Programme Director At Concern Worldwide

About the role: This is an accompanied 24 month replacement role based in Dhaka with frequent travel to field, and a salary of Grade 5 range €48,648 to €54,053 euro.

You will report to the Country Director (CD) and will line manage Deputy Director Programme Quality & Development, Deputy Director Programme Implementation, Humanitarian Programme Manager, MEAL Advisor and Gender Coordinator. You will liaise with the Systems Director, Country Financial Controller and other key support staff.

We would like you to start on asap.

Your purpose: You will provide leadership in the development and management of all the programmes of Concern Worldwide in Bangladesh aligned with and contribute in the achievement of Concern’s Country Strategic Plan (CSP). As a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT), you will contribute to the management of the Country Programme with specific responsibility for programme design, development, inception, implementation, funding, targeting, quality, efficiency and impact.

You will:

Lead programme design and development including preparation of concept notes and proposals and secure donor funding involving partners.

• Take the lead role in conceptualizing, designing and development of new programmes and proposal’s in line with How Concern Understands Extreme Poverty (HCUEP) and securing donor funding for the programmes/projects.
• Prepare plans for programme development and work with different programmes teams to deliver highest quality proposals.
• Develop effective linkages with Government, donors, strategic networks and partners to ensure Concern’s programmes are highly relevant to the wider development and humanitarian context.
• Ensure organisational approaches such as equality, risk and vulnerability are addressed, in particular ensure that all programmes and designed, and resourced to ensure we are able to deliver Gender Transformative and Inclusive programmes.
• Ensure all the programmes are designed and implemented with local partners and partnership principles are upheld across the development and emergency programmes.

Ensure development of funding strategy and meet organisational funding targets to effectively support delivery of emergency and development programmes.

• Researching and analysing donor funding priorities as well as keeping up to date with currently available funding opportunities and develop the funding strategies analysing funding requirements to meet the organisational target for annual budget set in strategic plan.
• Establish relationship with donors and UN and share Concern‘s work and explore opportunities of establishing partnership for new programmes.
• Formulation of short, medium and long term funding strategy in consultation with the Senior Management Team and Concern Worldwide headquarter team in Dublin.
• Explore opportunities and formation of consortium to bid for bigger grants.
• Lead and contribute towards the submission of high quality proposals to meet the funding target set by the organisation

Lead and guide Programme Managers and partners for effective delivery and management of ongoing development and emergency programmes including ensuring financial management

• Ensure all programmes deliver results as per donors contracts and organisational quality standard
• Coordinate the programme activities across programmes, sectors and approaches; supporting staff and partners and ensuring complementary approaches.
• Ensure organisational and programme M&E system (in Concern and partners) is effective and the annual outcome monitoring system effectively functions to measure the changes in programme indicators
• Undertake monitoring visits to programme areas and provide feedback to programme head and staff and partners
• Ensure programme managers submit high quality donor reports and organisational reports on time
• Ensure effective financial management of all a programmes including management of donor grants.
• Ensure the visibility and external communications of programme launch, successes and learning.

Ensure technical support to partners and Concern staff to improve quality of programme and share learning globally on Localisation:

• Lead development and regular review / revision and delivery of Concern Bangladesh’s partnership strategy aligned with global strategy and country strategy plan / priorities
• Ensure partnership development and management processes throughout the programme cycle management are well defined, socialised among Concern team and partners and adhered to; review and revise as necessary
• Ensure up to date partner mapping for all operational areas as well as at national level considering diversity of partnership (NGOs, government, CSO networks, academic institutions, private sector); develop strategic and grants based partnership ensuring fair and transparent selection process
• Ensure regular reviews of the programmes to analyse strengths and weaknesses, coordinate internally to ensure development and delivery of partnership support plans
• Guide Technical experts, monitoring evaluation team, communication and advocacy team ensure adequate support to ensure high technical standard and quality in the programme, ensuring adherence to the Core Humanitarian Standards.
• Ensuring that the Bangladesh programme achieves high standards in terms of design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation through Concern Worldwide’s Project Cycle Management System, Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), Programme Quality Guidelines and the PM&E Framework.
• Ensure that all programmes and partners have a functional Complaints Response Mechanism (CRM) in place, and all staff understand the reporting and investigation pathways.
• Document learning and share widely internally and externally at national and international level

