Ireland: Programme Support Unit Coordinator 20202

Job Description

Working with the world’s poorest people to transform their lives, Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian organisation dedicated to tackling poverty and suffering in the world’s poorest countries. We work in partnership with the very poorest people in these countries, directly enabling them to improve their lives, as well as using our knowledge and experience to influence decisions made at a local, national and international level that can significantly reduce extreme poverty.

Enhancing Response to Nutrition Emergency(ERNE) Programme:

At the World Humanitarian Summit, the world's major humanitarian donors and aid organisations signed the Grand Bargain. Its main objective is to improve the way humanitarian aid is delivered by making it more effective and efficient, thereby reaching more people in need.

In line with these objectives, the ECHO is seeking to develop new and more strategic ways of working with main humanitarian partners. In this vein, the Commission selected a small number of NGO FPA partners interested in engaging in an innovative pilot programmatic partnership in the context of the Humanitarian Implementation Plans 2020.

Through the pilot programme, the Commission seeks to address the long-standing demands of humanitarian actors, including increased transparency, harmonised reporting to reduce bureaucracy and possibilities for multi-annual funding.

Concern Worldwide has been invited to develop a programme based on a selected concept note. In collaboration and support from DG-ECHO, Concern Worldwide is planning a three year pilot programme focussing on three pillars of response, preparedness and prevention of undernutrition in conflict affected countries in the Horn of Africa and Francophone Africa. The concept links emergency and development efforts incorporating equality and conflict sensitivity.

Job Title: Programme Support Unit Coordinator

Reports to: Regional Director (Horn/Francophone Africa)

Manages:A team of approxiamtely

Job location: Camden St. Dublin**

Pay Band: 7 (€68,010 to €70,842)

Contract: 3 year fixed term contract

Job Purpose: The purpose of the role of the Coordination Unit Director is to ensure the effective implementation of ERNE programme funded by DG-ECHO. This entails oversight of a coordination team that provides significant support to countries in the Horn and Francophone Africa regions. The role will also require engagement with DG-ECHO’s unit designated to support the pilot programme as well as ensuring learning from the pilot is articulated and disseminated.

Key elements of this position include

• Managing the Coordination Unit established to support the ERNE programme which will consist of a number of technical advisors – yet to be confirmed but likely to include Nutrition Advisor, M & E Coordinator, Advocacy and Comms Adviser and Compliance and Finance Manager.
• Key contact with the DG-ECHO. Consolidation of reports and carrying out calls and meetings with G finance and programmes (in conjunction with unit members as relevant)
• Providing overall representation of consortia member agencies at the annual Learning Event.
• Ensuring compliance with requirements as set out by DG-ECHO related to the pilot programme.
• Ensuring evidence and learning from ERNE is being fed in wider Concern learning (through the SAL unit)
• Ensure effective closure of ERNE

This position requires significant travel to programme and other relevant locations.

Key Responsibilities:

General Responsibilities:

Ensure that all elements of the ERNE programme are coordinated effectively to deliver the commitments in an efficient, effective and economical manner.

Support the country programmes with representation and other areas of strategic, technical engagement as required.

Contribute to developing Concern Worldwide’s expertise in resilience work through engagement with relevant staff and groups within the organisation and external institutions.

Strategic Management:

· Developing and maintaining relationships internally between country team members and externally with relevant actors.

· Strategically managing ERNE programme to identify opportunities for increasing impact of the programme approach;

· Representing and communicating ERNE programme initiatives to relevant stakeholders.

· Coordinating knowledge sharing events, advocacy initiatives and learning.

Coordination Unit Management

The Coordination Unit Director manages all staff employed in this Unit as well as having a dotted line to the focal points for each Concern country programme participating in ERNE. Key tasks;

· Managing, supervising and supporting the Coordination Unit to ensure that the team fulfil its responsibilities.

· Meeting with country teams in the field, carrying out regular field visits to locations to check progress of activities and expenditure against plan

· Support the teams to host ECHO field visits as required.

· Reporting and making presentations to the country team members on activities and on opportunities to increase the added value of the programme approach.

· Attending appropriate coordination fora, representing both the programme at such meetings and reporting back to the relevant country teams and HQ staff on the outcomes of such meetings.

· Making recommendations to Concern on programme management procedures, systems and processes providing adequate justification. Play a key role in ensuing discussions with country team members.

· Working with headquarter and INGO networks to ensure that knowledge produced meets the pilot programme objectives and feeds in to Concern’s overall contextual learning on Grand Bargain commitments and their application.

· Undertaking other appropriate duties as required.

Finance and Donor Compliance

Assisted by the ERNE Grant Compliance Accountant supporting the country financial controllers or other designated finance staff of ERNE country programmes to assure the following finance and grant compliance activities:

· Being responsible for overall financial oversight of the programme budget and expenditure.

· Ensuring that compliance requirements of donor agreements are adhered to amongst the country teams.

· Ensuring development and implementation of work and expenditure plans and ensure that programmes are implemented within agreed and approved budgets through undertaking regular budget monitoring of expenditure against budget.

