Afghanistan: Programme Development, Quality and Advocacy Director

ROLE PURPOSE:

The role holder shares the overall responsibility in the direction and coordination of the country program. S/he champions a team culture of learning and continuous improvement and is responsible for overseeing development of programme strategies and advocacy initiatives to deliver immediate and lasting change for children ensuring quality in all aspects of both process and output. S/he manages a team of technical experts whose primary focus would be on projects’ design and development funding, monitoring, evaluation and learning. S/he ensures that global and in-country advocacy work is in accordance with approved guidelines and supervises all media and communications of the country office in coordination with the region and Centre. S/he develops gainful and strengthens networks as well as represents the country office appropriately.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Country Director

Dimensions: This is a challenging role in a complex environment. It requires a dedicated, experienced and highly motivated individual who can manage the difficulties of living and working in such an environment and still be fundamental in driving forward our programmes for children.

Staff reporting to this post: Senior Advocacy Manager, Senior MEAL Manager, Child Protection

National Advisor, Senior Education Advisor, Senior Health and Nutrition Advisor, Health Associate Director and Senior FSL Advisor.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategy, Senior Management and External Relations

· Provide leadership, strategic vision and direction to the Afghanistan country programme as a member of the Senior Management Team

· Lead the development and formulation of the Country Strategy Plan as well as completion of annual reports such as, Country Annual Plans and Country Annual Review.

· Lead the development of high quality country and programme strategies and annual plans

· Support the development of an organisational culture that reflects our dual mandate values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up our people to deliver outstanding results for children and excellent customer service for our members and donors

· Support the design and implementation of a coherent organizational structure that is consistent with agency practices and appropriate to programme needs

· Support the establishment, maintenance, and improvement of an active and regular working relationships with: host government authorities, partner agencies including humanitarian and development donors, and local and international NGOs

· Ensure the Afghanistan Country Office complies with all Save the Children programme Essential Standards and Procedures in the Quality Framework

· Ensures close and regular coordination with the Awards Management Unit, Implementation Department and other departments and units deemed critical in the pursuit of the departments’ and country office’s objectives. Such coordination will extend to the region, centre and members.

· Participate as member of the Senior Management and Extended Senior Management Team.

Programme and Proposal Design and Development

• Identify strategic fundraising leads and concepts and identify and nurture funding opportunities to ensure adequate resources are secured

· Lead proposal conceptualization, design and development of cost effective, innovative and high quality child-focused emergency and development programmes, informed by child participation where possible

• Ensure the Afghanistan Country Office has a first class, multi-sectorial and dual mandate program reflecting all priority technical and sector aspects of the Save the Children global strategy

Technical Assistance and Knowledge Management

• Ensure provision of high quality technical assistance and capacity building to all country office programmes, projects and staff by managing all internal and external technical assistance, including surge capacity during emergencies and ensure application of the TA protocols and tools


• Ensure that the different technical sectors are coordinated, integrated and support each other to optimize programs and projects


• Ensure the integration of cross cutting issues into design and implementation including gender, non-discrimination, child participation and child safeguarding


• Ensure learning by country programme from relevant internal and external thematic trends and best practice

· Engage in relevant national and global networks

• Foster and champion a culture of evidence building and learning across the organisation

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning

· Develop and oversee a robust M&E system to measure achievement and progress toward national and global programme goals and results, including reach and global outcome indicators, and to drive learning and improved programme quality

· Ensure the delivery of internal and external program/project evaluations as per the Evaluations Essential Standard and donor requirement, and execution of baseline, and periodic research in coordination with Director of Program Implementation

· Ensure our work is accountable to children and other stakeholders through the establishment and management of effective accountability mechanisms and processes

· Provide leadership to use data for programme decision making, of commitment to management action on the findings of monitoring, and of listening to feedback from beneficiaries to inform programme development.

· Lead national and global reporting processes and requirements

· Establish and maintain effective national management information systems

Research, Advocacy and Communications

• Provide overall leadership, vision, strategic direction and management of advocacy and ensure that advocacy is an integral part of Save the Children’s Theory of Change and strategic planning


• Position Save the Children as the leading organisation for children’s issues in Afghanistan, with child rights at the core of the advocacy work


• Ensure advocacy coherence at local, national and global level and reinforce strong and effective synergies between programmes and advocacy to maximise Save the Children impact, especially ensuring evidence and best practice inform advocacy


• Identify, develop and oversee operational and analytical research, coordinate the publication and dissemination of results and ensure that research informs advocacy


• Lead on the development of relevant and realistic advocacy and communications plans and coordinate their effective implementation

· Coordinate the production of high quality policy briefing papers, statements , external communications products and case studies to influence target audiences

• Lead in identifying and managing potential risks associated with Save the Children’s public positions and design strategies to mitigate the risks that have been identified

· Ensure the branding, communication and sign off guidelines of Save the Children are uniformly and consistently followed

· Develop and deliver a clear and effective system for internal communications

Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development

· Develop a culture and focus on quality in the Programme Development, Quality and Advocacy team and ensure appropriate staffing, the recruitment, training, and promotion of staff as appropriate

· Manage the Programme Development, Quality and Advocacy team through: effective use of the Performance Management System; regular evaluation of direct reports; provision of coaching, mentoring and other developmental opportunities

· Ensure that all staff understand and are able to perform their role in an emergency situation

· Oversee that all technical sector staff proactively build and maintain technical skills and competencies required for leading and/or advising first class programs – both development and emergency programs.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (SCI Values in Practice)

Accountability:

· holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling 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 their team to do the same

· widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others

· future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

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; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

· Masters degree in Social Sciences, in an area of social development

· Minimum of 7 years’ experience in an NGO environment, including experience directing and implementing programs for children in both emergency and development contexts

· Experience in more than one of the Save the Children priority sectors: education; child protection; child rights governance; health and nutrition; food security and livelihoods; emergencies.

· Demonstrated leadership and management skills in a complex international setting

· Significant experience leading strategic planning and in programme design and proposal development

• Strong understanding of different methodologies of monitoring and evaluation and operational research and experience in developing integrated MEAL systems

· Ability to effectively establish a learning culture within an organisation

· Experience in successfully establishing and managing collaborative relationships and partnerships with donors and government counterparts.

· Strong representation and influencing skills

· Experience of management of diverse workforce including effective performance management and utilisation of capacity building, coaching, and mentoring skills

· Demonstrated use of positive coping strategies in stressful environments

· Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children’s aims, values and principles including rights-based approaches

· Fluency in written and spoken English