Manager: Hubs, Organisational Development and Learning

Salary £39,000 - £42,000 per annum plus benefits of up to 16%. Based Brighton, UK

The International HIV/AIDS Alliance supports community action on  HIV, health and human rights to end AIDS.  Our vision is a world in which communities have brought an end to HIV transmission, and secured their health and human rights.  Since 1994, the Alliance and its partners have supported over 3,000 projects, in over 40 countries, reaching millions of people.

The Alliance supports a south to south model of technical support providing technical support through seven decentralised Technical Support Hubs. Focussing on improving civil society led quality HIV programming, Global Fund implementation and organisational development; the Technical Support Hubs have collectively delivered over 15,000 days of technical support.

We are seeking a Manager: Hubs, Organisational Development and Learning to strategically lead the next phase of development and positioning of the Hubs. Leading a team of four staff and collaborating widely across Alliance stakeholders, he/she will integrate key functions such as organisational development, knowledge sharing, Global Fund support and global hubs coordination into the ongoing hubs functioning. The post-holder will also work with the Technical Support Hubs to develop a system of regional support for linking organisations and civil society more broadly. Importantly the post-holder will work in collaboration with Hub Managers in exploring and developing strategic regional and international partnerships and innovative models of working. He/she will also develop and implement systems which will articulate learning from technical support across all modalities and horizontal learning exchanges to influence programme design, value add, innovation and contributing to evidence that the organisation is meeting key strategic targets in this regard.

With significant knowledge and experience of international / regional technical support dynamics, Global Fund support, organisational capacity development and knowledge sharing, the Manager will be a senior member of the Technical Cooperation Unit in the Field Programmes Department and will participate actively in the formulation of technical co-operation policy and strategy within the overall strategic directions of the Alliance. 

JOB DESCRIPTION

Alliance Mission:  The International HIV/AIDS Alliance (the Alliance) is an innovative global partnership of nationally based, independent civil society organisations that work together to mobilise communities against HIV and AIDS. We are united in one mission: Supporting community action on HIV, health and human rights to end AIDS.
    
Job Reports to: Associate Director: Technical Cooperation Unit

Direct Reports: Senior Advisor Knowledge Sharing, Senior Advisor Global Fund, Senior Advisor Hubs, PA 

Main function: The Programme Manager is responsible for strategically leading and supporting the next phase of the development of the hubs and integrating key functions such as organisational development, knowledge sharing, Global Fund support and global hubs coordination into the ongoing hubs functioning. The incumbent will also work with the Technical Support Hubs to develop a system of regional support for linking organisations and civil society more broadly. Importantly the post-holder will develop and implement systems which will articulate learning from technical support across all modalities and horizontal learning exchanges to influence programme design, value add, innovation and providing evidence that the organisation is meeting key strategic targets in this regard. (e.g. PPA logframe).

The Programme Manager is a member of the Technical Cooperation Unit in the Field Programmes Department and participates actively in the formulation of technical co-operation policy and strategy within the overall strategic directions of the Alliance. 

Location: Hove Office (or other local office as appropriate)

Travel: Considerable international travel 

Responsibilities:    

Lead on Alliance-wide, field oriented learning and training opportunities. 

• Lead the team in co-ordinating and providing Alliance-wide learning, training opportunities and TS provision for LOs/COs and civil society on the functioning of the Global Fund,  new developments in global fund systems and grant management and ensure systems are in place to integrate Global Fund support with other thematic modalities such as organisational development.  
• Strategically lead the development of an Alliance-wide global level system for knowledge sharing and knowledge management, systems and implementation using different modalities including hub support, outcomes of decentralised TS provision, face to face training, HLE’s, communities of practice, e-forums, newsletters etc to influence key stakeholders, to influence programme design and implementation and to promote innovation.
• In collaboration with the Senior Advisor: Global Fund, directly advise, make recommendations and support CO / LO directors, senior management and field programme teams on global developments in architecture, strategy and functioning of the Global Fund and in the systems of implementation of global fund grants including proposal development, PR assessment, grant negotiations, disbursement cycles and grant renewals.
• Lead the team in supporting secretariat and hubs proposal writing and resource mobilisation efforts in particular, to those parts of proposals that require relevant expertise.
• Provide active and effective leadership to the hub team in their work planning and priority setting processes, as well as to facilitate their input to overall Alliance strategic planning.

Lead the strategic positioning of Alliance Technical support hubs and developing a system of technical support provision.

