Programme Development an Funding Officer At Catholic Agency for Overseas Development

Contract: 2 years

Position Description

Job Profile

The Programme Development and Funding Officer (PDFO) will contribute to CAFOD’s positioning and involvement in Zimbabwe, in line with the agreed strategies, by advising on donor engagement, coordinating programme development; securing institutional funding for CAFOD supported programmes and partnerships; and contract management. The post holder will be responsible for all aspects of CAFOD’s donor funding in Zimbabwe. Under the supervision of the Country Representative, the PDFO will lead on identification of funding opportunities and the development of high-quality proposals and reports, in collaboration with programme and finance teams. The PDFO will oversee and ensure compliance with all donor rules and regulations, as well as CAFOD’s internal grant management, finance and programming policies.

The postholder will be responsible for building effective working relationships with peers across the International Programme. This is in order to develop and maintain horizontal links between programmes, learning, innovation, good practice, and fundraising within and between regions or areas of work. The role has also several cross-divisional and cross-organisational functions linked to work with CAFOD’s Education, Communities & Supporters, Fundraising, Finance and Media teams. The post holder will be expected to work closely with CAFODs Integrated Funding and Business Innovation Unit in London and the work is expected to be aligned with corporate institutional fundraising strategies and the commitments of our Integral Ecology Programme Model.

The postholder may also be asked by the Zimbabwe Country Representative to manage institutional contracts for projects in neighbouring Mozambique and Eswatini for the equivalent of up to two days a week, and to assist the Mozambique country team in the development of proposals and liaison with institutional donors.

While a “country/sub-regional portfolio” will be allocated to the post holder, a degree of flexibility is expected and therefore the post-holder may be required to support other programmes and colleagues during particularly busy times or emergencies. Furthermore, his/her portfolio of countries/sub-regions may change/evolve over time to meet CAFOD’s and partners’ needs.

The postholder may be asked by the Country Representative to undertake travel for up to 2 months a year or as required by programme needs.

Accountability

The postholder reports to the Country Representative. He/she is not a budget holder, but may carry out some supervision of tasks working closely with other staff members.

Key Responsibilities

Programme development in line with CAFODs national and regional strategies and the Integral Ecology Programme Model:

• As guided by the Country Representative (and taking into consideration his/her allocated portfolio), work with and coordinate programme staff and partners in the design, development (and where appropriate, implementation) of high-quality programmes and projects in line with country CAFOD strategies and programme frameworks; coordinate the design and advise on Logframe, Theory of Change and M&E frameworks and lead the development of resource plans.
• Contribute to the development of country/sub-regional strategy plans as well as lead on resource development plans, identifying new funding opportunities through donor mapping;
• Where necessary, and to a reasonable extent, support other PDFOs or country programmes in programme development and funding. Furthermore, engage, support or lead on regional or joint programme funding opportunities, including contributing to proposal development for corporate or multi-country proposals.
• Where necessary and in discussion with his/her line manager, participate in surge requests from other International Programmes;
• Where necessary, manage and support allocated junior staff or interns as appropriate.

Programme funding and partners’ fundraising capacity

• Lead, co-ordinate or support the preparation of funding applications with donors and major Trusts & Foundations such as: ECHO, DEC, FCDO, EU, UN agencies, Comic Relief, Big Lottery Fund etc.; in close co-operation with programme colleagues and partners.
• Keep up-to-date with donor policy developments and trends, both within the relevant country/sub-region/sector; raise awareness of donor requirements and partner obligations to fulfil these; more generally, and represent CAFOD in funding review groups/networks in the countries/sub-regions as appropriate.
• In agreement with partners and programme staff, assess existing partner capacities and systems to manage and implement institutionally funded programmes and, jointly develop programme and project funding proposals;
• In line with relevant capacity strengthening plans, support partners in strengthening their own capacity to mobilise resources; contribute to investing in partners’ capacities, by jointly identifying funding needs, developing plans to strengthen capacities, e.g. proposal writing, programme development, monitoring & evaluation, etc., or identifying sources of support. This can be through identifying who is best placed to offer such support or by the direct provision of specific capacity strengthening initiatives;
• Support the development of Partner Direct Funding approaches in agreement with the CAFOD Country Representative and CAFOD guidelines.
• Support partners in accessing the tools and support required to secure and effectively manage institutional funding, as well as strengthening partner capacity in donor mapping and developing donor engagement strategies;
• Provide training to staff and partners on topics including proposal development, budgeting, report writing and donor compliance requirements, and.
• Advise programme teams on capacity development for partners on donor compliance.
• Advise programme teams on how to comply with audit and expenditure verification requirements and provide quality assurance on the maintenance of project files.

Contract Management and quality control

• Lead on reporting, monitoring and evaluation of institutionally funded programmes, in line with CAFOD and donor standards.
• In coordination with programme, finance staff and partners, and where relevant the Integrated Funding and Business Unit, manage donor contracts, including financial and narrative reporting, and monitoring and evaluation (including facilitating external evaluations) of institutionally funded programmes, in line with jointly agreed standards (Programme Cycle Management), donor requirements, and CAFOD’s value of stewardship;
• Support programme staff and partners on the development of plans, accounting frameworks, procurement and workplans, etc.
• Keep up-to-date with donor regulations and advise on any changes to relevant staff; provide orientation sessions for staff and partners entering into new donor contracts, with specific reference to compliance and quality. Work with programme and finance teams to develop efficient financial tracking and reporting systems for all donor contracts.
• Responsible for capturing and sharing learning and best practice with colleagues and partners from externally funded programmes.
• Keep all relevant staff informed about the progress of contracts throughout the grant cycle. Coordinate and follow-up on grant inception, review and close out meetings.

