Senior Program Manager – North Africa

Job Summary:

Every employee of IRI is responsible for carrying out the Mission of IRI and demonstrating the Core Values in their day to day operations. The Core Values, which are IRI’s foundational building blocks include:

Excellence– We believe in quality results delivered by investing in people. Freedom– We believe in exploration and experimentation to be agile and responsive. Respect- We believe in trust, empathy and empowering people. Teamwork- We believe in diversity, inclusion and the power of global collaboration. Transparency– We believe in open communication and clear decision-making. Accountability- We believe in personal responsibility as the foundation of success.

The Senior Program Manager (SPM) will oversee the majority of North Africa programs, and assist with the articulation or fine tuning of country/program strategies to support proper implementation and ensure positive results, but also feed into future project expansion. In this role, the SPM will:

1. Ensure that program implementation and spending are on track and in line with program strategies, and that results are adequately captured and communicated. In this regard, the SPM will also be attentive to ensuring that internal deadlines are met and that project accomplishments are documented, shared and reflected in project documents and program summaries as needed;
2. Assist with project design and business development, including with quickly changing circumstances or in response to new/pressing developments and ensure funder-related deadlines are met within the portfolio of programs overseen or assigned;
3. Supervise and mentor DC-based staff, and identify capacity and staffing gaps.

Position Requirements:

• Graduate degree in political science, international relations or related field. Experience in and/or knowledge of the North Africa region a plus.
• Seven to ten years in project oversight or project design and monitoring.
• Demonstrated ability to interact productively with external audiences and policymakers, including senior government officials
• Proven experience in report writing and project planning.
• Ability to manage and interact professionally with junior and senior staff across the organization.
• Ability to represent the division professionally with external audiences
• Strong verbal and written communications skills.
• Must be able to work independently, multi-task, be persistent and work under tight deadlines.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability and desire to travel.
• French or Arabic language skills a plus.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

• Works with the Regional Director/Deputy Director to develop manage, and fine tune short- and long-term strategies, including program design and business development in alignment with IRI strategic goals for the Division. This will involve working with country teams to develop an understanding of what the field-based challenges and opportunities, as well as feasible IRI approaches and trajectories;
• In-depth knowledge of the North African contexts and countries, and previous work experience managing democracy and governance programming in North Africa preferred.
• Supervise and mentor DC-based staff, and identify capacity and staffing gaps.
• Analyzes and reports on political and related developments in specific countries to provide regional and country analysis.
• Ensures that program implementation and spending are on track and in line with program strategies, and that results are adequately captured and communicated, with stecial attention to ensuring that internal deadlines are met and that project accomplishments are documented, shared and reflected in project documents and program summaries as needed;
• Serves as a resource for program staff, including addressing implementation challenges and developing innovative and advance program ideas for program development or and new funding outreach efforts;
• Contributes to identification and analysis of new funding opportunities relating to programs and countries overseen and ensures that funder-related deadlines are met, including with new concepts and full-fledged business proposal development efforts.
• Assists the Regional Director/Deputy Director as needed with external relations, including with government representatives, political party leaders, civic leaders, etc.
• Actively supports IRI’s communication strategy including IRI’s branding and outreach plans on programs assigned, including drafts and updates program summaries and other outreach materials, drafts web stories, tweets, etc.
• Contributes and works closely with the Center for Global Impact to identify and share ‘best practices’ and ‘lessons learned’ from existing North Africa program
• Travels as needed for program oversight and implementation; if an immediate need arises deploys on TDY to maintain continuity of the program.
• Reviews and drafts as needed grant reports.
• Oversees the implementation of specific, ad-hoc grants or projects, as designated by the Regional Director/ Deputy Director.
• Maintains an understanding of donor and IRI policies and procedures related to grant compliance and oversight.
• Understands a grant’s substantive, financial and compliance requirements.
• Understands fiduciary responsibilities, approves payments as designated by Regional Director and Deputy Director related to program costs following IRI protocols and is held accountable for maintaining appropriate documentation.
• Monitors various project objectives and ensures that staff, consultants and partners are kept on track to achieve results.
• Reviews and provides initial clearance for quarterly/semi-annual and final reports.
• Supervises DC-based program staff assigned including participating in the hiring, professional development and evaluation process for these staff.
• Anticipates potential problems and trouble shoots project problems and offers solutions and actively takes part to lead resolution of them with creative and immediate solutions.
• Performs other duties as assigned.