Director of Programme Development Quality and Advocacy

Post location: oPt Country office - Ramallah, oPt

Contract Duration:  2 years and based on availability of funds

The Director of Programme Development, Quality and Advocacy (DPDQA) shares in the overall responsibility for the direction and coordination of the country programme. The post holder champions a team culture of learning and continuous improvement and is responsible for overseeing development of programme strategies and advocacy initiatives to deliver immediate and lasting change for children.

As a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) in the oPt, the Director of PDQA is responsible for driving cross-functional engagement in the development and delivery of Country Strategy Plans (CSPs), developing annual plans, and reporting on results. The DPDQA is responsible for ensuring development and delivery of high quality, evidence-based, innovative programmes for children, in all contexts, that contribute to Save the Children’s (SCI) global Breakthroughs: Learn, Survive, Be Protected. The DPDQA ensures that a robust monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) system is in place, that the Country Office (CO) engages in the collection and use of evidence and that this is shared across the global organization, and that reliable data is used for decision-making. The Director of PDQA supports strategic positioning with donors and partners and leads on project design to ensure that the CO strategy can be delivered in line with child rights programming principles.

Additionally, the role will also lead and manage the external policy analysis and advocacy strategy development for the CO, supporting the priority programmatic areas. The role will support the SMT in risk mapping, mitigation, and management on issues identified as most relevant for the CO, and develop policy analysis and strategic planning in response to those issues.

In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Country Director (CD)

Country Dimensions: oPt CO is a high complexity country, multi-member interest, with an annual budget of around $10m, and approximately 70 staff.

Staff reporting to this post:   6-9 staff members

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategy and Senior Management:

• Support the SMT to develop, update, and drive forward the Country Strategy Plan (CSP) that is in line with the global strategy, Ambition 2030..
• Provide leadership on development of the Country Annual Plan, monitoring of progress against the plan, and completion of accurate, on-time Country Annual Report of outcomes and impact for children.
• Facilitate the development and pursuit of thematic and cross-cutting strategic priorities in line with the CSP, including gender equality, disability, and inclusion to guide current and future SCI programming and Humanitarian Strategies.
• Support ownership and commitment to the CSP by all staff and departments through regular feedback on progress and engagement of all functions in updates.
• In collaboration with the Director of Programme Operations (DPO), Head of Awards Management Unit, the Risk and Compliance Manager, and CD, ensure the oPt CO complies with all Save the Children programme Essential Standards and Procedures in the Quality Framework.
• Ensure strong linkages between Advocacy, Campaigns, Communications, and Media (ACCM) function and others on the SMT so that advocacy is well resourced, evidence based, and programme driven and that programmes are enhanced through advocacy.
• Lead oPt’s ACCM team with a clear vision and integrated strategy, work plan and objectives, including setting SMART goals for the team and securing buy-in from key internal stakeholders.
• Contribute to identifying nurturing and strengthening strategic partnerships with local and international civil society organizations, NGOs, governments, and clusters etc., in advancing the country and global strategy to inspire our three breakthroughs for the most deprived and marginalised children.

Programme and Proposal Design and Development:

• Based on tracking provided by the Business Development Manager (BDM), review and position for opportunities that will drive the CSP, including regular donor engagement.
• In consultation with the CD and Members, ensure technical engagement with donors to pre-position and prepare for opportunities, and engage in strategic positioning work directly as appropriate.
• Play a leading role in designing proposals, including:
  • Engaging with technical experts as needed to ensure high quality, evidence-based designs that draw on needs assessments, learning from past programmes and child safeguarding principles;
  • Ensuring partners are identified and appropriately engaged in programme design, linking with Operations and Awards teams as need be for assessments, especially to strengthen gender sensitivity at design stage;
  • Ensuring proposal designs and their budgets include robust MEAL plans that are aligned with the Global Results Framework, incorporate Common Approaches as relevant, and build in critical learning questions.
  • Working with the finance and operations teams to ensure the project budget will enable the project to be delivered as designed.
  • Incorporating child and community participation into design, as relevant.

