Job Openings at Hivos

Reports to: Regional Director East Africa and Steering Committee Consortium
Period: 1/1/2021- 1/1/2026, starting with one-year contract.
Scope: Global; Africa, Middle East, Latin-America
Hours: fulltime

The program will be implemented in nine countries in Africa, the Middle East and Central America. The We Lead consortium consists of six civil society organizations (Positive Vibes, Restless Development, Marsa, FEMNET, the Central American Women’s Fund, Hivos) and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Hivos is the lead party.

Pending approval, the program starts January 1st, 2021. The program is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under the SRHR Partnership Fund, which is part of the Strengthening Civil Society subsidy framework. The five-year program has a budget of EUR 40, 7 million.

JOB CONTEXT

The program manager leads and guides We Lead strategically and operationally. She/he/they is responsible for the delivery and quality of the program results, for sound financial management, human resources and accountable to uphold We Lead values and principles. In brief, she/he/they leads the development and implementation of comprehensive program management process at strategic and operational levels. The PM is the account manager for the donor and other key stakeholders and represents the program on all levels with regard to the results in policy, advocacy, expertise & learning, both internally and externally. The PM reports to the Steering Committee composed of the directors or their representatives of the consortium partners and is managed by the Regional Director of Hivos East Africa.

Specification

Responsibilities

• Leadership and management of consortium partnership
• Provides strategic and inspirational guidance, and promotes teamwork across the consortium towards fulfilment of the We Lead Theory of Change (ToC).
• Upholds We Lead values, including on local ownership and youth leadership, and reflects these into the way of working of the consortium.
• Leadership and management of Hivos’ team
• Leads, motivates, trains, appraises, supports and guides staff. Enables effective teamwork towards agreed objectives.
• Management of donor contract relationship
• Responsible for We Lead operational and strategic relationship and contract management with the donor, including compliance with contractual agreements.
• Program planning & delivery of results
• Guides and oversees timely, effective program planning, in which local rightsholder organizations and consortium members actively participate.
• Program accountability
• Oversees and ensures compliance of Hivos, consortium members and local organizations with agreements made, and promotes dynamic accountability.
• Ensures transparent and accessible reporting against results framework and planning, including financial and progress reports and evaluations.
• Program knowledge, learning and quality improvement
• Maintains and updates learning across the program and the partnership, stimulates internal and external knowledge exchange and integrates learning into practice.
• International level SRH-R advocacy and campaigning
• Provides leadership in and ensures visibility of the SRH-R agenda of rightsholders.
• External positioning
• Is the ambassador of the program; applies account and partner management with donors and stakeholders; promotes We Leads and / or Hivos’ SRH-R agenda in professional forums by sharing and profiling practice-based results and experiences and sets the quality standard either personally or by delegating this to program staff, and proposes and delivers sustainable solutions.
• Resource mobilization
• Leads the efforts to identify and mobilize potential donors and funding mechanisms to grow and amplify the scope and results of the program.

Requirements

• 10 – 12 years’ knowledge/experience in management of large, complex global programs and consortia with global, regional and local partners, preferably on SRH-R and/or working with rights holder-groups plus relationship management with donors.
• She/he/they believes in / embodies what We Lead stands for, acknowledges youth leadership and local ownership, and is inspired by and willing to be accountable to its values and principles;
• More than 5 years of relevant international work experience in Africa and/or the Middle East and/or Latin America;
• Professional expertise and up to date knowledge on SRH-R, social inclusion, marginalization, youth leadership, and lobby and advocacy;
• Experience in applying an adaptive management approach;
• Proven leadership skills, based on inspiration, trust and influence rather than hierarchy;
• Highly skilled in external relationship management, including with donors, government and the wider governance and accountability field;
• Strategic thinker, able to link operational learning to wider program outcomes;
• Sense of humor, brings good energies and positive vibes, dynamic;
• Imaginative, able to make unorthodox connections to solve challenging problems;
• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in international development, political science, public administration or another relevant field;
• Full professional proficiency in English with demonstrably excellent written and verbal skills; Fluency in written and spoken French/Spanish/Arabic/Portuguese are desirable
• Able and willing to travel regularly.

