Early Warning Program Manager At The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative

The Dallaire Institute has built an early warning model focused on preventing the recruitment and use of children in armed violence and is eager to grow this capability from early warning to early action with key strategic partners. The Early Warning Program Manager will be responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the Dallaire Institute’s early warning to early action system. The main purpose of this role is to manage the production of high quality and applied research that informs actions designed to prevent or reduce the recruitment and use of children in armed violence. The Early Warning Program Manager will oversee the development of key knowledge products and the translation of early warning into possible early action with key strategic partners. They report to the Director of Research and Learning and work closely with Advocacy and Capacity Building colleagues.

The role will have two main areas of responsibility:

Early Warning Research & Strategic Partnerships:

· Lead the development and implementation of a knowledge gathering and review mechanism with key partners to identify what has been tried and tested across contexts to reduce the probability of recruitment and use of children in armed violence.

· Develop and implement a robust early warning capability, including early warning policies and guidance, that will ensure the production of quality research on key concepts as directed by the research strategy to drive early warning on recruitment;

· Coordinate with partners the synthesis of this knowledge into contextualized action sets and field testing these in as many contexts as is possible;

· Contribute to strategic communications about these action sets to legitimise them, raise awareness of them among key partners, and make them more broadly available to potential users;

· Ensure ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the application of these action options so the Dallaire Institute’s knowledge base is continuously updated;

· Promote all aspects of applied research to support the creation of an organizational culture which prioritizes high quality research;

· Work closely with Advocacy colleagues to translate early warning and early action guidance with key strategic partners;

· Support the growth and sustainment of the Dallaire Institute research network on early warning.

Program Management

· Oversee work planning, budgets, and resource management for the early warning system;

· Supervise early warning team, including data scientists, analysts, and researchers;

· Facilitate the process of technical and expert assistance, oversee the work of international and local consultants involved in the implementation of the early warning program, ensuring timely, effective and efficient delivery of results.

· Work with Operations colleagues to oversee program expenditure, cost allocation, forecasts, and monthly budget reconciliation;

· Work with MEAL colleagues to ensure robust monitoring and evaluation, data responsibility, and information management practices;

· Streamline the most effective mechanisms for the program facilitation and implementation, elaborate and propose new schemes and effective ways to achieve target indicators;

· Lead donor reporting on early warning programming.

All staff are additionally responsible to:

· Proactively participate in planning and performance processes as outlined in the Employee Handbook including annual appraisals, regular meetings, and ensuring that annual reviews are an integral component of workplans and priorities;

· Promote a safe and secure work environment in line with the organization’s core values includes the Dallaire Institute Workplace Principles; and foster strong communication between teams within the organization;

· Demonstrate an ongoing commitment to promoting and protecting the rights of children, and particularly the prevention of the recruitment and use of children as soldiers;

· Comply with Dallaire Institute’s financial and operational requirements and uphold high standards of honesty and integrity in personal conduct.

Skills and Qualifications

Required

· Master’s Degree in a relevant field;

· Experience in successful program development and implementation in complex or fragile environments (minimum 8 years), including communicating with donors and partners.

· In-depth knowledge of early warning systems and translating early warning to early action;

· Strong project management skills, including planning, budget and resource management, and supervision within non-profit organizations, academic institutions or government institutions;

· Demonstrated excellence in all aspects of social science research processes, including research ethics, data collection, analytical work, quantitative and qualitative research skills, and knowledge dissemination (minimum 5 years);

· Demonstrated ability to produce high quality written communications, such as in academic publications and/or technical reports;

· Ability to work independently on complex projects;

· Highly adept at handling confidential information with discretion and in accordance with university research and other professional standards;

· Excellent communication skills in English;

· Excellent ability to forge relationships at all levels and work across multiple project teams;

· Proficiency in Microsoft Office and familiarity with research software.

Highly Desired

· Previous work in the area of children affected by armed conflict;

· Strong familiarity and positive working relationship with security sector professionals;

· Written/verbal communication skills in other languages, particularly French, Spanish or Arabic.

Further Information

· The position will be located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.