• Lead, in collaboration with the Associate Director, the strategic positioning of Hubs and Alliance model of south to south TS provision internationally in relation to donors, TS Facilitators and other TS providers
• Develop, support and maintain key Alliance global partnership development with other technical support providers and civil society clients in need of technical support, and to provide guidance to team members in maintaining these relationships.
• In collaboration with the Associate Director, to explore innovative models for hubs functioning and development including social enterprise models, governance, joint initiatives, private and government sector interface and collaboration, as well as strategic partnerships to enhance such models.
• Lead the hubs team in developing and maintaining a TS hubs system for providing technical support and measuring and articulating the quality of such support.
• Ensure that the team is equipped with systems to monitor the performance of Global Fund grants where LOs are grantees so that the team can proactively alert hubs on potential technical support. This focus is on all aspects of the grant cycle in respect of programmatic, institutional and procurement matters.
• Support the Senior Advisor Hubs in systems development, including a pool of competent Alliance ‘anchor’ consultants, utilisation of LO/CO staff in TS provision and advice, determining and measuring agreed quality standards, as well as mentoring and  capacity building activities.
• In collaboration with BPU and the Policy team, to advise COs/LOs, senior management and field programme teams on mainstreaming H/CSS in Alliance-wide programmes through developing guidance, tools, as well as identifying and developing potential programme approaches and strategic options.

Knowledge Sharing, Learning and Organisational development support

Responsible for developing strategy to place knowledge sharing and learning at the centre of the Alliance by:

• Lead the team in developing knowledge sharing systems for the Alliance, with a specific focus on sharing knowledge, and learning more systematically, working closely with the Alliance Best Practice, Technical Cooperation, Policy and IT teams.
• Importantly the post-holder will develop and implement systems which will articulate learning from technical support across all modalities and horizontal learning exchanges to influence programme design, value add, innovation and providing evidence that the organisation is meeting key strategic targets in this regard as well as promote organisational learning arising from our knowledge sharing efforts
• Act as the lead point for the TCU in liaising with Regional staff in Field Programmes as well as Accreditation staff to ensure that LO profiling, accreditation outcomes and LO Strategic Development Plans identify organisational development needs and support Regional staff, hubs and LO initiatives in responding to such organisational needs.
• Monitor and guide the utilization of organisational development funds, when available, in conjunction with regional staff.  
• Ensure that systems are developed and monitored to support hub implementation of HLEs and that learning from these events are collated and disseminated and contribute to appropriate Alliance strategic targets.
• Champion innovation across the Alliance and identify learning and innovations from other relevant institutions to influence Alliance policy, programming and organisational systems.
• Ensure that the team, over time develops or provides access to evidence based organisational development resources and ensure that staff in Alliance Linking Organisations and Hubs are well informed and motivated about these resources and tools to facilitate organisational development and learning.
• In collaboration with the Strategic Information Unit and the Senior Advisor: Knowledge Sharing and the PA, conduct an annual synthesis of Alliance evaluations (secretariat and the hubs) for knowledge sharing, and ensure the appropriate documentation and dissemination of these.

Other responsibilities

• Represent the Alliance in a variety of external fora, including related working groups and  consultations
• Work in close co-operation with the Best Practice Unit and field programmes teams on health and community systems strengthening and/or institutional strengthening in accordance with defined objectives.
• Act as Agreement manager for contracts in the TCU when required, support other team members who are agreement managers or supporting contracts and liaise with the Contracts and Agreements Team on such contracts.
• Other duties as agreed from time to time

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Qualifications / Education / Knowledge

Essential

• Relevant graduate qualification and/or equivalent experience.
• Significant knowledge of international / regional technical support (TS) dynamics, including in relation to the Global Fund, organisational capacity development and knowledge management.

Desirable

• Relevant post-graduate qualification.

Experience Required

Essential

• Strong direct regional and/or international experience in TS provision and of working with and strengthening relationships with other regional or international TS providers such as UNAIDS, UNFPA and other stakeholders.
• Strong direct experience in civil society Global Fund implementation support across a significant number of countries especially in Africa and/or Asia.
• Experience with civil society Principle Recipients, Sub-Recipients, civil society networks in grant implementation support, proposal development support, work planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation.
• Experience with CSS/HSS and strategic investment framework.
• Organisational development experience including designing, managing and implementing capacity building and scale up, including organizational mentoring experience.
• Direct experience in capacity building of civil society organisations and community networks.
• Experience in facilitating diverse knowledge management and learning strategies including on-line learning technologies.
• Line management experience.

Desirable

• Experience in Latin America.
• Experience in human rights, gender and sexual and reproductive health.
• Experience of distance management.

Abilities and Skills Required

Essential

• Ability to communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing
• Proven strategic planning and analytical skills.
• Proven facilitation skills
• Ability to represent the Alliance internationally in front of a wide range of audiences.
• Strong documentation skills
• Strong people management/leadership skills.

Desirable

• Functional knowledge of additional languages

Travel

Essential

• Able to travel regularly

Please see the job description and person specification for full details of the role.

To apply for this post, please download our application form and return torecruitment@aidsalliance.org. The subject box of your e-mail should include the job title and reference number. The information we ask you to supply on the form is necessary for our assessment of your skills and experience. Please therefore do not send us your CV in place of our application form.

Application deadline: 31/03/2013 
Interviews expected: 15/04/2013