-up Support

Coordinate with PNGADP trainers, technical advisers, provincial focal points, and PATH to ensure training materials, assessment tools and delivery approaches are practical, accessible and technically sound.

• Support delivery of disability-inclusive training, refresher activities and facility-level action planning across participating provinces.
• Coordinate the development, production and distribution of communication materials, job aids and other resources that support accessible and inclusive health service delivery.
• Monitor participant feedback, implementation experience and facility-level action plans to inform continuous improvement and follow-up support.

3 Monitoring, Evaluation, Budget Management and Reporting

Implement the project monitoring, evaluation and learning approach, including data collection, analysis and documentation of results, lessons learned and evidence of change.

• Monitor implementation progress through field visits, provincial follow-up, routine coordination and review of activity data.
• Manage the project budget, track expenditure, and escalate budget variances or financial risks.
• Prepare timely financial, narrative, monitoring and final reports in accordance with agreed reporting requirements.
• Support documentation of case studies, significant change stories, photographs and participant feedback, ensuring informed consent, confidentiality and safeguarding requirements are met.

4 Organisational Capacity Strengthening

Support implementation of PNGADP's organisational capacity development priorities in collaboration with PNGADP, PATH and technical support providers.

• Strengthen systems and practices relating to grant management, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, governance and operational planning.
• Work with PNGADP leadership, finance personnel and technical advisers to document progress, challenges, lessons learned and future capacity development needs.
• Provide practical recommendations to PNGADP and PATH to support sustainable organisational systems and future donor-funded programming.

Specific Deliverables and Objectives

The Program Manager will support PNGADP to achieve the following objectives:

Ensure the successful implementation of the Disability Inclusive Health Services Training Program across up to five PATH demonstration provinces in accordance with approved workplans, budgets and grant requirements.

• Strengthening coordination and collaboration between PNGADP, PATH, Provincial Health Authorities (PHAs), Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), and other key stakeholders involved in implementation.
• Support the effective management of grant-funded activities, including planning, budgeting, monitoring, reporting, risk management, and compliance requirements.
• Strengthening PNGADP's organizational systems, processes and operational capacity to support effective program delivery and management of future donor-funded initiatives.
• Support the collection and use of evidence, lessons learned and good practice to improve disability-inclusive health programming and contribute to organizational learning and sustainability.
• Promote disability-inclusive, rights-based and safeguarding approaches across all program activities and organisational development initiatives.

Key working relationships

PATH GEDSI and Safeguarding Lead and Workstream

• PATH Operations Workstream and Lead
• Abt Management Services Teams: Safeguarding, Procurement and Contracts and HR Units
• Papua New Guinea Assembly of Disabled Persons (PNGADP) , PHAs, NDOH, PATH and other stakeholders as required.

About You

For applications to be considered, a response to the key selection criteria below must be provided: Essential (Qualifications and Experience)

Undergraduate qualification in public health, social sciences, development studies, project management, disability studies, organisational development or a related field; or equivalent relevant experience.

• Minimum five years' experience managing development, health, disability inclusion or community-based programs, including multi-site or provincial implementation.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate workplans, budgets, timelines, logistics, risks and reporting requirements for donor-funded activities.
• Strong stakeholder coordination skills, including experience working with government, PHAs or NDOH, civil society, OPDs and development partners in PNG or similar Pacific contexts.
• Sound understanding of disability rights, disability inclusion, accessibility, safeguarding and rights-based approaches to programming.
• Experience supporting training delivery, participant engagement, practical learning activities or facility-level action planning.
• Demonstrated monitoring, evaluation and learning experience, including data collection, analysis, documentation of results and use of feedback for improvement.
• Strong budget monitoring and financial tracking skills, including the ability to identify variances, maintain records and support financial reporting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including preparation of clear narrative, monitoring, financial and final reports.
• Ability to travel regularly to participating provinces and work respectfully with diverse stakeholders, including people with disabilities.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel and Outlook.

Desirable

Experience working with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), disability-focused organisations or representative community organisations in PNG.

• Familiarity with GEDSI, intersectionality and inclusive health service delivery approaches.
• Knowledge of adult learning, health worker training, accessible communication materials or job-aid development.
• Experience supporting organisational capacity strengthening, particularly in grant management, financial management, governance, reporting or MEL systems.
• Experience with Australian Government, DFAT-funded or PATH-related health programs in PNG.
• Experience managing consultants, subcontractors, trainers or service providers.
• Lived experience of disability is highly regarded.
• Current police clearance, or willingness to obtain one prior to commencement.

How to Apply

Please ensure to address the Key Selection Criteria (About You) in your cover letter, and submit your application online, along with your CV as a single document.

• Applications must be submitted personally by individuals only. Applications submitted by a company or organisation will not be accepted.
• The successful applicant will be engaged through an employment agreement determined by Abt.

We welcome and thank all applications; however, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted .

Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 July 2026 (Midday, local time) # LI-AUSBRIT

Abt Associates is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse workforce. Abt Associates provides market-competitive salaries and comprehensive employee benefits. Local candidates strongly encouraged to apply.

Disclaimer: Abt Associates will never ask candidates for money in exchange for an offer of employment.