Senior Project Manager At ChildFund International

Position title: Sr. Advisor, Project or Sr. Manager, Project

Location: Mexico City

ChildFund office: Mexico

Manager/Supervisor title: Country Director

Position type: Full-time fixed term, ten months

Work environment: Hybrid

About ChildFund

ChildFund is a child-focused international development organization that works in 23 countries to connect children with the people, resources and institutions they need to grow up healthy, educated, skilled and safe, no matter where they are.

ChildFund’s Values

ChildFund is creating a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible environment where everyone is welcomed and celebrated equally. In our culture of connection, you will have ample opportunity to grow, learn, and lead while contributing your talents and innovations to our inspiring mission.

ChildFund’s Commitment
ChildFund International has a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) and all other forms of harm by its staff, partners, and other representatives in the delivery of its mission and services for children. ChildFund is committed to creating a safe environment in the workplace as well as in the communities where it delivers programs and services. ChildFund expects every staff member, partner, and representative to adhere to this commitment and to ensure all organizational policies and standards are followed. This position is subject to a range of vetting checks, including a criminal records check and/or disclosure to ensure program participants are safeguarded.

About This Role

The Sr. Advisor will provide overall leadership, technical oversight, and strategic direction and ensure compliance for the Safe Refugee Project in Mexico, funded by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), US State Department. This role will be responsible for expanding the Children on the Move (COM) portfolio while ensuring program quality, partnership, project management, and representation.

Required Experience and Education

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in Social Science or related field, Master’s degree preferred.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience as a manager in international development directly implementing large complex projects.
• Experience in grants administration/management/compliance of projects funded by foreign government aid agencies, and/ or multilateral institutions.
• Familiarity with the issues of irregular migration, including extensive knowledge of safeguarding and violence prevention.
• Significant experience in successful proposal development.
• Relevant work experience in migration issues and child protection in humanitarian context.
• Experience working in the area of safeguarding in Mexico is highly desirable.

Primary Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Technical Oversight

• Provide strategic direction and leadership for the Safe Refugee Project, ensuring program quality, responsiveness to emerging risks, and alignment with ChildFund’s added value and global standards.
• Oversee the implementation of the project, focusing on areas of highest need and impact.
• Lead the expansion of the Children on the Move portfolio, building partnerships and securing additional funding opportunities.

Technical Program Quality and Compliance

• Ensure alignment with global protection standards, including the Inter-Agency Minimum Standards for Gender Based Violence in Emergencies and Child Protection in Humanitarian Action.
• Oversee quality implementation of Accountability for Affected Population (AAP) guidance and tools.
• Ensure that all safeguarding policies and procedures are implemented and followed.

Program Design and Implementation

• Lead the start-up and coordination of ChildFund’s Children on the Move protection with a focus on Child Protection and Women’s Protection and Empowerment.
• Develop and adapt technical tools and creative solutions to mitigate challenges in humanitarian contexts.
• Oversee day-to-day program operations and budget management.
• Assure that detailed planning is carried out and adjusted in a timely and effective manner based on project requirements.

Capacity Building and Training

• Develop and deliver training packages on child protection, Gender Based Violence risk reduction, case management, and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) to staff and partners.

Partnership Management

• Actively manage partnerships, ensuring co-design, performance monitoring, and regular exchanges to achieve program objectives.
• Participate in stakeholder mapping and partnership development processes.

Representation

• Represent ChildFund in key coordination meetings and relevant protection clusters, ensuring ChildFund’s field challenges are priorities are addressed.
• Coordinate closely with UN donors, including IOM, UNICEF, and UNHCR, at national and field levels to ensure alignment of ChildFund’s protection interventions with global standards, facilitate joint planning, and maximize resource mobilization and program impact.

Budget Oversight

• Oversee project budget planning and ensure alignment with financial plans and forecasts.
• Monitor budget vs. actual and address any variances proactively.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL)

• Implement effective MEL systems, ensuring consistent reporting and analysis of program results.
• Lead implementation of the research and evaluation framework of the Children on the Move Program in Safe Refugee, ensuring development of impact products including case studies, surveys and others identified.
• Ensures close project performance monitor (financial, Human Resources, programmatic, operational) and make necessary decisions using appropriate means and methods that support compliance continuous improvement.

Talent Management

• Responsible for directly or indirectly supervising all project staff.
• Ensures effective coordination with country office staff.
• Ensures and coordinates a Project quality governance.

Reports and Documentation

• Responsible for coordinating, organizing, and formulating required reports in accordance with project and donor requirements in timely manner.
• Responds to audit findings leading to improved project performance.

Resource Mobilization

• Responsible for actively looking for additional funds for the project.

Required Competencies

ChildFund’s Core Competencies

• Teamwork: the ability to work effectively and collaborate with others; values and respects individual differences.
• Communication: demonstrates empathy and tact when communicating with others and uses a storytelling approach when appropriate.
• Results orientation: gets things done; takes proactive steps to achieve organizational goals and quality standards.
• Decision making: uses good judgement, critical thinking, and non-traditional ways to evaluate problems and opportunities; reflects and innovates to improve decisions and outcomes.
• Resilience: thrives and grows in rapidly changing, demanding, and complex environments.
• Digital literacy: adopts and champions new technology to relevant contexts, stays aware of technological trends and embraces technological solutions to business challenges.

Other Required Competencies

• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain working relationships with staff at multiple levels.
• Working knowledge of budgeting and project management, monitoring and evaluation processes.
• Strong networking and relationship-building skills.
• Proficiency with Power BI.
• Good presentation skills and the demonstrated ability to conduct effective capacity building and training in virtual and face-to-face settings.
• Effective communicator and collaborator and able to work with varied audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and output oriented.
• Capacity to anticipate social-political situations that may affect project implementation and delivery in timely manner, to suggest necessary adjustments.
• Proven ability to prioritize tasks and to initiate follow-through with meticulous attention to detail and high level of accuracy.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, fluency in English and Spanish.