Senior Programme Associate – Europe & Eurasia

Job Title: Senior Programme Associate – Europe & Eurasia

Reporting to: Senior Program Support Manager, Europe & Eurasia

Start date: 01 October 2022

Location: London, United Kingdom

Type of Contract: Fixed term, 12 months (with possible extension)

LoE: Full time

Salary range: £32,425 – £34,619 (B4 – B5)

About Internews:

Internews works to ensure access to trusted, quality news and information that empowers people to have a voice in their future and to live healthy, secure, and rewarding lives. We envision a world where everyone can communicate freely with anyone, anywhere, and exchange the news and information they need to shape their communities and the world.

For 35 years and in more than 100 countries, we have worked with our local partners to build hundreds of sustainable organizations, strengthened the capacity of thousands of media professionals, human rights activists, and information entrepreneurs, and reached millions of people with quality, local information, improving lives and building lasting change. On issues ranging from health and the environment to conflict and governance, Internews has developed approaches that harness the power of media and information to create positive change.

Internews is a charity operating internationally, with administrative centres in California, Washington DC, London, and Paris as well as regional hubs in Bangkok and Nairobi. Formed in 1982, Internews currently has offices in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America.

Our commitment to a culture of belonging:

Internews is passionate about our core values and about supporting positive change in the world. We pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation and flexibility. We believe that diverse teams are strong teams, and work to support an ethic of belonging, dignity, and justice for all people. Our current team includes a mix of genders, parents and non-parents, the self-taught, and people of multiple races, nationalities, ages, sexual orientations, and socio-economic backgrounds. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourage candidates of all races, genders, ages, abilities, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply, and actively welcome those with alternative backgrounds and experiences.

About the role:

The Senior Programme Associate will provide programmatic support to a portfolio of Internews’ projects in the Europe & Eurasia (E&E) Region. The role will be part of the Internews’ headquarters E&E Project Management Unit (PMU) and report to the US-based Senior Program Support Manager. The role will support the project teams in the E&E region as they conduct their project activities and ensure effective programme implementation, particularly related to project reporting, work planning, and monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL). The role will coordinate with diverse international donors to contribute to development opportunities that support E&E media and journalists to safely provide good quality information. The role supports the design and development of innovative programmes and serves as the point-of contact for E&E projects within Internews Europe and for some project donors. The role may also be asked to represent Internews at partner and donor meetings. The role will also contribute to Internews’ knowledge management and improvement of Internews systems.

Key responsibilities:

• Support the project teams across all programmatic and operational aspects of European-funded grant programmes to implement high quality projects to time, on budget, and to the highest technical standards, and in a way that positions projects within a broader regional or thematic portfolio and contributes to organisational impact.
• Assist PMU management with project oversight and progress towards programme deliverables.
• Support project start-up, implementation, and closeout.
• Support with hiring key project personnel.
• Serve as the main HQ point of contact for all programmatic inquiries for assigned projects within the organisation and externally.
• Guide the project teams on rules and requirements of European donors and Internews’ internal policies and procedures.
• Work closely with the E&E Business Officer on business aspects of projects delivery, including budget management and financial tracking.
• Review and revise donor narrative reports and workplans and ensure their quality.
• Review and provide feedback on relevant programmatic and monitoring aspects, including MERL reporting, external project evaluation, and other research and studies.
• Support internal and external communication for projects, identifying newsworthy, impactful stories and preparing content or briefings which tell those stories; undertake external representation and policy engagement where necessary.
• Design and draft concept notes and proposals for European donors.
• Other duties as assigned.
• In all duties, an understanding of and demonstrated commitment to upholding Internews’ Core Values.

Qualifications:

• 2-3 years of experience of project support and donor reporting for large projects with major institutional donors, including the European Commission and SIDA. Proven experience of programme support in the Europe and Eurasia region is desirable.
• Degree in a related field.
• Experience writing grant proposals for European donors is preferable.
• Familiarity with the E&E region and/or media-related issues.
• Ability to prioritise and manage multiple projects and tasks simultaneously.
• Willingness to roll up sleeves and do any task required to get the job done.
• Excellent research and analytical skills and relevant experience.
• Strong teamwork experience and proven track record of a collaborative approach to problem-solving.
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Russian, with superb writing skills.
• Demonstrated interpersonal skills, including diplomacy, tact, and the ability to negotiate.
• Highly organised and structured.
• Excellent communication skills – speaking, writing and listening.
• Proficiency in MS Office.

Deadline – 18 September 2022

Candidates must submit a succinct covering letter of no more than 2-pages explaining how they satisfy the requirements of the person speciation in addition to a CV highlighting relevant experience. The successful candidate will also be asked to provide three professional referees, one of whom must be from their most recent employer.

The above noted job description is not intended to describe, in detail, all the tasks that may be assigned but rather to give the job holder a general sense of the responsibilities and expectations of his/her position. As the nature of business demands change so, too, may the essential functions of this position.

This position will be located in the United Kingdom; therefore, a successful applicant must be present in the UK for the duration of the assignment and obtain the Right to Work in the UK in order to commence their employment.