JOB DESCRIPTION
Title: Program Director
Location: Sana’a – Yemen
Travel: 50% of Travel
Job Family and Grade: Program Management & Leadership Family, Grade M9
Pre hire checks: This role is classified as requiring Enhanced Due Diligence
- Scope
Department: Management/Program
Reporting to: Country Director
Direct reports: 5+
Budget responsibility: Yes, above 15$
Relationship management: Country Director, Country SMT, Support Functions, Regional Program Director
2. Context
About Relief International
Relief International (RI) partners with communities impacted by conflict, climate change, and disaster to save lives, build greater resilience and promote long-term health and well-being.
Currently, RI is active in 15 countries around the world, including some of the most fragile: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Myanmar, occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), Pakistan, Philippines, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen.
Relief International includes the four corporate members of the RI Alliance: Relief International Inc., Relief International-UK, Relief International-France and Relief International-Europe Under our alliance agreement, we operate with a single, shared management structure.
About our Country Program
Relief International has been implementing programming in Yemen since 2009 in Health and Nutrition, Protection, WASH and Food Security and Livelihoods. With an average annual portfolio of $20 million and over 300 direct staff, RI operates in both the North and in the South of the Country providing humanitarian and nexus programming across the various thematic areas. RI in Yemen is currently funded by BHA, ECHO, WFP, OCHA-YHF and TAKEDA foundation. Relief International also values coordination with other agencies and the local authorities and takes leadership roles within the response as relevant.
Middle East Region
RI operates in seven countries in the Middle East region: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Syria, Turkey and Yemen, with a focus on the four RI sector pillars: Health, WASH, Education and Livelihood. We employ more than 4,000 staff (direct and indirect) in the Middle East region and implement a range of humanitarian and development programs valued at approximately $70 million USD on an annual basis.
3. Job Profile
The Program Director shares the overall responsibility for the direction and coordination of the Country Office program operations. The incumbent, as a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) for Yemen, is accountable for overseeing the quality of RI’s programming in Yemen, work closely with Country Director on new program development initiatives, program advocacy, and innovation. The incumbent is responsible for ensuring development of high quality, evidence based, high impact, innovative programs that deliver immediate and lasting changes in the communities RI works in. In coordination with Area Managers and PMs, s/he is responsible to ensure the compliance with technical standards in program design and implementation.
4. Key responsibilities
Accountability and Complexity
- Leads country level or functional teams and/or is responsible for a specialized program of moderate/ large resource requirements, risk, and/or complexity
- Adapts plans and priorities to meet service and/or operational challenges
- Is a people manager and directly manages other team members or specialized teams.
- Ensures programs are delivered safely, and services are high quality, and ensures effective management of operations, funding, and teams
- Leads in representing RI in large complex contexts: externally with donors, partners, and communities
Program Management (implementation and quality)
- Responsible for effective management of program implementation, including the delivery of high-quality programming, in a timely, on budget and compliant manner in alignment with internal system and processes as well as donor regulations.
- Ensure preparation of timely and high-quality progress reports, program reports, and donor reports
- Ensure adequate coordination between program teams (i.e. PMs, Technical Advisors, MEAL and Awards and Partnership) for quality, timely and compliant delivery of all interventions.
- Serve as overall budget holder for all programs; manage and support delegated sub-budget holders for individual projects.
- Regularly monitor program’s expenditures, ensuring they are on track and swiftly raise identified risks for prompt action.
- Ensure RI programs comply with internal and international quality standards.
- Ensure effective working relationships with RI regional and global technical advisors, procuring technical support as needed to support program efforts.
- Set up Quality Benchmarks according to RI program quality standards and will ensure with the Program Technical Advisors regular monitoring and quarterly reviews.
- Support capacity development of technical experts, maximizing their role as technical support providers to field teams and local project partners.
Program Development
- Support fundraising, ensuring the development of high-quality concept notes and proposals, and engage effectively with donors and relevant stakeholders in coordination with the Country Director.
- Ensure programs design have a strong evidence base resulting from learning via needs assessments, programs’ data and situational analyses.
