Deputy Country Director (Programmes) – Manila (Filipino Nationals Only)

Duration : 12 months
Start date : 01-Jan-2023

You’ll contribute to ending world hunger by …

Supporting the Country Director to lead the strategic development and implementation of programmes in the Philippines. As such, they should lead the technical sector to ensure that the country programme has a coherent and relevant strategy in each sector based on the context in the Philippines and on Action Against Hunger’s technical expertise. Based on this, the Deputy Country Director for Programmes is responsible to support the Country Director to strategically engage donors and respond to calls in line with the country strategy and develop relationships with key stakeholders and actors to allow for the successful implementation of Action Against Hunger’s strategy.

Key activities in your role will include

Objective 1: Strategic Planning and Development

• To provide strategic leadership and direction to support the development of thematic sectors strategies in the mission.
• Support the Country Director to lead the development, monitoring and implementation of the Country Strategy in the Philippines.
• Ensure the mission strategy and annual action plans are regularly reviewed, updated and take into account lessons learned and changes in policies and strategies in the country and globally.
• Ensure regular technical coordination with Technical Advisers and implementation unit in HQ to maintain the coherence of technical strategies and timely execution of the projects/programmes
• Lead external and internal technical evaluations and consultancies (drafting of TORs, selection of consultants and review of workplans and reports) to ensure that monitoring and learning from programmes is conducted.
• Support the Country Director to build strategic partnerships with external donors and stakeholders.

Objective 2: Technical positioning of Action Against Hunger with external stakeholders

• Participate in the technical positioning of Action Against Hunger in terms of external coordination with donors, UN Clusters and Technical Working Groups.
• Promote an active role in the communication and events coherent to organization technical position among other stakeholders.
• Ensure projects/programs are coordinated with relevant agencies and stakeholders in sectors where Action Against Hunger is working.
• Support the establishment of terms of agreements and MoU/MoAs with partners in consultation with the Country Director and HoB and Coordinators.
• To represent Country Director as and when needed.

Objective 3: Analysis of the context and the humanitarian situation

• Lead the analysis of the humanitarian context in the Philippines and work with the Heads of Bases and Operations Coordinator to ensure that rapid assessments and reviews are conducted regularly to ensure that proposals are based on relevant data.
• Update and regularly review/adapt the strategy and the projects of the mission to the local context and challenges and ensure humanitarian – Development – Peace nexus are systematically considered
• Support the regular review and updating of the mission Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans and improve response capacity of staff through adequate training.
• Regular monitoring and analysis of the WASH, DRR, FSL, Nutrition and Good Governance related policies and context in the Philippines.
• Support/supervise/conduct need assessments and exploratory mission in new areas in case of humanitarian needs and/or for development initiatives in coordination with other departments.

Objective 4: Technical Investigation and Development of Knowledge Management

• Ensure learning by the country program from relevant best practice and assess performance regularly against agreed program objectives and indicators.
• Propose and promote the use and/or development of the new technical and innovative methods and approaches, in coordination with Technical Advisors in HQ.
• To guarantee the capitalization and systematization of the innovative experiences, contributing to the technical development of Action Against Hunger Spain.
• Supervise and coordinate mission or regional research, survey and assessment and ensure reports and findings are shared with relevant stakeholders.
• Ensure national and/or international standards are met in implementing projects and programs.
• Support the Technical Team for technical programme inputs and quality measures, partnership and evidence-based programming.

Objective 5: Lead proposal development in the Philippines

• With the Country Director, Coordination Team and HQ Project Manager support the go or no go decision process to decide on whether or not to apply for funding.
• Lead the proposal development ensuring that proposals are in line with Action Against Hunger’s Country Strategy and technically sound
• Work to develop concept notes and proposals, based on Action Against Hunger’s Country Strategy, to position Action Against Hunger with potential donors.
• Ensure cross-cutting issues are systematically integrated and monitored throughout project cycle

Objective 6: Ensure the accurate monitoring and reporting of programmes

• Technically review all external reports to ensure that they are coherent and accurately reflect the implementation.
• Put in place M&E systems to ensure that data is collected on a monthly basis and reviewed to identify potential problems and risks.

Objective 7: Technical department Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development

• To manage and coordinate the Technical Coordinators general work plan and activities and conduct regular performance evaluations.
• To contribute to the formation and professional monitoring of the technical staff in the mission.
• Oversee that all technical sector staff proactively build and maintain technical skills and competencies required for leading and/or advising on programme development.Ensure that Technical Advisors are providing adequate support to field teams through planning field visits and ensuring the documentation and follow-up of action points.
• To assure the cohesion and the good communication of the technical staff within departments
• To participate in the technical briefing/debriefing of the staff.

Objective 8: Development a Partnership Strategy

• Develop and regularly review Action Against Hunger’s localization/partnership strategy in the Philippines to ensure a clear technical guide on when and where local partners should be engaged and what added value they bring.
• Work with the Country Director, Operations Coordinator and Heads of Bases to map partners and new geographical areas for expansion of services/assistance.
• In projects where local partners are engaged, work with Heads of Projects to ensure that partners are managed in line with Action Against Hunger’s technical policies and approaches.
• Ensure that capacity building and monitoring plans are in place for all project partners.
• Support and engage with fundraising department in identifying donor and campaigns

Do you meet the profile required criteria?

Technical Knowledge:

• Advance knowledge in the sectors of intervention of Action Against Hunger in the Philippines. (WASH, DRR, Nutrition, FSL and Governance).
• Advanced knowledge of humanitarian and development donor guidelines and procedures.
• A strong knowledge of Project Cycle Management and multi-sector proposal writing
• Ability to gather and analyse information in order to make strategic decisions and engagement in humanitarian and development sector.
• Good understanding on the Philippine development and humanitarian sector policies and context
• Forward thinking, with ability to develop innovative ideas and solutions

Previous experience:

• At least 5 years previous field experience in a humanitarian and/or development NGO with integrated (multi-sectorial) project management in the Philippines
• At least 3 years of Experience in project management both in emergency and development contexts.
• Experience in community development and participation, institutional development and setting up of partnerships.
• Experience in management of volatile security contexts with capacity to face a stressful environment.
• Demonstrated experience and skills in supervising technical teams, external consultants and consortium/partnership projects.
• Previous experience and ability to build relationships and work with senior level government officials and other stakeholders.

Languages:

• English is a must.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills in English

IT system: A strong command in MS Office, Advanced level of Excel

Our remuneration package:

• Compensation based on Action Against Hunger salary grid and candidate’s previous experience
• Benefits: Health insurance, accident and life insurance, leave entitlements, government-mandated benefits
• Fixed-term employment