Background
Center for Education and Development (CED) is a Non-Governmental, non-profit and non-political humanitarian and Development Organization established in 1992 with the main of advancement in education, humanitarian aid delivery and developmental programs in Somalia. CED works with vulnerable communities in order to eradicate illiteracy, insecurity, poverty, injustice and inequality. Its main areas of interventions include but not limited to education, emergency relief, livelihood, food security, agricultural support, Water and Sanitation,(WASH) Nutrition, Peace building, governance, capacity building, environmental protection and women and youth development. CED has implemented projects funded by various partners including Oxfam Novib and its affiliates, UNHCR, UNDP, UNICEF, WFP, UNOCHA, FAO, and CARE International among others. Most of CED’s projects were implemented in Banadir Region (Mogadishu), Lower & Middle Shabelle, Galgaduud and Mudug regions of South-Central Somalia.
CED seeks to recruit a qualified Director of Programs Development and Operations.
Job Description
Director of Programs Development & Operations
Location: Mogadishu, Somalia
Internal Relationships: Centre for Education and Development (CED) Executive Director, Program team, Support Unit (Finance, Admin, HR and communications) & other relevant internal stakeholders.
External Relationships: Donors, government agencies, partners & other stakeholders.
General Responsibilities
The Director of Programs Development & Operations under the direction and supervision of the Executive Director is expected to manage, lead and shape a vision for the organization by aligning the strategies, implement the aligned country strategy to provide quality program management; policy and advocacy work as well as lead on other organizational systems to drive the needed change agenda at the national level.
The Director of Programs & Operations will be responsible for overall leadership in planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring, evaluation, proposal writings, and preparation of budgets, narrative reporting and financial accounting for both CED and donors in appropriate formats. The Director of Programs & Operations will be responsible for coordinating different programs and ensuring program quality. The Director of Programs & Operations will be based in Mogadishu, Somalia with frequent travel to Kenya.
Specific Responsibilities
Organisational and Corporate Development
- Implement and further develop organization's vision, mission, philosophy and principles in line with agreed strategies and organisational priorities.
- Actively contribute to organization’s development as a local, regional and an international organisation.
- Maintain regular communication with the Executive Director and across other staff of the organization as appropriate.
- Provide inputs to corporate activities as and when required, including participation on task forces, training courses and conferences.
Humanitarian Analysis, Programme Development and Implementation
- Responsible for the production of concept papers, proposals and reports for all new and ongoing projects according to the strategy.
- Monitor and analyze the evolving humanitarian and development context in the Horn of Africa and present updates to the Executive Director at agreed meetings.
- Lead and direct the work of the organization in accordance with sound management practice and the organization’s development policies and accountability systems.
- Ensure that the organization has a well balanced, well documented and cost effective programme.
- Develop the staffs’ capacity to document, disseminate and learn from development work and ensure all reporting is of the highest standard.
- Manage and encourage co-operative relationships established with various specialist institutions and ensure that these joint initiatives conform to programme objectives.
- Ensure all programme activities are sensitive to and responsive to changes in the political, social, and economic environments.
Financial Management & Control
- Ensure that the control of expenditure and the disbursement of resources are in accordance with established procedures and maintain the financial and legal integrity of the organisation.
- Provide progress and financial reports as required by the donors and organization’s accountability procedures and as required by other organisations.
Human Resource Development & Management
- Maintain effective and appropriate staff recruitment, induction, appraisal, remuneration and development practice at all levels to ensure the optimum utilisation and development of its human resources.
- Manage senior management staff. Ensure a high calibre of staff is recruited while promoting affirmative action within the organisation in favour of women.
- Encourage a corporate perspective amongst staff and actively promote staff exchange, secondment and development schemes, where these contribute to the meeting of the organization’s programme objectives and priorities.
Relationship with other stakeholders
- Ensure that the organization operates within the terms and conditions of all legal agreements with the key stakeholders like the Somali National Government.
- Establish, develop and maintain excellent working relationships with all stakeholders including the respective Government as well as other development partners at all levels.
