INTRODUCTION
Save the Children is an exciting and dynamic organization that follows a holistic approach to achieve more for children and use its resources in an efficient and sustainable way. In every programming we aim to achieve results at scale, build partnership to influence others and increase our impact; look for innovate solutions to the problems children faces, campaign for better practice and ensure that Children’s voices are heard.
Save the Children is an organization for talented people with different backgrounds and perspectives. We are proud that our people are representative of the children we work with and we thrive on our diversity. We are an equal opportunity organization dedicated to our core values of Accountability, Ambition, Collaboration, Creativity and Integrity. Our culture is embedded in these values, along with a strong commitment to our Child Safeguarding Protocol, ensuring that all representatives of Save the Children demonstrate the highest standards of behavior towards children both in their private and professional lives.
Save the Children offers sound employment conditions with opportunities for personal growth and development. If you are interested to work in an organization that is determined to achieve dramatic change for the most vulnerable children, we encourage you to look through the job profile below.
Job Title | Sr. Program Manager (Re-advert ) |
Code | 0034 |
Place of Work | Addis Ababa with frequent travel to the field |
Program/Unit | East African Migration Routes Project |
Monthly Salary in ETB | As per the scale of the organization |
No. of Positions | 01 |
Length of Contract | One year |
Role purpose
The Senior Program Manager is responsible for the overall planning, coordination and management of program interventions, ensuring that program activities are implemented to the highest quality standard. She/ he will be responsible in ensuring high-quality and timely technical support for implementation of program activities, including key research activities at inception phase coordinating with the thematic sectors and MEAL unit; ensure context specific and common implementation approaches across intervention areas for quality program implementation, ensuring program implementation according to nationally/internationally accepted and recommended standards; and work with technical and MEAL team for capturing and utilize high quality and well-articulated project evidence and research for learning, and advocacy.
The Senior Program Manager oversees the work of field offices and project coordinators who will be responsible for the program implementation at the field level; and ensure cross functionality and coordination across the different units. S/he will ensure adherence to overall technical and programmatic quality in implementation and the timely submission of all deliverables to the member and donor (SDC), including research reports at the inception phase, annual work plans, performance monitoring plans, semi-annual reports and annual reports as may be required. He/she will be responsible in developing strong external relations with key stakeholders; and represents SC values and principles in interactions with staff and external audiences.
SCOPE OF ROLE:
Reports to: Program Operations Director (the post will directly report to the Thematic Director for Child Protection and Migration during the first year inception/ research period)
Technical / dotted reporting lines to: Thematic Director for Child Protection and Migration (Ethiopia), Project Director (based in Cairo)
Staff reporting to this post: Program coordinators
Budget Responsibilities: TBC
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
Program Management:
§ Play the key leadership role for the project and be responsible for overall implementation and management of all aspects of the project as per the design to meet the intended objective, outcomes and outputs of the project. That includes providing overall technical, administrative, operational, and logistical management, with a focus on achieving the results
§ Lead the program’s financial and operational planning, including the annual work planning process and development of an appropriate exit strategy. Work closely with the technical Specialists and field based staff to ensure work plans are adequately resourced to deliver effectively
§ Regularly update detailed annual and periodic work plans with project implementation and ensure this is used by the whole project team to monitor project progress towards completion.
§ Ensure approved project deliverables are completed within the agreed timescale and budget, reports are submitted as per the agreed schedule and formats and any other requirements or criteria are fulfilled as specified in signed agreements.
§ Oversees progress and coordination of the program’s migration, protection, self-reliance and livelihoods activities; and facilitate and ensure the involvement of youth as primary stakeholders in all project work
§ Ensure that strategies for phasing out and closely followed during implementation
§ Provide management guidance and support to field team in order to ensure smooth and timely start-up and implementation of project activities as per the approved project plans
§ Coordinate, manage and motivate field teams, ensuring that they have clear objectives/individual work plans as part of performance management and receive meaningful feedback on their performance.
§ Document and communicate program achievements against agreed strategic objectives and milestones for a wide range of internal and external audiences.
§ Ensure adherence to overall technical and programmatic quality in implementation and the timely submission of all deliverables to SDC/Ethiopia, including annual work plans, performance monitoring plans, semi-annual reports and annual reports as may be required
§ Actively communicate and coordinate with the Program Director for this project (based in Cairo), to ensure coherence and integrated approaches across program activities
§ Identify critical issues in the implementation of projects and take the necessary actions to address problems and constraints. That include identifying and advise on key risks related to the program’s response to migration, protection, self-reliance and livelihoods issues and ensure effective reporting of such risks.
§ Provide technical reviews of all program reporting related to migration, protection and livelihoods, ensuring reports are completed with quality to a high standard.
§ Travel frequently throughout the program’s areas of intervention to monitor program implementation and provide technical guidance
§ Be responsible for the overall management and communication of this project with the donor and stakeholders
Program Quality and Effectiveness
§ Working closely with the MEAL unit and technical specialists, ensure timely implementation of key research activities of the project at the inception phase. That include providing ongoing monitoring and coordination of timely implementation of the research activities, and provide technical guidance to consultants, as needed.
