Program Quality Technical Advisor I, Asia At Catholic Relief Services

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

CRS has been working in Asia and the Pacific since the 1940s, and currently has over 600 staff working in five country programs (India, Nepal, Cambodia, Laos, and Philippines) and 6 program offices (Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Timor Leste, and Micronesia), with outreach support provided to another 11 countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji). In Asia, CRS and partners deliver programs in emergency response and recovery, disaster risk reduction, agriculture/livelihoods, health, child protection, and inclusive education.

Job Summary:

You will provide Program Quality Technical Advice and support to a range of program design and implementation issues, especially in the areas of Protection, Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI), and Partner Capacity Strengthening (PCS) (60% LoE) in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to Country Program (CP) teams to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. Your advice, knowledge, and support will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive, and innovative CRS’ Protection, GESI and PCS programming is across the globe. This role will include direct support to outreach partners in Asia on strategic areas of capacity strengthening. In addition, this role will be part of our regional business development team (40% LoE), providing essential surge support to CRS country programs and partners on strategic growth opportunities as needed.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

TA for GESI, PCS – 60%

• Support the development and contribute to the implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools and best practices in Program Quality, especially Protection, GESI and PCS that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and safeguarding.
• Provide technical solutions to CP teams and partners, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools and M&E, helping to ensure high-quality implementation.
• Contribute to, and in some cases lead, the development of the technical design for proposals in areas of Program Quality, especially Protection, GESI and PCS. Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of project concepts and full-fledged proposals. As needed, act as a technical writer on proposal development teams. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
• Support capacity strengthening initiatives in Program Quality, especially Protection, GESI and PCS programming for staff and partner through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and coaching.
• Collect and analyze program data, capture and share lessons learned and best practices for specific projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the Program Quality, especially Protection, GESI and PCS learning agenda.
• Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions, participate in forums in the area of Program Quality, especially Protection, GESI and PCS to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.

Business Development – 40%

• Provide BD expertise in positioning, capture planning and proposal preparation for specific opportunities with institutional donors (government and inter-governmental award issuing organizations, as well as foundations, corporations and other awarding non-governmental organizations).
• Contribute to proposal development processes to ensure timely submission of high-quality proposals that are responsive to donor requirements, applicable regulations, and CRS’ technical and cost standards. This includes non-technical writing on proposals and review panels and integrating inputs from staff and partners into a responsive, coherent proposal.
• Train and mentor staff including partners, as needed, to improve their skills in proposal development, representation to donor and partner organizations, intelligence-gathering, and marketing within their country program or portfolio.
• Support and guide identification of partners and negotiation of CRS’ role on proposal consortia, ensuring a competitive position for CRS that adheres to the agency’s partnership principles and strategic directions. Research, track and analyze new opportunities and CRS’ competitive position within the marketplace.

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: Regional Director, Deputy Regional Directors/Program & Operations, Regional Finance Officer, Regional Information Officer, Regional Technical Advisors, Business Development Specialists. Country Representatives & Managers, Country Program Heads of Programming, Country Program technical staff and project managers. HQ Business Development and Institutional Donor Engagement teams, HQ Program Impact and Quality Assurance staff, Global Business Development Community of Practice.

External: Institutional donor and partner institution representatives, including USG, UN agencies, World Bank, Regional banks, Caritas agencies, nongovernmental organizations, private sector entities, universities and research centers, and others.

Required Languages– English fluency (written and verbal) required.

Travel– Must be willing and able to travel up to 30%.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in Protection, GESI and PCS. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Knowledge of capacity strengthening best practices.
• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation and analysis.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Strong understanding of partnership principles.
• Exceptional writer with expert command of English grammar and AP style.
• Demonstrated experience leading and producing competitive proposals in programming contexts similar to CRS.
• Comprehensive familiarity with a broad range of institutional donor technical and cost requirements.
• Experience with both USAID RFP and RFA funding mechanisms highly desirable.
• Familiarity with relevant institutional donor regulations, policies, procedures and priorities.
• Demonstrated experience managing teams and processes, leading teams to produce deliverables under tight deadlines and at exceptional quality.
• Knowledge of CRS programs, justice agenda and Catholic Social Teaching principles a plus.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings
• Strong strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
• Excellent negotiation skills
• Good technical writing skills
• Strong presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Protection, GESI, or the field if International Relates with experience related to Protection, GESI, or PCS are strong preferred.
• Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in Protection, GESI, and PCS.
• Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information management systems.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

· Integrity

· Continuous Improvement & Innovation

· Builds Relationships

· Develops Talent

· Strategic Mindset

· Accountability & Stewardship

Note: This is a full-time telecommuter position, with a preferred location within Asia.

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer