Fresh Jobs at World Vision Kenya

Purpose of Position

• The Program Development and Quality Assurance Director (PDQA-D) will lead in external engagement to position with donors and governments, develop partnerships with NGO, private sector and academia partners, and coordinate acquisition and reporting of grants and contracts with internal and external stakeholders in support of sustainable and diversified funding to enable the fulfilment of the World Vision Somali National Office Strategy.  The position-holder will lead in the development, revision and dissemination of the national office strategy and sector technical approaches.  The position holder will need to ensure the office strategy remain relevant to the evolving context and align with World Vision’s organization goal.  He/she will spearhead the establishment and maintenance of monitoring and evaluation, accountability and information-management systems, as well as research and learning processes and products to inform adaptive management and promote thought leadership. The position-holder will oversee a team of program officers, technical advisors and M&E specialists to ensure the development of contextualized, competitive and impactful proposals and timely and complete reporting; technical backstopping to field team support quality implementation and engagement with coordination and learning structures, and monitoring of projects as per donor and World Vision standards.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

50%

Lead positioning and acquisition of government and multilateral donor grants and/or contracts

Acquisition

• Lead proposal development processes through leadership of program development unit team, review and technical guidance on donor requirements, drafting of concept notes and proposals, mobilization/coordination of proposal writers and technical contributors, and engagement with GC, EARO and support offices.
• Ensure key WV plans, procedures and systems are in place and updated for grant and risk management, including Go-No-Go procedure, partnership grant information databases, GAM strategy and grant forecasting, and acquisition and reporting RACIs.
• Ensure an active roster of technical expertise is readily available through preferred supplier system.
• Lead the development of positioning papers, technical briefs, value-for-money statements, etc. to demonstrate organization’s capacity.
• Coordinate acquisition efforts with WV Somalia SomReP and Global Fund flagship programs, World Vision partnership, and other relevant stakeholders to position the organization to win.

Positioning

• Actively engage existing donors, sharing briefs and pitching new ideas and approaches to sustain engagement and interests.
• Pre-position relationships with key government counterparts in strategic line ministries to access World Bank, AFDB and other multi-lateral finance.
• Develop new donor networks to position the organizationas partner-of-choice;
• Lead the development of operational research to position the organization as thought-leaders in technical areas.
• Lead the development of positioning papers, technical briefs, value-for-money statements, etc. to demonstrate organization’s capacity.
• Ensure team is actively engaged in coordination and technical forums, bringing World Vision’s capacity, expertise and learning to share with others and position the program as a partner-of-choice.
• Actively seek out collaborations with partners, including NGOs, academia, and private sector to position for future opportunities.

20%

Lead Somali National Office strategy development, alignment and dissemination processes

• Spearhead WV Somalia strategy revision process, ensuring that all sector approaches are updated, department and government contributions are integrated and output is relevant to the opportunities and challenges of the Somali contexts and donor environment.
• Sector technical guidance developed and disseminated to field teams to promote alignment with WV strategy and donor and partnership standards and support quality and impactful programming.
• Ensure other department strategies including the GAM Business Plan are align with and contribute to the organization strategy.
• Link flagship programs (such as SomRep, Global Fund), vertical projects and emergency responses into larger strategic initiatives together with TA, Operation Director, CoP and HEA TA/Manager.
• Ensure projects are connected and contributed to CWB objectives programmatically and technically Ensure reporting of programs and projects are reported into the WV’s strategic framework.

15%

Lead M&E and IM team in the establishment and maintenance of accountability, M&E and information management systems

• Upgrade, digitize and strengthen existing information management systems;
• Ensure accountability mechanisms are in-place/functional, scaled/integrated across entire program and locations and enable two-way communication between organization and affected populations.
• WV Somalia has information management and M&E systems in place to aggregate, analyse and present program impact information against national office strategy, WV partnership requirements and other stakeholder needs, including donors, government, etc. 
• Grant tracker and opportunity trackers in place and updated to support on-time, on-target and too specification delivery and reporting of projects and coordinated forward planning.

10%

Champion thought leadership

• Develop and disseminate knowledge products, including, operational research case-studies, technical approach summaries at relevant local and international forums.
• Support the design and review of research products and development of summaries.
• Identify relevant research and advocacy topics and mobilize finance and technical expertise to develop knowledge products to inform programming and raise profile of the program.
• Pro-actively develop partnerships with learning and academic partners and pre-position framework agreements to stand-up research as needs arise.

5%

People management

• Develop and update performance management plans.
• Monitor staff performance and provide real-time feedback.
• Motivate staff members to learn new skills, take on new responsibilities and grow professionally with a special focus on Somali staff.
• Take remedial actions for poor performing staff.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE ROLE

• Preferred Masters, but acceptable Bachelor’s degree in international development, business administration, social and agricultural development studies.
• A minimum of 7 years’ experience in humanitarian and development practice, with at least 5 years in management positions.
• Strong leadership skills with demonstrated experience either (i) leading complex acquisition process; (ii) managing a 3+ member acquisition/technical team to acquire and deliver complex project/program (iii) cooperative agreement (required), contract (preferred) proposal development experience.
• Experience in external engagement with NGOs, donors, private sector, etc.
• Excellent oral/written and interpersonal skills.
• Confident communication and documentation skills; ability to represent the organization to a variety of stakeholders in a range of forums.
• A team player with leadership qualities, excellent flexible project management skills, organization and dependability.
• Capacity to prioritize and manage a diverse range of staff members, projects and activities.
• Able to work on a cross-cultural environment with a multi-national and multi-agency staff members.
• Ability to solve complex problems and to exercise independent judgment.
• Capable of working independently and with demonstrated experience engaging a wide range of stakeholders.
• Master’s degree a strong asset.
• Experience working with or in fragile context settings.

Required Education, training, license, registration, and certification

• Preferred Masters but will consider Bachelors graduates (if other relevant experience is demonstrated).
• International relations/studies.
• Agricultural science.
• MBA and/or market systems development.
• Social science.

Preferred Knowledge and Qualifications

• Work experience for a management level of social enterprise or NGO.
• Experience in an incubator, a start-up advisory, social enterprise, innovation space, project management or entrepreneurial experience.
• Must adhere to set security standards.
• Ensure a gender perspective in the scope of work.
• Perform other duties as required.
   

go to method of application »

Key Responsibilities:

Project Management - 30%

• Ensure proper planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the project interventions in the project areas.
• Manage and coordinate the project team to ensure competent and motivated staff
• Provide technical support and leadership to Project Officer and driver to enable them effectively guide and support response interventions in the County.
• Ensure all project interventions are implemented within schedule, plans and budgets and regularly review project status.
• Ensure that the project interventions are integrated with other projects in the program
• Ensure identification of local needs and resources and take appropriate programming measures.
• Mainstream cross-cutting issues (gender (GESI), CC, environment, advocacy, disability, child protection) in the project.
• Establish operational priorities and monitor performance targets for the respective field project staff
• Coordinate assessments, designs, measurements of construction and in accordance with established standards, policies and procedures in liaison with NO WASH team and other relevant partners
• Participate in staff and community capacity building initiatives as stipulated in project designs and guidelines as well as promoting relevant advocacy on WASH, livestock and natural resource management
• Ensure that project initiatives meet or exceed planned outcomes and are implemented in full compliance with WVK, the donor and other relevant partnership and international standards and guidelines;

Engagement and Networking - 30%

• Ensure close working collaboration with key National Institutions, County government & county institutions, private sector partners, NGO partners & other development programs, community and other local institutions e.g faith based organizations, rangeland committee etc.
• Ensure adequate representation with the donor, the Government of Kenya officials (National and County), private sector, Civil Society Groups, including Faith-Based Groups.
• Support implementing staff to successfully engage with key internal and external stakeholders including other WVK entities, community, faith leaders and civil society representatives in order to maximize the impact of interventions
• Build and maintain effective communications and pro-active relationships with partners in the County including visits by donors

Design Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation - 20%

• Lead in the development of the project design and ensure compliance with WVK and donor guidelines and standards.
• Ensure timely and effective implementation of all project interventions as well as the successful achievement of proposed outcomes and intended impacts.
• Ensure timely and appropriate utilization of the budgeted project resources.
• Ensure proper application of business processes, standards and guidelines related to the project in accordance with the donor requirements.
• Ensure that the project achieves acceptable financial and operational audit results by implementing activities in accordance with established norm and policies.
• Ensure that all the activities are implemented and evaluated in accordance with the WVK and donor standards.
• Support the project officer to set up and maintain effective complaints and feedback mechanisms to ensure that beneficiary concerns are addressed in a timely and effective manner.
• Ensure that an effective and participatory and effective M&E system is established in a decentralized manner
• Ensure that, in general, project monitoring arrangements comply with the project agreement and, in particular, the provisions of this agreement are fully observed in the design of project M&E.
• Ensure quality monthly, quarterly, semi annual and annual reports are compiled and submitted in a timely manner in line with the donor requirements.
• Document and disseminate lessons learnt and best practices on completed project initiatives on PPcPs

Capacity Building - 10%

• Identification and sharing of capacity building gaps among project staff, communities and partners.
• Lead the project in capacity building initiatives for staff, communities and partners to enable them effectively advocate for and implement project interventions.
• Ensure ongoing coaching and mentoring of project staff in order to ensure that they are able to perform and achieve the desired results.
• Manage performance of staff and encourage on-the-job training, identifying and addressing learning and training needs and opportunities

Resource Mobilization - 5%

• Map resource mobilization opportunities at local level and develop concepts and proposals in collaboration with Regional and National office teams.

Other Duties - 5%

• Any other duties as assigned by the Supervisor

Qualification, Skills and Knowledge

• Must have a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in either Agriculture, Rangeland Management, Water, Environmental studies, or a closely related field from a recognized University with relevant experience working in fragile contexts.
• Must have a minimum of five years’ of general experience with bias to;
  • IWRM, as an integrated approach to water (& land) resources management.
  • Market system development and/or institutional systems strengthening approaches/interventions.
  • Working with Rangeland Management Committees (RMCs), as well as informal customary structures for sustainable rangeland resource governance with experience in climate change.
  • Working with county governments and integration of program design with privates’ sector and other ongoing programs in an integrated manner for success. This includes gender transformative agenda for greater women empowerment by collaborating with county governments and community organized groups.
  • Sustainable system strengthening and capacity building for improving access and service delivery
  • Designing, planning, and implementation; supervising and reporting on integrated development of natural resource management and/or advocacy project.
  • Working on donor funded programs and experience with USAID/BHA donor funded projects is an added advantage.
• Strong evidence of good interpersonal and communication skills
• Budgetary and financial management skills
• Highly flexible and organized, able to manage multiple, simultaneous demands and willing to take on new tasks on an ad hoc basis
• Ability to work both on own initiative and as part of a team in a high-pressure environment while adhering to deadlines
• Proficient in written and spoken Kiswahili and English.
• Notable experience of deployment in response to rapid and slow onset emergencies, including in a programme lead role
• Experience working with stakeholder feedback and complaints and response mechanisms
• County government understanding and engagement strategies
• Result-oriented leader who is able to handle a heavy workload as well as manager accountable and responsible to the donor and other stakeholders.
• Experience in managing projects in areas that are prone to resource-based conflicts e.g. northern Kenya.
• Ability to take initiatives, team player who is able to work with minimum supervision
• Must have outstanding oral and written communications and relationship skills
• Computer literacy, particularly in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint;
• Demonstrates personal integrity and trustworthiness
• Ability to conceptualize and put into practice well researched initiatives
• Demonstrated understanding of quality assurance systems, and continuous improvement, with particular emphasis on integration of accountability measures into all aspects of the project cycle;
• Empirical knowledge of humanitarian codes, principles and practice;
• Good team player, self-starter, has ability to work under minimum supervision and maintain good relationships;
• Commitment to WV Values, Mission and Vision
• Good analytical skills with appropriate attention to details
• Facilitates appropriate information flow amongst staff
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills in English, with experience working in multicultural, multi-location, values driven teams;
• Excellent planning, coordination, and reporting skills.
• Practical knowledge of current thematic issues and debates in developing countries, and of the major institutional donors 
• Good understanding of livelihoods and WASH programming and have had an experience with implementation of at least a USAID or SDC funded grant