Save the Children

Position: Project Director NSA CASE Project

Job Time: Full-Time

Job Type: Contract

Place of Work: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Posted date: 1 hour ago

Application Deadline: Jan, 17/2022 (7 days left)

TEAM/PROGRAMME: National Program LOCATION: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia With significant travel to field locations (at least 20%).

GRADE: Executive A CONTRACT LENGTH:

CHILD SAFEGUARDING: Level 3 - the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people.

ROLE PURPOSE:

Save the Children is recruiting for an experienced project director to lead a capacity strengthening nutrition-sensitive agriculture project in Ethiopia. It is a five-year (2019-2023) nutrition-sensitive agriculture project to strengthen the capacity and system of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoA&LD) and the Regional Bureaus. The project is expected to establish sustainable and creative methods to build the capacity of the MoA&LD Ministry and Regional Bureaus to plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate the integration of nutrition-sensitive agriculture into large scale agriculture and livestock programs following the government's national Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Strategy (NSAS) and National Nutrition Plan II (NNP II). They will in turn guide and support delivery of nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) interventions at the zonal and woreda levels. Government leadership and ownership, and quality technical assistance from the project team are key to the success of this important project. 

The Project Director will provide overall strategic, technical, and operational leadership in partnership with the Ministry and Regional Bureaus. S/he will be responsible for the overall planning, coordination, and technical direction and management of the project to ensure adherence to overall technical and programmatic quality in implementation and the timely submission of all deliverables to Save the Children and the donor. S/he is also responsible for representing Save the Children and the project with the donor in the country, in all programmatic coordination platforms in Ethiopia, and meetings with the government and partners.

The Project Director is responsible for approximately 5-10 staff and is the ultimate budget holder for the project. S/he must have the strategic vision, leadership qualities; extensive professional experience in managing system-based projects implemented with the leadership of a government in Ethiopia; and the breadth of technical expertise in nutrition, agriculture, host government system strengthening, translating government strategy into implementation, and sub-grant management.  

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Direct report to Deputy Director for Program Operation and technical dotted line to SCUS’s Technical lead for the project.

Staff directly reporting to this post: Sr. Nutrition and Agriculture Specialist, Sr. Human Resource Management Specialist, Sr. MEL Specialist, Regional Operation Manager, and Award Manager.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

• Program delivery, management, and quality assurance • Hold overall responsibility for the development and implementation of all aspects of the project as per the project’s Theory of Change.
• Provide strategic guidance, strong leadership and ensure technically sound decision-making processes.
• Lead all key negotiations and decision making with the Ministry and Regional Bureaus 
• Ensure institutional commitment, awareness, and knowledge of nutrition-sensitive agriculture within the Ministry.
• Lead and motivate the project teams in the areas of responsibility in the delivery of the program’s goals and objectives.
• Ensure compliance with and adherence to Save the Children and the donor’s rules and regulations in all aspects.
• Ensure program and award deliverables of the Ministry and Regional Bureaus. 
• Ensure monitoring and evaluation activities and tools are systematically integrated into the Ministry system, and information is used by the project teams and the Ministry, in cooperation with the project MEL advisor.
• Foster a system strengthening and integrated approach and government leadership and ownership.
• Ensure coordination of NSA activities across several directorates within the Ministry, and linkages and collaboration with other partners and donors working in this area. 
• Produce high-quality and timely reports as per reporting schedules of the project agreement. 
• Ensure regular monitoring and reporting on all grant management aspects: phased budget and actual expenses analysis, work-plan progress, procurement plan, and MEL.
• Take full responsibility for the delegated budget holding function on the programmatic aspects of the managed grant, participate actively in finance meetings and contribute to financial decision making.
• Mentor, coach and supervise the Ministry and regional Bureaus, including ensuring that they regularly report on financial and programmatic aspects in line with the sub-grant agreement. 
• Conduct regular field visits to the Regional Bureaus and put in place corrective actions.
• Ensure Save the Children’s Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy is understood by staff within the program as well as partners and suppliers.
• Ensure documentation of program learning, and incorporate analysis and lessons learned into program improvement and advocacy work.
• Ensure project-related program, finance, and award documents and reports are posted in AMS. 

Performance management and capacity building

• Line-manage senior leadership and key personnel of the project staff in the areas of responsibility.
• Lead, manage and motivate the project’s staff, ensuring they have clear objectives and receive meaningful feedback on their performance regularly, in collaboration with the human resources department.
• Identify capacity-building requirements of staff in collaboration with the human resources department.
• Lead on capacity building of staff and partners through coaching, mentoring, and training. 

