Sr. Technical Advisor- EARO PCS and LL

Job Title: STA-EARO PCS and LL

Reports to: EARO Regional Director

Department: Overseas Operations

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Note: This is a telecommuter position.

Job Summary:

You will lead strategy development in the field of Partnership and Capacity Strengthening and Local Leadership (PCS and LL) globally and as a member of the East Africa Regional Office (EARO) provide technical and management leadership as well advice in aspects of Partnership, Capacity Strengthening and Local Leadership for the region, including as a focal point for a geographic area as needed, in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to Technical Advisors and Regional and Country Program (CP) teams to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. Your expertise, leadership, and influence will be key in determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ PCS and LL programming is across EARO region and the globe and creating and sustaining its reputation.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Lead design and implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in PCS and LL, as well take part in the work on the agency strategic platforms that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments. Ensure a cross-sectoral approach that integrates gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
• Lead development and advancement of agency-wide standards, policies, innovative approaches, tools, and M&E in PCS and LL, including application of partnership principles.
• Provide technical support for the EARO regional Local Leadership strategy and CP teams for their CP PCS strategies, and how to best apply and adapt program design and implementation standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and monitoring and evaluation in Capacity Strengthening of Partners, including those aspects promoting Local Leadership.
• Identify opportunities, secure resources, and contribute to HQ, regional, and country program staff efforts to pre-position CRS for strategic growth opportunities in PCS and LL. Provide technical guidance, follow donor trends in proposal development and project design with a focus on complex projects to ensure innovative programming solutions and technical excellence. Support CPs to appropriately staff project teams.
• Design and lead capacity strengthening initiatives in PCS and LL programming for staff and partners through ensuring development of learning agendas/curriculums, organizing and/or facilitating trainings, workshops and conferences, and mentoring and coaching staff in innovative CRS approaches and tools. Provide mentoring and coaching to TAs, as well as CP and regional staff.
• Effectively manage talent and supervise, as well mentor staff at CP level, and collaborate closely with other EARO RTA’s and TA, both on operations and program quality side. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching, strategically tailor individual development plans, and complete performance assessment for direct reports.
• Lead the agency knowledge management and learning agenda in PCS and LL including the development and leadership of an EARO PCS and LL Community of Practice through helping implement conditions to influence donors and for collective learning that ensure the capturing, documenting, and sharing of key successes, promising practices, lessons learned, and evidence-based implementation research, internally and externally, including publications in peer reviewed journals.
• Support country programs and the EARO regional office to begin the process of accessing ALLRight Funds in line with agency determined criteria and approach, including working closely with CPs to develop proposals for ALLRight Funds that are specifically tailored to the needs and aspirations of the local partners as aligned to strategy and mission.
• Manage the support that EARO provides to AWECCA, Eritrean Secretary General and projects, as well support relationship with the Bishop in Djibouti overseeing Caritas work in Somalia
• Manage EARO innovation fund budget, as well as process and oversight of activities at CP level
• Represent CRS at global forums, UN, Congress, and major donor forums to present CRS’ work and research in PCS and LL to influence technical partner approaches, future funding opportunities, and policies. Network with relevant organizations to increase CRS’ profile in PCS and LL, influence in the global PCS and LL community, and donor diversification.

Personal Skills

• Excellent relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings.
• Excellent strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including research publications
• Excellent presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Required/Desired Foreign Language

• Fluent English required

Travel Required (include percentage of required travel, if applicable)

Must be willing and able to travel 50-70% per year within the East Africa Region

Supervisory Responsibilities (if none, state none)

• None

Key Working Relationships:

Internal

• EARO regional team
• CP key leadership staff
• PCS staff in each EARO CP
• HQ PCS/LL team

External

• Local partner organizations,
• Donor representatives

Education and Experience

• Master’s Degree in International Development, or field related to Organizational Development . PhD a plus.
• Minimum of ten years of work experience in Partnership and Capacity Strengthening with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with five years overseas in multiple regions as a technical advisor and/or program manager of a capacity strengthening of partners and/or multi-sectoral project with a capacity strengthening of partners component.
• Deep understanding and application of technical principles and concepts in partnership and capacity strengthening. Good knowledge of related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Track record of contributing significantly to successful business development activities capturing public and/or private donor funding in capacity strengthening of partner organizations
• Expertise in the development and production of curricula, tools, and other products to support capacity strengthening interventions and programming. Demonstrated experience to transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through training, mentoring, and other formal and informal methods.
• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation including development of indicators, data collection tools and methodologies, data analysis, and data presentation.
• Demonstrated experience and skills to represent the organization at the highest levels at meetings with donors, government, international NGOs, local partners – faith-based and civil society. Understanding of partnership principles.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications and strong understanding of information and budget management systems and knowledge-sharing networks.
• Technical and/or academic publications highly desirable.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

Equal Opportunity Employer