Employer Reference Letter for Admission in Master degree

I am trying to write reference letter for my colleague. Since this is my first attempt so I request all forum members to review critically this reference letter both content and language wise.

It gives me great pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Mr. xx who is the regular employee of xxxxxxxxxxx) since July 2011. We hired him to work as a Program Manager to manage Development Projects at our Regional Office in Hyderababad.

During his stay at xxx he set an exceptional record in portfolio and has shown excellent managerial skills to develop, implement and manage development projects. Some of his responsibilities were plan, manage and execute development programs, develop strategies to strengthen programs, strategic planning, exploring the networking and partnership opportunities in shape of EOIs and proposal calls, donor coordination, supervise and undertake wide ranging research initiatives.

One of the successful illustrations of his work is implementation of project "Education's Reform through Analysis on Primary Education Expenditure" funded by an international donor. This project was implemented in remote areas and involved extensive travelling, coordination with government department and interaction with diverse communities. His skills in Project Management, Community Mobilization, Coordination and Report writing have contributed immensely in projects success. In addition, he has also shown excellent time management Skills while implementing project activities and finished all activities on scheduled time. That's why I would rate his performance excellent.

As a person xx is an ambitious person with great sense of humor and I have observed that his sense of ownership and commitment at work is his real strength.

To conclude, I am very satisfied with his performance as Program Manager. I would hire him back on spot. I believe his experience in dealing diverse development projects with different communities, his in-depth knowledge of social issues and development practices, and his ability to mobilize local resources makes him a strong candidate for your program. Therefore with great pleasure, I would strongly recommend him for your program as well as financial assistance.

It is with great pleasure I write this letter of recommendation for Mr xx, a Program Manager at our Regional Office in Hyderababad (it is better if you introduce him by his designation without saying a regular employee) since July 2011.


..... what do you mean by "exceptional record in portfolio" ?
Mr xxx showed excellent managerial and leadership skills in developing, implementing and managing development projects.

it means he has completed number of projects on time and negotiated new projects for our organisation.

I would appreciate if suggest any other change in first draft before i rewrite it