Economic and Partners Development Program Manager At Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland e.V.

The “Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland (ASB)” is a German aid and welfare organisation with more than 300 branches at national, regional, district and municipal level all over Germany. More than 1.4 million members provide a broad social basis for our organization and more than 40,000 employees as well as over 20,000 volunteers form part of the ASB ensuring a high level of quality in areas such as rescue services, civil protection and social services. Since its foundation in 1888, the ASB has acted as a politically and denominationally independent association ensuring a high level of continuity and reliability. ASB Foreign Aid Department provides both direct emergency relief to people hit by man-made or natural disasters and longer-term rehabilitation measures designed to promote recovery and to rapidly help restore the livelihood of refugees, internally displaced persons and other vulnerable people. ASB currently has a portfolio of more than 100 relief, rehabilitation, development and inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction projects and runs offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Kosovo, Nicaragua, Niger, Serbia and Ukraine.

Operational in Iraq since 2012, and with its own office structures since 2014, ASB has been committed to support refugees, IDPs and host communities in the sectors Health, WASH, Livelihoods, Education and Protection. ASB in Iraq is currently seeking expressions of interest from qualified and committed, dynamic and self-motivated individuals for the following position:

Economic and Partners Development Program Manager

1) Purpose:

The Economic and Partners Development Program Manager will be in charge of the overall management, budget monitoring and active implementation of the economic recovery and development operations, liaison with the relevant stakeholders, partners and authorities in particular ASB partner’s organizational development and capacity building in a participatory manner. Working closely with ASB team and relevant departments this includes evaluating the progress, conducting full organizational capacity assessment to all ASB partners, creating capacity building and organizational development plans with the partners and following up on specific support actions. This position requires experience in developing training materials and strong facilitation and training skills to be able to provide support in a wide range of areas in addition to sound experience in economic and business development. The position will in consultation with partners and internal ASB departments, develop standard and tailored training packages, lead the development of project proposals that meet the needs of partners and demands of donors. Approximately 75% of ASB portfolio in Iraq is implemented through partners and networks, in line with ASB strategy to strengthen civil society and to support a resilient, responsive and sustainable relief and development process for societies. The Economic and Partners Development Program Manager will work with both well-established and new or emerging organizations and networks.

2) Roles and responsibilities:

Program management

• Ensure, in close consultation with the Project Support Team, the effective application of PCM tools, elaboration of coherent activity and work plans and budgets, project and program documents, preparation of compelling proposals, to monitor the project work plans, project effectiveness and achievement of results for livelihood, economic recovery and development operations;
• Ensure timely and adequate reporting against plans in consultation with CR providing timely and articulate progress reports and inputs;
• Prepare inception reports, work plans, regular donor progress and impact reports for the projects;
• Work with Country Representative and Finance and Admin Manager to ensure best practice, participate actively in award review meetings and contribute to financial decision making;
• Support feasibility studies, baseline surveys, regular monitoring, review and evaluation, in cooperation with the partners and CR;
• Foster an integrated and participatory approach by coordinating and cooperating with all other thematic areas during program implementation and for future program design and development;
• Closely work with the Country Representative to lead the development of high-quality concept notes and proposals that can be presented to potential donors and partners.
• Ensure that cross-cutting themes such as WASH, child protection, gender, disability inclusion and DRR are effectively integrated throughout implementation;
• Ensure the achievement of outputs are in line with the approved work plan through the day-to-day planning, management coordination and implementation of activities;
• Manage and monitor identified project risks and update the status of these risks and keep the CR abreast of emerging project issues;
• Liaise continually with and establish close linkages with other programs, agencies and entities, and other international and national stakeholders concerned with or providing assistance on Sustainable Livelihoods issues to Iraq;
• Strict and consistent application of ASB rules and regulations and ensuring the implementation of clear accountability mechanisms throughout the program portfolio;
• Taking the lead in recruitment, contracting and management of national staff as well as contractors involved in the implementation of the program in accordance with standing criteria and procedures in close coordination with the CR;
• Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learned from the Recovery and Sustainable Livelihoods Program for organizational sharing and learning; actively participate in the knowledge networks and application of best practices and lessons learned that are available in the region and globally;
• Coordinate with partners to plan for and accompany feasibility studies required for proposal development.

