Head of Programme Development & Partnership

Head of Programme Development and Partnership

Country/Region: Uganda, Country Office

Location: Kampala

Organization: Save the Children International

Join us to lead sustainable change for children:

• Be part of a GLOBAL and DIVERSE technical community
• Get EXPOSURE in many different contexts
• Test and scale up INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS
• Influence policies that affect MILLIONS OF CHILDREN

OVERVIEW 

Are you passionate about being an advocate for children? Do you want to use your expertise to bring about lasting change for children and be a part of an inspiring, dynamic global movement?

The Head of Programme Development and Partnership (H-PD&P) is a senior and strategic position within the Programme Development and Quality Team. The role holder leads effective and timely program and business development from both a quality (results for children) and a business perspective. The role holder oversees the process of donor and partner engagement, proposal development, award acquisition and monitoring/hand off awards to the Program Operations team within Save the Children Uganda (SCUG). The H-PD&P Manager works closely with the DPDQ on SCUG’s funding strategy and identifies large and strategic opportunities. S/he liaises with Members of Save the Children International and represents SCUG in-country with donor representatives and other stakeholders (including potential NGO and private sector partners, etc.), ably speaking to results of interventions.

Sounds interesting? Read more below 

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategic leadership

• Lead on the development of and updates of SCUG’s country specific Funding Strategy and Donor Engagement Plan for the country program as a whole and for thematic, cross-sectoral and emergency response programs and projects.
• Ensure close collaboration and joint decision making with Director PDQ, Director Programme Operations and the Country Director and consultation with Member and regional offices on new (strategic) funding opportunities
• Ensure timely strategic engagement with donors, partners, and other external stakeholders.
• Ensure funding is adequately channelled into the CO’s strategic objectives and towards innovations; ensure program development builds on learning and evaluation of previous project implementation.

Business analysis and Donor Engagement

• Represent the Uganda CO in relevant donor fora, workshops and conferences where new business development opportunities can be formulated, as indicated by the line manager.
• Establish effective relationships with external stakeholders, donors and potential partners for large scale or strategic funding opportunities, either as a prime or sub-recipient.
• Cultivate excellent working relationships with and serve as focal point for SC Members and donor agencies at the regional and country level.
• Ensure key contacts, required formats and donor strategies are kept up to date at the country office level. ensures maintenance of donor and partner engagement tracking database.
• Identify, research, and disseminate information on new funding opportunities from bilateral, multi-lateral, and other institutional and non-traditional donors (foundations, corporates etc.)
• Explore and test potential private sector and other new types of partnerships and keep abreast of local funding environment.
• Ensure tracking of active funding opportunities, submission deadlines, financing available. Ensure all appropriate donor and SC proposal formats are available in country.
• Monitor proposals pipeline and win rates, ensure that updated trackers are available for planning purposes, inform SMT.

Oversee proposal development

• Lead on the development of high-value or complex proposals for donor awards and bids for donor contracts.
• Provide leadership and co-ordination to the proposal development team, overseeing all SCUG proposals under development
• Interface closely with Programme Operations and the Finance teams to ensure all information is produced in a way that ensures quality and integration of SCI interventions at the programme design and reporting stage.
• Ensure that concept notes and funding proposals align closely with Country Strategy Plan, Thematic plans, geographic priorities, master budgets and Monitoring & Evaluations, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) frameworks as well as SLT decisions
• Track proposal development timelines and work closely with PDQ, Programme Operations, Finance, HR, Security and Supply Chain to ensure adequate and timely input into proposal and budget development.
• In collaboration with Members, broker technical assistance and other resources to support proposal development.
• Facilitate engagement of consultants on large-scale proposals, or when technical specialists are needed.
• Represent Save the Children International generally (along with technical experts) in consortium meetings regarding proposal development.
• Ensure that Programme Quality Framework is addressed in all new proposals and that key elements of programme quality are included (e.g. child participation, child safeguarding, lessons learned from past proposals, accountability, risk assessments, effective partnership strategy, etc.).
• Ensure all proposal and concept note submissions to donors are reviewed and approved by the SMT and other staff in country as appropriate before submission to the donor.
• In collaboration with the Awards team, lead on maintaining the up-to-date database of proposals submitted, approved, rejected and reports submitted to donors/SC members.
• Ensure the Program Development team supports the awards kick-off process and budget and proposal re-alignments throughout the implementation, as well as cost and no cost extensions, assuring initial proposal compliance.

