Job Vacancies at Catholic Relief

Job Summary:

You will contribute to providing strategic direction and management of the Country Program (CP) portfolio complementing the Head of Programs (HOP) efforts at ensuring the establishment and successful implementation of high-quality programs serving the poor and vulnerable. Your management and programming skills will ensure that the CP delivers high-quality programming and continuously works towards improving the impact of its programming. You will actively coordinate with CRS operations departments and other CRS programs. You will contribute heavily to the leadership and long-term vision of CRS Kenya’s growth strategy.                                                                                                             

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Complement the HOP in providing strategic direction for the design of CP strategic frameworks and plans, including resource mobilization strategies to optimize the impact of programming interventions in line with regional and agency strategic priorities.
• Lead where appropriate and contribute to high-quality project design incorporating project management standards and MEAL methods, appropriate to scope, context and technical requirements of projects. Coordinate planning of activities for projects to ensure integration of program interventions and efficiency in implementation.
• Effectively manage talent and supervise. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching, strategically tailor individual development plans, and complete performance assessment for direct reports across diverse sectors.
• Contribute to creating and maintaining the proper conditions for learning. Help establish a safe environment for the sharing of ideas, solutions, and difficulties and the capacity to detect, analyze and respond quickly to small deficiencies. Promote accountability, learning and knowledge management as part of the implementation of the MEAL policy.
• Coordinate with CP operations staff to ensure appropriate project budgeting and efficient use and stewardship of project material sources.
• Coordinate the identification, assessment and strengthening of appropriate partnerships and the appropriate application of partnership concepts, tools and approaches.
  • Support partnership capacity strengthening manager by serving on PCS working group selection of strategic partnerships and representation in local leadership forums as needed.
• Contribute where needed in the business development cycle to ensure quality proposals per agency and donor standards.
  • Provide leadership in pursuing sector specific growth strategies including identifying new partnerships and developing roadmaps for pursuing non-traditional donors
  • Provide leadership to a private sector engagement strategy for the CP
• Coordinate technical assistance and capacity strengthening for project teams and partners in project management standards and related MEAL, business development and operational activities. Help identify training opportunities, develop training curriculums and deliver trainings.
•  Ensure that you and your team understand and adhere to CRS staff safety and security policies and plans.
• Ensure that safeguarding, protection and gender equity are consistently and intentionally streamlined into all program activities, including staff recruitment and training.
• Champion CRS commitment to safeguarding everyone from harassment, exploitation and abuse through robust systems of prevention and response, as well as our commitment to gender equity.
• Deputize for the HOP, when necessary.

Basic Qualifications

• Master's Degree in International Development, International Relations, Masters in Public Health or relevant field.
• Minimum of 5 years work experience in a program management position with progressive responsibilities for an international NGO, preferably with at least 2-3 years working in direct implementation of projects in remote and resource constrained environments.
• Experience providing management oversight to programs in diverse sectors
• Demonstrated experience in prioritization of tasks in a fast-moving work environment
• Demonstrated experience in project grants management, including project design, budget preparation, expenditure tracking, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, etc., preferably for projects funded by multiple public donors, including USAID.
• Demonstrated experience with successful business development activities capturing public and/or institutional donor funding, including successful engagement with private sector and positioning for long-term or non-traditional donor funding.
• Experience working with local partners, and supporting partnership capacity strengthening efforts
• Demonstrated commitment to respect, equity, diversity, and inclusion including gender equality.

Required Languages – English

Travel – Must be willing to travel to remote field locations based on need at an estimated 35% of time

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions and offer innovative and contextualized solutions.
• Strong relations management abilities. Ability to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship.
• Strong planning, management and decision-making skills.
• Demonstrated capacity to build, mentor and lead diverse teams in challenging field conditions.
• Commitment to building a diverse team and a safe working environment.
• Cultural awareness with the capacity to learn rapidly and adapt management approaches to varying cultural and security contexts.
• Good presentation and facilitation skills for diverse groups.
• Demonstrated capacity to lead teams responding rapidly to evolving challenges, devising appropriate solutions and achieving results.
• Demonstrated capacity to manage multiple tasks in parallel meeting multiple and conflicting deadlines
• Demonstrated capacity to live and work in remote and insecure field locations with very basic amenities and few or no other international staff and adhere a strict curfew and movement restrictions.
• Team leadership abilities
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions oriented and results-oriented
• Strong financial management skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Excellent English writing skills with demonstrated experience winning awards from multiple donors
• Demonstrated experience engaging partners and strengthening partnerships.
• Demonstrated experience developing staff capacity with staff management experience and abilities that are conducive to a learning environment.
• Some experience and abilities in capacity strengthening - developing curricula and facilitating trainings.
• Strong MEAL knowledge and understanding of how to demonstrate achievements to different audiences
• Experience using MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, and knowledge sharing networks.
• Experience leading Emergency / Humanitarian Response/ Disaster Risk Reduction programming a plus.

