Hivos vacancy announcement
Extended Deadline: 26 October 2009
Position: Programme Manager for Hivos Food Security Programme, to be stationed in Lospalos, Timor Leste ( 3 years)
Hivos is a non-governmental organisation, rooted in the Netherlands and guided by humanist values, that wants to contribute to a free, fair and sustainable world where citizens, women and men, have equal access to resources, opportunities and markets and can participate actively and equally in decision making processes that determine their lives, their society and their future.
Hivos' basic commitment is to poor and marginalised people - and their organisations - in countries of the global South. A sustainable improvement of their situation is the ultimate benchmark for the work and efforts of Hivos. The empowerment of women in order to achieve gender equality is a primary directive in Hivos' policy.
To that end Hivos offers financial and political support for civil organizations and initiatives that share Hivos' goals. In addition to funding, Hivos is networking, lobbying and sharing knowledge in the national and international arena as well as in The Netherlands.
Recently, Hivos has been awarded European Commission support for a food security programme in 18 sucos spread in the Lautem, Baucau and Viqueque districts in Timor Leste. The programme will be implemented together with two local partner NGOs based in Lautem district and a range of other stakeholder. The Hivos programme on earlier and ongoing programmes implemented by Concern Worldwide in Timor Leste. During the first year the Hivos team will be closely aligned with Concern staff. Concern intends to complete its withdrawal from Timor Leste in October 2010.
The 18 targeted sucos have a total population of around 5,600 household with a total of 25,000 people while the programme will be targeting ca. 45% of the most vulnerable households as direct beneficiaries, i.e., ca. 2,500 households (around 11,000 individuals). In addition the programme we will roll out some income generation and disaster preparedness activities to 13 sucos in Lautem that are included in the ongoing EC supported food security project implemented by Concern. Besides aiming to improve the livelihoods of targeted households at suco level, the Hivos programme also aims to contribute to enhancing capacities and coordination at local and national level to support food security policies and programs, in support of the broader institutional infrastructure at national and district level required for sustainable solutions to overcome food insecurity, including food security assessments, monitoring and coordination which are key to ensuring effective safety nets for emergencies.
To coordinate the programme, Hivos is looking for a international programme manager for a full time job of 40 hours per week starting from 1 January 2010. The programme manager will work from Los Palos, the capital of Lautem district (60%), with frequent travel to the adjacent districts Baucau and Viqueque (30%) and to Dili (10%). The appointment will be for an initial period of one year (with three months probation), extendable with a further two years on satisfactory performance.
Accommodation is provided in Los Palos. Accommodation is reasonably comfortable. There is a mobile phone network and dial-up internet connections and a reasonable (but intermittent) electricity and water supply.
The post is accompanied although it is important to note that it is not easy for dependants to find work, particularly in the districts outside Dili.
Responsibilities:
You will be responsible for the overall Management and Coordination of the team of the Hivos food security programme in Timor Leste supported by the European Commission. Together with your team and local partner NGOs you will support the effective implementation of the programme at district and national level, including analyzing trends, building capacities of national and local governmental and civil society actors providing, identifying and cultivating partnerships, and representing the programme. The programme manager will be accountable to the director of the Hivos Regional Office Southeast Asia.
Furthermore, closely cooperating with support and finance staff and a team of short-term experts and partner NGOs, you will:
a) Be responsible for overall programme development and implementation, i.e.:
- Head the Hivos food security programme team;
- Communicate with relevant representatives of the Government of Timor Leste, district authorities and the EC Delegation;
- Coordinate the Hivos technical expert services to the programme;
- Manage timely preparation and consolidation of an reports, annual plans and budgets, reviews, evaluations and annual reports;
- Through assistance to the local NGO partners, guide district level coordination and relationship building with relevant government ministries, committees (DRR, Nutrition and Food Security) and other related stakeholders to ensure that the Hivos food security programme complements national policy;
- Coordinate and organize support to district government agencies, government extension staff, CBOs, and district and suco councils;
- Attend and facilitate, as appropriate, important events such as national workshops, meetings, and technical discussions in Dili.
- Ensure proper coordination with other EC-supported INGOs implementing parallel food security programmes in Timor Leste;
- Closely monitor and analyze the food security situation in the three target districts, identify constraints, needs and opportunities, ensure onward reporting;
- Ensure that the programme is prepared to be responsive to the emergency needs of the programme participants.
- Provide support to the Local NGO partners in improving their planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation activities.
- Develop regular best practices and lessons learnt papers from ongoing M&E for the improvement of programme impact on targeted beneficiaries.
- Develop and sustain a diverse and creative network of contacts;
- Assess potential partners for the programme at district level;
- Manage the implementation of the programme’s organizational policies, systems and procedures;
b) Address human resource issues of the programme, i.e.:
- Supervise and support Hivos staff to undertake their roles and contribute to annual appraisal/ feedback of staff who report to you;
- Recommend on national human resource plans and policies;
- Support the partner NGOs as needed;
c) Manage the budget
- Responsible for the overall management of programme budgets; routine analysis of budgets including quarterly and monthly financial target settings and reviewing spends with finance staff
- Deploy available resources, and support and supervise all procurement operations;
- Ensure that monthly management accounts are scrutinised to ensure correct coding and allocation of expenses are in line with component activities and budgets;
- Contribute to the preparation of budgets and financial reports to donors.
d) Report to Hivos internally and to the EC:
- Responsible for programme reporting to the Hivos Regional Director
- Responsible for developing narrative programme reports for donors
- Develop end-of-project and program evaluation documents.
- Correspond/coordinate with donors in relation to technical issues in coordination with the Hivos Regional Director
- Develop Terms of Reference and contracts/arrangement for experts and consultants in coordination with Hivos Regional Director
- Communicate and collaborate with relevant programme officers, finance staff within Hivos Southeast Asia Regional Office and globally to ensure that organizational policies are implemented and learning is facilitated
Core Qualifications:
- Minimum of 5 years experience in programme management, including personnel and budget management; well organized and able to keep deadlines;
- Relevant educational background, preferably at masters level;
- At least 3 years relevant working experience in
- Demonstrated leadership qualities, ability to inspire the teams to deliver quality results;
- Analytical and conceptual skills, and ability to translate these into programmes ;
- Excellent communication and networking skills in a multiple stakeholder environment;
- Expertise and experience in areas relevant to the programme especially food security, disaster management, nutrition, livelihoods development, agribusiness and marketing development for rural communities
- Strong field based training and mentoring skills for local staff and partners for skills capacity development
- An understanding of gender as a cross-cutting theme
- A thorough knowledge of PRA tools and their applications for monitoring project impact
- An in-depth knowledge and experience of establishing simple data bases to measure the impact of the program and project.
- Ability to conduct physical project monitoring in remote areas
- Keen understanding of country political and social dynamics;
- Excellent verbal and writing skills in English, command of Tetun and/or Bahasa Indonesia is a requirement, command of Portuguese will be an asset;
- Willingness to live in Los Palos and travel frequently within Timor Leste.
Remuneration:
Remuneration is competitive with what is offered by international organizations for regional staff.
Information:
Applicants should send a CV (in English), and a cover letter explaining why you want this job to: hrd@hivos.or.id with reference code 'vacTimorLeste FS PM'.
Applications are requested by 26 October 2009; thereafter the position will remain open until filled.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
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