Programme Development Manager

Job Title: Programme Development Manager

Department: Programming

Division: Programme Development

Duty Station: Erbil

Line Manager: Head of Programme

Line Management Responsibility: Program Development Officers Assistant and MEL coordinator

Position Type: Full-time

ABOUT US

Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) is a dynamic, international non-governmental organization. We work to reduce and prevent violence and protect civilians in countries affected by violent conflict and its aftermath through the implementation of unarmed civilian protection programming. NP implements programming through the deployment of civilian protection teams to the field and is continuing to scale up to meet the growing needs of the communities we serve. Programming is founded on Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) and is thematically focused on protection in displacement, child protection, gender-based violence protection and communal violence reduction, social cohesion, and civic engagement.

JOB PURPOSE

The programme development and fundraising role is based on collaborative work with the Iraq programme team to develop strategy and project ideas, turn them into proposals and secure suitable donor funding. This involves facilitation of project design sessions and coordination of proposal development processes with colleagues and partners. Through this work, s/he leads on the conversion of programme concepts into feasible proposals that meet donor requirements. S/he also negotiates with donors on contract details, and ensures engagement of relevant colleagues in finance and programme departments in the review, sign-off and handover process. S/he proactively seeks new donor opportunities and helps ensure the team is kept up to date with donor trends and opportunities. Meanwhile s/he contributes to NP’s overall programme design and fundraising as a member of the programme design and fundraising team. S/he will have supervisory responsibilities of programme officers, assistant and MEL coordinator.

ABOUT YOU

We are looking for an enthusiastic and dynamic program designer and fundraiser to join our Iraq team. You will pro-actively support the team in defining strategy, designing projects, writing proposals and negotiating with donors. You will work with colleagues and partner organizations to identify concrete, viable, fundable projects, and contribute broadly to organizational growth through cross-regional collaboration and learning. You will also be responsible for liaising with donors and you will supervise the program development officers, assistant and MEL team.

The successful candidate combines creativity and innovation with a keen eye for detail and accuracy. S/he is experienced and skilled at converting program concepts into feasible proposals that meet donor requirements, and at staying up to date with donor trends, opportunities and special interests. S/he is knowledgeable about protection, conflict reduction and peacebuilding. S/he has excellent writing skills and a flair for grasping key ideas and actions through a combination of desk research and consultation and discussion with colleagues and partners. S/he has also worked in the field thus can draw on personal implementation and monitoring and evaluation experiences in designing new projects.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Programme Development Management/ Fundraising strategy

• Responsible for the overall planning and implementation of the programme development and fundraising strategy for the country programme,
• Proactively maintain an overview on donors and inform colleagues as necessary on specific funding opportunities appropriate for NP, and on changes in donor strategy or rules and guidelines.
• Advise on decisions about which project ideas to submit for specific funding opportunities.
• Stay alert to funding opportunities other than direct grants from donors, e.g. as a sub grantee or consortium member.
• Coordinate the production of finalised proposals with the programme team
• Serve as the lead writer, contributing and soliciting ideas, text, editing and budget design to the programme proposals being created, and package them to meet the specific needs of different donors.
• Submit concept papers and proposals to donors, and follow-up with the donors on a continuous basis to monitor progress and to answer questions and provide amendments as necessary.
• Conduct and assist in the negotiations of donor contracts – within parameters agreed with the Head of Mission, Finance Manager and Head of Programme, and ensuring that costs including overheads are recovered, that NP systems are capable of generating the compliance information required by the contract, and that NP’s best interests are represented.
• Help programme colleagues ensure that all project costs are included in budgets and funded – where necessary by submitting proposals to more than one donor.
• Inform NP’s global fundraising team about fundraising plans within Iraq to coordinate opportunities for cooperation globally and avoid confusion on the part of donors.
• Actively contribute to identify advocacy strategies and opportunities with the rest of the program team to effectively be communicated to donor community.

Grants Management

• Maintain orderly files, and involve all internal stakeholders in communications on fundraising issues.
• Prepare a hand-over file for programmes and finance staff following the successful negotiation of donor contracts, ensuring that salient information regarding grant management is clearly flagged and communicated, and that all relevant paperwork is made available. Lead Grant Inception meetings with the Country Team and HQ.
• Provide support to programmes in interpreting the terms of, and in re-negotiating ongoing donor contracts when requested.
• Responsible for reviewing and approval of all formal donor reports, narrative and financial, ensuring high quality and compliance with reporting guidelines.
• Trigger budget revisions and payment requests as and when needed, in coordination with the Finance Team and Budget Holders.
• Coordinate closely with the MEL Team to ensure project evaluations are carried out in accordance with agreed timelines and ToRs, and to ensure lessons learnt are incorporated into ongoing and future programme development as much as possible.
• Be responsive to the leadership provided by the Head of Mission and the Head of Programmes and play a proactive role as a member of the fund-raising team, working on specific tasks and internal projects as agreed.

Personnel Management

• Serve as line manager for the Programme Development Officers, Programme development assistant and MEL team providing leadership, motivation and coordination for this multifaceted team.
• Coordinate division of tasks and priorities among Programme Development Team, assuring overall priorities are met.
• Provide guidance in developing workplans, mentor them in skills development and lead performance management process for them.

Organizational Development

• Take part in project design process for other NPIQ programmes, or for cross organizational projects, from time to time as agreed.
• Prepare quarterly fundraising reports to be submitted to HQ.
• Provide data from proposals and concept papers regularly, for the purposes of maintaining the organizational funding pipeline and individual programme funding pipelines.
• Take part in organizational initiatives such as working groups to contribute to broader organization strategy.
• Contribute to the promotion of cross-organizational work, e.g. by bringing colleagues from different programmes together on project design processes.
• Contribute to team-wide communications and knowledge management, and participate in organization-wide events and discussions on related topics/projects.
• Develop trainings, and train all relevant Erbil-based and field programme staff in effective writing and reporting with the aim of building the capacity of staff, and hence improve the overall quality of reports, assessments and other documents received for editing and review.
• Undertake other tasks reasonably expected of her/him.

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES:

Education, Knowledge and Experience

• A university degree in a relevant field
• Experience of implementing programmes in the field, ideally in the region
• Demonstrable experience of designing project proposals for successful submission to donors, including narrative, logframes and budgets
• Experience of tracking donor trends and opportunities, and matching these with project ideas
• Significant experience negotiating contracts with donors
• Experience working in an INGO dependent on restricted project funds
• Has an ability to see and articulate a clear project idea within a broad strategic context
• Excellent English writing skills and the ability to analyze and present a cogent argument both in writing and orally (face to face and on phone)
• Significant experience in preparing project budgets, computer literate in Excel
• Knowledge or demonstrable interest in protection, violence reduction and/or peacebuilding
• Skilled in the facilitation of meetings and processes
• Knowledge of sales force.

Skills

• Independent Judgment/Analytical:
  • Ability to set priorities, solve problems and analyze data
  • Ability to manage information with discretion
  • Ability to be creative and innovative in generating new ideas and undertaking research
• Interpersonal:
  • Ability to communicate effectively with individuals and to work in a multi-cultural environment
  • Ability to motivate and provide leadership to team in constantly changing environment
  • A collaborative team player, willing to proactively help colleagues
• English Language: Excellent written and spoken English skills, able to give engaging public presentation to small and large audiences
• Information Technology: Good skills in Microsoft Office applications, Sales force. Hardware IT skills a definite asset

Other Specialized Requirements

• This posting will require occasional travel to remote field sites with challenging physical conditions.