· Ensuring that internal and donor financial reports are submitted in a timely manner and up to high quality standard.

· Supporting Concern Worldwide in conducting internal and external audits of the ERNE Programme.

· Ensuring implementation of recommendations from due diligence assessments and continuous monitoring to ensure controls and risk mitigation measures are in place.

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)

Assisted by the Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator supporting the coordination of monitoring and evaluation of the ERNE Programme:

· Ensure adherence to monitoring and evaluation guidelines, frameworks and indicators for the ERNE programme and provide technical support to embed M&E and accountability in programme implementation.

· In coordination with programme country members, ensure and enhance primary stakeholder ownership of the programme via community participation and consultation and use of participatory approaches in M&E.

· Communicate widely amongst country team and externally, best practice developed through implementation, based on evidence.

· In consultation with relevant Consortia member agencies’ technical staff, ensuring that monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tools are applied consistently by all members; that there is effective M&E of all BRACED Consortia Programme activities, and that M&E reports are regularly sent to consortia members and relevant external funding agencies as appropriate.

Advocacy, Communications and Visibility

Assisted by the ERNE Advocacy and Communications Adviser, the Coordination Unit Director is responsible for coordinating advocacy, communication and visibility activities of the ERNE Programme including:

· Feeding into the Concern website.

· Producing briefing papers, press releases and other publications which are approved for wider dissemination to influence practice and policy in the sector and promote the work of the programme.

· Ensuring that high quality translations of documents are produced where required.

· Ensuring that documents produced for external advocacy, communication and visibility purposes are approved by individual country teams prior to dissemination.

· Ensuring that Concern Worldwide and ECHO identity is clearly identified on all documents for public consumption.

Accountability

· The Coordination Unit Director is responsible for coordinating and documenting accountability activities agreed by the ERNE country teams and tracking progress against the programme accountability framework.

Training and Capacity building

· Identifying training needs of staff recruited to support the ERNE programme.

· Planning, and where appropriate, providing interventions to meet the identified training needs.

Skills and Experience Required:

Essential:

· Appropriate qualification at Master’s degree level, such as public management, development administration or a relevant social science. A background in emergency, nutrition and integrated programme, policy related programming and working in similar contexts are desired and a distinct advantage for candidates.

· Proven experience (at least 5 years) in senior programme management and leadership positions working with national governments, INGO’s, NGOs, CBOs, parastatal organisations, other civil society groups and the private sector.

· Experience of working with major international donors, particularly ECHO.

· Excellent written and spoken English and French languages skills.

· Strong analytical, interpersonal, communication and organisation skills.

· Strong coordination skills specifically with the ability to effectively coordinate among between country teams.

· Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with senior representatives of donor, INGO and Government structures and to represent the coordination unit at national or international level fora

· Thorough understanding of gender, equality and protection issues.

· Strong experience of financial management and donor compliance processes.

· Experience in the design and use of monitoring and evaluation systems.

· Experience of working in or managing complex programmes and models of working.

· Knowledge of the key tools used by donor agencies, such as logical frame works, results chains, theories of change, results-based management and financial administration systems

Desirable:

· An understanding of accountability as applied within humanitarian and development programming.

· An understanding of programme participant protection policies and international humanitarian standards and how to apply these across a range of international actors.

To apply: CVs should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date:

Candidates must be legally entitled to work in Ireland at the time of application.

Concern is an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all section of the community.

Concern has an organisational Code of Conduct (CCoC) with three Associated Policies; the Programme Participant Protection Policy (P4), the Child Safeguarding Policy and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Policy. These have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation, and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organisation, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context, staff have a responsibility to the organisation to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Concern Code of Conduct and Associated Policies as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the content of both the Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies.

Your Personal Data

During this job application, you will provide Concern with your personal data. Concern takes its responsibilities towards this personal data very seriously and is committed to complying with all relevant data protection legislation.

Concern receives a substantial amount of funding from external donors each year. Increasingly donors are introducing requirements whereby future funding is conditional on ensuring that the name of any employee or volunteer (existing or new), does not appear on terrorism lists generated by the European Union (List of person, groups and entities to which Regulation (EC No. 2580/2001 applies), the US Government (Office of Foreign Assets Control list of specially designated Nationals and Blocked Persons) and the United Nations (Consolidated List).

Any offer of employment (either paid or voluntary) with Concern Worldwide will only be made following a successful clearance check being conducted on the applicant and such checks may be updated periodically during the course of the period of employment.

By submitting a formal application for paid or voluntary employment to Concern, you agree to Concern carrying out a clearance check as outlined above and that Concern will not proceed to recruit you should your name appear on any of the aforementioned lists

In certain circumstances, donors may request that personal data relating to employees to work on the activities that they fund be provided directly to them - so that they can perform their own counter terrorism checks. This may involve transferring some basic personal data outside the EEA. It will be a condition of your employment contract that Concern be allowed to share this information with institutional donors for these purposes.

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Please only apply for this position if you are satisfied with the proposed processing of your personal data as outlined above.

CVs should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date: