Program Officer, Humanitarian Training

JOB TITLE: Program Officer, Humanitarian Training

REPORTS TO: Program Manager, Humanitarian Training

Exact Job Location: Chicago or New York, US

Contract Length: 12 months

About Concern Worldwide:

Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian organization committed to the relief, assistance and advancement of the poorest people in the least developed countries of the world. Founded in Ireland in 1968, Concern Worldwide has nearly 4,000 personnel working in 23 countries across the globe. Concern believes in a world where no one lives in fear; where all have access to a decent standard of living and the opportunities essential to a long, healthy and creative life. Our mission is to help people living in absolute poverty achieve major improvements in their lives, improvements that are sustainable without ongoing support from Concern.**

Concern envisions a world where no one lives in poverty, fear, or oppression where everyone can exercise their rights to a decent standard of living with equal access to opportunities. We believe in creating a culture of inclusion where everyone feels empowered to bring their full, authentic selves to the workplace. Building a diverse and inclusive team is an absolute necessity to deliver the solutions needed to achieve our core mission, because without promoting justice and equality, we cannot eliminate extreme poverty.

Concern Worldwide US (CUS) is an independent affiliate of Concern Worldwide, with offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. CUS advances the Concern Worldwide mission through mobilizing financial and human resources, as well as influencing and activating networks in the US to elevate programs globally.

Position Background:

The Program Officer, Humanitarian Training will be a new and integral member of Concern’s Programs Team. Working in the Humanitarian Training Unit with the Vice President of Programs, Program Manager, Humanitarian Training, and Program Officer dedicated to NNPHL, this position will support the implementation and expansion of a growing collection of Concern’s humanitarian capacity building programs. Specifically, the Program Officer, Humanitarian Training will work directly under two such USAID funded programs: National NGO Program on Humanitarian Leadership (NNPHL) and the Building a Better Response Project (BBR).

The background for these programs is as follows:

With funding from USAID, Concern, in consortium with Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) and International Medical Corps (IMC), developed the National NGO Program on Humanitarian Leadership (NNPHL) in 2016. Now in its fifth year, NNPHL is a well-regarded training program that offers learning on humanitarian leadership, management, and topical issues critical to advancing humanitarian principles and alleviating suffering. Led by Concern, the NNPHL partners work together to ensure that quality leadership development opportunities are available for a wide range of humanitarians, with particular emphasis on national level staff working at national NGOs, gender balance, and regional representation. NNPHL has grown in scope and depth over the years by building on lessons learned, ultimately creating a world class leadership program for humanitarian professionals

and reaching more than 3,650 learners throughout the world, including both blended learning participants and online learners. Additional information on the program can be found here: https://www.concernusa.org/nnphl.

Through a comprehensive e-learning coupled with remote and in-person workshops, the Building a Better Response Project (BBR) aims to build the capacity of NGO personnel, and other humanitarian actors, to engage with the international humanitarian coordination system in a manner that improves overall coordination and response to the needs of affected populations. The project, now in its eight year, is implemented by a consortium led by International Medical Corps, along with Concern and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, with funding from USAID. To date the program has reached over 70,000 humanitarians and has held over 90 trainings in 46 countries. Additional information on the program can be found here: www.buildingabetterresponse.org.

MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

Workshop Management & Logistics

· Work in collaboration with Program Officer to manage program communications for NNPHL participant cohorts, ensuring that program participants are well-informed on learning objectives, course requirements, assignments, workshops, coaching, and other relevant program information.

· Lead on the planning, administration, and logistics for upcoming BBR and NNPHL remote and in-person trainings (e.g. travel and venue logistics, participant support, etc.). This includes on-site logistics for week-long NNPHL leadership training courses.

· Serve as the primary contact for all on-site workshop logistics, including venue staff, and other workshop related vendors; and provide onsite troubleshooting for the participants and support the instructors when needed.

Program Coordination

· Work extensively with Program Manager and consortia partners to ensure that all NNPHL and BBR program deliverables are met.

· With support from the Program Manager, coordinate the application and selection processes for the NNPHL Leadership Training and BBR workshop applicants.

· In collaboration with the Program Officer, adapt and disseminate program documents for each NNPHL and BBR participant cohort (e.g., Participant Handbook, Syllabus, Welcome and Logistics Note, Coaching Handbook, Participant Bios, etc.).

· Manage the coaching and final assignments for the NNPHL program cohorts. This includes coaching recruitment, orientation, updating and maintaining related program documents, following-up with program participants on their progress, managing submissions/filing and documenting final assignment topics, and providing administrative support to the participants.

Curriculum Development

· Working closely with the NNPHL partners, contribute to NNPHL Leadership Training curriculum design and development, particularly shifts in curriculum design and programming due the global pandemic.

· Liaise with HHI on the dissemination of curriculum changes, and support HHI with coordinating Curriculum Development meetings.

Administration and Finance (including reporting)

· In collaboration with the Program Manager and Program Officer, lead on the development of donor reporting; submit quarterly and bi-annual USAID Narrative and Financial reports.

· Manage program and grant data, including monitoring and submission of NNPHL and BBR training data for USAID’s TraiNet as well as the management of all current and alumni participant data and information.

· Working with the organization’s web management vendor, lead on the NNPHL Online Course web administration, maintenance, and updates.

· Provide ad-hoc administration support to the organization’s Programs Team and other projects as needed.

Communications

· Collaborate with NNPHL partners on organizing and maintaining external program documents (e.g. ensuring the program updates are posted on the NNPHL website, developing NNPHL brochure and outreach documents as well as internal stakeholder documents (e.g. managing the NNPHL files).

· Working closely with the Program Manager, launch an NNPHL Annual Report, update the program brochure bi-annually, and adapt the NNPHL Operations Manual.

**

· Support the development of the quarterly NNPHL Alumni newsletter and NNPHL “Humanitarian Voices” blog series, working closely with participants and Concern’s Communications Team to document and disseminate stories.

QUALIFICATIONS:

ESSENTIAL

· 3+ years of experience working for an international or domestic NGO.

· Demonstrated 3+ years of project administration and coordination experience, preferably in the humanitarian sector.

· Proven track record of supporting multi-partner projects.

· Experience implementing capacity strengthening programs.

· Excellent communication and writing skills with a demonstrated ability to write compelling proposals and reports.

· Must be detail oriented with excellent time management and organizational skills.

· Must have the ability to work well under pressure in order to meet multiple, competing deadlines.

· Must possess strong emotional intelligence and able to manage competing interests and ideas

· Must be culturally sensitive and able to work with cohorts of participants from around the world

· Possess energy, initiative, and flexible approach to work, including with the willingness to travel internationally and domestically (approximately 20%).

· Strong commitment to Concern’s mission and values.

· Position to be based in either of Concern’s New York City or Chicago offices, but open to being remote from elsewhere temporarily.

· Candidate must have eligibility to work in the US at time of hire

DESIRABLE

· Undergraduate degree in Humanitarian Assistance, International Development, or other relevant discipline.

· Previous work experience overseas with an international or national NGO and knowledge of the humanitarian sector.

· Experience participating in, coordinating, or supporting blended learning programs (i.e. in-person and distance learning).

· Experience with website development and management, specifically on WordPress.

· Graphic design experience and competency.

· Familiarity with collecting and analyzing program data.

· Familiarity with US Government donor relations and compliance, particularly USAID/BHA.