Head of Programmes – Based in North East Syria

Head of Programmes – Based in North East Syria

The Organisation
Save the Children is the leading global independent Organisation for children. Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children’s unique needs are met, and their voices are heard. We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach.

The Opportunity
The Head of Program Quality will be responsible for program development and quality benchmark across North East Syria area office, She/He leads the program managers in designing high quality program and ensuring that there is standard programming across all the three field offices as well as areas of expansion, will be responsible for making sure that all standard tools, SoPs are in place. She/He will also ensure that there is proper program integration across the different sectors right from the program design stage. The post holder will also support the capacity development efforts of national NGO partners to ensure quality delivery of programming.

He/She will work to ensure that program design is align with the Syria response Office as well as NES area office strategic plan and support in giving strategic direction on program direction for the NES office.

The post holder will play a strategic role in leading the effective scale up and management of Save the Children emergency and recovery programmes in NE Syria through the program managers to increase impact and enable positive change for children.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

As a member of the Core Management Team, contribute to:
* Contribute the strategic discussions to improve program design, direction, and quality implementation.
* In close working relationship with the Head of Office, develop NES area office program strategy and provide guidance on the key priority areas for funding through proper gap analysis.
* Support the Head of Office in advising and informing in order to prioritize response sectors or funding where this is limited, in line with SCI Global Humanitarian, Syria Response Office, and SCI NES strategy.
* Feed into the Syria Response Office strategy by leading the Child Rights Situational Analysis process in the NES Area Office.
* Lead the development of an organisational culture that reflects our full spectrum mandate and values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, and ensures teams are adequately supported to deliver quality programmes for children.
* With the Human Resources Manager and Head of Program Operations, develop and follow through clear capacity building plan for the national staffs with clear vision of having national staffs take on more responsibilities.
* As requested, lead the area CMT meeting and give direction to the team during the absence of Head of Office.

Planning
* Lead in the development of proposal with the Technical Specialists with the support of Head of Program Operations and Area Managers for quality and alignment with NES Strategy and overall SRO CSP.
* Lead in the area office program context understanding, needs assessments and cross-cutting sections of proposals and reports in the Area Office.
* With the Technical Specialists, review reports from the Area Managers and sectoral Managers/ Coordinators to ensure the accuracy of reporting and sign off on Area Office reports before sending them to Main Office.
* Develop a close working relationship with the Head of Program Operations and the implementation team to improve program quality, integration, and standardization across the Area Office.
* Ensure gender sensitivity, conflict sensitivity, and safe programming is integrated into all proposals developed by the Area Office.
* Support efforts to identify, assess, develop capacity, and monitor partners.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES
* Lead the Technical Specialists on the understanding of the need for and capacity to support fundraising and targeted programming.
* Ensure quality programmes design and the monitoring of this through regular site visits by the Technical Specialists and measuring deliverables against set standards.
* In close collaboration with the Head of Program Operations and Area Managers, lead in putting across Save the Children program ideas to the different Working Groups and Task Forces.
* Participate in NES Forum and Working Group meetings and represent Save the Children, whenever requested, and understand the dynamics within the North East Syria Area Office.
* Ensure that MEAL processes are in place and in compliance with SC MEAL benchmarks and MEAL is integrated into every program design and development as well as lead in providing quality data analysis.
* Lead in making sure that program teams work with MEAL teams to ensure Technical Specialists understand the MEAL requirements and feed into the program design and implementation.
* In designing programs, ensure that the core humanitarian standards and humanitarian principles are maintained.
* Ensure that SC members and SC Technical Working Groups are kept informed of program direction and gaps and seek technical support as required.
* Develop and implement the plan with program teams to ensure minimum standards of partnerships are being met.
* Take initiative in ensuring the documentation of lessons learnt, best practices, and case studies to shape in-country strategies and programme approaches, and contribute to broader sector learning.
* Help shape broader sector strategies through the influence of and leadership within inter-agency coordination forums, ensuring the specific needs of children are being addressed. This may involve representing Save the Children at different levels.
* Lead on NES Area Office organizational level programme policy, innovation, learning, or representation initiatives in consultation with relevant internal stakeholders.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Essential
* Five years experience working in a management role within a complex country programme in an emergency response or fragile state
* Previous experience of managing programme teams in complex contexts
* Masters degree in a relevant subject
* Experience in managing multi-donor, multi-location programmes
* Demonstrated ability to set up monitoring & evaluation systems in large complex programmes.
* Demonstrated ability to set up learning and development processes for a large team
* Proven ability of mentoring and coaching
* Experience in senior-level representation
* Experience in developing and negotiating successful partnerships with institutional donors
* Ability to write clear and well-argued assessment and project reports
* Proven ability to influence change at an operational and strategic level
* Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, and diplomacy
* A high level of written and spoken English
* The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.
* Commitment to the aims and principles of SC, in particular, a good understanding of the SC mandate and child focus and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support.

Desirable
* Language skills in Kurdish or Arabic is an advantage.
* Experience or knowledge of working and living in relevant regions/contexts.