- Ensure that the country office has high quality, cost-effective and evidence based multi-sector programs reflecting Yemen’s context, RI global initiatives and theory of change.
- Ensure gender, protection and environment mainstreaming across different RI sectors of intervention.
MEAL and Knowledge Management
- Ensure the establishment and implementation of a robust MEAL system that provides timely and accurate project results data by embedding MEAL across program implementation.
- Ensure the development and implementation of quality evidence and learning plans, ensuring outcomes and impacts are captured, documented, reported, and inform decision making.
- Ensure plans to promote accountability to affected populations (AAP) are high quality and inform programming.
- Ensure effective collaboration between MEAL staff, technical advisors and thematic specialists in the development of sector log frames, indicators, implementation plans, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks and related tools.
- Ensure evidence-based approaches and learning are captured and documented to support quality reporting and proposals to donors.
Strategic oversight, representation and coordination
- Provide leadership, strategic vision, coherence and direction to the country program as a member of the SMT
- As delegated by the Country Director, takes the overall leadership in leading coordination for the development and updates of Country Strategy which reflects needs on the ground as well as the RI Global Strategy
- In coordination with the Country Director and SMT, ensure adequate Portfolio Reviews and Project Risk analysis are conducted at country office level; and actively contribute to the update and monitoring of Country Risk Registers, Emergency Response Plans, etc.
- Support development of cross-team coordination mechanisms to ensure effective collaboration and integration across key programs related departments (e.g., awards, supply chain and operations)
- Promotes safe programming as an integral component of all departments’ work.
- Lead and/or champion change management initiatives.
- Represent RI on specific fora and advocacy networks within the broader humanitarian community (INGOs, UN, Donors and Diplomats) in close coordination with the Country Director and other SMT members as required.
- Work closely with Country Director and the Area Managers to scope for new partnerships. Support the Program Implementation teams in the proper analysis of potential partners using selection methods, to ensure compliance with RI and donor requirements.
- In coordination with the Awards and Partnership Unit as well as SMT, contribute to ensuring Yemen’s partnership management is up to internal standards and to strengthen localization agenda.
Behavior and conduct
- Ensures that behavior inside and outside of work promotes the values in RI’s code of conduct and safeguarding policies.
- Acts with integrity and holds themselves accountable for being respectful, inclusive and professional.
- Reports any concerns.
Management and leadership
- Ensure the highest standards of behavior inside and outside of work promotes the values in RI’s code of conduct and safeguarding policies.
- Be a model for ethical conduct standards for other team members.
- Embrace diversity, and model inclusive and equitable behaviour.
- Ensure own actions and the actions of the teams’ members they manage do not adversely impact the safety of the RI team and the vulnerable communities we serve.
- Ensure donors, partners and communities are aware of RI conduct and reporting mechanisms.
- Ensure safeguarding is embedded in all the work we do.
- Be responsible for ensuring a culture and systems in place for reporting.
- Report any concerns.4. Person Specification
Skills, knowledge and expertise required for the role.
Essential criteria
- 7-10 years of experience working in senior management positions, or similar role, in a humanitarian context.
- Master’s degree in a relevant field or bachelor’s degree with commensurate work experience.
- Knowledge of and experience working with key institutional donors including BHA, ECHO, EU, FCDO and UN agencies among others.
- Proven experience in new program development, project management and coordination
- Ability to think creatively to solve problems with effective and efficient ways to accomplish goals
- Ability to make decisions, work under pressure on a number of competing tasks meeting deadlines
- Experience in more than one of RI Thematic sectors: Health and Nutrition, WASH, Food Security and Livelihood
- Excellent interpersonal, communication skills;
- Experience of managing and developing a team
- Excellent external representation skills
- Fluency in English, both written and verbal essential
Desirable criteria
- Experience working in conflict affected areas and/or in complex and fragile settings.
- Experience in Yemen an advantage.
- Arabic language
5. RI Values
Guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, as well as “Do No Harm,” Relief International Values:
- Integrity
- Adaptability
- Collaboration
- Inclusivity
- Sustainability
How to apply
To apply, please click on the following link:
