Specialist, Children & Youth (5-Month Interim Assignment)

Department Summary

The Strategy Alignment Department is composed of a set of global technical teams working to enable all people and teams within Search to directly contribute to the formation and implementation of the organization’s strategy. It is made up of a set of technical teams: Institutional Learning, Children & Youth, Religious Engagement, Track II, Media, and Program Quality. The department oversees strategy development and execution, planning & organizational performance, and capability strengthening. It enables strong program quality, ensures the quality of the evidence Search’s programs generate across the world, promotes best practices in research, learning, and evaluation, and contributes to shaping the broader field. The department is led by the Vice President, Strategy. It is global, dynamic, diverse, and engaged at multiple levels of the organization and with external partners.

Remote work is possible for this position. This position can be based in Washington DC, USA or Brussels, Belgium.

Responsibilities

• Active member of the Children & Youth team, leading innovation and learning across and beyond Search to transform the relationships between young people and international peace and security actors;
• Providing technical leadership on youth leadership and youth participation across several projects;
• Participate in program design processes, providing input and guidance on youth participation and youth leadership;
• Providing technical leadership and guidance to the development and implementation of participatory grantmaking methodologies;
• Providing technical leadership to the implementation of a network of youth advocates, working with a dedicated facilitator;
• Leading the continued development and roll-out of the Youth 360 approach
• Individual contributor with senior-level expertise in learning processes or technical capacities, across a set of geographies or at the organizational level;
• Coordinate in a matrixed structure to pursue goals, standards, and best practices with other teams and departments;
• Ensure high-quality reporting, procurement and recruitment processes, and monitoring of grants for technical support;
• Ensure skills development is incorporated into personal objectives and those of other staff by proactively identifying paths for growth and opportunities to build technical skills.

Contributions

Strategy Execution & Learning

• Provide technical leadership in sub-strategy development, implementation, and review with teams and departments, seeking alignment with the organizational strategy.

Planning

• Set technical objectives within teams that support our standards, and participate in planning to ensure department annual objectives are relevant to organizational needs.

Organizational Performance

• Provide technical leadership in reflection on strategy, and implement action plans to address bottlenecks to performance;
• Articulate priorities for staff performance in technical areas of expertise, and share input with teams setting objectives for staff.

Evidence & Impact

• Guide teams to ensure they increasingly produce learning documents (including research, M&E, and programmatic best practices) that uphold Search standards for assessing program impact and building evidence, and provide review and approval for necessary documents;
• Lead teams to produce research and analysis that contributes evidence to the broader field in line with our learning agenda and global standards for assessing impact;
• Engage in program and strategy development, leading and reviewing drafts, with a focus on feeding evidence and lessons learned back into programmatic design.

Technical Positioning

• Use priorities and opportunities within the portfolio to provide technical backstopping, resources, and training that improve our program quality and impact in line with the goals of the organization.
• Develop initiatives that support staff build skills within networks of technical expertise in the organization, in line with team priorities;
• Serve as a leader within technical networks to channel Search learning back into programming, serve as a focal point of technical expertise with external groups, and position Search as field leaders affecting policy and practice globally;
• Ensure staff build professional skills within the organization’s learning platform and lead the development of relevant training and resources for technical growth.

New Frontiers

• Design and lead future scenario analysis relevant to the technical area of expertise, in collaboration with other teams across Search;
• Develop curricula for staff training in the technical area of expertise in alignment with the paths for professional development in the organization;
• Support teams to proactively develop partnerships, events, and initiatives around future opportunities and trends relevant to conflict transformation.

Competency Behavior Indicators (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Manages overall strategy and vision. Provides functional and program/project management. Anticipates and plans for needs and takes action accordingly. Provides guidance to direct reports or matrixed team members.
• Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with vendors, organizations, professional associations, partners, funders, and Search’s network of experts critical to the area of purview.
• Modifies a planned course of action in response to new information or new circumstances.
• Responds to changing circumstances and expectations readily.
• Articulates Search/function program/project goals and objectives within and external to Search. Develops program objectives that reflect broader Search strategies and approaches.
• Provides input for standards across functions globally within Shared Services teams and with a view from a multicultural perspective that reflects consideration of other cultures, other viewpoints, and other ways of doing things.
• Overcomes obstacles using ethical practices; formulates and evaluates morally and ethically justified solutions.
• Assesses risks and opportunities to lead decision-makers to a favorable outcome.
• Checks the accuracy of one’s own and others’ work and sets up systematic checks and balances to support content and data integrity.
• Has knowledge of project management tools including technology as resources for efficiency and reduction of stress.

Type and Nature of Contacts

• Routinely coordinates with colleagues and consultants on-site and in the field and resolves problem situations with tact.
• Represents, as assigned, selected programs or projects and other organizations, including donors, vendors, and international and local partners.
• Interacts with country office and regional staff.

Education and Experience

• Typically BS/BA with a minimum of 9 years experience.
• Experience in implementing youth-focused programming related to peace, security, and/or conflict transformation
• Experience in supporting youth-led advocacy
• Knowledge of the youth, peace, and security agenda
• Strong English-language communication skills

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

Usual office environment conditions; Based in Brussels, Belgium or in the US (Washington DC or remote); ability to travel internationally if required.

Supervisory and Budget Responsibility

Individual contributors typically do not supervise staff members.