Overall purpose of the role:
The Program Development and Quality Manager is responsible for the coordination and management of key program processes, particularly in proposal development, ensuring timely reporting to donors, ensuring communication tools and strategies are in place and providing leadership to PDQ team. The PDQ Manager contributes to increased quality by ensuring program coherence, adherence to program standards and appropriate learning from lessons learnt across the country program.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Program Quality
Manage technical teams on protection, livelihoods, MEAL, Advocacy and others as needed. Provide guidance and oversee technical workplans and development of technical strategies and policies
Ensure that the Technical teams and Managers provide input into reports and proactively communicate planned requirements of program design and implementation to the relevant area and country office functions.
Ensure an appropriate level of technical assistance and capacity building is provided to DRC’s implementing partners.
Oversee the Grants Coordinator – ensure DRC is adhering to compliance and reporting requirements, and staff have capacity to meet compliance and reporting requirements
Business Development
Work closely with the Head of Programme, Area Managers and Technical Managers/Coordinators to transform content and conceptual designs into competitive final proposals responsive to the donor guidelines.
Coordinate and provide oversight to all aspects of the proposal development process from the development of a writing guide, proposal calendar, through to delivery and timely submission of proposals.
Review proposals for consistency with the requirements of solicitations, requests or calls for proposals, predicting or preventing bottlenecks in the proposal development process and securing the necessary information to complete process.
Ensure the proposal development process takes into consideration the mainstreaming of CHS, global cross cutting themes such as Age, Gender and Diversity, and lessons learnt from previous programming
Lead on identifying and engaging with relevant potential donors and developing business development strategies
Advocacy, Representation and Relationship Building
In conjunction with the HoP and CD, represent DRC externally with donors, peer agencies, and strategic partner organizations through building relationships and networking.
Support the Area Managers and Country Director on advocacy initiatives at relevant county and national level. The role shall work with the Regional Advocacy Coordinator and Advocacy & Communications Coordinator to design, review and implement the DRC advocacy strategy.
Represent DRC in the humanitarian, community safety and durable solutions forums with the objective to strengthen DRC’s position.
Develop an agenda and assemble talking points representing DRC’s perspectives in relevant forums with donors and support the CD/HoP with funding negotiations with donors
Program Management and Support
Support Area Managers in the expansion and integration DRC programs and lead in the design and development of area-level program strategies aligned to the country strategy.
Collaborate with the Area teams and technical leads to ensure field-based implementation processes and documentation are properly managed and compliant with DRC requirements and sector best practices.
When necessary, support area teams and logistics and procurement units in developing comprehensive procurement plans. Upon receipt of project related goods and services, collaborate with the logistics and procurement teams in quality assurance.
From time to time, support or facilitate tendering processes, procurement committee meetings and in the review of bid analyses.
Ensure development of work plans and budgets for DRC projects. Ensure that appropriate management systems are followed and that the programs make progress towards objectives.
Capacitate field teams to manage timely and quality completion of program deliverables and reports in accordance with donor guidelines.
Support the development of project work plans and contribute to development of performance monitoring plans.
Provide support to project technical managers in the interpretation of donor guidelines in the implementation of project activities.
Innovation
Identify opportunities for innovative work promoting issues around program development and quality.
Support the MEAL Coordinator in the dissemination of program findings and research outcomes to donors, local authorities and to other humanitarian and development partners.
Together with the MEAL Coordinator, develop a learning strategy for the country programme and integrate the learning questions in ongoing programming.
Experience and technical competencies:
Minimum 5 years of UN/INGO experience in proposal writing, including conceptualizing and technical writing under strict deadlines with demonstrated success.
Recognized leadership role in program development and Quality.
Ability to work rapidly with staff in the field directly, and remotely in writing and where necessary revising concepts, proposals and reports.
Capacity to work in a multi-sector team, including coordinating technical input into proposals
Familiarity with requirements of key humanitarian donors and capacity to work in a multi-donor environment, including DANIDA, EU/ECHO, FCDO, UN donors among others.
Good humanitarian and development programming skills, including capacity to prepare logical, coherent and consistent documents including log frames.
Communication skills: excellent written and articulate oral communication skills, particularly in English.
Significant programme implementation experience in Kenya.
Education
Bachelor’s degree in communications, political science, international development, law or other relevant discipline
Language:
Excellent written and spoken English
Fluency in spoken Kiswahili
