Programmes Director, Malawi

Contract Grade: C

Contract Length: Two year

Status: Accompanied

Exact Job Location: Lilongwe

Reports To: Country Director

Responsible For: Overall coordination, development, and management of all programmes in Malawi; leading development and implementation of cross-cutting approaches, advocacy, and accountability processes; and direct line management of Programme Coordinators and the Malawi Civil Society Organization Nutrition Alliance (CSONA) Project Manager.

Liaises With: Country Director; Food Income & Markets (FIM), Education, and Health and Nutrition Coordinators; CSONA Project Manager and staff; Systems Director; logistics, finance, and HR staff; Concern Malawi programme teams; Desk Officer (HQ)

****Job Purpose:****

To assist the Country Director in the direction, management, development and implementation of Concern Worldwide Malawi poverty outcome and results focused country programme; ensure the effective and professional management of the donor grants; ensure compliance with Concern’s organisational procedures, policies and people centred values and principles. The Programme Director is a key member of the Country Management Team (CMT).

Concern Worldwide is a humanitarian organisation committed to the reduction of suffering and elimination of poverty. The Programme Director is expected to be committed to the humanitarian goals and identity of the organisation, and may be asked to contribute to humanitarian response activities in the event of an emergency.

****MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:****

*Strategy and Programme Development:*

• Take a leading role in the development, review, and implementation of Concern Malawi’s Strategic Plan 2014-2018
• Provide leadership in the effective planning, development, management and integration of Concern’s programmes in Lilongwe, Nkhotakota, Nsanje and Mchinji and any future areas of intervention as identified in the
• Design new programmes, proposals / budgets / work plans / procurement plans – in line with Concern’s global Strategic and Country Strategic,, programme development guidelines and Government /donor priorities.
• Encourage reflection and critical thinking necessary to achieve high programme quality with lasting impact on beneficiaries lives, adapting and improving interventions as we learn from failure and success
• Fostering team spirit and collaboration necessary to achieve programme and organisation goals in Malawi and globally
• Identify and actively pursue opportunities for partnership with private sector and working in consortia, including establishing relationships and developing programmes with Alliance 2015 partners and other strategic networks/alliances.
• Contribute to the review and revision of country partnership strategy, providing learning and direction to the future of the partnership approach in country

*Programme Coordination and Management:*

• Supervise all projects to ensure that work plans are followed and that strategies designed and written in the project document are undertaken to a high standard
• Support capacity building of the team and partners on Concern’s organizational strategies and approaches, including ‘How Concern Understands Extreme Poverty’ (HCUEP)
• Contribute to the development of a country level funding strategy through the delivery of high quality funding proposals to seek donor funding
• Lead the process of partnership development with relevant local NGOs and other stakeholders to achieve country strategic objectives;
• Ensure that potential partners are thoroughly assessed before any commitment is made (even verbally) and that new potential partnerships are approved by the CMT, CD and Regional Desk;
• Ensure mainstreaming of equality, HIV/AIDS and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) into programme work

****Staff Development and Organisational Learning****

• Actively contribute to maintaining a strong and committed team of programme staff though mentoring and skills development;
• Ensure that direct reports set objectives, conduct reviews and perform Performance Development Reviews (PDRs) with their staff against a clear calendar;
• Proactively seek, receive, synthesise and disseminate programme relevant material to all programme managers and senior systems staff;
• Promote opportunities for senior staff; building on their career development. Support career development initiatives of staff in programmes (especially national staff) to develop their skills and widen their international perspectives;
• Build clear processes in each programme to ensure organisational learning is prioritised and systematically used in PCM, external exchange and advocacy.
• Assist in the recruitment of international and national staff;
• Capacity build and support in the management of technical advisors and consultants for quality focused programming through all stages of the PCMS;

*Grant Management:*

• Rigorously manage all programme related finances e.g. budget expenditure tracking and analysis with key budget holders.
• Oversee the preparation of donor budgets to ensure that the timing and cost of planned programme work and systems support is accurately reflected, while taking relevant donor requirements into consideration and with the involvement of the Financial Department wherever possible;
• Work closely with the budget holders and the Finance Department for annual organizational budget development and revision processes, as well as quarterly financial reporting to Dublin;
• Ensure effective donor grants management and maintain high quality narrative reporting in a timely manner;
• Ensure strict compliance with donor contract requirements/ reporting deadlines etc.;
• Facilitate the preparation and development of new funding proposals or project/budget realignments in collaboration with the finance Unit;

*Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning:*

• Facilitate and document annual review and planning workshops; provide leadership and participate in quarterly programme reviews, including making field visits to programme areas
• Support the on-going development of participatory monitoring systems, particularly accountability downwards with communities and full compliance with the roll out of the HAP standards. Support the implementation of a Complaints Response Mechanism (CTM) and continue to monitor its effectiveness so that the mechanism can be strengthened over time;
• Actively use existing Country and Programme Results Frameworks, logframes and PME plans to monitor appropriateness, efficiency, effectiveness and effects of all interventions and systematically revise planned activities and strategies accordingly
• Ensure the Planning, monitoring and evaluation requirements are fulfilled for each on-going and new projects: Contextual analysis, M&E plan, baseline, mid line and end line surveys, mid-term review, final external evaluation and routine monitoring consisting in collection of progress data and programme case studies
• Research, analyse and disseminate relevant/ new approaches, concepts and frameworks applied to poverty alleviation, as well as information on national government initiatives
• Ensure effective line management of fellows, volunteer, and interns providing support and research capacity to our programmes (develop TORs etc.);
• Write and disseminate occasional technical briefing papers on lessons learned and best practice.

