Regional Programme Development Director

SOS Children’s Villages International is the umbrella organisation for the global federation of SOS Children’s Villages. As a non-governmental social development organisation, we support children without parental care and families in difficult living conditions through services in care, education, health and emergency relief, and we advocate for the rights of children and young people, in alliance with a great diversity of partners. We work in 135 countries and territories, reaching over one million children, young people, families and caregivers each year. To support us with this important responsibility we are now looking for:

Regional Programme Development Director

(F/M)

Location: Dakar

Tasks and Responsibilities

Policy, quality standards and organisational learning

• Develop, lead and support the regional programme network consisting of national, regional programme co-workers, supporting cross-national, cross-regional knowledge sharing and steering national and regional development
• Drive and monitor the implementation of federation programme policies and quality standards in Member Associations (MAs); this includes training and supporting MAs on programme related policy implementation
• Initiate and contribute to development of federation programme related policies, standards and guidelines; this includes working on regional supporting tools
• Support core-care-co-workers skills trainings (in alignment with Human Resources) and build programme capacity in MAs to enhance child development
• Ensure best-practice sharing between MAs as well as within and between regions

Programme monitoring and evaluation

• Ensure the consistent monitoring of programme quality in MAs and the consistent use of monitoring tools
• Drive the active prevention of child abuse and the implementation and use of transparent reporting systems
• Ensure management, development coordination, roll-out, operation and first level user support of international / regional programme systems and database applications in close cooperation with regional ICT
• Ensure close cooperation with MAs providing support, guidance and capacity building on programme topics
• Provide high level recommendations and quality reports to the International Office Management Team, CEO/COO/President

Research Innovation and Development

• Drive and support programme development, innovations through being propositional and finding opportunities to pilot in MAs in the region
• Support international research projects through facilitating the participation of MAs
• Oversee the programme planning process in the region for both new and existing programmes and support ongoing consolidation and prioritisation. This includes participating in programme planning workshops in MAs and consideration of best practice within and outside the region
• Develop and foster partnerships on a regional level, focusing on impact for programme work

Advocacy

• Support MAs in advocacy activities, mainly with national governments and build advocacy capacity
• Promote advocacy activities, both local and international development cooperation and monitor external regional trends
• Support cross working and synergies between the advocacy function, strategic partnerships, external communications and youth care and empowerment
• Represent SOS Children’s Villages in regional child protection fora such Joining Forces and the Regional Child Protection Working Group

People management and budget management responsibility

• Lead the team of co-workers (12) in the function in the region (Dakar and branch offices), managing the performance and ensuring development of direct reports (4)
• Manage the Head of Emergencies ensuring cohesion between Programme Development and Emergency response
• Manage the regional departmental budget ensuring monthly budget monitoring and full use of resources allocated

Regional Management

• Liaise closely with other functions at the regional level in order to guarantee adherence to organisational standards and to seek synergies wherever possible;
• As Function’s representative in the Regional Management Team, bring in the functional expert view, striving at the same time for a customer / service focussed cross-functional cooperation;
• Member of the Crisis Management Team

Requirements

• Minimum 10 years of NGO experience (particularly in West, Central and North Africa) working in managerial positions within the child protection, youth empowerment or alternative care programmes
• Minimum of 8 years of project management experience including project design, budgeting, monitoring and reporting
• Comfortable with PCM and the use of the logical frame model, results framework and/or theory of change approaches
• Good communication and diplomacy skills with a strong ability to persuade and influence client and stakeholder relationships
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Office tools and use of databases
• Must have excellent knowledge (written and spoken) of French and English
• Demonstrable experience and capability to manage projects autonomously.
• Ability to establish strong working relationships with local and international other stakeholders.
• Experience in working in a multicultural environment, with colleagues based remotely and to handle change
• Adherence to SOS Children’s Villages values: courage, trust, integrity and commitment
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally within the region at short notice

We offer

· Diverse, creative and challenging opportunities in an international working environment

· Possibility to make significant contribution towards the development of Member Associations in the Region

· Competitive compensation package and excellent development opportunities

In accordance with the organisation’s child protection policy, all employment is subject to applicable background checks, including criminal record checks

What We Stand For:

SOS Children’s Villages is committed to creating and maintaining a caring and protective environment, which promotes its core values, and prevents and addresses child abuse and exploitation. We strongly condemn all forms of child abuse and exploitation, be it within or outside of our organization, and always respond to any case of proven, alleged or attempted abuse within our sphere of influence according to its nature. Efforts ensure that mechanisms are in place to raise awareness, aid prevention, encourage reporting and ease response. They range from human resource development actions such as training and counselling to measures such as suspension, dismissal, and legal action.