- Representation of the organization at key clusters coordination meetings in Nairobi and also in Mogadishu. This includes among others, the Somali Support Secretariat meeting, field level coordination meetings in Mogadishu etc.
- Ensure maximum visibility of the agency amongst the NGO community
- Contribute to the creation of a positive image and overall credibility of the organization, notably through the application of the organizations Code of Conduct, ethics, values and stand-point with regard to internal and external actors
Local and External Fundraising, Reporting & Liaison with Donors
- Responsible for the collection and dissemination of information and communication strategy of CED, advocacy activities, donor liaising and fund-raising
- Responsible for the external monitoring of all CED project (to Donors, partners and authorities if required)
- Responsible for internal monitoring of all CED projects.
- Preparation and coordination of CED sitrep, weekly, monthly and quarterly reports while ensuring follow-up and adherence to humanitarian standards.
- Ensure a regular flow of information is available to the funding departments and to donors and official funders as required by the various funding mechanisms.
- Establish and develop working relationships with key donors and actively develop local funding sources appropriate to its resource needs.
- Participate in donor meetings and communicate relevant information to the Executive Director
- Represent CED in donor, partner and cluster meetings as agreed with ED.
- Work with key donor staff to develop and maintain optimum financial and programmatic relationship
Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation
- Encourage the development of appropriate research with a view to improving the quality of field work and influencing changes in policy to improve the quality of life for the poor.
- Develop and apply a sound project/program monitoring and evaluation system/tools and ensure that the program progress (activities and outputs), results and immediate objectives (outcomes) and impacts are systematically tracked, documented and shared on the basis of CED and donors’ requirements.
- Coordinate all assessments, monitoring and evaluation work in close coordination with the Communication and Reporting Officer & M & E Officer
- Collect and collate all program reports, lessons learned, good practices and success stories in collaboration with the Communication and Reporting Officer and M & E as well as the program team on regular basis.
Emergency PreparednessDevelop and maintain appropriate contingency plans for all kinds of emergencies. Such plans to be presented for approval of the supervisor for inclusion in corporate emergency response mechanisms.
Other RequirementsCarryout other assignments as requested by the Executive Director
Qualification and Experiences
- A minimum of 7 Years experience in humanitarian work both in emergency and development program.
- Post-graduate degree in social sciences, development studies, agricultural economics, international relations, project planning or any other related field.
- Comprehensive knowledge and working experience with key Donors (ECHO, USAID, DFID and other donors).
- Understanding of relevant humanitarian and development policy issues.
- Strategic management and direction of large scale projects including implementation, management, monitoring & evaluation, risk assessment & mitigation and contract compliance.
- Strong skills in writing proposals, concept notes, narrative and financial reports, and development of program frameworks.
- Ability to demonstrate confident representation skills, proven coordination, influencing and negotiation skills, excellent teamwork skills and the ability to build good relations with both internal and external audience.
- Self-directed, independent worker who takes initiative and is able to create systems and processes to support the inherent duties of this position.
- Flexibility and poise in dealing with a very diverse range of individuals and organizations, including but not limited to the local community, local authorities and other organizations working in the area.
- Good communication skills and ability to prioritize tasks.
Language Skills
- Excellent written and spoken English
General Skills
- Excellent good proposal and report writing skills
- Exceptional communication skills
- Excellent training / facilitation and capacity building skills.
- Excellent negotiation and problem solving skills
- Good team management skills
- Good planning and analytical capacities
- Good Research skills
- Able to sit at a computer for extended periods of time
- Ability to travel frequently to project sites.
- Ability to work under pressure and extreme time constraints.
- Excellent communication and supervisory skills.
Contract period: one year, with possibility of renewal
How to apply:
Kindly submit your application and detailed CV. Each application package will include the following:
- Cover letter with the applicants current contact information
- CV including work experience and education
- Copies of Certificates
- Three referees with their complete contact information
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted and invited for interviews and tests.
All applications should be sent to Abdullahi Ali Hassan, Abdullahi.ali@cedafrica.org and copied toced.somalia@gmail.com with the subject of the e-mail marked “Director of Programs Development & Operations”