Guide and support programme and advocacy team to strengthen advocacy initiatives:

• Ensure all programmes develop their advocacy strategy and plan aligned to programme priorities
• Strengthen current networks and form new partnership for strengthen evidence based advocacy efforts
• Maintain relationship with high level policy makers within government, UN and donors to enhance Concern’s profile and access to influence policy change.
• Ensure Concern is well represented and meaningfully contribute in various external coordination for (e.g. sectors / clusters) at national and sub-national level.

Provide support to the development and implementation and review of Concern Bangladesh strategic plan:

• Work with Country Director and Senior Management Team to manage and monitor the organisation Country Strategy Plan, ensuring that KPI targets are realistic and achieved.
• Ensure all new and current programmes are aligned to the approved strategic plan with specific budget lines included for Country Strategic Plan KPIs.

Programme Financial Management

• Ensure strict expenditure and budget tracking by the key budget holders
• Work closely with the budget holders and the Finance Unit to develop accurate budgets and expenditure forecasts and assist in the submission of timely and accurate reporting.
• Help ensure compliance with internal and external financial guidelines

Accountability

• promote and ensure compliance with the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) commitments and quality criteria
• ensure that all staff are familiar with the principles underpinning accountability, safeguarding and Concern’s Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) and ensure that information about Concern’s commitments on accountability and safeguarding are disseminated among programme participants and communities
• ensure that the CRM is functional, effectively implemented and accessible in all programmes’ locations, enabling safe reporting of both programmatic and sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns
• ensure that complaints are welcomed, managed and responded to in a timely, fair and appropriate manner; ensure that sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns, are handled with utmost confidentiality and that the safety of the complainants and those affected is prioritised at all stages.

As a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT), provide effective leadership to the organisation.

• Active participation in Senior Management meetings, contributing significantly to decisions on policy and strategic direction.
• Ensure leadership in safeguarding and the implementation of safeguarding policies throughout all programme implementation.
• Enabling effective learning and sharing in the organisation, supporting regular dialogue between the programme and the learning and sharing teams.
• Lead the organisation as acting Country Director as required.

Your skills and experience will include:

Essential:

• Bachelor / Masters in social sciences, management, international development or related subjects
• At least 6 years’ of relevant experience including 2-3 years in similar role in a senior management position within a development / humanitarian organisation/NGO.
• Experience of working overseas is essential.
• Proven track record in designing new programmes, writing proposals and securing donor funding
• Proven track record of advancing gender transformative and inclusive programming approaches
• Experience in strategic management and management including proven experience of overseeing large, multi-sectoral development and humanitarian programmes implemented through partners
• Excellent management/leadership experience and managing a diverse team of senior national and international staff
• Experience in working with very senior level officials of the Government, Donor and UN bodies
• Good conceptual understanding and experience of leading and supporting advocacy work at national level
• Ability to identify and analyse problems and recommend solutions

We would also like:

• Experience of working in Bangladesh or the Asia region
• Strong Leadership and team management skills and ability to manage change effectively
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to organize and plan effectively and deliver under pressure.
• Ability to develop the capacity of staff, delegate effectively and motivate senior staff
• Ability to influence and negotiate at different levels including influence national governments and their agencies and other significant organizations, including local media
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, including fluency in written and spoken English, and Bangla would also be an advantage.
• Delegation, time management and prioritising skills and coping with broad range of demands
• Highly developed stakeholder relationship management skills
• Highly developed listening and conflict resolutions skills