Senior Programme Advisor

Swedish Committee for Afghanistan

SCA has been working in Afghanistan since 1982 and is presently managing development programmes linked to Strategic Objectives within Health, Education, Rural Livelihoods and Community Governance with a total annual budget of roughly USD 40 million. The total number of staff is around 5,500 of whom 15 are non-Afghans. The SCA presence in Afghanistan consists of the Kabul Management Office (KMO), five Regional Management Offices Offices and three Liaison Offices. In Sweden SCA has 20 staff working at the Stockholm Management Office (SMO) and around 4,000 members organized in local chapters all over the country.

During the last 10 years SCA has undertaken a change process moving from a primarily humanitarian service delivery approach towards more of a developmental role, putting increasing emphasis on capacity development, rights-based programming and outcome orientation. The mission of SCA is to empower individuals, communities and local organizations, primarily in rural areas and with particular focus on women, girls, boys and vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, so that they may participate fully in society and influence their own development.

Department/unit

Programme Department (PD) consists of Programme Units at Kabul Management Office and Regional Management Offices (RMOs) and is responsible for programme execution and simultaneous programme development. PD turns policy directives into programmatic actions. It ensures that SCA has effective programme management teams and implementation systems in place. It coordinates operational and technical skills efficiently so that plans are implemented and outputs and outcomes achieved within the framework of the SCA strategic plan. It ensures that technical, managerial and quality aspects are strengthened in strategic programme development and its implementation, and that management systems are established, coordinated and followed up, supporting all ongoing implementation. The PD works with internal synergies as well as external partnership and coordination within respective sectors. PD staff partakes in planning, proposal and reporting processes.

Scope of Work

The Organizational Development (OD) was implemented in 2016. One among several other objectives has been to strengthen decentralization of implementation and the Regional Management Offices (RMOs) are mandated to assume greater responsibilities related to programme execution. The OD aimed for a clear role distinction among departments and a delegated implementation responsibility from a previously centralised authority to a project implementation set up within five RMOs under the Programme Department.

SCA’s mandate is to facilitate sustainable development for poor and vulnerable communities in remote and underserved rural areas. Decentralization is meant to bring decision making closer to the target communities. Heads of RMOs, support/method unit managers, project managers and their staff are required to accept responsibility for the results of their projects/units, exercise good judgement and be accountable for their work. The role of KMO in general at all levels is to monitor, control and backstop programme execution at RMOs.

In order to effectively implement the decentralization of execution, a Senior Programme Advisor position has been newly created within Programme Department to provide capacity support to RMOs in effective leadership and programme management enabling them to assume greater responsibilities. The Senior Programme Advisor will be a critical link between Programme Department at Kabul Management Office and Regional Management Offices (RMOs) in capacity building, training and knowledge management. S/he will work in a collaborative manner with colleagues at all levels across the Programme Department, Admin Director, Finance Director with a particular focus on supporting RMOs in institutionalizing the decentralization of implementation and therefore the role requires extensive travels to RMOs.

Responsibilities

• Undertake a comprehensive assessment of:
• the roles distintion among KMO based programme units, support/method units and RMOs and identify areas that are in need of improvement and more clarity in line with the new organisation.
• the leadership and management capacity needs of Programme Managers, Heads of RMOs and RMO Support Unit Managers aligned to their mandate of assuming greater responsibilities in execution.
• In light of the assessment:
• Come up with suggestions for improvement in further clarifying the roles/ responsibilities. After the suggestions are processed through Senior Management and decided, support the units and follow up the implementation.
• Design and implment on the job mentorship support to senior staff within programme department – KMO and RMOs. S/he mentors senior programme staff at KMO and RMOs to ensure their continuous leadership and management capacity development
• Under the guidance of Director of Programmes, support programme managers, heads of RMOs, support/method unit managers and project managers on the interpretation, adoption and interpretation of SCA Strategic Plan.
• Provide programme development and implementation support/ advice to Programme Units and RMOs on effective programme/project management best practices.
• Assist Heads of RMOs in articulating relevant implementation and follow up mechanisms and procedures at RMOs level to speed up responsible transfer of responsibilities to RMOs aligned with the mandate of new organization.
• Provide support and advice to Programme Managers, Heads of RMOs, Unit Managers at RMOs on how to embed best practices of project and programme governance, risk management, project and programme management.
• Facilitate sharing knowledge and best practices among RMOs.

Qualifications

• Master Degree, or equivalent in development studies, preferably management and leadership from an institution of international repute
• Seven+ years of relevant work experience within international development, NGOs, UN agencies or similar organisation with a particular focus on leadership and management development.

Essential competence

• Proven leadership and expertise in project and programme management
• Proven advisory skills with the ability to support and mentor colleagues and provide/receive constructive feedback
• Experience in supporting the implementation of approaches for enhancing transparency and accountability
• Ability to analyse information, evaluate options and to think and plan strategically
• Ability and willingness to travel to the project sites within Afghanistan and adjust to SCA environment.
• Ability to prioritise, delegate, take initiatives, handle multiple tasks, and meet deadlines without intensively supervised
• Excellent command of spoken and written English
• Computer skill at operator level, especially with MS Office packages.

Desired competence

• Experience in Afghanistan or conflict and/or post-conflict project management
• Experience in the Rights-Based Approach to development and gender mainstreaming.
• Experience of monitoring, evaluation and assessment
• Knowledge of Dari and/or Pashto languages
• Have participated in HEAT-training or other security training

• Contract period: 1 years with an initial 4 months probationary period
• Conditions: Non family posting. SCA offers a competitive salary, free housing, insurances and other benefits.
• Duties to begin: August 2017
• Last date for application: 8 June 2017
• Apply from sak.se (Lediga jobb) or www.swedishcommittee.org (Vacancies)
• Download a 1-page letter explaining why you are interested in and suited for this position and your CV (no more than 2 pages) in English.