Horn Relief Regional Program Quality Manager Job in Kenya

Job Position Title: Regional Program Quality Manager

Program / Duty station: Nairobi, Kenya

Reporting to: Regional Program Director

Working with: Country Directors, Program Managers, and Program Coordinators

Proposed Start date: 1st December 2011

Programme / Duty station: Nairobi, Kenya with frequent travel into the field

Duration: 2 years (Renewable)

Salary Grade: International Grade B

Organizational Background

Horn Relief is an Africa based international development and humanitarian organization.

At Horn Relief, we work with African communities who are yet to realize their full potential; working inside these communities to create environments in which Africans can thrive. We believe that environmental protection is the bedrock of a thriving community, so we aim to prevent, manage, and overcome situations that adversely affect communities’ wellbeing by: reinvigorating the economy, developing skills for life and work, providing humanitarian aid and Influencing policy.

For the past 20 years we have strengthened rural livelihoods through environmental awareness, training, technology transfer and innovative humanitarian projects in pursuit of a peaceful, self-reliant, and greener future. Currently, Horn Relief has programs in Somalia, Kenya and shortly beginning work in South Sudan. Our current donor portfolio includes European Commission, USAID, SIDA, CIDA, UNICEF, Government of Netherlands and others.

Position Summary

The Regional Program Quality Manager will provide the technical support to all Horn Relief projects, ensuring that their design, development, implementation and review processes meet the required quality standards.

The position holder will be responsible for coordinating the technical formulation, planning, and implementation of activities into the integrated monitoring, evaluation and learning plan. S/he will support the Country programs.

The position holder will also be responsible for capacity development for staff in program results and quality management. This position will be key in promoting improved program results and cross-learning within Horn Relief’s thematic areas.

The role will support the emergence of promising/best practices and ensure that these are replicated across the organization. The position holder will participate actively in fulfilling the organization’s overall program quality and reporting for results

Position purpose:

1. To support the development of relevant monitoring and evaluation systems and mechanisms for country programs across the region
2. To ensure principles of quality and accountability are integrated into the overall monitoring, evaluation and the management of our country programs;
3. To support the building of local capacity on critical M&E, quality and accountability skills, to ensure sustainability of the systems put in place.
4. To monitor, support and disseminate program evaluations across the country programs
5. To ensure learning is embedded throughout the project management cycle.

Key Responsibilities

Monitoring and Evaluation

Develop and ensure application of proper monitoring, tracking and reporting systems, tools and templates that

(a) enable and enhance regular monitoring of outputs and program quality across Horn Relief’s country programs,

(b) generate quality evidence in various program levels (monitoring of inputs, outputs, outcomes, etc.) by tracking outputs and progress towards program quality,

(c) promote and ensure use of data for decision making processes, etc.

• Work with Country Programs to design and support M&E processes and procedures that ensure integrated approach to program implementation in multi-sector programs.
• Provide the technical support for conducting assessments through developing designs, data collection methodologies and research protocol.
• Set up coordination systems, as well as coordinate sufficient sharing of available information coming from various assessments, monitoring of different projects, donor visits and evaluations within and between country programs.
• Contribute to proposal development.
• Champion knowledge management through the sharing of evaluations and lessons learned from country programs and ensuring documentation and dissemination of the lessons to be learnt as well as case studies, and other forms of qualitative data.
• Support the commissioning of internal and external reviews, evaluations, real time evaluations and lessons learned exercises by supporting the development of ToR’s, participating in evaluations, building local participatory evaluation capacity, etc.
• Contribute to the development of an effective M&E structure with clear roles and responsibilities amongst implementing staff.
• Contribute to agency-wide initiatives on designing standards and frameworks for better M&E, program quality and accountability.

Quality and Accountability

Support the operationalization of systems to promote accountability to beneficiaries by ensuring that

(a) beneficiaries widely participate in initial assessments and program design

(b) beneficiaries affected by our programs are informed about who we are, what we do,

(c) beneficiaries affected by our programs are aware of their entitlements, selection criteria

(d) regular feedback from beneficiaries systematically informs and affects the design of programs.

• Promote and enable participatory monitoring and evaluation within country programs where meaningful.
• Ensure and support integration and implementation of M&E and Accountability systems that are compliant with the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International (HAP-I) Benchmarks, and other relevant quality standards for emergency programming (e.g. SPHERE). Support the implementation of the DEC Accountability framework.
• Ensure the smooth integration of program quality and accountability standards into the daily work of emergency response and longer term programs.
• Promote a culture of lesson learning between programs, through consistent sharing of M&E processes and reports between different country programs
• Support the development and institutionalization of a data management system that supports specific projects but also is accessible across the organization.

Capacity building

• Build local capacity (of staff, partners, and other local structures we work with) for better program quality, accountability and M&E of national staff and partners.
• Support trainings where and when identified.
• Help Horn Relief learn from existing experiences and programs by extracting learning from innovative programs.

Other responsibilities

The post holder may be asked to manage and recruit staff working on accountability, participation and program quality.

Qualifications and Experience

• Graduate degree in a directly related field, such as operations research, program management, and significant work experience in a directly related field will be considered in lieu of a graduate degree.
• 5 years of progressively responsible and directly relevant professional experience; at least two years of working directly in M&E;
• Demonstrable experience of programming in diverse/multiple contexts.
• Thorough familiarity with principles and current approaches to M&E using both quantitative and qualitative methods;
• Understanding of donor expectations and trends for results and project impact.
• Demonstrated ability to transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through training, mentoring, and other formal and non-formal methods;
• High level of English-language proficiency (speaking, reading, writing) and matched with excellent analytic and computer skills;
• Experience with management information systems;
• Demonstrated strengths in relationship management; able to work with diverse groups of people in multicultural, team oriented environment;
• Self-motivated and able to work without close supervision;
• Strong interpersonal skills and good understanding of working in a partnership framework
• Drive for change and improvements and ability to deliver strategies in a challenging environment.

Application Process

Applications should be submitted by 15th November, 2011.

All applicants must meet the minimum requirements described above, and those unable to meet these requirements will not be considered. Horn Relief is an equal opportunity employer.

Applications should include the following:

• Cover letter with the applicant’s current contact information
• Resume (including detailed work experience, education/degrees)
• Professional References (minimum of three, with complete contact information)

All applications should be sent to Horn Relief at vacancies@hornrelief.org and hornreliefjobs@gmail.com with the subject line: Regional Program Quality Manager

Applications not including all of the above information will not be reviewed.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted.

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