Development Program Manager At Relief International

Position: Development Program Manager

Location: Tehran, Iran (with significant travel to the field)

Duration: 1 year with possibility of extension

Reports to: Program Director

About RI:

Relief International is a leading non-profit organization working in 18 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty. Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach — which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

Relief International includes the four corporate members of the RI Alliance: RI-US, RI-UK, MRCA/RI-France and RI-Europe. Under our alliance agreement, we operate as a single, shared management structure. In addition, RI has country offices registered as affiliates of one of the alliance members in an additional 18 countries.

Position Summary:

In recent years, RI Iran has undergone a significant expansion in its programming, attracting new donors and expanding into new programmatic areas. RI Iran has a growing Development portfolio, focused on Health, Education, Protection and Livelihoods. Based in Tehran, the Development PM oversee the implementation of existing grants in the Development portfolio while at the same time focusing on program development and quality.

Essential Position Responsibilities and Duties:

Leadership and Program Management (50%)

• Overall responsible for the timely and quality implementation of RI-Iran’s Development programs across operational areas, focusing on producing required deliverables.
• Ensure that RI Iran’s Development projects are in line with RI Iran’s country strategy and sector strategies, as well as international standards and related donor contractual obligations.
• Conduct field visits to monitor progress, consult with key stakeholders and provide support to field teams to ensure timely and effective project implementation – identifying gaps and needs, addressing them and taking corrective measures within appropriate timelines.
• Coordinate with RI Iran sector teams to integrate activities/indicators, especially through awareness-raising and mainstreaming protection and cash aimed at enhanced well-being and access to services amongst beneficiaries.
• Develop key project management tools, including gantt charts/work-plans and MEAL tools/plans – in coordination with the MEAL team.
• Oversee the financial management of grants in the Development portfolio – preparing budgets, projections, BvAs etc.
• Prepare donor modification requests as necessary.
• Liaise closely with the Program Director (PD) and Humanitarian Program Manager to ensure coherence/cohesion between RI Iran’s longer term Development programming and Humanitarian programming.
• Clearly defines training needs of staff and ensures they are able to access training and professional development resources appropriate to their skill gaps/needs.
• Direct line-management responsibility for 3 or more staff at Coordinator level and above.

Strategic Decision-making and Program Development (30%)

• Contribute to the development of the RI-Iran strategy and ensure all projects and activities are designed in coherence with other sectors.
• Provide leadership and take an active role in proposal writing and investigate opportunities for future funding.
• Provide leadership and strategic direction to the team in program planning and develop position papers based on project data, developments in the country context and current trends.
• In consultation with other staff, produce an annual work plan for activities that supports strategic priorities and aligns with RI’s country strategy.
• Promote adherence to established standards and best practices, promoting local adaptation.
• Lead and contribute to the joint analysis of information and data leading to the identification of gaps in RI’s response and agreement on priorities.
• Contribute to identifying critical issues that require multi-sectoral responses, and plan relevant synergistic interventions with key stakeholders through the relevant working groups/clusters.
• Work with the PD to restructure the Development team to facilitate the transition from oversight of implementation by Sector Leads to oversight of implementation by the Development PM.

Monitoring and Reporting (10%)

• In coordination with the MEAL team, lead on the monitoring and evaluation of RI Iran’s Development projects; ensuring the collation, analysis and sharing of data related to project activities and the operational context for purposes of designing new interventions, engaging in advocacy with donors and fund raising.
• Support the development and use of assessment tools and conduct in- depth analysis on data collected through these tools.
• Supports field teams in ensuring that robust monitoring systems are in place and reviews are undertaken periodically.
• Overall responsible for preparing project reports, including report writing and data analysis.
• Conduct monitoring visits to project locations; develop field visit reports and action plans and follow up on any required actions.

Contingency Planning and Capacity Building (10%)

• Lead joint contingency planning for potential new events or set-backs, when required.
• Identify urgent training needs in relation to technical standards and protocols for delivery of key services to ensure their adoption and uniform application by all staff.
• Coordinate the dissemination of key technical materials and organize training with a special focus on standards and best practice.
• Build technical capacity of RI teams, partners, NGOs and government counterparts as required

Areas of Expertise:

RI wishes to identify a Development Program Manager with demonstrated experience and expertise in:

• Program design and development, most notably for DEVCO, GFFO and other institutional donors.
• Experience in working through a partnership approach with national CSOs/NGOs.
• Design and implementation of programs in fragile states and for refugee and IDP populations.
• Designing and performing needs / beneficiary assessments and M&E plans for projects Programming in emergency, protracted crisis, and development settings with experience in WASH, Cash, Protection, Health and Livelihoods.
• Technical writing for proposals.
• Working with host-country government/line ministry standards and requirements

Qualifications & Requirements:

This position demands a dynamic individual with a demonstrated ability to achieve results in demanding and often difficult environments.

• 5 years experience managing relevant donor-funded projects; including in fragile states.
• 2 years experience in a relevant field supporting project teams on full project-cycle management.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines efficiently in a high-stress environment.
• Fluency in written and spoken English.
• Excellent time management skills and resourcefulness, with strong attention to detail and an ability to work virtually with team members spread out around the world.
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.
• Ability to think critically and creatively.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office
• Excellent representation, presentation and communication skills.
• Experience in fostering an empowering and motivating environment.
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences.

RI Values:

We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities. We value:

Inclusiveness

Transparency and Accountability

Agility and Innovation

Collaboration

Sustainability