Technical Advisor Life Stage 1, Infants and Young Children (0-5 years) ChildFund India

ChildFund India is part of ChildFund International ( www.childfund.org ), one of the leading International Child Development Organizations in the world operating in 31 countries and working with over 15 million children globally. ChildFund International is a founding member of the ChildFund alliance – a global force of 12 international development organizations that partner to improve the lives of children and their families in 55 countries.

ChildFund started its operations in India in 1951. ChildFund India’s goal for 2013-2017 is to advance survival, comprehensive development, education, livelihood, participation and protection of deprived, excluded & vulnerable children by enhancing their access to quality services and reducing inequalities and discrimination.

We currently employ around 300 staff in 30 locations across India. We are headquartered in Bangalore, with a program office in New Delhi. Our programs are geographically spread across 14 States and One Union Territory. We implement our programs directly and through 60 local partners, reaching out to 1.4 million children and families spread over 2000 communities. Our Annual Budget/ Financial Portfolio for FY 2012-13 is approx. 65 Crores (~$12 mn). Please visit the website, www.childfundindia.orgfor more information/details.

Be a part of ChildFund India team!

We are a growing organization and invite committed professionals to join us to take our vision forward in India. If you share our vision and feel that you can contribute to our mission then we look forward to receiving your profile.

Please find the Job Description for the position of Technical Advisor – Life Stage 1 – Infants and Young Children (0-5 years) enclosed below

Job Code: PR/TA 201

Title: Technical Advisor Life Stage 1, Infants and Young Children (0-5 years)

Div/Dept.: Program

Location: Delhi

Reporting Relationship: Program Director

summary

The Technical Advisor, Infants and Young Children Technical Unit - provides technical leadership to ChildFund India’s life stage programs spread in over 60 Project locations across the country.

The Technical Advisor is expected to develop and execute a coherent program approach, build program portfolio, represent the organization in external forums, and support the growth of a quality program through the acquisition and stewardship of resources.

He or she will be supported by a team of field based technical officers and coordinators and will actively collaborate with ChildFund International global technical teams based in international, regional, and national offices to amplify program quality and impact.

The Technical Advisor is a member of the Country Management Team that plays an influential role in setting the direction, pace and culture within ChildFund India.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

· Provide technical leadership of the ChildFund India program portfolio for Infants and Young Children. This includes working closely with the International Technical Teams to develop a set of standards, indicators, core guidance and effective practices; and implementing those in projects supported by ChildFund India across the country.

· Develop and execute sound project management approaches that include having a national project portfolio, developing and managing partnership (field level as well as regional/national level), building field level staff capacity, providing timely technical support to the field coordinators, timely monitoring, financial oversight and evaluation of the projects related to Infants and Young Children (MCH, ECD, Nutrition etc.)

· Oversight of the development of a coherent learning agenda aligned with ChildFund International’s theory of change and life stage approach. This includes identifying key questions in the development arena related to child development, promoting a culture of inquiry within the organization, and ensuring a plan to gather evidence, promote knowledge, execute applied research, and develop a cadre of professionals across ChildFund India and ChildFund world.

· Represent the organization in external forums through presentations, networking, publications, and engagement in the development discourse.

· Stay abreast of cutting edge practices on the first years of life of the children and ensure that the ChildFund India program portfolio contributes to this discourse and benefits from it.

· Contribute to the quality and size of the portfolio around one of ChildFund’s three life stages (Infants and Young Children), including donor cultivation, grants acquisition and management, proposal development, and partnership development.

· Manage a team to execute on a program quality improvement agenda. This includes supervision of staff, collaboration with colleagues across borders, and developing work plans and monitoring their execution and outcomes.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

· Master’s degree or Doctorate in discipline closely related to Life Stage I (such as International Development, Public Health, International Education, Child Psychology)

· 12-15 years of experience in the management and execution of programs related to the growth and development of infants and young children (Life Stage I)

· Demonstrated expertise in a relevant field of child development such as maternal and child health or early childhood development for infants and young children

· Proven ability to set strategic direction and develop operational plans

· Demonstrated success in the management and development of dispersed geographic and multi-disciplinary teams

· Demonstrated experience in capacity building of staff, including training, mentoring and coaching

· Demonstrated experience in technical leadership and knowledge and learning strategies that reach cadres of staff

· Familiarity with the donor landscape active in programming around Life Stage I, Infants and Young Children and experience in growing a program portfolio, and executing and managing programs funded by a set of these donors

· Travel required

· Prior experience with sponsorship as a funding mechanism for development programming

COMPETENCIES

· Knowledge of standards and effective practices across multiple disciplines for infant and young child development

· Knowledge of participatory community development approaches

· Proven ability to cultivate and steward relationships with partners and donors

· Excellent presentation, public speaking and interpersonal skills

· Demonstrated experience utilizing an influential style of leadership

· Strong computer skills, with familiarity in using Microsoft Office suite applications

· Organized, team player, self-starter and results-oriented individual

EDUCATION

• Ph.D./Post-graduate degree in Social Sciences

Please send your profile to careers@childfundindia.org before 15th July, 2012 mentioning clearly the Job Code, Location and Position Title in the subject line. Kindly mention your current salary/ expectations if any. Salary offered shall be the best in the sector.

First round of interviews are foreseen in the first half of August 2012 and final interviews by first week of September 2012. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted/intimated.

Please note that this position is open only for Indian nationals.