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Job Summary:

The Environmental Safeguards (ES) Manager serves as a technical resource in strategic planning, program and activity design, budgeting, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the entire project for environmental compliance and climate integration. As environmental safeguards lead, the manager ensures all Nawiri project activities are in compliance with Title 22 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulation (22 CFR 216 or “Reg. 216”). As climate integration lead, the manager ensures all Nawiri project activities meet ADS 201mal and USAID Climate Risk Management guidelines. The Specialist serves as environmental climate advisor to Nawiri management, technical leads, and Implementing Partners (IPs) on Climate Risk Management (CRM) and in identifying and analyzing climate vulnerabilities and developing mitigation measures.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

The USAID-Nawiri Environmental Safeguards Manager provides a high level of technical guidance on environmental compliance and climate integration, as follows: 

Environmental Compliance 

• Serves as technical advisor to Nawiri project, ensuring its activities are in compliance with Reg. 216, USAID Environmental Procedures, and with host-country government environmental and social safeguard regulations.
• Provides substantive guidance to respective team leads and IPs on environmentally sensitive work, such as agriculture and livestock production, WASH, health, cash transfers & emergency responses.
• Facilitates efficient project activities implementation in all sectors by ensuring high-quality documentation for environmental compliance, reviewing, and approving environmental compliance aspects of scopes of work, and identifying environmental compliance concerns with suggested approaches to achieve compliance.
• Updates the project’s Reg. 216, USAID Environmental documentation; Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Program (EMMP), Water Quality Assurance Plan (WQAP), Pesticide Evaluation Report, and Safer Use Action Plan (PERSUAP) to reflect any changes or additional considerations in project activities.
• Leads the process of EIA/EA for all project activities that fall under areas specified in the Second Schedule of Kenya’s Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) 1999 and ensures that the assessments and analysis meet both USAID and NEMA standards.

Climate Integration

• Serves as the project’s climate integration expert, ensuring compliance with USAID climate risk management processes, as detailed in relevant ADS mandatory references.
• Is a technical advisor to Nawiri staff and IPs, working to identify and analyze climate vulnerabilities and develop mitigation measures by monitoring, identifying, and sharing opportunities to integrate climate change adaptation and mitigation into Nawiri programming and operations.
• Assures that the activity climate risk screening consideration are implemented, by providing guidance to activity leads to properly identify, mitigate, and document climate risks.
• Works within the project’s M&E system and other tools to document and manage compliance with USAID climate risk requirements and contributes climate risk expertise to Nawiri management.

Capacity Building 

• Leads assessments of capacity-building shortfalls and identifies effective and efficient training delivery approaches to build the capacity of Nawiri and IPs staff.
• Develops training materials and/or serves as a lead trainer for technical areas and workshops; and provides mentoring and on-the-job training to project staff to ensure environmental compliance and climate integration requirements, policies, and procedures are known and followed.
• Develops networks with other CRS ES specialists and shares best practices and provides technical support to CRS Kenya country program as needed.  

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Works with the M&E team to support regular and effective monitoring of the environmental and social compliance aspects of Nawiri project activities, periodically monitoring activities through office reviews and field visits, and supports staff and IPs to carry out their activity monitoring responsibilities.
• Supports proper and timely reporting, e.g., Integrating Environment and climate change into Quarterly and Annual Review Reports (AAR), development of Environmental Status Report (ESR), and follow-up on the Record of Compliance (RoC) documentation for all infrastructure development activities upon completion.
• Participates directly with Nawiri staff to remedy outstanding issues and inform Nawiri management of issues and resolution.
• Travels to all project sites to conduct field visits, support Nawiri technical leads to monitor environmental compliance and effectiveness of mitigation measures and evaluate the overall environmental impact of implementing activities.
• Acts as an advisor, providing feedback to Nawiri IPs to identify problems and offer technical recommendations and solutions for full compliance. 

Personal Skills

• Strong relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings
• Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
• Good technical writing skills
• Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented
• Demonstrated commitment to respect, equity, diversity, and inclusion including gender equality.

QUALIFICATIONS

Typical Background, Experience & Requirements:

Education and Experience

• Master's Degree in Environmental Sciences, Environmental Planning and Management, Natural Resources management, Environmental Health and Environmental Engineering or related field. Additional experience may substitute for some education.
• Minimum of 7 years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with relevant field-based experience in environment safeguarding sector.
• Registered in the capacity of Lead expert with National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to undertake EAIs
• 5+ years’ experience in environment and social impact assessment and institutional capacity building
• An articulate individual who possesses excellent communications and personnel management skills and who can relate to people at all levels of an organization
• Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in environment safeguarding. Thorough knowledge and understanding USAID’s Environmental Safeguards requirements and Kenya’s environmental laws, procedures and guidelines.
• Experience in project design and proposal development
• Knowledge of capacity strengthening best practices.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.