Programme Manager - Concern Worldwide

Concern Worldwide is an international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world's poorest countries. We believe in a world where no-one lives in poverty, fear or oppression; where all have  access to a decent standard of living and the opportunities and choices essential to a long, healthy and creative life; a world where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

Concern Worldwide, Bangladesh is looking for a suitable candidate for the following position:

Job Purpose: S/he is the strategic and operational lead of Improving the Lives of Urban Extreme Poor (ILUEP) that encompasses management of this large multi-sectoral complex programme to deliver the results including management of donor grants, diversified partnership, leading the advocacy, private sector engagement, equality and VAWG components to address extreme poverty in urban areas. The successful candidate will report to the Head of Urban Program on a day-to-day basis.

Major Areas of Responsibility:

Develop urban multi-sectoral programming strategy:

• Conduct and update urban contextual analysis as and when required capturing the poverty dynamics of urban extreme poor with particular focus on livelihoods, nutrition, resilience and issues around rights and entitlements.
• Lead the process of identifying potential gaps in govt. provisions and systems through systematic research in collaboration with advocacy and research partners.
• Ensure that effective linkages with relevant Govt. stakeholders, City Corporations and strategic networks are established and maintained to ensure influence at policy levels.
• Networking with relevant donors, development actors in preparing and submission of high quality funding proposals in line with donor policy and procedures, as well as adhering to Concern's organizational Project Cycle Management system (PCM).
• Engaging with Senior Management on major organisational advocacy issues, ensuring leadership and support for key strategic campaigns.
• Proactive engagement in design and carry out situation assessment of urban programing in order to provide knowledge input in new program designing.

Ensure strategic guidance and support to the programme team and partners:

• Ensuring that each member of the team fully understands the programme vision and outcomes that are expected of them and are fully aware of the success criteria.
• Ensuring that detailed project implementation plan is developed, implemented and reviewed jointly with the partners and delivered timely and effectively ensuring the sustainability of programme interventions.
• Facilitate effective coordination and joint planning between all partners towards achieving objective of the ILUEP programme.
• Ensuring that staff are adequately trained and developed for their roles e.g. by analysing staff training needs, organising the delivery of training or coaching, coordinating and sharing of experience.
• Provide leadership and strategic guidance and support to the implementing and advocacy partners to ensure effective and efficient accomplishment of programme objectives.
• Establish and maintain networking relationship with key external urban stakeholders and forum/platforms and bring complementary benefit to project deliverables and expected impacts.
• Guide Concern and partners staff to effectively engage with market opportunities, private sector to create employment opportunities. Provide necessary guidance in developing engagement strategy with relevant market actors and private sector to ensure project participants are effectively linked with better income opportunities.
• Ensure successful and effective integration of gender transformative approach & strategy across the project through necessary capacity building and bring necessary change in implementation design.
• Facilitate in designing and implementing the national level advocacy plan including initiatives like campaigns, conferences, dialogues, day observations, etc. in collaboration with relevant partners and put forward the key messages to the policy platforms.
• Develop constructive relationship with political and social leaders to develop pragmatic strategies of securing potential supports and for strengthening the voices of urban poor communities.

Ensure optimal use of financial, human and material resources within Concern work; in a transparent and accountable manner consistent with Concern's systems and procedures delivering quality results and demonstrating value for money:

• Ensure required programme budgets, HR and physical resource planning are in place for all programme interventions within ILUEP.
• Ensure that Concern Worldwide administrative, financial and resource management policies are understood, implemented and followed by all program staff and partners working for ILUEP programme.
• Ensure regular programme progress reviews, budget utilization – identify and address variance between plans and budget utilization.
• Ensure timely preparation of high quality reports for donors and senior management on project deliverables and outcomes.
• Provide guidance and facilitate partners on innovative approaches of local level fund raising to ensure long term sustainability of Pavement Dweller Centres beyond programme period.

Ensure that a robust monitoring and evaluation system and framework is in place to critically analyse programme achievements:

• Ensuring effective monitoring and evaluation frameworks are in place ensuring continual actions for learning and improvement.
• Ensure the project evaluation and annual outcome monitoring process are completed and guide team with specific action plan to address recommendations of different evaluation & monitoring process.
• Ensure effective use of robust monitoring process across the partners & Concern and produce periodical reports on output level monitoring process as per project plan. Proactively initiate and support engagement of national/international research institutions to carry out research planned under ILUEP programme. 
• Ensure organisational cross cutting themes and approaches are considered and applied within the programme.
• Take the lead to actively engage with other urban programmes of Concern Worldwide to leverage complementarity of gains from similar interventions carried out by other urban programmes of Concern Worldwide.
• Take the lead in production of high quality programme documents, reports, publications capturing the best learning, and these documents are circulated among wider communities. 

Accountability 

• In line with Concern's commitments under the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS): 
• actively promote meaningful community participation and consultation at all stages of the project cycle (planning, implementation, M&E); 
• work with partner NGOs and relevant colleagues  to ensure that the Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) is functional and accessible, that feedback and complaints are welcomed and addressed; 
• Work with relevant colleagues to ensure that information about CRM, safeguarding and expected staff behaviour is disseminated among programme participants and communities. 
• Ensure necessary periodical capacity building of staff and effective safeguarding system in place across the project as per standard & policies of Concern.

Key Requirements:

Education and Aptitude:

• Master's Degree in Development Studies, Social Science or any other relevant discipline from reputed universities in country or from abroad.

Job related experience and knowledge -

Key competencies:

• At least 10 years progressively responsible professional work experience at senior level in programme designing, management, monitoring and evaluation within a development organisation/NGO
• Demonstrated experience of managing complex and large multi-sectoral donor supported programme.
• Proven ability to conceptualize, develop and deliver large livelihood programmes in Bangladesh through a senior, diverse team of programme and technical professionals.
• Experience of effective donor grant and financial management.
• Experienced in programme monitoring & evaluation and leading advocacy at various levels.
• Proven ability to build capacity of partner NGOs and local government.
• Experience of maintaining liaison/advocacy with different ministries and govt. departments.
• Knowledge and experience of engaging with private sectors, micro-enterprise/business development for benefitting the extreme poor in urban context will be an added advantage.
• Proven knowledge and practical work experience on safeguarding requirements and process in long development program 
• Demonstrated experience of working in urban humanitarian response and recovery work

"Concern Worldwide is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, sexual orientation,​​ religious belief or ethnic background, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organisation. This is an organization against all forms of discriminations and unequal power relations, committed to promote the rights of all. As part of diversification and inclusion, Concern Worldwide strongly encourages females, transgender people and persons with disabilities to apply"

If you feel that your qualification and experience matches with our requirements, and you have a shared commitment to Concern's values, please email the completed Job Application Form, your updated CV with photograph, NID and TIN Certificate to [email protected].

Please mark the position applied in the email subject line.

Closing Date of Application: 27 December 2021

(Notice: Due to the urgent requirement to fill in the position, we are also reviewing applications on a rolling basis within the mentioned period. If you consider yourself suitable, please apply at your earliest. Selected candidates will need to join within a short notice.)

Concern Code of Conduct and its Associated Safeguarding Policies

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 Staff 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 Concern Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies. Additionally, Concern is committed to the safeguarding and protection of vulnerable adults and children in our work. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable adults and children are recruited by us for such roles. Subsequently, working or volunteering with Concern is subject to a range of vetting checks, including criminal background checking