WORLD UNIVERSITY SERVICE OF CANADA Employment opportunity Internal/external posting

Transcription

1 WORLD UNIVERSITY SERVICE OF CANADA Employment opportunity Internal/external posting Position Title: COUNTRY DIRECTOR, KENYA Position Location: Nairobi, Kenya Reports to: Director of Programs, WUSC Ottawa Contract term: 2 year contract renewable, starting early January 2015 Deadline to apply: October 28, 2014 BACKGROUND: World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a Canadian non-profit organization with a mission to foster human development and global understanding through education and training. Our programs and services improve access to and quality of education, expand employment opportunities and foster empowerment for youth. We work with and through our southern partners government, civil society and the private sector. KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY: Reporting to the WUSC Director of Programs in Ottawa, the WUSC Country Director, Kenya has overall responsibility for the Kenya Equity in Education Project (KEEP) as part of the global Girls Education Challenge (GEC). The four-year, up to 14.7 million project is being delivered in partnership with Windle Trust Kenya (WTK) and with funding through the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID). The project began in 2013 and will end in The Country Director position provides continuity in terms of the relationships with the Government of Kenya, DFID, WTK and other stakeholders and is the prime point of contact with DFID in Kenya, the GEC fund managers in London (PWC Inc.), in-country GEC Monitors, as well as with Government of Kenya ministries. Other key roles as Country Director are to ensure overall program cohesion in Kenya for WUSC s programs; to be the lead on liaison and representation for WUSC in Kenya; to ensure adequate security awareness, policies and procedures are in place; and to lead program development initiatives and develop new programming opportunities for WUSC in Kenya. Kenya Equity in Education Project (KEEP) WUSC in partnership with WTK has secured funding from DFID to provide professional and technical services under KEEP as part of the global GEC fund. The primary objective of the fouryear project is to improve retention and performance of marginalised girls in primary and secondary school in northern Kenya. KEEP will also contribute to the opportunities of refugee girls and their families by investing in their future capacity to succeed.

2 2 WUSC and WTK will help marginalized girls and boys in northern Kenya by improving the access and quality of education in four target communities (Turkana West, Fafi, Dadaab and Wajir South and the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps where WUSC and WTK currently operate). The project will work towards: building girl-friendly school environments, providing targeted support to female learners, and generating parent and community support for girls education. Management, Finances and Programming Working with WUSC Ottawa staff to set policy and planning priorities for KEEP and other programming in country; Managing and leading the KEEP project management team in Kenya. This includes liaison with and oversight of WTK staff working directly on the KEEP project; Supervising and liaising regularly with WUSC KEEP Canada-based staff; Supervising, directing and evaluating the work of the WUSC-Kenya staff and consultants in coordination and consultation with team leads; Overseeing management issues such as questions of employment practices, taxation, banking controls, relationship with the Government of Kenya and the key line ministries as appropriate, including the responsibility for obtaining and maintaining WUSC s registration in Kenya as an NGO Ensure HR policies for WUSC in Kenya are in line with WUSC policies (WUSC is aiming to have consistency in HR policies and practices across all country programs); Recruiting, maintaining and directing the required administrative and infrastructure, staff and equipment as well as making decisions on administrative policy, planning and procedural matters; Providing ongoing project direction and monitoring for KEEP. Ensure all WUSC program finances are being spent and accounted for in line with donor or program contracts and agreed budgets as well as in accordance with international accounting practices and audit expectations. Ensuring all KEEP activities are implemented in accordance with the DFID contract requirements (Accountable Grant Arrangement, Grant Recipient Handbook and Special Conditions); Work closely with WUSC and WTK finance staff to ensure adherence to DFID financial requirements and value for money concepts; Ensuring realistic targets are established with DFID to ensure payment by results milestones are achieved; Working closely with WTK to ensure Financial Strengthening Measures (as outlined by the donor) are implemented; Ensuring all reporting obligations are met using the GEC Fund Management System; Reporting, Monitoring and Evaluation Ensuring high quality reporting is completed and submitted in a timely manner; Working closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation Manager to lead development of and ensure adherence to the donor requirements for monitoring, evaluation and reporting;

