Chief Programme Officer /IDS Lead at SOS Children's Villages

Tasks and Responsibilities 

Increasing Federation Impact from “ideas to scale”

• Responsibility for enabling the Federation to increase its global impact through Members and CVI-Run Operations taking up and scaling innovative programming, use of research, learning and application of high-quality programme policy.
• At the request of Members, facilitate and co-ordinate strategic international programmes/ multi country programming including advocacy programming, that groups of independent MAs and CVI run countries request and opt in to deliver.

Sustainable Income Development support

• Lead and drive sustainable income development in the organization, Supporting MAs to raise sustainable income through support to Grant/ Institutional income development, delivery of multi member systems & processes such as those enabling Child Sponsorship, digital fundraising, and CRM systems support.

Member support services

• Responsible for provision of “on-demand” support and digital services to Member Associations. This includes capacity & capability building to risk and growth Members in programme and operations areas. Provision of other on demand support services to Promoting and Supporting Members (“PSAs”), Sustainable Members, and Risk & Growth Members.
• Include contracting staff and maintaining a contract structure ensuring the stable and sustainable funding of Member focused support projects via PSAs.
• Overall maintain Member focused support structures to Members to achieve and maintain self-sufficient Member maturity status.

CVI run country operations & Transition countries:

• Overall responsibility for ensuring that CVI-Run Operations are run for maximum programme impact, quality and are compliant with policies and standards. Programme funding for CVI-Run Operations is not part of CVI’s budget and responsibility. It is the responsibility of the CVI-Run Operation in close alignment together with the but of respective location PSAs, who financially support those CVI-Run Operations to ensure the respective budgets are available and are disposed accordingly.
• IDS has the overall responsibility for ensuring that selected CVI managed countries transition to independent MAs.

Humanitarian Action

• Responsibility for development of the Federation’s Humanitarian Strategy and supporting Members and CVI- Run Operations to implement in their country (e.g., advice, capability building, development of policy).
• Responsible for coordination of Humanitarian response to rapid onset emergencies and for leading those which necessitate the use of international capacities.
• Lead and strengthen overall Member and CVI-Run Operations capacity to respond to global emergency situations.

Finance

• Joint responsibility as Executive Board member for the financial results and global finance processes in the federation.
• Joint responsibility with the CEO for the total overall budget of the IDS and FSC, including funding of additional global projects. Individual primary responsibility for the IDS budget.

Culture and Safeguarding

• Joint responsibility to role model and drive culture and safeguarding in the Federation
• Embed values-based conduct and safeguarding into all operations, strategy, and governance

Risk

• Assess federation-wide opportunities and risks, and collaborate with governance bodies and member associations to develop, and, when appropriate, lead mitigation strategies and response plans.

Requirements 

Functional Competences

• Authentic commitment to the Vision, Mission and Values of the SOS Federation in its work for children
• Extensive experience in international cooperation and development, research, MEAL or alternatively in humanitarian and emergency contexts
• Experience in an equivalent position (top level) within an international organization or a decentralized, member-based federation of comparable size and complexity.
• Track record in the sector, ideally INGO background
• Experience in managing a P&L of equivalent size, 440 employees, 40 million Euro budget (excluding variable project budgets) in a federation of 137 member associations (with an overall turnover of over one billion)
• Experience in child protection, alternative care or youth empowerment is a strong asset.
• Strong understanding of member association needs, ideally gained through experience managing country offices in unstable or crisis contexts. 
• Professional expertise in driving the vision, strategy development, prioritization and implementation of complex and innovative projects
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, ability to collaborate, engage and build trust amongst stakeholders, in a decentralized and complex networked global system, able to influence without direct authority, fostering collaboration across units and members.  
• Leadership skills to manage teams in diverse locations, foster cultural environment development and the ability to build team capacity
• Strong negotiation, customer relationship management and presentation skills.
• Ability to establish efficient organizational structures and lead high-performing teams, with a focus on continuously adapting the workforce and services to evolving needs.
• High level of resilience, adaptability and flexibility.
• Proven experience in managing organizational transformation and change with authenticity, empathy, and courage. Skilled in driving strategic change initiatives, inspiring a long-term vision and direction, and leading effectively through crises and ambiguity. 
• Strong decision-taking competency in fast-changing and uncertain environments, grounded in available evidence and risk-analysis. Leading with a results-based mindset. 
• Experience and interest in innovation and digital readiness: driving digital transformation, enabling data-informed decision-making and ethical use of technology. Fostering innovation, agility and continuous improvement.
• Experience in establishing clear accountability mechanisms and performance metrics to drive results and ensure transparency. A structured approach to performance and impact measurement, including safe programming.
• Proven ability to develop and scale innovative programmes, particularly in youth-focused and crisis-affected areas. 
• Good understanding of the rapidly evolving donor ecosystem, including comprehensive knowledge of fund development and resource mobilization.
• Good understanding of safeguarding
• Service-oriented leadership combined with a business mindset and focus on creating value for internal stakeholders. Experience in establishing and managing a service center is a strong asset.