Senior Manager, Livelihoods War Child Canada

Location: Kabul, with travel to Jalalabad and other potential geographic site locations Contract: One year full-time contract, with potential for renewal pending funding Salary: In accordance with experience and qualifications Reports to: Country Director, Afghanistan Background: War Child Canada empowers children and young people to flourish within their communities and overcome the challenges of living with, and recovering from, conflict. We have tripled the size of our operations and reach of our programs in the past four years and have ambitious plans for the future with the launch of a new strategic plan. Since 2003, WCC has worked with its local partner, the Afghanistan Women Council (AWC) to support community-based projects targeting extremely vulnerable women and children. WCC-AWC’s current project, the Afghanistan Women Community Support Project (AWCSP) aims to improve the well being of vulnerable women and their families by strengthening livelihood and educational opportunities of Afghan women, ECD support to their pre-school-aged children and contributing to the psycho-social well-being of Afghan women. WCC also works to enhance the institutional capacity of their local partner by improving their expertise, technical proficiency, and programming and management competencies for delivering educational and vocational training and micro-credit programming. Direct reports: Supervision of the Capacity Building Officer Position summary: The Senior Manager, Livelihoods will oversee the management and implementation of WCC’s current urban livelihood programming, be responsible for the capacity building of local partners and staff, and assist the Country Director in the strategic development and expansion of WCC’s urban and rural livelihoods programming. Duties Program and Strategic Development - 30% Support the CD in the development of WCC’s Afghanistan Country Strategy Develop short-term and long-term livelihoods programmatic strategies in cooperation with the Country Director and Head Office staff Develop strategic and operational partnerships with local organizations and stakeholders Collect, document and disseminate livelihoods best practices and learning throughout the organization. Ensure learning is mainstreamed throughout all livelihoods programming Establish strong relationship with relevant ministries and their departments to explore opportunities for program collaboration, policy development and fundraising Support strategic needs assessment processes and consultations with key stakeholders Assist the Country Director to mobilize funds for planned strategic direction; lead the development of program proposals and budgets, liaising with donors Develop a good knowledge of donor priorities on strategic areas of interest for War Child Canada in Afghanistan and seek out potential donors for future support Recruit, develop, manage and retain a team of Program/project managers, advisers and Program support staff to deliver the portfolio of Programs Assist with the day-to-day administration, finance and logistics of War Child Canada office as required Technical Support and Capacity Building – 30% Provide technical support to WCC and local partner staff to ensure the quality of urban and rural livelihood programming with emphasis on quality vocational training, creation of business development plans, market linkages and implementation of Islamic micro-finance (Murabeha system) Ensure that all livelihoods staff receive regular supervision and support in carrying out planning, budgeting and implementation Provide technical support to livelihoods staff, enabling them to closely monitor and evaluate livelihoods activities, focusing on building staffing capacities to collect and analyze data, record learning achievements and develop best practices Identify staff training needs and mobilize internal and external capacity building opportunities and resources to facilitate the sharing of technical knowledge within the team and provide technical guidance in the area of livelihoods to program teams Evaluate the effectiveness and quality of project activities with program staff and facilitate learning and reflection in order to make improvements Project Management – 20% Provide management oversight and technical support in the design, development, management and implementation of all livelihoods projects Accountable for the achievement of all project activities and indicators in accordance with contractual obligations Ensure that all donor and internal reporting requirements are completed promptly and accurately Coordinate planning, monitoring, evaluation and facilitate the appropriate implementation of tools to ensure quality control Ensure that financial management responsibilities are met on timely basis including reporting to headquarters. Prepare budgets, monitor budget spending in liaison with finance staff and contribute towards the achievement of accountability in all aspects of financial management Networking and Representation – 10% In consultation with the Country Director, build key stakeholder relationships with relevant decision makers in government, national/local organizations, donors and key international organizations and networks, to maximize potential for realizing War Child’s strategic objectives in country Represent War Child Canada in national forums, donor groups, advisory groups and relevant coordination groups Staff Management – 10% Provides direct line management support, guidance and supervision to the Capacity Building Officer Required Education, Experience, Knowledge and Skills Education Post graduate level in international development or related field Experience and Knowledge At least five years urban and rural livelihoods program management experience. Additional experience of education, microfinance, gender, and/or child protection an asset Demonstrated experience in enterprise development and marketing of small businesses with an understanding of value chain methodologies and market linkages Experience of developing the capacities of and working through local partners Experience of living and working in a conflict-affected country and/or insecure environments, and working with security management measures Experience of leading strategic program development Experience of leading, managing and developing a team, including the ability to delegate and motivate, and promote participatory planning and decision-making Demonstrable experience of successfully developing and securing funds for medium to large program proposals Track record of delivering results and impact within large-scale Programs/operations Technical Knowledge and Skills Experience and knowledge of effective financial and grant management Well-developed analytical and strategic planning skills Ability to work well at all levels, including an ability to provide practical, hands-on training and support with community-based NGOs An excellent understanding of project design and project cycle management (including analytical tools, stakeholder analysis, project planning and budgeting) Ability to represent, liaise and negotiate at different levels (national, provincial and local) Knowledge of the region and an awareness of local culture highly desirable Knowledge of local Afghan languages such as Pashtu and Dari an asset Core Competencies and Personal Qualities Excellent interpersonal, communication, presentation, IT and analytical skills Commitment to War Child’s mission and values Pro-active, adaptable and flexible Application Process Interested applicants are invited to send a curriculum vitae and an accompanying cover letter electronically to: jobs@warchild.ca Please ensure your application email has the subject heading of: “Senior Manager, Livelihoods - Afghanistan – [please insert your name]” Only those applicants selected for an interview will be notified. No phone calls please. For more information about War Child Canada, please visit www.warchild.ca Deadline – April 1, 2012