3 3 Working with the project external independent evaluators to ensure adherence to contract obligations for monitoring, evaluation and external commissioning of baseline, mid-line and end-line surveys which will verify achievement of results; Ensuring that project feedback, results and lessons learnt are effectively fed back to inform adjustments and improvements in project approaches, scale-up and delivery; and Coordinating the KEEP Evaluation Steering Group and Project Advisory Committee to ensure proper communication, input and oversight is provided. Project Expansion through securing Complementary/Leveraged Funding The Country Director leads WUSC s efforts to leverage additional funds for WUSC / KEEP in coordination with the project management team. This is required to support meeting the leveraged funding commitments for KEEP made to DFID. Development of new leveraging initiatives to complement KEEP and/or WUSC s Kenya Country programming, including the development and submission of expressions of interest and concept notes and the preparation of funding proposals including identifying and negotiating with potential private sector stakeholders for project funding. Technical support will be provided by WUSC s Program Development team in Canada; Interacting on a continuous basis with a range of players DFID, DFATD, UN, AFDB, bilateral, I/NGOs, national government in meetings and conferences that advance coordination and collaboration. Security Preparedness Ensuring that WUSC security policies, procedures and preparedness remain relevant for the current context in Kenya. Applying all WUSC safety and security policies and procedures and ensuring that WUSC in Kenya has its own local context appropriate policies and procedures in place in line with WUSC Canada s. Ensure WUSC Ottawa is kept aware of any important or evolving situations that could affect security of WUSC personnel, assets or programming in Kenya. Urgent matters should be brought to the immediate attention of the WUSC global security coordinator using the emergency phone in Ottawa. Government of Kenya INGO Registration Requirements Ensuring WUSC retains a good open and transparent working relationship with the Government of Kenya; Ensuring that WUSC in Kenya meets all Government memorandum of understanding(mou), registration, reporting, audit and transparency requirements; and Responding to information requests related to WUSC as an INGO in Kenya. Liaison, Representation & Public Engagement Liaison with all key stakeholders related to KEEP in Kenya; Responding to inquiries regarding WUSC and KEEP in Kenya. Acting as the main KEEP contact point for DFID (Kenya and UK), GEC Fund Manager (PWC), GEC Evaluation

4 4 Manager (Coffey International), KEEP external independent evaluators (CAC Inc. and their local Kenyan team) and other key stakeholders as required; Providing leadership and coordination with all education partners (e.g. Government of Kenya, UNHCR, UNICEF), WTK, and KEEP innovation partners to ensure activities are implemented effectively; Ensuring WUSC maintains a collaborative and effective relationship with WTK; Responding to inquiries regarding WUSC and KEEP in Kenya; Ensuring that all KEEP staff are informed of significant issues, developments, donor obligations and changes necessary to meet requirements in a timely manner; and Ensure donor obligations regarding Child Protection policies are implemented and adhered to by project staff, consultants and partners. QUALIFICATIONS: Education A post-graduate university degree in international development; education; management; or other relevant social science. An undergraduate university degree plus equivalent experience could be considered. Experience and Competencies A minimum of ten years of progressively more responsible assignments related to management of development projects involving education for girls and/or gender equality activities, at least five years of which must be overseas (preferably in Africa); Proven managerial, administrative and organizational leadership skills, including the knowledge of financial and narrative reporting procedures and a solid track record in strategic program and project planning and implementation; Proven knowledge and experience in the education sector in a management capacity; Proven knowledge and experience in community engagement; Proven experience managing a large, multi-disciplinary and multi-ethnic team of staff; Diplomatic skills and the knowledge of inter-ethnic issues are necessary, as are proven intercultural and interpersonal skills. Experience working in refugee contexts would be an asset; Proven experience of adaptability to a challenging and constantly changing environment requiring iterative planning on a regular basis; Demonstrated experience working in uncertain, insecure and unstable project implementation environments; A solid knowledge of computer software programs and in particular internet, word processing and spreadsheet software; Proven knowledge of and commitment to the concept of Gender Equality; Experience in capacity building with local partner organizations and a commitment to a participatory partnership approach to development; Experience with Payment by Results mechanism is a strong asset; Demonstrated experience with Value for Money concepts on international development projects; Experience working within a UK supported project including a solid understanding of Results Based Management (RBM) and knowledge of the UK s child protection,

5 5 environmental and gender policies and reporting requirements; and Demonstrated capacity to generate and facilitate a learning environment among colleagues, partners and beneficiary communities. Languages Superior oral and written skills required in English. Kiswahili and French are considered assets. WUSC is an equal opportunity employer. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. If you wish to apply for this position, please send your resumé with a covering letter quoting reference number 14/33 to: jobs@wusc.ca. No telephone calls please.