ABA ROLI Country Director, Philippines

ABA ROLI is a non-profit organization that implements legal reform programs in roughly 50 countries around the world. ABA ROLI has nearly 500 professional staff working abroad and in its Washington, D.C. office. ABA ROLI’s host country partners include judges, lawyers, bar associations, law schools, court administrators, legislatures, ministries of justice and a wide array of civil society organizations, including human rights groups.

JOB SUMMARY

ABA ROLI’s Asia/Pacific Division is seeking an experienced manager and inspiring leader to maintain the high quality of its legal programs in the Philippines and develop new and creative solutions to rule of law needs in the country. Currently, the main Philippines program is a very large USAID-funded program (‘JUSTICE’) to promote judicial integrity and access to justice through automating courts, training court staff, and promoting the benefits of resolving disputes through legal means. Recent programs in the Philippines relate to alternative dispute resolution, intellectual property rights, prosecutor training, victims’ rights advocacy in extra-judicial killings, and disability rights. Potential new work could build on these, or explore other opportunities such as those relating to human trafficking, child labor, countering violent extremism, supporting civil society, environmental law, and much more. A key immediate focus of the role will be to identify new program opportunities and secure funding for them.

ABA ROLI wishes to secure a suitable candidate available to start in the role in January-March 2018.

RESPONSIBILITIES

● Develops, implements, monitors, evaluates, and enhances program priorities and ensures such programs are aligned with the overall mission, vision, and values of the ABA and ROLI and that they are responsive to local needs.

● Liaises with potential donors, embassies, and private foundations, and identifies new funding opportunities from US Government and other donors; drafts proposals responsive to the unique legal and political climate of the Philippines.

● Recruits and manages program staff, consultants, and short-and long-term experts as required.

● Creates, fosters, nurtures, and expands working relationships with the Philippines government, relevant institutions, legal leaders, other NGOs, and similarly situated entities to bolster and enhance the opportunity for achieving/exceeding ABA and ROLI plan/program objectives.

● Develops realistic monitoring and evaluation plans for each program and oversees their use as a tool for tracking and communicating program progress and impact, and for adjusting program strategy on the basis of the data.

● Responsible for ensuring compliance with ABA and donor policies, practices, procedures, and regulations. Accountable for adherence to and compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act [FCPA].

● Has financial responsibility for Philippines office (functions as approver of all expenditures and serves as signatory on bank accounts), responsibility for financial controls, and contract/subaward for submission to final signatory.

● Keeps abreast of the operational, political, and legal environment within the Philippines and informs senior management of environmental shifts that might positively/negatively impact operations.

● Creates and recommend operating and capital budget requirements for the Philippines and manages and is accountable for adhering to the ultimately approved budget without degradation of service or program accountabilities.

● Mentors and trains staff in strategic implementation of programs, overall program management, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting. Ensures all approved targets and components are effectively resourced to optimize attainment of the objectives. Provides leadership, coaching, counseling, development, and, where appropriate, applies discipline, to and through assigned employees.

● Performs other related duties as required.

QUALIFICATIONS

● Possession of a Master’s degree from an accredited college or university and at least ten years’ experience in program and/or development activities; OR, possession of a Juris Doctorate from an ABA-accredited law school or law degree from any country and at least seven years’ experience in program and/or development activities.

● At least three years’ experience supervising a team which must have included providing performance feedback to direct reports.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

● At least 10 years of experience managing implementation of international rule of law programs, ideally in the Philippines, including outstanding record of ensuring compliance, M&E oversight, staff management and development;

● Extensive experience building relationships with stakeholders including donors, ideally including USAID and/or US State Department ;

● Knowledge of the justice sector, legal system and socio-political context of the Philippines;

● An energetic and hands-on manager with demonstrated ability to engage and unite a diverse team;

● Demonstrated success in new program design, theory of change development, proposal writing and business development, ideally with a range of donors and many business models;

● Familiarity with budgets, monitoring and evaluation, and report writing in the development context;

● Familiarity with court management, automation, human rights advocacy, and comparative legal systems;

● Experience incorporating into programs any of the following: innovation, technology, private sector, pro bono lawyers;

● Flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances, to re-evaluate priorities, and to respond appropriately as circumstances evolve;

● Flawless command of English, excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills;

● Consistently high level of professionalism, creativity, initiative, judgment and discretion.

*Due to the high volume of applications received, we are only able to follow up with candidates who are selected for interviews. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and this position may be filled as soon as a suitable candidate is identified.*

https://www.devex.com/jobs/aba-roli-country-director-philippines-520530