Coordination

• Lead and represent the project and Save the Children in all relevant fora at all times, including with Partners, BMGF, and MoA&LD to ensure complementarity and avoid overlap with other programs.
• Represent the project and Save the Children at donor meetings in the country and internationally as required.
• Lead and manage the project Senior Leadership Team and Extended Senior Leadership Team meetings to coordinate project activities and for effective management.
• Communicate regularly with country office senior management and thematic leads and Save the Children US to ensure strong coordination and communications internally.
• Participate proactively and regularly in senior management meetings of SCI in the areas of responsibility, making concrete contributions to strategic and operational orientations.

Others

• Advocate for the importance of multi-sectoral nutrition and child protection.
• Comply with all relevant Save the Children policies and procedures concerning child safeguarding policy, health and safety, equal opportunities, and other relevant policies.
• Any other reasonable duty as may be assigned that is consistent with the nature of the job and level of responsibility.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability: 

• holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modeling Save the Children values
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance, and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team takes responsibility for their personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• widely shares their vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• future-orientated thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members, and external partners and supporters
• values diversity sees it as a source of competitive strength
• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates the highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS 

• Graduate degree in a relevant field including nutrition, agriculture, public health, international development, public administration, and/or economics.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential:

• Sound knowledge of Ethiopia’s agriculture system and National Nutrition Program including institutions, policies, and legal frameworks, and large-scale agricultural programs.
• At least 10 years of experience managing integrated or multi-sector projects experience especially in the agriculture sector in developing countries.
• In-depth technical expertise in nutrition and one or more of the following areas: Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture, system strengthening or institutional capacity building, agriculture productivity or value chain, public health programming, and/or human resource development.
• Demonstrated experience in building country capacity and systems.
• Demonstrated knowledge in the areas of public health, agriculture, food security, and resilience, as well as socio-economic, institutional, and policy challenges relevant to these technical areas in Ethiopia’s context.
• Demonstrated experience interacting with senior officials of the Government of Ethiopia, international donors, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Practical experience in building, leading, and developing a team of senior staff with different backgrounds and expertise to meet programmatic needs.
• At least four years of professional experience working in Ethiopia is preferred.
• Strong English-language communication skills, both interpersonal and written.
• Knowledge and working experience of Child’s Rights Programming approach.

Desirable:

• Comprehensive understanding of the Ethiopian social and political context.
• Experience working for Save the Children.
• Ability to work with limited supervision.
• Expertise in gender programming for nutrition or in the agriculture sector. 
• Capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult working circumstances.
• Commitment to and understanding of child right

Scope & complexity of decision making ( choose the appropriate description and delete the rest)

• Able to work in line with strict adherence to specific policies and supervisor’s orders.
• Expected to make decisions on well-established procedures, under close supervision
• Able to make decisions within a range of established alternatives
• Able to solve problems by selecting the most suitable procedure or method within guidelines and precedents; direction sought when solutions not within established guidelines or precedents
• Able to make decisions using creativity and some independent judgment within the realm of the current scope of work; Decisions typically made to resolve and adapt current solutions or introduce new procedures and practices

How to Apply

CLICK HERE

PERCENTAGE OF TRAVEL (Out of duty station if applicable).

COMPETENCIES ( Choose the competency appropriate for the role and delete the other. 3-5 competencies should be enough)

• SC Values are Accountability, Ambition, Collaboration, Creativity, and Integrity. To meet the value system the post holder is expected to demonstrate the following Competencies on an ongoing basis (  this varies according to the position please consider the below as an example)

Leading ( align with Ambition, Integrity collaboration, and creativity)

Leading and Inspiring Others: Demonstrate leadership in all our work, role models our values, and articulate a compiling vision to inspire to achieve our goals for children

Delivering result: Takes personal responsibility and holds others to account to deliver our ambitious goals for children, continually improving our performance or that of the team/organization.

Developing Self and Others: Invest time and energy to actively develop self and others to help realize their full potential and to build the organization's capability for the further. 

Thinking ( align with Ambition, creativity, Collaboration, and Creativity)

Problem-solving and decision making Takes effective, considered, and timely decisions by gathering and evaluating relevant information from within or outside the organization and making appropriate judgments.

Innovating and Adapting: Develop and implement innovative solutions to adapt and succeed in an ever-changing uncertain work and global environment.

Applying technical and professional expertise: Applies the required technical and professional expertise to the highest standards; promotes and shares best practices within and outside the organization

Networking: Builds and use sustainable relationship to support the work of saving the children 

Working effectively with others Works collaboratively to achieve shared goals and thrives on diversity of people and perspectives; knows when to lead and when to follow and how to ensure effective cross-boundary working.

Communicating with Impact: Communicates clearly and confidently with others to engage and influence; promotes dialogue and ensures timely and appropriate messages, building confidence and trust with others.