Networking & Representation:

• Represent Concern and maintain coordination and networking relationships with the government, donors and other national and international development actors
• Ensure Concern liaises with other agencies, training/academic/ research institutions and networks that can enrich and enhance the quality of our work
• Ensure that relationships and formal agreements with the government are maintained and updated as appropriate;
• Oversee advocacy efforts at the national level to contribute towards achievement of country strategic objectives; contribute to the development and review of programme and country advocacy strategies and objectives.

****Other Duties:**** The ACDP

• be familiar and comply with Concern Worldwide Staff Code of Conduct, the Programme Participant Protection Policy (4Ps), Anti-Fraud Policy and the Dochas Code of Conduct on Images and Messages;
• ensure that those he/she directly line manages are conversant with and adhering to the P4 and will institute mechanism to follow-up and verify that this is the case.
• be familiar and comply with Concern Worldwide Malawi Security Management Plan;
• undertake additional duties as mutually agreed with the Line Manager.
• actively participate in the Country Office Country Management Team (CMT).
• actively participate in the Country Office Senior Management Team (SMT).
• Coordinate and provide overall management support for emergency response activities in the country
• Ensure capacity and preparedness to strengthened and built to respond to potential emergency situations;
• annually review and update Concern’s ‘Preparing for Effective Emergency Response’ (PEER) plan and ensure that the plan is implemented

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Education, Qualifications & Experience Required:

ESSENTIAL

• A third level degree in development studies, business administration, social sciences, or development-related field
• Programme management experience of at least 5 years (overseas) in similar or related senior management experience with Concern or other reputable INGOs;
• Experience of developing and managing large scale and multi sectoral programmes in a development context;
• Demonstrated abilities in staff management and development including distance management;
• Proven ability to make sound management decisions in difficult situations and also be able to work in a participatory manner with colleagues. Must be a self-starter and a proactive manager;
• Understanding and proven application of partnership, advocacy, social protection, participatory planning, monitoring and learning in the context of development programmes;
• Ability to design and/or lead programming so as to address the root causes of poverty and the factors blocking lasting improvements in the lives of the extreme poor;
• Practical experience in participatory development approaches, facilitation, capacity building and building effective teams to work in poor rural and urban communities;
• Experience of programme development, the project management cycle and participatory planning methodologies, including distance management;
• Excellent understanding and experience in developing and utilizing rigorous planning, monitoring, and evaluation processes
• Experience of strategic planning;
• Proven leadership ability, including ability to motivate and develop skills of others; Training, capacity building and facilitation skills;

****DESIRABLE****

• Work experience in Southern Africa, particularly in Malawi
• Understanding and application of PRA / RBA, working with partners, gender equality programming, and DRR
• Experience in Field research especially in participatory impact assessment for outcome level PM&E;

Special Skills, Aptitude or Personality Requirements:

• Excellent command of computer, internet and MS Office;
• Empathy with organisational Vision, Mission, Goals and objectives; commitment to humanitarian principles and actions;
• Highly organized individual, with strong critical thinking and analysis skills
• Flexible, reliable, culturally sensitive and with the ability/willingness to frequently spend periods of time away from the capital;
• Ability to work with culturally diverse groups of people;
• Ability to adopt a very participatory and inclusive team working approach;
• Ability to prioritize and handle a diverse and very heavy workload; ability to work under pressure to strict deadlines;
• Strong communication and writing skills in English; comfortable with public speaking and high level representation
• Initiative and ability to work with minimal supervision; ability to work both as part of a team and independently.

HOW TO APPLY:

All applications should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date. CV’s should be no more than 4 pages in length.

Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer posts before the closing date.

****Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.****

Concern has a Staff Code of Conduct and a Programme Participant Protection Policy which have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organization, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context staff have a responsibility to the organization to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct candidates acknowledge that they have understood the contents of both the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and the Programme Participant Protection Policy and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these two documents.

Concern receives a substantial amount of funding from external donors each year. Increasingly donors are introducing requirements whereby future funding is conditional on Concern ensuring that the names of any new employee or volunteer do not appear on terrorism lists generated by the European Union (List of person, groups and entities to which Regulation (EC No. 2580/2001 applies), the US Government (Office of Foreign Assets Control list of specially designated Nationals and Blocked Persons) and the United Nations (Consolidated List). Any offer of employment (either paid or voluntary) with Concern Worldwide will not be made pending a clearance check being conducted on the applicant. For additional information please consult our web site or contact the Human Resource Division in our Head Office.

Concern Worldwide is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.