We particularly welcome applications from women and/or persons that belongs to one of the rights holder groups. We offer a contract based on Hivos East Africa local labor conditions, with a remuneration commensurate with the experience and expertise requested.

Please note that only short listed candidates will be contacted

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Job context

The five-year strategic objective of the Amplifying Voices for Just Climate Action (AVJCA) program is “By 2025, local civil society groups have claimed a central role as empowered innovators, facilitators and advocates of climate solutions”.

Our program is about climate justice i.e. climate change is not only an environmental problem to be addressed but also a societal challenge with ethical and human rights aspects. Hence our intention is to build wide societal support for locally shaped climate solutions through an inclusive and rights-based approach. This includes building a broad-based climate alliance at country level, bridging divides (urban-rural, gender, youth), that amplifies voices in new, unusual ways. In addition, we will influence national and global policies and financial flows in support of these locally shaped solutions. The program will be implemented by an alliance of 6 organizations: WWF Netherlands, Hivos, SouthSouthNorth, Akina Mama wa Afrika, Shack Dwellers International and Fundación Avina. During the 5 years’ program period the alliance aims to increase ownership of the program by local CSOs. The program is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the “Power of Voices” framework.

In general terms, the Innovation Officers (IO) in Hivos enhances social innovation capacity and performance. An IO, working in close partnership with primary process professionals, creates, explores, tests, assesses and improves the application of relevant social and other innovation methodologies and products which can be directly applied in the primary processes. Proven concepts and solutions are made accessible to the external community of social innovation practitioners. The IO focuses on the driving force in Hivos primary processes: making social innovations more sustainable (in the projects). He works in close partnership the DMEL position that provides the evidence for knowledge and innovation development.

The IO supports the AVJCA alliance to enhance social innovation within this program. He/she/they will work closely with the PMEL team to include innovation in learning and adaptive management. The IO will share methodologies and approaches for social innovation with the alliance members including with the national teams. This information needs to help the teams to broaden their scope and include new, more impactful approaches. The IO will organize webinars, learning events etcetera to enable alliance members and partners to share their experience with innovation and successful models to improve the program. The IO develops the best instrument for the AVJCA program being e.g. an innovation lab, specific projects or series of learning events etc. The IO will ensure that the AVJCA will be informed on possible networks, approaches and methods used inside and outside Hivos that can strengthen the program. The IO will reach out to external stakeholders to inform and engage them in the AVJCA program and Hivos’ work on innovation in this field. The IO will closely relate with the Hivos colleagues working in AVJCA and make cross linkages with other programs within Hivos that are relevant for the AVJCA work to establish a Hivos learning agenda. Collects and document evidence-based social innovation and innovation methods within the AVJCA.

Your responsibilities

Innovation Intelligence

• Collects and documents creation and evidence-based social innovation and innovation methods;
• Provides the AVJCA alliance access to innovation intelligence and advises on challenges and opportunities of strategic choices.

Project Management

• Co-creates social innovations through specific interventions and e.g. labs; implements these according to project management requirements;
• coordinates implementation and delivery (with AVJCA stakeholders) and integrates results in working practice of AVJCA.

Positioning of Hivos

• Selects AVJCA partners for innovation development;
• Organizes exchanges with external resources and presents;
• Profiles and disseminates teachings and knowledge on the application of social innovation in the professional environment.

Quality of performance

• Co-designs the innovation agenda for the Alliance.
• Manages the implementation of projects to induce new concepts, insights and working methods in the Hivos organization.

Your profile

• Relevant academic level of working and thinking.
• Relevant work experience of more than 5 years.
• Needs exceptional skills and experience on our thematic areas, intervention strategies and evidence based working to implement and adapt the AVJCA program.
• Proven affinity with the central aim of the program: just climate action.
• Experience in smart activism e.g. through citizen data action, digital defenders or in transparency & accountability approaches is a preference.
• Experience in strategy development, advocacy and innovation. Decisive and daring actor with strong power and will to execute.
• Ability to impose structure, document and share insights and results of innovation and learning.
• High level of integrity and activist attitude; access to power to make change happen.
• Work experience in an international (NGO) environment.
• Personality that can think outside of the box and encourage others to experiment, take calculated risks and dare to fail to learn.