Programs Manager/Head of Office At Adeso

Organization – Adeso: African Development Solutions, www.adesoafrica.org

Position Title – Programs Manager/Head of Office

Reporting To – Director of Programs and Operations

Working Closely With – Program Team in Somalia and Kenya

Duty Station – Garowe, Somalia.

Duration – 2 Years

Starting Date – Immediately

Application Deadline – 20th October, 2021

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Adeso is vibrant African based development and humanitarian organization. At Adeso, we work with African communities who are yet to realize their full potential; working inside these communities to create environments in which Africans can thrive. Our belief that economic, social and environmental security is the bedrock of a healthy community drives the nature and intent of our programming. We work to prevent and overcome situations that adversely affect community well-being by: reinvigorating the economy, developing skills for life and work, providing humanitarian aid, and influencing policy.

For the past 30 years, we have strengthened rural livelihoods through environmental awareness, training, technology transfer and innovative humanitarian projects in pursuit of a peaceful, self-reliant, and greener future. Currently, Adeso has programs in Somalia along with global programs to decolonize and transform the humanitarian and development aid architecture. If you are passionate about the movement to decolonize the aid system and want to be part of a dynamic organization continuously pushing boundaries and providing thought leadership in the space, Adeso is the right place for you.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Program Manager is primarily responsible for the ongoing program planning and development, implementation, and daily oversight and management of Adeso’s Somalia programs.

SPECIFIC ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The PM is responsible for ensuring that all programmatic deliverables are met, that programs remain on schedule, that program quality is assured, and that staff have access to all necessary technical resources. This includes oversight of program support functions in Somalia. The position is based in Garowe, Somalia with frequent travel within Somalia and some travel to Nairobi. The PM reports to the Nairobi-based Program Coordinator and serves as the Acting PC in their absence. The PM provides management oversight of all Program Officers.

Adeso has long-respected programs for cash-transfers, agriculture and fishery development, and WASH responses. As Adeso expands its COVID-19 and drought responses, the PM will be responsible for technical oversight of the Implementation of new WASH and Environmental Health activities, as well as ongoing program activities across Adeso’s portfolio.

The position includes the following responsibilities:

General Program Management Duties

• Lead the quality and timely implementation of all program activities in Somalia, based on best-practice and community-based feedback.
• Provide leadership and management oversight, mentoring and day-to-day guidance for all Program Officers, and support them in the overall management of all staff, including conducting regular staff performance reviews and instituting the necessary measures for improvement.
• Provide oversight to quality control, ensure adherence to and compliance with internal policies and procedures, donor regulations, and local laws throughout the program life cycle, including ensuring implementation of appropriate needs assessments, gender analyses, and other M&E tools and integrate them into program activities.
• Make frequent site visits to implementation sites to ensure that appropriate care and training are being conducted and to offered to field staff.
• Assist the Program Coordinator in expanding country portfolio in Somalia, including assisting in pursuing new sources of donor funding and maintaining adequate donor funding levels to sustain identified program and support activities.
• Lead the program team in designing new programs in response to opportunities and in efforts to fundraise, including the development of thorough log frames and realistic program budgets.
• Represent Adeso to partners, local and national authorities, ministries, UN, NGO and donor agencies to promote programs implemented in Somalia. Participate in relevant cluster coordination in Somalia and Nairobi to ensure the organization’s programs play a vital role and to secure required support from the cluster coordination mechanism and the UN funding instruments such as CAP, CHF, etc.
• Work closely with the Operations Officer and Program Coordinator to ensure the safety and security of staff in all locations.

WASH-Specific Technical Duties

Construction Management

• Provide technical support and oversight for all water supply and sanitation infrastructure development, ensuring compliance with SPHERE standards
• Supervise borehole construction, ensuring technical quality and work plan adherence
• Ensure that all construction materials are accounted for, tally with request orders and that the documentation of the release of these items is compliant with Adeso logistics policy & procedures (procurement, warehousing, stock control);
• Ensure that minimum standards of technical quality are adhered to in all engineering activities and interventions, which are technically and culturally appropriate, suitable for emergency WASH/drought response, realistic and on budget.

Assessments, Communications, and Procurement

• Conduct WASH assessments in target communities for borehole construction (namely Lasqooray and Badhan districts of Puntland).
• Respond to the urgent WASH needs in these locations by identifying appropriate sites for borehole development and overseeing implementation.
• Ensure the quality of technical designs and BoQs for borehole development are in line with recommendations from relevant Ministries
• Coordinate dissemination of appropriate IEC/BCC materials for the prevention of water-borne diseases –particularly for cholera prevention.
• Coordinate with community leadership, including health volunteers, on implementation of behavioural change campaigns focused on the uptake of good hygiene and sanitation practices.
• Meet and engage with Ministry officials from relevant government ministries, ensuring their buy-in through continuous communication.
• Liaise with operations and logistic team on procurement of services and hardware for borehole construction, including facilitating the purchase and procurement of Adeso’s own drilling rig.

Internal Capacity Building

• Line management of WASH Engineer, Sr. Program Officer, Project/Field Assistant, and Community Hygiene Promoters, establishing and monitoring SPHERE standards within project implementation plans.
• Provide technical and construction management capacity building to the program team.
• Ensure compliance by all stakeholders with Adeso’s PSEA Policy and the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) standards.
• Identify and facilitate professional development support for project staff.

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

As a prerequisite, the successful candidate must believe in the core values of Adeso and be driven by the mission. The candidate should demonstrate a passion for breaking new ground to lead change.

ESSENTIAL

• Qualifications in a discipline related to water and sanitation engineering – Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering, or Water and Sanitation Engineering.
• Minimum of 5 (five) years of experience with an NGO implementing hardware components of WASH programs.
• Minimum of 5 (five) years of experience in a management role with a national NGO or INGO/UN in a complex emergency environment, including donor liaison and program management or equivalent;
• Knowledge of, and direct experience with, donor rules, regulations and reporting standards (particularly USAID/OFDA, EC, ECHO, OCHA, and DFID);
• Knowledge of livelihood development programming, preferably WASH; Environmental Health; Natural Resource Management, Livelihoods (including cash transfer programming), with a preference for experience in direct management of project implementation.
• Knowledge of Humanitarian Accountability Principles.
• Familiarity with Sphere guidelines and people in aid, code of best practice.
• Practical experience in the design, construction, repair and rehabilitation of water points (including borehole development and water extension infrastructure) and latrines (at a communal and household level).
• Strong experience in organizing tender processes: contractor appraisal/ assessment of technical designs/ BoQs etc.; and development of construction contracts.
• Experience managing a team of staff;
• Proven track record of successful proposal writing with major donors, sound knowledge of budget development, donor practices and budget/financial control. Ability to draft high quality, donor-ready reports without support;
• Self-motivated, team-player, able to work effectively in a sometimes harsh and unpredictable environment; committed to motivating and leading staff;
• Excellent management of multiple budgets, contracts and resources;
• Fluency in written and spoken English. Somali language skills are a significant plus;
• Extensive knowledge and appreciation for strong monitoring systems and experience developing them. Sound. IT skills, including Word, Excel and AutoCAD.