Afghanistan: Programme Development, Quality and Advocacy Director

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children. We work in 120 countries. We save children’s lives; we fight for their rights; we help them fulfil their potential.

We work together, with our partners, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

We have over two million supporters worldwide and raised 1.9 billion dollars last year to reach more children than ever before, through programmes in health, nutrition, education, protection and child rights, also in times of humanitarian crises.

Following a major transition, our international programmes are now delivered through a merged operation with c15,000 staff, managed through seven regional hubs and reporting to a relatively small, central office. We’re changing to become more efficient, more aligned, a better partner, a stronger advocate, a magnet for world-class people and relevant for the 21st century.

Contract Length: 2 years

The role:

The role holder shares the overall responsibility in the direction and coordination of the country program. S/he champions a team culture of learning and continuous improvement and is responsible for overseeing development of programme strategies and advocacy initiatives to deliver immediate and lasting change for children ensuring quality in all aspects of both process and output. S/he manages a team of technical experts whose primary focus would be on projects’ design and development funding, monitoring, evaluation and learning. S/he ensures that global and in-country advocacy work is in accordance with approved guidelines and supervises all media and communications of the country office in coordination with the region and Centre. S/he develops gainful and strengthens networks as well as represents the country office appropriately.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategy, Senior Management and External Relations

• Provide leadership, strategic vision and direction to the Afghanistan country programme as a member of the Senior Management Team


• Lead the development and formulation of the Country Strategy Plan as well as completion of annual reports such as, Country Annual Plans and Country Annual Review.


• Lead the development of high quality country and programme strategies and annual plans


• Support the development of an organisational culture that reflects our dual mandate values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up our people to deliver outstanding results for children and excellent customer service for our members and donors


• Support the design and implementation of a coherent organizational structure that is consistent with agency practices and appropriate to programme needs


• Support the establishment, maintenance, and improvement of an active and regular working relationships with: host government authorities, partner agencies including humanitarian and development donors, and local and international NGOs


• Ensure the Afghanistan Country Office complies with all Save the Children programme Essential Standards and Procedures in the Quality Framework


• Ensures close and regular coordination with the Awards Management Unit, Implementation Department and other departments and units deemed critical in the pursuit of the departments’ and country office’s objectives. Such coordination will extend to the region, centre and members.


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  Participate as member of the Senior Management and Extended Senior Management Team.

  
  

  Programme and Proposal Design and Development

  
  


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  Identify strategic fundraising leads and concepts and identify and nurture funding opportunities to ensure adequate resources are secured

  
  


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  Lead proposal conceptualization, design and development of cost effective, innovative and high quality child-focused emergency and development programmes, informed by child participation where possible

  
  


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  Ensure the Afghanistan Country Office has a first class, multi-sectorial and dual mandate program reflecting all priority technical and sector aspects of the Save the Children global strategy

  
  

  Technical Assistance and Knowledge Management

  
  


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  Ensure provision of high quality technical assistance and capacity building to all country office programmes, projects and staff by managing all internal and external technical assistance, including surge capacity during emergencies and ensure application of the TA protocols and tools

  
  


• Ensure that the different technical sectors are coordinated, integrated and support each other to optimize programs and projects


• Ensure the integration of cross cutting issues into design and implementation including gender, non-discrimination, child participation and child safeguarding


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  Ensure learning by country programme from relevant internal and external thematic trends and best practice

  
  


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  Engage in relevant national and global networks

  
  


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  Foster and champion a culture of evidence building and learning across the organisation

  
  

  Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning

  
  


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  Develop and oversee a robust M&E system to measure achievement and progress toward national and global programme goals and results, including reach and global outcome indicators, and to drive learning and improved programme quality

  
  


• Ensure the delivery of internal and external program/project evaluations as per the Evaluations Essential Standard and donor requirement, and execution of baseline, and periodic research in coordination with Director of Program Implementation


• Ensure our work is accountable to children and other stakeholders through the establishment and management of effective accountability mechanisms and processes


• Provide leadership to use data for programme decision making, of commitment to management action on the findings of monitoring, and of listening to feedback from beneficiaries to inform programme development.


• Lead national and global reporting processes and requirements


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  Establish and maintain effective national management information systems

  
  

  Research, Advocacy and Communications

  
  


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  Provide overall leadership, vision, strategic direction and management of advocacy and ensure that advocacy is an integral part of Save the Children’s Theory of Change and strategic planning

  
  


• Position Save the Children as the leading organisation for children’s issues in Afghanistan, with child rights at the core of the advocacy work


• Ensure advocacy coherence at local, national and global level and reinforce strong and effective synergies between programmes and advocacy to maximise Save the Children impact, especially ensuring evidence and best practice inform advocacy


• Identify, develop and oversee operational and analytical research, coordinate the publication and dissemination of results and ensure that research informs advocacy


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  Lead on the development of relevant and realistic advocacy and communications plans and coordinate their effective implementation

  
  


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  Coordinate the production of high quality policy briefing papers, statements , external communications products and case studies to influence target audiences

  
  


• Ensure the branding, communication and sign off guidelines of Save the Children are uniformly and consistently followed


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  Develop and deliver a clear and effective system for internal communications

  
  


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  Lead in identifying and managing potential risks associated with Save the Children’s public positions and design strategies to mitigate the risks that have been identified

  
  

  Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development

  
  


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  Develop a culture and focus on quality in the Programme Development, Quality and Advocacy team and ensure appropriate staffing, the recruitment, training, and promotion of staff as appropriate

  
  


• Manage the Programme Development, Quality and Advocacy team through: effective use of the Performance Management System; regular evaluation of direct reports; provision of coaching, mentoring and other developmental opportunities


• Ensure that all staff understand and are able to perform their role in an emergency situation


• Oversee that all technical sector staff proactively build and maintain technical skills and competencies required for leading and/or advising first class programs – both development and emergency programs.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Masters degree in Social Sciences, in an area of social development


• Minimum of 7 years’ experience in an NGO environment, including experience directing and implementing programs for children in both emergency and development contexts


• Experience in more than one of the Save the Children priority sectors: education; child protection; child rights governance; health and nutrition; food security and livelihoods; emergencies.


• Demonstrated leadership and management skills in a complex international setting


• Significant experience leading strategic planning and in programme design and proposal development


• Ability to effectively establish a learning culture within an organisation


• Experience in successfully establishing and managing collaborative relationships and partnerships with donors and government counterparts.


• Strong representation and influencing skills


• Experience of management of diverse workforce including effective performance management and utilisation of capacity building, coaching, and mentoring skills


• Demonstrated use of positive coping strategies in stressful environments


• Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children’s aims, values and principles including rights-based approaches


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  Fluency in written and spoken English

  
  


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  Strong understanding of different methodologies of monitoring and evaluation and operational research and experience in developing integrated MEAL systems

  
  

We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Please apply in English using your CV and covering letter as a single document, including your salary expectations for this role.