§ In cooperation with Learning and Knowledge Management, ensure proper documentation of experiences and lessons learned from the program under supervision
§ Coordinate with technical specialists and MEAL focal person, and oversee that all field level interventions and related researches/ learning documentation is technically managed to a high standard.
§ Work closely with technical specialists to provide technical and managerial support in reviewing and adapting strategies and project plans in view of changes in the internal and external operational environment.
§ Work with technical specialists and ensure timely and quality delivery of capacity building activities and other technical support for program staff and other stakeholders
§ Collaborate with field-based teams to ensure protection records and documentation are properly managed and compliant with organizational requirements and international best practices.
§ Ensuring guiding documents for project activities draw on international best practices and global research, lessons learned from the field-level and reflect implementation realities related to key migration, protection and self-reliance issues in Ethiopia.
§ Work with MEAL focal person and technical specialists to ensure development and continual revision of monitoring and evaluation system for the program linked to its strategies, indicators, and information management tools; which supports program management, accountability and learning.
§ Work with MEAL unit to contribute to the development of an M&E framework/ systems that monitors progress of activities and progress towards achievement of the program objectives and outcomes, with quality. That includes the identification and design of needs assessments, profiling exercises and other research initiatives, which contribute to enhancing knowledge on migration and protection issues relevant to the program
§ Work with the technical team and ensure proper understanding of cross-cutting issues among project staff (e.g., gender, child protection and safeguarding), and integration of same in the program implementation
§ Ensure a quarterly review is conducted to monitor progress and where appropriate take corrective measures.
§ Review, edit and submit timely and quality written reports on the program activities capturing impacts related to all activities.
Budget Management/ Budget Holding Responsibility
• In collaboration with program, award and finance staffs, prepare annual project budgets based on the project budget proposal and ensure compliance with donor requirements;
• Ensure that budget for the assigned projects accurately reflect anticipated costs of planned work at all times.
• Ensure that the annual project budget is properly phased, mapped to the budget coding and uploaded on Agresso (Financial Management System),
• Ensure effective and efficient utilization of project budget and other resources for intended purpose; monitor budget utilization and project expenditure as needed
• Ensure an integrated approach to program implementation in order to maximize resource utilization and synergy between the staff and different programs.
• Exercise sound judgment to ensure project expenses are reasonable, allocable and prudent. Ensure all project funds are spent in accordance with donor rules and regulations.
External representation
• Participate in relevant Save the Children’s in country and regional cross country working groups and learning initiatives linked to the program
• Build and maintain relationships with key external stakeholders including relevant Government Line Ministries and departments, local donor’s office, and other INGOs.
SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)
Accountability:
· Holds him/herself accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modeling Save the Children values
· Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved
Ambition:
· Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same
· Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
· Future orientated, thinks strategically
Collaboration:
· Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners and supporters
· Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
· Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to
Creativity:
· Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
· Willing to take disciplined risks
Integrity:
· Honest, encourages openness and transparency
QUALIFICATION
ü Bachler degree or above in relevant Social Science field, such as law, migration or refugee studies, or international development from a recognized institution
ü Minimum 10 years of relevant progressive experience working in international humanitarian or development aid, with significant experience in implementing migration and protection-related programming for an international NGO, UN agency or relevant government ministry.
ü Significant understanding of donor (Swiss Development Cooperation- SDC) requirements and results agenda.
ü Robust analytical and strategic planning skills, with a demonstrable track record of meeting or exceeding program targets, while maintaining a high-level of technical quality.
ü Experience in working with government counterparts and other partners at various levels; excellent communications and interpersonal skills, including political awareness and understanding of local context, and demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with governments, donors, partners, local organizations, and other stakeholders.
ü Experience in documenting and sharing lessons learned across a multi-location programme, ensuring that knowledge is captured effectively to contribute to improved performance.
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS AND ABILITY
ü Excellent understanding of migration issues in Ethiopia at both field and policy levels.
ü Practical understanding of the challenges and opportunities in realizing rights of migrants in Ethiopia (with focus of children and youth).
ü Strong data collection, analysis and communication material/proposal/report writing skills.
ü Strong analysis of migration related data and ability to summarize and communicate this to a range of audiences.
ü Proven advocacy and representation skills
ü Ability to develop strong professional relationships and collaborations externally with stakeholders, and internally across functions, projects, and teams
ü Understanding and experience in monitoring and evaluation
ü Good presentation, training and facilitation skills
ü Good communication and interpersonal skills and an ability to train and mentor staff
ü Ability to work effectively in a complex, fast-paced, matrixed, and multi-cultural environment
ü Proven ability to manage a complex and demanding workload
ü Strong organizational skills
ü Experience in managing SDC funded programs (as added value)
ü Willingness to travel to remote field locations
ü Proficiency in the use of email, internet and Microsoft office packages such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and other database.
ü Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children’s aims, values and principles including rights-based approaches
ü Excellent verbal and written proficiency in English
Additional job responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience
Equal Opportunities
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures
Child Safeguarding:
We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.