Adam Smith International

Senior Program Manager

Posted
22 May 2026 09:21am
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Regions
Pacific
Sectors
Bilateral Relations
Economic Development
Private Sector Development
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Summary

The Senior Program Manager will play a key coordination role within the Pacific Partnerships for Aviation (P4A) program, supporting the effective delivery of DFAT-funded aviation investments across the Pacific. Reporting to the Team Leader, the role will work closely with DFAT, Pacific Island governments, aviation sector partners, and industry stakeholders to ensure high-quality program implementation and collaboration across multiple investments.

The position will lead and coordinate program delivery across technical, procurement, MEL, GEDSI, communications, and climate-related workstreams, ensuring activities are delivered efficiently and in alignment with program objectives. The Senior Program Manager will provide strategic coordination support to Activity Leads and may directly manage designated activities where required.

This role is suited to a highly experienced development professional with strong program management, stakeholder engagement, and coordination skills, capable of working proactively in a fast-paced environment with minimal supervision while supporting effective decision-making and implementation outcomes across a complex regional program.

Description

Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage coordination of program activities across the P4A team, including coordination of key internal P4A stakeholders (P4A team, DFAT, program advisers) to ensure their feedback is provided as required and in a timely manner. This will also include support to designated Activity Leads to ensure that activities are progressing as planned and identifying any bottlenecks.

• Where designated, undertake the role of Activity Lead for program activities. This is expected to involve leading an activity through:
(i) development and scoping,
(ii) procurement and contracting,
(iii) contract management, and
(iv) completion phases;

coordinating appropriately with internal P4A and external partner stakeholders throughout the process to ensure that appropriate technical, operational and cross-cutting inputs and quality assurance of process and deliverables is achieved.

• Support procurement of program activities, in coordination with the P4A team. This is expected to include development of procurement plans in conjunction with the P4A Operations team, participating in or supporting evaluations, and undertaking other procurement related tasks in support of the P4A Operations team.

• Contract management of activities, including coordination of stakeholder reviews of deliverables, ensuring contractors/consultants meet agreed deliverables and timelines.

• Engage with program activity partners as required to support activity implementation. This is expected to include various partners, including:
(i) partner government ministries,
(ii) aviation sector partners,
(iii) regional agencies, and
(iv) consultants/contractors.

• Manage the P4A Activity Tracker to ensure that it is current and reflective of activity status and ensure relevant P4A team members are filing and sharing key documents related to program activities. This will require coordination with appropriate team members, as well as directly uploading relevant files/documents where accessible.

• Contribute to the development of the P4A knowledge hub by supporting improved internal systems and related documentation, in collaboration with the P4A team, in particular the Operations team.

• Work closely with the P4A Team Leader on all aspects of their work, including providing regular briefings and solution finding.

• Assist in the preparation of briefs, presentations and other materials as required to support program implementation and engagement with key stakeholders, including the P4A Team Leader, DFAT and Pacific Island government officials.

• Provide administrative support, including maintenance of the contacts database, and conduct research tasks as directed.

• Provide support to the P4A Team Leader and P4A Team.

In undertaking this role, the Senior Program Manager will be expected to bring a proactive and solution-oriented approach to their work. Whilst the role will be delivered under the guidance of the P4A Team Leader, the Senior Program Manager will be expected to be sufficiently experienced to undertake the role with minimal oversight and quality assurance of their work required, and to deliver their work with an understanding of the need to provide regular briefings and visibility to the P4A Team Leader.