Program Development Manager – Middle East 113 views

Department: Program Development and Middle East Regional Office

Location: London or Washington DC or (or remote based in UK or US)

Reporting to: Senior Program Development Director

Direct reports: None

Budget responsibility: None

Safeguarding Classification: This role is classified as requiring advanced pre-employment checks

ABOUT Relief International.

Relief International (RI) is a leading nonprofit organization working in 16 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach — which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

RI includes the four corporate members of the RI Alliance: RI-US, RI-UK, MRCA/RI-France and RI-Europe. Under our alliance agreement, we operate as a single, shared management structure.

About our Middle East Regional Programs.**

RI in the Middle East has programs in six countries – Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Yemen, with a focus on the 4 main RI sectors: Health, WASH, Education and Economic Opportunity.

RI currently employs 3900 staff (direct and indirect) in the region and has a range of emergency response and development programs valued at 70 million USD on an annual basis.

Position Summary.

The Program Development Manager (PDM) – Middle East is critical in bringing significant impact and opportunity of funding to our country programmes. You will thrive in an entrepreneurial senior team dedicated to building high-impact programming. Your creative and relentless approach to driving results that will fuel RI’s strategy.**

The PDM role is to work collaboratively with the Middle East Regional Director, country teams and with a direct senior-level reporting to the Sr. Director of Program Development. Responsible for donor engagement and capture management (approximately 30%) and managing and/or assisting in proposal development (approximately 70%). **

As a key member of the global Program Development team is dedicated to building high impact programming by raising income from institutional donors (like the USAID, DfID, EC, GAC and the UN). The Programme Development team is based across our global support office in Washington and London and supports Country Offices by helping them to design high-quality programmes, and by raising funds from institutional donors needed to implement them. You will thrive in an entrepreneurial senior team dedicated to building high-impact programming

Reporting to the Senior Programme Development Director, your role will be supporting country teams and will be key in leading in donor liaison and engagement and capture management. A large proportion of your time will be supporting country teams in proposal development.

Travel

This role is expected to travel (at least 40%) to field sites as well as other countries as needed once the organization determines it will be safe to begin regular travel.

Due to COVID 19, RI policy currently limits international travel and it expected this role will be initially based remotely from home. The organisation is undertaking regular reviews and risk assessments to review travel restriction on a global and local level.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

Engagement and Capture Management (approximately 30%)

· In coordination with the regional and country teams:

· Support development of RI PD strategy in Middle East and ensure coordination with overall program development strategy;

· Maintain regular engagement with donors, international organizations, national governments, foundations, etc., to track donor trends and priorities and inform HQ of upcoming program priorities;

· Represent RI to the donor community as needed and inform donors on RI regional and country efforts;

· Attend relevant meetings and networking events (e.g., regional and national coordination meetings, relevant RFA/P meetings, donor consultations) as needed for the performance of duties;

· Maintain outreach with relevant international and local NGOs as well as private sector firms in order to facilitate partnerships needed for program development opportunities; and,

· Develop capture plans and conduct completion analysis on upcoming priority proposals.

Proposal Development (approximately 70%)

· Engage in needs assessment for project proposals as necessary;

• Contribute to program design, for solicited and unsolicited programs, and for pilot and full-scale programs;

· Where proposals are pending with donor agencies, meet with donor officers to ensure program plans represent a good fit with donor objectives;

· Participate in the preparation of funding proposals, including leading proposal writing efforts as well as costing efforts;

· Track country and regional proposal efforts and report to PD team on status;

· Support effective go/no-go decisions and cost share analysis;

· Serve as PD focal point for the countries in Middle East that RI works in;

· Build the capacity of regional and country teams in program development; and,

· Ensure review process and submission is completed, within submission deadlines.

Additional responsibilities, not limited to:

• When time and portfolio permits, support the global PD team managing proposals from Africa and Asia region.
• Support building the PD Consultant Roster, identifying potential technical and non-technical individuals to be hired on a short-term basis.
• Undertake travel as required in the pursuit of the above tasks;
• Prepare regular activity reports for HQ;
• Undertake other ad hoc tasks, as instructed by HQ; and,
• Operate within RI policy, setting an example for other field staff.

Safeguarding

• Uphold and promote RI’s commitment to ensuring the safeguarding and safety of the vulnerable communities we serve.
• Consistent with RI’s safeguarding and protection policies, ensure all people who come into contact with Relief International are as safe as possible.

Equity and Diversity commitment

• Ensure that gender equity is addressed in our staffing and programming

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

This position will require a demonstrated ability to achieve results in a demanding and fast paced environment.

• Track record of achievement in a previous, similar role and progressive responsibility.
• Demonstrated proficiency with government grants, public/private donors and finance management with work experience with DFID, EU, ECHO, USAID, PRM required.
• Master’s degree in international relations, business administration or other relevant field or equivalent work experience
• Demonstrated proficiency to write clearly, insightfully and persuasively on tight deadlines.
• Proven success in grant writing, net-working and liaising with field and HQ staff when necessary

• A strong network of international donor contacts and relationships.

• An outstanding ability to track donor trends that contribute to business development outcomes.

• Excellent verbal and interpersonal communication skills

• Ability to work under pressure and to meet challenging deadlines.

• Ability to work and manage a highly complex security situations within the middle east context

• Ability to analyze complex organizational challenges and present innovative solutions.
• A passion and ability to work with field teams for sustained periods.
• Willingness to travel, sometimes at short notice, as required for the successful implementation of the role.

RI Values:

We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities.

We value:

• Inclusiveness
• Transparency and accountability
• Agility and innovation
• Collaboration
• Sustainability

How to apply.

• To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button in the job advert page
• You will be asked to upload a CV and Cover Letter. The cover letter should be no more than 2 pages long and explain why you are interested in this post with Relief International and how your skills and experience make you a good fit.

Closing date. Please apply immediately we will be reviewing applicants on a rolling basis, therefore may withdraw the position for the job board closing date.

Please apply by uploading your cover letter and up-to-date CV on our website.

Due to limited resources, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Note to external agencies, we will not be accepting CVs from third parties.

Relief International is committed to protecting our staff and the communities we work with from abuse and harm including sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and sexual harassment.

All staff are expected to abide by our Code of Conduct.

Recruitment to all roles in Relief International include a criminal records self-declaration, references and other pre-employment checks, which may include police and qualifications checks.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Relief International is committed to diversity and gender equality, we strongly encourage applicants from the global south and female candidates to apply.

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