Technical Assistance and Knowledge Management:

• Ensure the country programme delivers high quality, multi-sectoral programming in development, humanitarian, and nexus contexts. This includes:
  • Monitoring and advancing technical and operational quality of programmes, including conducting regular field visits to provide feedback on quality benchmarks, soliciting inputs for design of new programmes, and collecting ideas for innovation.
  • Monitoring programme Key Performance Indicators and, in partnership with other functions, take steps to improve the quality programming platform.
  • Working closely with the DPO to ensure Quality Framework standards are met and procedures are followed throughout the project cycle and across the portfolio. 
  • Ensuring technical experts proactively and regularly communicate planned requirements for programme design, learning, and implementation.
  • Provide effective cross functional support to ensure a child rights programming approach, gender equality, disability inclusion, age appropriate and resilience considerations are reflected in programme design and implementation.
• Build and lead a team of programme technical experts needed to successfully deliver against the CSP. Ensure effective working relationships with SCI global, Member and regional technical advisors, including during emergencies, by:
  • Ensuring that programme technical experts engage in larger communities of practice within and external to Save the Children, to link with the most relevant and evidence-based approaches and conduct timely and useful review of project reports to support quality reporting for Members and donors.
  • Ensuring that the different technical sectors of the CO are coordinated, integrated and support each other to optimize programmes and projects.
  • Ensuring that child safeguarding and safe programming is embedded in programme design and considered throughout implementation to ensure that we do all we can to ensure children in our programmes are safe.
• Champion the localisation and partnership agenda to grow Save the Children’s work through and with local actors, and ensure technical support and capability building to implementing and strategic partners.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL):

• Foster and champion a culture of evidence building and learning across the organisation.
• Oversee a monitoring system that provides timely and accurate project results by embedding MEAL across programme implementation. This requires ensuring effective collaboration across MEAL staff, Technical Specialists, member Technical Advisors and programme implementation teams to develop log frames, indicators, implementation plans, quality benchmarks, M&E frameworks and related tools.
• Ensure the delivery of internal and external programme/project evaluations as per the Evaluations Essential Standard and donor requirement, and execution of baseline, and periodic research in coordination.
• Ensure our work is accountable to children and other stakeholders through the establishment and management of effective accountability mechanisms and processes.
• In collaboration with the DPO, provide leadership to use data for programme decision making, of commitment to management action to inform programme development.
• Identify, develop and oversee operational and analytical research, coordinate the publication and dissemination of results, and ensure that research informs advocacy.

Advocacy, Campaigns, Communications & Media:

• Support the CO SMT to articulate their top priority advocacy or communications objectives in line with the Country Strategic Plan.
• Ensure development of the CO communications strategy, towards donors (working with the (BDM) and other external stakeholders
• Ensure clear links and mutual reinforcement between programmatic approaches and CO communications, linking external advocacy strategies where appropriate.
• Provide overall leadership, vision, strategic direction, and management of advocacy towards national stakeholders, support the development and delivery of policy change, and advocacy strategies towards international stakeholders, and ensure that advocacy is an integral part of Save the Children’s Theory of Change and strategic planning.
• Ensure policy and advocacy coherence at local, national and global level and reinforce strong and effective synergies between programmes and advocacy to maximise Save the Children’s impact, especially ensuring evidence and best practices inform advocacy.
• Lead on the development of relevant and realistic policy change and advocacy and communications plans and coordinate their effective implementation with coalitions.

Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development:

• Develop a culture and focus on quality in the PDQ and the ACCM teams and ensure appropriate staffing, recruitment, training, and promotion of staff as appropriate.
• Ensure alignment with and compliance of directions established by SCI’s TE Transformation initiatives, including embedding the TE competency framework in TE Job Descriptions (JDs) and performance management processes.
• Manage the PDQ team through: effective use of the Performance Management System; regular evaluation of direct reports; provision of coaching, mentoring. and other developmental opportunities
• Oversee that all technical sector staff proactively build and maintain technical skills and competencies required for leading and/or advising first class programmes – both development and emergency programmes.

As a member of the Senior Management Team:

• Provide leadership, strategic vision, and direction to the oPt country programme as a member of the SMT
• Support the design and implementation of a coherent organizational structure that is consistent with agency practices and appropriate to programme needs.
• Develop an organisational culture that reflects our dual mandate values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up our people to deliver outstanding results for children and excellent customer service for our members and donors.
• Establish, maintain, and improve active and regular working relationships with: host government authorities, partner agencies including humanitarian and development donors, and local and international NGOs.
• Ensure that the oPt Country Office complies with all Save the Children Management Operating Standards and Standard Operating Procedures.
• Ensure that all required support is provided promptly, at scale and in line with the rules and principles during emergencies, working closely with the Regional Office.

General

Demonstrate leadership in relation to Save the Children policies and practice with respect to child safeguarding, bullying and harassment, code of conduct, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures.