Head of Programme Design and Development – Mozambique Country Office

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Head of Programme Design and Development (H-PDR) is a senior and strategic position within the Programme Development and Quality (PDQ) Department. The role holder leads effective innovative, transformational and high-impact project and program design, partnership and business development from both a quality (results for children) and a business perspective. The role holder oversees the process of strategic portfolio analysis, identifying donor, partner and corporate engagement opportunities, and program and proposal development. S/he is responsible for overseeing and facilitating the process of new project design, based on learning from implementation and working closely with the Director of PDQ, Technical Specialists, NBD, MEAL, Advocacy, Campaigns, project implementation teams and support staff. Key emphasis is also on fostering new business models, and developing non-traditional partnerships (both financial and non financial) to help achieve results for children at scale. The post holder will also be responsible for promoting programme quality – across emergency and long-term programming – with focus on cross-program integration, Child rights programming, gender transformative, inclusive and safe programming.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Director of Programme Development and Quality (DPDQ)

Staff direct reporting to this post: Partnerships Specialist; Programme Development and Resourcing Coordinator

Budget responsibilities: None

Role dimensions: Save the Children works in eight provinces in Mozambique, in both development and humanitarian settings. Project activities are implemented directly as well as with around 20+ different local, national and corporate partners. SC in Mozambique (SCIMOZ) works with a wide range of donors (bilateral, institutional, foundations, etc) implementing a portfolio of 25+ projects with approximately 350 staff. In 2023 SCIMOZ’s budget was USD 28 million, the County Office has a growth ambition to increase our results and impact for children at scale. Each year the NBD team handles around 30 different proposals of varying complexity, including some very large high risk or consortium projects. This role requires very close collaboration with CO technical, operational and support staff, as well as with Save the Children member offices.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategic leadership (10%)

• Lead on the development of and updates of SC Mozambique’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 (10%)

• Represent the Mozambique 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.

• Proactively 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. Key emphasis is also on fostering new business models, and developing non-traditional partnerships (both financial and non financial) to help achieve results for children at scale.

• 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 project, programme and proposal development (65%)

• Oversee project and programme development processes, including organizing and facilitating project design workshops and consultation meetings with key internal and external stakeholders, as required – particularly for cross-thematic projects, or strategic opportunities to ensure an integrated approach.

• Ensure that SCI’s Program Quality Framework is addressed in all new projects and 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, gender sensitive, disability inclusion, etc.).

• Ensure strong programmatic integration, and future programming is innovative, transformational and high-impact, that can deliver sustainable impact at scale.

• Ensure that all sectors apply a risk lens to Programme design and implementation.

• 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 SCIMOZ proposals under development. Ensure proposal design is aligned with SCIMOZ operating model(s) and advise on design of alternative operating models that help the CO to adapt to changing context, purpose and role.

• 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 SC 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, disability inclusion, 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.

  Awards Monitoring (2%)

• Stay informed about the successes and challenges of awards implementation to be able to update donors on progress and discuss new opportunities.

• Ensure learnings of award/project implementation inform the design of new interventions.

• 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 (3%)

• 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 process experience.

  People Management, Mentoring and Development (10%)

• 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.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelors degree in an area of social development or equivalent.
• A Masters is an advantage.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential

• Minimum of 5 years experience in a both emergency and development contexts, preferably with solid experience in more than one of the Save the Children International priority sectors: education, child protection, child rights governance, youth employment and economic empowerment, health and nutrition, climate resilience and emergencies;
• Proven track record in producing large-scale or complex winning bids, proposals, and reports for institutional donors, corporations and others
• Proven ability to design high quality, and innovative programs
• Excellent writing/editing skills, budget development skills and presentation/communication skills.
• Experience in presenting project information to donors and partners.
• Experience in developing large proposals for donors such as EC, USAID, BHA, FCDO, ECHO, NORAD, GAC, AICS, etc.
• 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.

Desirable

• Fluency in Portuguese or another Romance language would be and added advantage
• Experience of working with financial and other data systems to produce budgets, analyse data and track trends.

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

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.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.