Build Africa Vacancy
Job title:
Head of Programme Implementation
Location:
Tunbridge Wells with regular overseas travel
Contract:
Full-time, permanent
Reporting to:
Liaises with:
Director of Programmes
Programme staff in Kenya and Uganda (e.g. Project
Development
Managers,
Heads
of
Programmes
and
Regional Managers), UK Programmes team members and
Fundraising staff.
Child protection level: Enhanced
Salary:
Competitive with benefits
This role may include some occasional out-of-hours work, with time off in lieu
awarded.
Appointment is conditional on a DBS check to conform to Build
Africa’s Child Protection Policy.
Organisation and context
Build Africa is an award winning charity with 35 years of experience working
in international development. For the rural communities we work with,
education and livelihoods are key priorities, and we therefore aim to improve
the quality of education children receive and increase the ability of families to
secure a sustainable livelihood. Our education programme supports rural
Kenyan and Ugandan children throughout their entire learning journey, from
pre-primary and primary education into secondary school and into the
working world. Our livelihoods programme complements this by working with
adults to make sure they can earn a decent living, feed their families and
support their children’s education.
We are in the early stages of implementing our ambitious strategy and to
improve the lives of people in rural Africa we will; expand our work to new
geographical locations, including new countries; strengthen our consultations
with and accountability to communities; identify and test innovative ways of
working to improve our effectiveness; proactively share with others what we
have learnt; strengthen our external relationships where appropriate; and place
child safeguarding and protection at the centre of our work.
Role context
Build Africa has changed considerably over the last few years. The number of
donor funded multi-year projects has increased as a result of our strategy and
improvements in the quality of concepts and funding applications. These
changes have resulted in a growing percentage of Build Africa’s overall turnover
coming from projects funded by Comic Relief, DFID and Big Lottery Fund
amongst others. This role is to support in-country teams in ensuring that project
management and implementation is of the highest quality, while at the same
time improving organisation-wide systems, processes and tools for successful
project and programme management.
Overall purpose
The purpose of the post of Head of Programme Implementation is to lead on the
design and implementation of standards, tools, guidelines, systems and practices
to improve the implementation and management of programmes and projects,
working
closely
with
country
programmes,
Monitoring,
Evaluation
and
Learning, and project development teams. By leading on the above, the focus is
on providing technical support and guidance to drive quality in programme
and project implementation as a means to improve programme quality, impact,
growth and sustainability.
Overall responsibilities

Contribute to the development of organisational standards and good practice
for project and programme implementation;

Provide guidance and support to Country programmes to ensure that
organisational standards and good practice in programme and project
implementation are successfully embedded;

Support Country Directors in developing the capacity of their teams in all
aspects of programme and project management.
Technical assistance to existing projects

Provide guidance and support, both remotely and during regular visits, to
Build Africa Kenya and Build Africa Uganda Programmes staff, and
occasionally to partner organisation staff, on all aspects of project
management, including work planning, partner management, activity
tracking, quality assurance, risk register management, quarterly monitoring,
etc;

Develop and maintain tools, approaches and/or resources to support the
implementation and management of projects;

Ensure projects are reviewed regularly and in a timely fashion, and that
learning from our work is documented and shared to improve project
management while supporting the project design team by allowing for key
lessons learnt to be fed into project design;

Facilitate the exchange of learning amongst staff and partners;

Contribute to the continuous development, review and dissemination of BA’s
project cycle management guidelines in conjunction with the programme
quality framework;

Where appropriate, recruit and support consultants providing targeted
technical assistance in project management;

Ensure that, where appropriate, plans are developed and delivered against
cross-cutting areas of the projects, such as capacity-building,
communications, monitoring, evaluation and learning.
Grant management

In close collaboration with finance staff in Country programmes and the UK,
review and adjust project budgets where necessary;

Work closely with finance staff in UK and Country programmes to ensure
that financial and narrative monitoring and reporting are aligned;

Work collaboratively with the fundraising team to ensure good quality and
timely reports for donors.
Technical assistance to new projects

Support the initial set-up of new Build Africa projects, including supporting
the recruitment of project staff, developing reporting structures, finalising
partner agreements, developing detailed implementation plans, updating
project risk registers, etc;

Evaluate and communicate critical pathways and respective responsibilities
within project set-up, ensuring that projects begin implementation in a
timely fashion;

Work closely with the project design team to ensure smooth transition from
project development to implementation and jointly create processes to make
this happen;

Develop strong relationships with key contact points at each partner
organisation for new projects.
Other responsibilities

Together with the other members of the Programmes team, agree annual
priorities for programmes work in support of the strategy, and develop and
monitor annual workplans;

Contribute to strategic alignment and strong collaborative relationships with
Country Offices;

Engage in relevant external networks for learning and sharing of best
practice in project and programme management;

Support the Senior Management Team in evaluating progress made on
milestones agreed within our strategy;

When appropriate, work closely with the Programmes team and in-country
leadership on scoping for international and in-country expansion.
Person specification
Knowledge and experience

Educated to a relevant degree level or equivalent experience preferably
related to programme and project management;

Experience and knowledge of International Development gained overseas,
ideally through project managing education and/or livelihoods outcomes;

Experience in strengthening organisational processes and systems, including
staff development;

Experience of working with partner organisations and managing partnership
relationships;

Experience
in
producing
narrative
reports
for
donors
and
internal
stakeholders;

Solid knowledge of and experience in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning;

Good understanding of the importance of child protection and safeguarding;

Experience of working with USAID, DFID and EU is desirable.
Skills and competencies

Ability to influence and mobilise colleagues to undertake tasks without the
leverage of line management responsibility;

Ability to develop good working relationships with a range of stakeholders
from diverse backgrounds;

Trained in facilitation and presentation skills is desirable but not essential.
Attitude and approach

Ability to work independently and be self-motivated in defining goals and
objectives;

Collaborative work-style;

Strong people skills, flexible and responsive to the needs of the Programmes
team as well as the wider organisation;

Ability to reflect on how to use time most effectively and to manage a
complex workload;

Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines;

Keen interest in developing own skills and knowledge.
Application procedure
To apply, please submit an application letter of no more than 2 pages and a
copy of your current CV explaining how you meet the person specification and
why you are interested in working for us to Jobapps@build-africa.org.uk by
Sunday 15th November 2015. Interviews will take place on 25th and 26th
November 2015.
Please note that you must have all the necessary documents in place to prove
your eligibility to work in the UK before applying for this role.
Under the Asylum & Immigration Act, Build Africa has a responsibility to
ensure that all employees are eligible to work in the UK.
Consequently before
you can commence work you will be expected to provide evidence of your
eligibility to work in the UK. This may be your birth certificate, passport, work
permit or other document, copies will not be accepted, confirming your right to
work in the UK.
If you would like to find out more about this position in advance of your
application, please contact Daan Gerretsen, Director of Programmes at Build
Africa at daan@build-africa.org.uk.