Director of Programs

ORGANIZATION SUMMARY:

World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization that is fighting for change that lasts, right here in the U.S. and across the globe. We bring sustainable solutions to the world’s greatest problems – disasters, extreme poverty, violence, oppression, and mass displacement. The organization is approximately 75 years old and has worked in over 100 countries around the world since its founding.

In the United States, we come alongside local churches, community organizations and hundreds of individual volunteers to support newly arriving refugee and other immigrant families. Today, we are proud to partner with over 6,000 local churches, and 95,000 volunteers globally to bring hope, healing and transformation to the most vulnerable.

POSITION SUMMARY:

Are you a person of compassion? An advocate for justice? Someone who stands up for the rights of the vulnerable and speaks out for the marginalized, the exploited and the forgotten? Do you believe in our calling as Christians to welcome the least of these and love our neighbor?

If you answered ‘yes’, to any of the above, World Relief, and millions of people around the world need you.

The Director of Programs is responsible for the overall leadership of the program work implemented in Ukraine, including technical design, development, administration, and implementation of the program activities. He/she will lead the program team and have management responsibilities, coordinate support within Ukraine and within World Relief Home Office providing technical and policy leadership as well as program guidance. The Director of Programs will be responsible for senior-level liaison with government institutions, national and international partners including UN agencies, institutional donors and networking and alliance building.

Role & Responsibilities

• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Program Management:
• Provide strategic leadership and vision for the Ukraine programs including leading on the development of complementary program concepts within Education, Food security & livelihoods, Protection and Health/MHPSS programs.
• Provide senior level leadership to the programs team for an integrated approach to achieve the results as defined in the program agreements, while maintaining excellence and accountability to beneficiary population and the donors.
• Responsible for the overall implementation of the program in Ukraine. This involves contributing to program design, and then planning, budgeting, implementing, monitoring, and reporting on all program activities.
• The role holder will have an overall program budget responsibility by ensuring good program financial management.
• Taking the lead in coordinating high-quality and timely donor narrative reports. This includes reviewing narrative reports, maintaining donor reporting schedules, and submitting reports to donors.
• Ensure that programs are safe and that the child safeguarding policy, and CFM policies are implemented across programs. Strategic
• Leadership and Vision:
• Work with the Country Director and Program Manager to articulate the country’s program vision and ensure it is aligned with the overall country strategy.
• Provide strategic leadership and vision to attain program goals and objectives through the development, implementation, reviews and management of all aspects of this large program.
• Input and lead discussion of program priorities and explore new program/ business opportunities with the Program Manager and Country Director.
• Lead the entire proposal development process, in coordination and alignment with various departments and team members.
• Develop and lead the program team in developing innovative and high-quality concepts/proposals.
• Identify funding opportunities relevant to World Relief Ukraine’s thematic areas of work from institutional donor agencies and others.
• Develops strategic partnerships with international and national stakeholders to provide funding and financing opportunities.
• Participate in Senior Management Team meetings. Team Management
• Line manage the program teams which are responsible for the development and implementation of the projects and ensuring the quality of program delivery.
• Conduct regular meetings with the programs teams at all levels for monitoring progress and providing technical leadership and guidance to programs staff.
• Conduct appraisals and feedback for direct reports; team development and discuss career perspectives.
• Promptly report serious issues of concern among the team to the Country Directory for support.
• Prepare terms of reference for program implementation staff and casual workers in coordination with HR. Implementation and Coordination
• Assist the Country Director in developing the annual operations plan and in developing fund raising and advocacy strategies.
• Take the lead in related advocacy initiatives.
• Mobilize support of government, NGO, and community stakeholders.
• Provide quality assurance and quality control Ukraine programming in close coordination with M&E.
• Maintain effective communication with all the stakeholders.
• Coordinate with program officers and technical team based in home office in program design, monitoring and design;
• Lead in conducting various program assessments, baseline survey and mid-term and final evaluation of project in coordination with home office M&E team;
• Actively engage in various sector coordinators and represent world relief in the sectors;
• Budget management:
• Provide close oversight of program budgets, forecasts, and expenditures, ensuring grants are closely monitored and budget holders are held accountable, in collaboration with the Finance Manager and Country Director
• Work with the Finance Team to ensure effective financial and budgetary control of programs, according to organizational requirements and donor contracts.
• Participate in the recruitment of competent and professional candidates fulfilling the specific requirements of each program.
• Ensure mentoring and coaching for better performance is undertaken for direct reports.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Leadership skillsets and the ability to positively manage teams from varying cultural backgrounds.
• Communication and coordination skills and demonstrated ability to facilitate the success of working groups and collaborations between individuals and organizations.
• Strong networking capacity with various stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to respond quickly to ad hoc requests for information and to adhere to tight deadlines.
• Ability and willingness to be mobile and agile at a moment’s notice in case of an emergency required.
• Strong understanding of the grant life cycle and coordinating the writing proposals for various agencies, especially U.S. government agencies.
• Enthusiasm for serving the most vulnerable and sharing stories of individuals and communities around the world.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a disposition that is positive and professional.
• Must be a humble team player.
• Ability to be flexible and adaptable.
• Ability to work with minimum supervision and to deal with problems and issues both promptly and efficiently.
• Demonstrated interest in international development as well as in inclusive development, social justice, and engagement with marginalized and underrepresented groups.
• Cross-cultural experience and an ability to learn about cross-cultural relationships and dynamics.

Requirements

• Mature and personal Christian faith
• Committed to the mission, vision, and values of World Relief
• Desire to serve and empower the Church to impact vulnerable communities
• Able to affirm and/or acknowledge World Reliefs Core Beliefs, Statement of Faith, Christian Identity and National Evangelicals For the Health of The Nation document
• Master’s degree in development studies, Economics, Project Planning and Management, Strategic Management, or any relevant field.
• Seven (7) years’ experience working overseas in a complex humanitarian response program in a non-governmental organization, five (5) of which should be at managerial level.
• Knowledge of computer systems and applications such as Word, Excel, and Outlook.
• Fluency in oral and written English required, Russian/Ukrainian language skills a plus.
• Up to 50% domestic and/or international travel required

World Relief offers a competitive benefits package to international employees:

– Medical, Dental, Vision

– Paid Holidays + 4 additional Personal days per year!

– Paid Sick and Vacation Time

– Paid Maternity & Paternity Leave (subject to country requirements)

– Paid Home and Hardship Leaves

World Relief pays 100% for eligible employees:

– Group Term Life (employee)

– Long Term Disability (US Expats only)

– Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D)

– Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Mental Health/Resiliency Assistance

– Emergency evacuation insurance

World Relief – Retirement:

– 401K & Roth (US Expats Only) – WR matches up to 4%, then an additional quarter percent up to 10%

– 4% retirement plan match for all other employees, unless dictated by country law.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

· While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to have ordinary ambulatory skills sufficient to visit other locations

· The ability to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, and manipulate (lift, carry, move) light to medium weights of 10-15 pounds.

· Requires good hand-eye coordination, arm, hand and finger dexterity, including ability to grasp, and visual acuity to use a keyboard, operate equipment and read application information.

· The employee frequently is required to sit, reach with hands and arms, talk and hear.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

· General office setting. World Relief also offers hybrid and remote schedules for limited positions.

· Great lengths of time working on computer, reading from computer screen, entering information, standing at copier or fax machine, and some time on the phone or in virtual meetings may be required.

· Year-end archiving activities involve repeated lifting and bending.

· Physical, emotional and intellectual demands

· Equipment used: Employee computer (desktop or laptop), printer, and copier.

· All of the above duties and responsibilities are essential job functions subject to reasonable accommodation. All job requirements listed indicate the minimum level of knowledge, skills and/or ability deemed necessary to perform the job proficiently. This job description is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or requirements. Individuals may be required to perform any other job-related instructions as requested by their supervisor, subject to reasonable accommodation. This position description is not all-inclusive and is always under review.

For World Relief staff, strong commitment to the mission, vision, and values of World Relief is essential, and Christian faith is a prerequisite for employment.