Systems and compliance:

• Effectively use CAFOD’s programme management information systems to ensure programme and project information and documentation is up-to-date. This will include producing management information to support decision making;
• Ensure the effective use of CAFOD’s systems to share knowledge and inform decision making and implementation. This includes ensuring compliance with agreements, regulations and requirements attached to our work and donor contracts; keep records and internal data capturing system up to date.
• Ensure compliance with agreements, regulations and requirements attached to our work, including liaising with UK-based donor leads on donor compliance requirements.

Internal and external representation

• In agreement with the Country Representative/Programme Managers develop, nurture and manage relationships with donor organisations, monitor donor strategies in country and create opportunities to share CAFOD’s programme experiences with donor staff (and other INGOs where relevant/possible); as guided by his/her line manager, and in close collaboration with the Programme Managers, lead on donor engagement with the aim of prepositioning CAFOD in country for prospective funding/partnership opportunities;
• Communicate with other teams within CAFOD to ensure that the programme is well understood, and that information is available for fundraising and communication needs. This may involve participation in sessions/events with supporters, communities of practice, working groups, etc., as agreed with the relevant manager;
• Where appropriate, liaise with the Integrate Funding and Business Unit to ensure coherent donor engagement strategies are developed and maintained;
• Work with partners to regularly assess the quality of the relationship, ensuring that effective communication channels are in place, and that funding-related issues are timely addressed;
• In agreement with partners, contribute to raising the profile of partners’ work with relevant donors in the region and/or globally.

Supporting the development of new business opportunities for CAFOD

• In consultation with the CAFOD Country Representative and Funding and Business Innovation teams in London, monitor, identify and map potential new business opportunities and calls for proposals in Zimbabwe and Mozambique that are aligned with CAFODs strategic direction.
• Regularly monitor local and international donor data bases and websites for new funding opportunities and business intelligence for CAFOD in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
• Monitor and advise the Country Representative about new and innovative approaches to funding development and humanitarian programmes.
• Maintain close relationships with Integrated Funding and Business staff in CAFOD London particularly with regard to ensuring the sharing of information on business intelligence and local resource/capacity needs.

This list of duties and responsibilities is by no means exhaustive and the post holder may be required to undertake other relevant and appropriate duties as required. This job description is subject to regular review and appropriate modification.

Safeguarding for Children and Vulnerable Adults

CAFOD recognises the personal dignity and rights of children and vulnerable adults, towards whom it has a special responsibility and a duty of care and respect. CAFOD, and all its staff and volunteers, undertake to do all in our power to create a safe environment for children, young people and vulnerable adults and to prevent their physical, sexual or emotional abuse. CAFOD is committed to acting at all times in the best interests of children and vulnerable adults, seeing these interests as paramount. Any candidate offered a job with CAFOD will be expected to adhere to CAFOD’s Safeguarding policy and sign CAFOD’s Code of Behaviour as an appendix to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references, and appropriate screening checks can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. CAFOD also participates in theInter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

Understanding our context

A Understanding Catholic identity;

B Understanding CAFOD; A good understanding of CAFOD as a member of Caritas and CIDSE will be important for fundraising processes

C Understanding international development: Understanding and experience of international development, programme management and quality standards within this context; Experience in back donor grant management; experience in working with institutional donors and Trust& Foundations

Working together

D Managing ourselves; ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines, able to adapt to different working platforms

E Working with others; able to work in collaboration and coordination with diverse, complex teams;

F Communicating; able to communicate effectively with colleagues and partners both in presence and remotely, able to provide a constant and effective flow of information to line manager and colleagues

G Looking outwards; Understanding of effective and values-based partnership work between northern and southern organisations and communities.

Making change happen

H Managing resources: the ability to prepare and monitor budgets, contribute to assessing the appropriateness of partner financial systems, and ensure compliance with, knowledge and understanding of financial compliance

I Achieving results; experience of developing successful funding applications for institutional donors; experience of participatory project design, Logframe and ToC design, M&E and use of analytical tools.

J Managing our performance: experience of developing and implementing monitoring systems to track the effectiveness of programmes.

K Taking the lead: experience of coordinating teams for proposal design, inception workshops; dynamic and willing to take initiative. A team player but also capable of working with minimal supervision.

Job-specific competencies

I. Understanding and first-hand experience of institutional funding work/projects, priorities, trends and donor conditions within the international development and humanitarian sector;

II. Experience of using programme cycle management tools effectively to deliver work within an agreed programme framework; extensive experience in designing sound Logframes, Theory of Changes, M&E Frameworks

III. Able and committed to working with and strengthen or complementing the capacity of partner organisations and colleagues; excellent facilitation and capacity building skills and experience of applying them when working with individual partners or groups of partners

iv. Finance management and budgeting understanding and experience.

V. Ability and willingness to travel within the region and/or to the UK(approximately for 2 months per year), sometimes at short notice and to areas of potential risk;

VI. Computer literacy skills in Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook.

VII. Thematic experience in one or more of CAFOD areas (Resilient Livelihoods, Food security, DRR, Governance, WASH, Advocacy, Gender, Child Protection)

Desirable Criteria

• First-hand work experience with a values-based partnership approach (between northern and southern organisations and communities).
• Previous work experience with International NGO in a similar position
• Familiarity with gender analysis tools, knowledge of the gender programme area
• Portuguese and or knowledge of development and humanitarian work in Mozambique

Please click here for a full list of CAFOD’s Staff Benefits