Partnerships 

• Ensure that SCUG staff members uphold values of mutual benefit and complementarity, value addition and empowerment, transparency and accountability, when engaging with partners.
• Provide line management support to the Partnerships Coordinator, who is matrix managed by the Operations Team.
• Oversee development of new partnerships and partnership scoping exercises, including strategic partnerships, together with PDQ, Operations and Finance teams
• Ensure each partner has a partnership assessment and capacity strengthening assessment in place and is provided with appropriate capacity strengthening support, budgeted for in project documents
• Based on the Country Strategic Plan and context analysis, lead on the development and updates of CO Partnership Strategy and the design of the Partnership Guideline and all relevant tools, ensuring adequate inputs from all departments.
• With relevant Project Managers, maintain oversight of the partnership portfolio and performance. Provide a quarterly report to Senior Management, including an update on the partnership portfolio, results from partnerships, partner capacity development outcomes and key risks and opportunities involving partners.
• Contribute from a partnership perspective to the development and revision of all relevant CO strategies, plans, proposals and budgets. Increase SCUG’s focus on strategic partnerships that contibrute to lasting results for children.
• Monitor trends in the larger development community regarding research on, and innovative approaches to partnerships. Explore and pursue new and innovative partnership opportunities for SCUG.
• Oversight of Partner Database that captures all relevant information on partnerships, amongst other things: type of partner, length of relationship, expected results of the partner work/engagement, key risks, capacity development needs and results, etc.

Awards Monitoring

• Follow implementation of major institutional awards, highlight performance/donor compliance issues to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT)
• Stay informed about the successes and challenges of awards implementation to be able to update donors on progress and discuss new opportunities.
• Support kick off and budget and proposal alignments throughout the implementation, as well as cost and no cost extensions, assuring initial proposal compliance

Capacity building 

• Be effective as a mentor and coach for the staff that report to this role, as well as other senior program staff that contribute to developing proposal & report writing experience.

People Management, Mentoring and Development 

• Support the DPDQ to proactively build and maintain technical skills and competencies required for leading and/or in-putting for first class programs.
• Support the development of an organisational culture that reflects our broad-spectrum programming values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up our people to deliver outstanding results for children and excellent customer service for our members and donors.

To be a strong supporter and advocate for children in this role you will need to have:

• At least a master’s degree in an area of social development or equivalent.
• Minimum of five years management in a both emergency and development contexts, preferably with solid experience in more than one of the Save the Children International priority sectors: education, protection, rights governance, Youth employment and economic empowerment, health and nutrition, and emergencies
• Excellent writing/editing skills, budget development skills and presentation/communication skills.
• Experience in presenting project information to donors and partners.
• Experience in leading development of large-scale or strategic proposals, including the development of project budgets greater than $1 million.
• Experience in developing large proposals for donors such as EC, USAID, OFDA, DFID, ECHO etc.
• Experience of working with financial and other data systems to produce budgets, analyse data and track trends.
• Ability to coach or mentor senior staff in proposal development or funding strategies
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Strong results orientation, with the ability to challenge existing mind-sets.
• Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy in.
• Ability to present complex information in a succinct and compelling manner.
• Ability and willingness to dramatically change work practices and hours, and work with incoming surge teams, in the event of emergencies
• Fluency in English, both verbal and written, required.
• Commitment to Save the Children International values and policies including willingness to abide by and enforce the Child Safeguarding policy.

Application Information:

Please apply using a cover letter and up-to-date CV as a single document. Please also include details of your current remuneration and salary expectations. A copy of the full role profile can be found at https://hcri.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Application closes on October 31, 2024. Please note that this recruitment is dependent on confirmation of funding. 

Save the Children is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ and assign the best qualified talent, persons with disabilities and female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Disclaimer: Save the Children International does not charge any kind of fee at whichever stage of the recruitment process and does not act through recruitment agents.