South Africa: Project Lead

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Together with Freedom House, PACT and ABA, Internews is implementing a 5-year USAID-funded project in various Southern African Development Community(SADC)member countries. Under the Southern African Regional Human Rights Program (SARHRP) which is in its fifth and final year, Internews and its partners are working together to improve the recognition, awareness, and enforcement of human rights in the region, including protecting the region’s most vulnerable and marginalized groups. The project is based in Johannesburg, South Africa with activities being implemented in all 16 SADC member countries.

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

The Project Lead will be responsible for overseeing the overall program implementation and management of the project. They will provide strategic guidance and leadership for the program; manage and coordinate technical and professional capacity building assistance to partners and beneficiaries; ensure proper oversight of Internews staff and consultants in Southern Africa; oversee financial management and administration; and coordinate with other actors in the region to ensure that Internews leverages other resources, avoids duplication, and complements other communication and information initiatives. The Project Lead will also be responsible for establishing and managing strong partnerships with the appropriate donor representatives, government officials, and other stakeholders in South Africa and other countries in the region. They will be required to be a strategic thinker and implementer who will shape the strategic direction of Internews’ work in Southern Africa.

LOGISTICS

Internews has a country program office in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ultimately, this role will be based in our Johannesburg office. You must have independent work authorization in South Africa that does not require sponsorship from Internews.

Wherever possible, we work to try to find solutions for international hiring that work for both the company and the candidate. This means that some of the particulars around the offer for a role will be dependent on several factors, and that the benefits and salary structure that apply to a position will ultimately be based upon the candidate’s location and where the role is hired.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so candidates are encouraged to apply soon. The preference is to fill this position as an internal hire within Internews.

This is a limited duration position, with an expected term of 10 months.

OUR COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING A CULTURE OF BELONGING

We are an organization of dynamic, mission-driven individuals who are 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, and people of multiple races, nationalities, ages, sexual orientations and socioeconomic backgrounds. We are an EEO employer and encourage candidates of all races, genders, ages, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply, and welcome those with alternative backgrounds and experiences.

DAY-TO-DAY TASKS will include:

• Provide general oversight of the program, including program management, work-planning, budget management, fiscal integrity, compliance, sub-grant management, and coordination with partners.
• Design and lead technical activities, including information ecosystem assessments, liaison with media and civil society organizations, media training and mentoring, qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis for activities in the 16 SADC countries.
• Design and lead training and mentoring sessions especially in the final year of the project.
• Provide technical assistance and capacity building to the program’s subgrantee organizations working in the media space (media houses, media associations among others):
• Review media-related grant proposals and select sub grantees.
• Design and coordinate technical activities, including assessments, training and mentoring for the sub grantees.
• Organize, manage and/or lead trainings.
• Manage STTA pool of local and international expert consultants to respond to the needs of the media grantees and of the program.
• With support from Internews Africa Regional Office, recruit and onboard new staff and consultants, and supervise Internews staff and consultants.
• Represent the organization during the SARHRP Consortium’s coordination meetings and other relevant meetings and events, and provide input in the overall program design and the Consortium’s decision-making process based on the feedback collected and lessons learned by Internews while implementing project activities.
• Manage or supervise any additional Internews activity and project in the Southern Africa region as requested by the regional office.
• Communicate challenges facing the project to the relevant colleagues at the Africa Regional Office and where appropriate, to the donor, and articulate the project’s successes in meeting those challenges.
• Responsible for the quality, cost, and timeliness of performance of all work performed under the funding contract.
• Responsible for the Monitoring and Evaluation of the Project.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly programmatic reports.
• Together with colleagues from the Africa Regional Office and International Headquarters, strategize new directions for Internews to support local community-based organizations and local media in Southern Africa, and support fundraising and other related tasks for project continuation.
• Develop and maintain a thorough knowledge of local media and developments around human rights, democracy and governance issues in the region.
• Develop and maintain contact with local stakeholders.
• Travel to project sites in different SAD C countries to provide technical and capacity-building support to sub-grantees and other partners, and to monitor the progress of project activities.
• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor.
• In all duties, demonstrated understanding and commitment to upholding Internews’ Core Values.

QUALIFICATIONS WE’RE LOOKING FOR

• Fluency in spoken and written English, including strong English writing skills.
• Seven years of professional experience as a working journalist, editor, media manager; media development expert; OR Relevant professional experience managing capacity building projects, preferably in Southern Africa.
• Five years of professional experience working in human rights and/or civil society sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa, preferably with an International Non-governmental Organization.
• Experience in working in community-based communication and information projects and community-based media initiatives with a strong focus on participation, community engagement and accountability-related activities.
• Strong knowledge of the SADC region’s political, economic and socio-cultural context.
• Substantial experience working as a Project Manager, preferably in media development and/or in a human rights or civil society context and excellent project planning, project management, financial management, HR management, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), project reporting, and sub-grant management skills.
• Proven ability to design and organize and implement training and capacity building support for media and civil society organizations, including undertaking organizational capacity needs assessments and developing training plans.
• Demonstrated ability to manage a multi-cultural team both remotely and in-person.
• Demonstrated professionalism and ability to work on own initiative with minimal supervision.
• Strong interpersonal skills, necessary to maintain good relations with colleagues and relevant stakeholders.
• Strong knowledge of and experience in M&E, including developing monitoring tools, collecting and analyzing project data, and M&E reporting.