Sr. Program Officer or Program Manager (Economic Opportunities) At World University Service of Canada

Position title: Sr. Program Officer or Program Manager (Economic Opportunities) – (depending on skills and experience)

Position location: Ottawa

Reports to: Deputy Director, Program Operations

Contract term: indeterminate

Expected start date: May 2022

Position Level: PRO 2 (56k to 65k ) or PRO 3 (65k to 76k) – depending on skills and experience

Application deadline: April 6th, 2022

Background:

WUSC (World University Service of Canada) is a Canadian non-profit organization working to create a better world for all young people. We bring together a diverse network of governments, civil society organizations, schools, training institutions, private sector partners, and volunteers who share this vision. Together, we develop solutions in education, economic opportunities, and empowerment to overcome inequality and exclusion for youth around the world, particularly young women and young refugees. WUSC currently works in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $40 million. We have over 90 staff in our Ottawa office, and over 200 people overseas implementing 16 development projects in collaboration with donors such as Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Mastercard Foundation, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank.

Nature and Scope:

WUSC’s vision is a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable world for all young people and their families. An important contribution to this is that young people have access to, and benefits from, fair, decent, and fulfilling employment; sustainable livelihoods; and inclusive economies. WUSC’s portfolio of economic opportunity programming contributes to this goal, through initiatives around the world.

The Program Manager / Sr. Program Officer, Economic Opportunities, will support the strategic implementation of WUSC projects falling under the Economic Opportunities portfolio. The position will report to the WUSC Deputy Director, Program Operations and work closely on a day-to-day basis with the project teams based in the countries of operation. The PM / SPO will play a critical role in: supporting the Project Director to comply with donor policies and project reporting requirements; managing the WUSC Ottawa portion of the project budget; fostering collaboration and communication between WUSC Ottawa and WUSC country teams; managing quality control processes of WUSC’s economic opportunity interventions; and supporting the growth of WUSC’s economic opportunity portfolio. Duties include:

Program Management

• Provide support to project teams on the technical direction and implementation including preparation of Work Plans, Monitoring and Evaluation Plans, Gender Strategies, and other relevant documents required by the donor;
• Support the Project Director in effectively establishing relationships for project management and governance (ie. developing Memoranda of Understanding, supporting the Project Steering Committee);
• Provide general troubleshooting and facilitation support to requests from the WUSC country teams and act as a coordinator with various functional units within WUSC’s HQ (e.g. communications, IT, human resources, etc.) to deliver support WUSC country teams;
• Support project reporting in collaboration with the WUSC country teams;
• Ensure WUSC’s Gender Equality Policy is applied and support gender mainstreaming in projects, including participating in the development of project-specific gender strategies and providing coaching to staff in gender equality;
• Exercise budget control and manage project procurement for international contracts in accordance with contractual obligations and in consultation with the Financial Analyst, the Project Director; and
• Work with the Financial Analysts to monitor budgets, prepare financial reports and provide financial analysis.

Quality Assurance and Capacity Development

• Identify relevant technical expertise from WUSC’s networks of partners, volunteers and consultants;
• Collaborate with technical advisors in Canada and in our country offices in order to ensure a robust approach to economic opportunity programming, drawing from international best practices, within and across our economic opportunity project portfolio;
• Collaborate with WUSC’s current network of economic opportunity technical experts in multiple project countries in order to develop WUSC’s toolbox and approaches to relevant issues within the economic opportunity sector;
• Ensure the consistent identification and application of internal quality standards, lessons learned and external best practices in economic opportunity programming;
• Support program staff in the development or revision of program/project-specific economic opportunity strategies, plans and activities;
• Assist program staff in project planning and management approaches (including results based management tools) and propose strategies to increase project/program impact in economic opportunity;
• Collaborate with existing WUSC technical resources to identify strengths and weaknesses in existing economic opportunity practices, leading the development of improved systems, processes, and tools for improving our results;
• Collaborate with existing WUSC technical resources to create resources and tools (i.e. tipsheets, webinars, etc.) that to assist staff in effectively prioritizing and integrating best practices in economic opportunity in their work; and
• Support capacity building efforts related to economic opportunity programming for WUSC Ottawa and field staff, including training and coaching to WUSC staff and partners.

Networking, Thought Leadership, and Positioning

• Identify potential international, Canadian and local partners for new economic opportunity initiatives;
• Seek opportunities for WUSC to convene and collaborate with peers and thought leaders in the economic opportunity sector, especially on issues related to economic opportunities;
• Represent WUSC at relevant conferences, fora, working groups and meetings and maintain close working relationships with counterparts in other relevant international NGOs, donors, partners, and academia;
• Prepare and deliver presentations about WUSC’s economic opportunity programs as required;
• Seek opportunities to increase the awareness, commitment and involvement of WUSC’s University and College members, private sector partners and other key stakeholders; and
• Participate in WUSC’s communications work by providing data, information and other material for use with WUSC’s Canadian and international constituency and assist in implementing constituency building, communication strategies, and fundraising activities.

Any other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Competencies:

• A minimum of 5 years of experience working for international development organizations, preferably in developing countries and in Canada;
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field (social sciences, business);
• Master’s degree in a related field an asset;
• Knowledge of one or more of: value chain approaches, Market Systems Development, Livelihood approaches, Women’s Economic Empowerment, TVET and youth employment, Community based economic development, or other related fields;
• Excellent working knowledge of Results Based Management;
• Experience with a range of institutional donors, especially Global Affairs Canada.

Competencies:

• Excellent administration and organizational skills, including ability to prioritize tasks and handle multiple initiatives under tight deadlines;
• Preference for working in teams;
• Proven ability to work productively with a variety of stakeholders to run participatory processes and meet tight deadlines with an emphasis on producing quality products;
• Effective interpersonal and influencing skills, including the ability to build relationships, network, communicate and represent at a senior level are essential;
• Flexibility, with a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit to accommodate high levels of responsibility and multiple priorities;
• Excellent capacity building skills, with demonstrated experience in effective training, coaching and facilitation;
• Share in WUSC’s commitment and approach to advance gender equality and social inclusion for all young people;
• Ability to contribute to WUSC’s organizational culture that respects differences, including sex, age, ability, refugee or migration status, race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and other identity factors.

Languages and Other:

• Complete fluency, oral and written in English essential, French highly desirable;
• Ability to travel internationally;
• Ability to work a flexible schedule.

WHY WORK WITH WUSC?

Join Us. Our work is important, cutting-edge, and fast-paced. We encourage curiosity, innovation, and flexibility, and we provide a phenomenal learning experience.

WUSC offers a dynamic international work environment with a diverse intercultural workforce. We offer employees exciting opportunities to apply their skills and gain experience all while making a difference in the lives of youth around the world. Employees at WUSC work hard to create lasting change in education, economic opportunities and empowerment.

The WUSC office is in centrally located Hintonburg in Ottawa. Currently WUSC team members are working remotely. WUSC offers flexible working arrangements, competitive benefits, four weeks of annual leave (for full-time employees), safe and healthy working conditions, and fair compensation. Click here to learn more about WUSC Top 100 Employers of National Capital Region 2021.

APPLICATIONS

WUSC’s activities seek to balance inequities and create sustainable development around the globe; the work ethic of our staff, volunteers, representatives and partners shall correspond to the values and mission of the organization. WUSC promotes responsibility, respect, honesty, and professional excellence and we will not tolerate harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation or abuse of any form. Successful applicants will be required to undertake an enhanced criminal record check where appropriate.

WUSC is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. No telephone calls please.