Partners Development and Capacity Building

• Build and maintain relations with a range of partners and identify local civil society groups and organizational development needs;
• Direct the needs assessment for trainings and partner organizational development to enhance the effectiveness of partners performance in achieving their goals and objectives;
• In a participatory manner develop capacity building plans with the partners and regularly review implementing partners’ capacity gaps in consultation with the partner management;
• Design and develop in coordination with partners, relevant ASB departments and other key stakeholders, an Organizational Capacity Development (OCD) Kit, which provides civil society with a broad range of accessible, and relevant training and organizational development opportunities;
• Work closely with the partners on the implementation of the capacity building plan as well as, supporting partner trainings or capacity building initiatives by providing a broad range of consultative services to all partners regarding organizational development and system strengthening;
• Coordinate and collaborate capacity building sessions with technical specialists, contracted trainers and capacity building partners as well as relevant ASB departments;
• Provide support, mentoring and training on donor funding requirements to partners as needed and advise on improving policies and procedures;.
• In coordination with the MEAL staff, regularly meet with partners and ensure effective monitoring, evaluation and learning on the performance of the partners progress against organizational development and capacity building deliverables as well as ASBs capacity building initiatives to close capacity gaps;
• Design and review evaluations of training courses, objectives, and accomplishments and assess effectiveness of trainings in terms of employee accomplishments and performance.
• In charge of gathering and maintaining partnership data (ensuring gender, age and disability awareness and disaggregation) of all planned, active and closed partner projects in electronic and hard copy, ensuring all documentation in place;
• Maintain database of all capacity building opportunities and deliverables and actively update with new information as necessary;
• Initiate and conduct partner review and evaluation meetings;
• Participate in project and grant review meetings and actively follow up on outstanding partnership issues.
• Provide ASB with expertise in strategy development and execution, planning, and facilitation of partner relations efforts and support the design of ASB partner procedures and the development of ASB and Partner resources;

3) Required qualifications, skills and experiences:

• Master’s degree or equivalent preferably in economic, business or industry sciences, certified project management, international studies, development studies or any other related field;
• Min. 3 years of relevant overseas experience in relief or development work in a governmental, multilateral or civil society organization in a multi-cultural and/or post-conflict setting;
• Required expertise in the area of Recovery and Sustainable Livelihoods, preferably with recent experience in local economic and business development (long term income generation and micro-finance), partner management, capacity building and empowerment, early recovery from conflict/post conflict or disaster context;
• This position requires experience in developing training materials and strong facilitation and training skills to be able to provide support in a wide range of areas in addition to sound experience in economic and business development.
• Min. 3 years of senior-level management responsibilities of similar size and complexity;
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge in developing training materials, with strong facilitation and training skills, implementing project start-up and using project management tools;
• Excellent diplomacy skills and a proven ability to establish and sustain interpersonal and professional relationships with host-country counterparts and representatives from partner organisations and other key stakeholders such as NGOs, the private sector and donors;
• In-depth knowledge of donor regulations, compliance and reporting (preferably BMZ, GIZ, FAO, WFP, AA, IHPF, EU etc);
• Proven understanding of key monitoring and evaluation principles and the ability to analyse and utilize data to direct project activities and track project progress;
• Fluent in written and spoken English;
• Strong verbal and written communication skills;
• Solid knowledge in feasibility studies, financial planning, budget control and human resources management, contract, asset and procurement, information and communication technology, general administration;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting and to lead formulation, monitoring and management of projects;
• Strong networking, team-building and organizational skills, paired with proven ability to lead effectively with mentoring and conflict resolution skills.

´4) Desired skills:

• Fluent in or a working knowledge of Arabic, Kurdish and/or German will be an asset
• Experience in high-level policy advisory services to Government counterparts is desirable
• Understanding of the social and political context within the Republic of Iraq including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq through previous experience working in the Republic of Iraq.
• Appreciation for socio-cultural differences in countries, preferably having lived and worked in one or more low resource settings.
• Team Player with awareness of, sensitivity to, and experience working in multiple socio-economic settings and with multi-cultural staff and groups.
• Willingness to contribute to a fast-paced team and being flexible to ever-changing contextual implementation context and the associated challenges.
• Being open to learn and to keep learning new skills, being able to innovate and conceptualize new project activities in a creative way.
• Ability to develop productive working relationships with counterparts in other agencies and organizations nationally.
• Willingness to travel and readiness to work and live under challenging circumstances.

5) Conditions:

Start date: February 2023

Duration of contract: 12 months

Duty Station: Duhok, with extensive travel to project sites and offices (Baghdad, Anbar, Salah ad-Din, Kirkuk, Ninewa, and any new project area).

Salary: ASB offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience