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Director of Programme Development & Quality

JOB TITLE : Director of Programme Development & Quality
DEPARTEMENT : Programme Development and Quality Direction (PDQ)
ORGANISATION : Save The Children International Côte d’Ivoire Country Office
LOCATION : National position based in Abidjan
SUBJECT : Recruitment’s notice
CONTRACT LENGTH : 24 Months renewable (subject to performance and funding)

REMUNERATION:
The gross monthly salary for this position is between XOF 2.017.313 et 3.328 567. per month.
The setting of the remuneration will be based on the level of responsibility of the position, the candidate’s experience and internal equity.

SAFEGUARDING: Level 3
The position holder will have regular contact with children, beneficiaries, and employees either frequently (e.g., once a week or more) or intensively (e.g., four days in a month or more, or overnight) because they work on national programs, visit country programs, or are responsible for program implementation. In such cases, a legal background check will be mandatory.

ROLE PURPOSE:
As a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) in Ivory Coasty, the Director of Program Development and Quality (DPDQ) plays a key role driving the country office program strategy and creating a culture of impact. They are also responsible for ensuring development of high quality, evidence based, innovative programs for children, in all contexts, that contribute to Save the Children’s global Breakthroughs: Learn, Survive, Be Protected. The Director of PDQ ensures that programme principles and standards are upheld, and a robust monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) system is in place, and that reliable data is used for decision-making. One of key aspects of the role is ensuring capacity building, mentoring and coaching of technical specialists. The PDQ Director will develop strategic partnerships that contribute to organisational commitments to localisation. The Director of PDQ supports donor engagement and business development to ensure that the country office strategy can be delivered.
In the event of a major humanitarian crisis, the role holder will be required to work outside the normal role profile and adjust working hours accordingly.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY :

Strategic leadership and thought leadership
• Contribute to a culture of impact in the Country Office (CO) and impact leadership operating models, under the leadership of the Country Director (CD), by positioning SC as a go-to Child Rights Leader internally and externally by leading child rights thought leadership and driving the uptake of our child rights programming framework.
• Drive the Country Office (CO) Impact Vision and Agenda
• Lead the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) and annual planning processes, including contributing to the Advocacy strategies, KPIS and other programme reporting. Ensure that it’s of high programmatic quality and evidence based, reflecting SC’s global themes, Common Approaches and Theory of Change
• Support ownership and commitments to the Country Office strategy, and contribute to the funding strategy and country office leadership budgeting decisions
• Lead on the establishment and management of strategic partnerships in line with localisation efforts
• Engage in Save the Children’s International’s (SCI) networks on impact and quality, and lead the strategic partnership strategy to support the realisation of the CSP, through active participation in global technical meetings, SCI’s technical working groups, national, regional or international learning events, amongst others
• Managing risk related to Programme Quality

Programme quality, evidence and learning
• Facilitate the development and pursuit of thematic and cross-cutting strategic priorities, including gender equality, to guide current and future SC programming, influencing and Humanitarian Strategies
• Work closely with the Director of Programme Operations to ensure program quality standards are established throughout the project cycle and across the portfolio, including operational research to inform programme improvements
• Ensure new programmes and projects are built on a strong evidence base resulting from learning and evidence
• Promote innovation in programme design and implementation, including technology for development (T4D)
• Lead uptake of Common Approaches in programme design and implementation
• Ensure alignment to programme principles in implementation, including humanitarian principles and core humanitarian standards
• Ensure decision making is based on needs and informed by community and child engagement.
• Drive CSP milestone monitoring, annual plan, Programme KPI and other key programme indicators reporting
• Drive the development and implementation of the learning agenda (led by MEAL), ensuring the use of evidence for programme improvement and strategy adaptation
• Accountable for support to the operations team to ensure programme quality and review strategic programme reports, logframes and MEAL tools
• Conduct regular field visits to support staff on quality and impact issues
• Shared responsibility with the operations team for quality in implementation and adherence to programme principles
• Participate in project kick-offs and close-outs for significant awards to ensure effective strategic direction, establishment of quality standards and dissemination of learning

Programme design, Strategic NBD and portfolio planning
• Ensure new programmes and projects are built on a strong evidence base, programme principles and best practice (including common approaches), resulting from learning and situational analyses that include the participation of children and other stakeholders.
• Ensure new programmes and projects are designed through a strategic lens, driving our impact and influencing agenda
• Lead design discussions for high-valued/high-complexity/multi-sectoral proposals and strategy
• Align go/no go decisions and programme design to agreed CO priorities on the CSP
• Manage the needs/requests of SC members, donors and external partners to ensure quality results in programming
• Drive quality at scale in new programmes/proposals
• Participate in the Country Office funding strategy by working closely with the SMT on strategic donor engagement e.g. new or high value relationships, ensuring new funding opportunities are line with global and country strategy
• Upskill and empower TEs to lead on strong project design into funding proposals and engagement with donors and partners
• Support emergency response preparedness planning, ensuring that the CO is ready to respond swiftly and effectively to humanitarian crises
• Leads on fundraising for priority sectors where funding is limited in Humanitarian responses

Strengthening Technical Expertise
• Ensure effective working relationships with SC global and regional technical advisors and NBD/RM teams (depending on SCOM), procuring technical support as needed to support program and advocacy efforts, including during emergencies.
• Support capacity building and progressional development of thematic advisors, maximizing their role as Technical Leads for project design and technical support providers to field teams and local project partners
• Support capacity building and professional development of NBD/RM staff, ensuring they are engaged with regional and global communities of practice and able to expand their NBD skills and experience (depending on SCOM)
• Ensure that Technical Specialists engage in larger communities of practice to link with the most relevant and evidence-based approaches and conduct timely and useful review of project reports to support quality reporting for Members and donors
• Ensure strategic TE workforce planning and budgeting for PDQ team
• Lead the Programme Development and Quality team and manage TE Talent and performance: in line with CSP and annual plan and through:
• Effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of clear, measurable objectives, ongoing feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased evaluations.
• Induction plan for new joiners based on Passport to Success
• Recognition and rewards for outstanding performance.
• Documentation of performance that is less than satisfactory, with appropriate performance improvements/ workplans
• Ensure gaps are covered (use GEHSP/Region/Centre backstopping)
• Lead on ensuring technical staffing needs are met for emergency programmes

Senior leadership function
• Provide leadership, strategic vision, coherence and direction to the country program as a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT)
• Support the development of an organisational culture that reflects SC’s full spectrum mandate and values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a cross -team culture of learning, creativity and innovation in a productive work environment, and frees up people to deliver outstanding results for children and excellent service for our members and donors

Partnerships
• Play a leading role in identifying, nurturing and strengthening strategic partnerships with local and international civil society organizations, NGOs, governments etc., in advancing the country and global strategy to inspire our three breakthroughs for the most deprived and marginalized children.
• Champion the localisation and partnership agenda to grow Save the Children’s work through and with partners and provide technical support and capability building to implementing and strategic partners.

Note: The tasks and responsibilities listed above are not exhaustive, and the position holder may be required to perform other related tasks as necessary according to the needs of the service.

QUALIFICATIONS
• Master’s Degree in relevant social science, human rights, development studies, NGO management or equivalent fields, or equivalent experience
• A minimum of seven years of progressive senior management and/ or development experience in an NGO environment, including experience directing and implementing programmes for children; humanitarian experience is desirable
• Experience in more than one of Save the Children's thematic sectors: education, child protection, child rights governance, health and nutrition, child poverty, emergencies
• Basic understanding of advocacy, policy, and government systems in the host country
• Experience or understanding of fundraising (unrestricted funds) or business development (programme/restricted funding), particularly strong program development and project design skills
• Credibility to advocate, influence and represent Save the Children at all levels
• Experience working with high level government agencies and academics on issues related to children
• Strong skills and proven experience in leading strategic planning, change management and program management processes; also from a knowledge and learning perspective
• Developing and managing monitoring, evaluation and learning systems
• Excellent listening, inter-personal, communication and networking skills; and an ability to work with diversified populations
• Skills such as training, capacity building, coaching, mentorship, problem solving, and understanding of project cycle management and coordination
• High level of self-awareness and commitment to growth and self-development
• Ability to research, write and represent well, manage time, multi-task and delegate tasks
• Proficiency in English; local language working knowledge desirable

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential:

• Strong background in resilience programming for children in complex environments
• Significant knowledge of international humanitarian and development systems, institutions and donors, and of procedures, accountability frameworks and best practices
• Experience and strong understanding of in humanitarian / emergency response, development and nexus programming
• Track record in engaging with donors and raising funds for projects that deliver quality results for children.
• Significant experience in securing and managing grants from major institutional donors
• Track record in coordinating complex proposal design processes
• Solid project management skills related to program development cycle and working across cross-functional teams with a proven history of delivering results
• Ability to analyze information, evaluate options and to think and plan strategically – ability to think laterally
• An in-depth understanding of national and international development issues in particular in relation to children and child rights
• Previous experience of managing and developing a team and the ability to lead, motivate and develop others
• Fluency in English and French
• Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children’s aims, values and principles including rights-based approaches
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills

Desirable:
• Ability and willingness to change work practices and hours, and work with incoming teams in the event of major emergencies.
The Organization
We employ around 25,000 people worldwide and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises or those in need of better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest level, to realize children's rights and to make their voices heard
We are working on three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030
• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children have a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated
We understand that great people make a great organization and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, as well as a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity and integrity are highly valued

HOW TO APPLY

???? External candidacy link: View the external job posting

Please apply by sending your CV and cover letter in a single document, also mentioning your salary expectations for this position.
Closing date: 19/08/2024
We must ensure the safety of children through our selection processes, which reflect our commitment to child protection and include rigorous background checks
"Save the Children is committed to diversifying its workforce to better represent the children and communities we serve. At this time, we particularly welcome applications from women."
Candidates are informed that Save the Children International does not request any payment or fees during the entire recruitment process. Any such request must be immediately reported as contrary to the values and practices of our organization.

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