Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Organization: Catholic Agency for Overseas Development
Closing date: 28 Feb 2021
Job Purpose
To contribute to CAFOD’s involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC) in line with the agreed strategy, by engaging in programme development; securing institutional funding for CAFOD supported programmes and partnerships; and contract management. The scope of the post falls into the following broad functions:
• Programme development in line with the direction set by the DRC Strategy: in co-operation with partners and programme colleagues, support the design, development (and were appropriate also implementation) of CAFOD supported programmes;
• Programme funding & partner fundraising capacity: lead, facilitate or support the preparation of programme funding applications to institutional donors, in close co-operation with programme colleagues and partners. This includes keeping up-to-date with donor strategies and priorities and raising awareness of donor requirements and partner obligations to fulfil these. Furthermore, in line with relevant capacity strengthening plans, support partners in strengthening their own capacity to fundraise.
• Contract Management: lead on reporting, monitoring and evaluating institutionally funded programmes, in line with CAFOD and donor standards.
• Internal and external representation: as appropriate and in coordination with the Country Representative, liaise and manage relations with relevant donors. Furthermore, engage with internal stakeholders, including working groups and communities of practice on cross-organisational work, particularly with the International Programme Funding Unit on donor engagement strategies;
• Systems and compliance: ensure the effective use of CAFOD’s systems to share knowledge and inform decision making and implementation. This includes ensuring compliance with agreements, regulations and requirements attached to our work and donor contracts;
• Donor focus: where appropriate, in co-ordination with the International Programme Funding Unit, support the development of specific donor engagement strategies, including, where appropriate, assuming “donor lead” responsibilities for specific donor/s.
Job Scope
The post-holder will be responsible for building effective working relationships with peers across the International Development Group, as well as with colleagues in the Emergency Response and Advocacy Groups, and the International Programme Funding Unit. This is in order to develop and maintain horizontal links between programmes, learning, innovation, good practice, and fundraising within and between regions or areas of work. The role has also a number of cross-divisional and cross-organisational functions linked to work with CAFOD’s Education, Communities & Supporters, Fundraising, Finance and Media teams.
While the DRC portfolio will be allocated to the post holder, a degree of flexibility is expected and therefore the post-holder may be required to support other programmes and colleagues during particularly busy times or emergencies. Furthermore, his/her portfolio of countries/sub-regions may change/evolve over time to meet CAFOD’s and partners’ needs.
The post-holder will be expected to undertake international travel for approximately 3 months a year. The post will be located in Goma DRC.
Accountability
The post-holder reports to the Country Representative – DRC. He/she is not a budget holder but may carry out some supervision tasks for staff members. S/he may be task managed by the CAFOD Deputy Country Representative.
Key Responsibilities
Programme development in line with the direction set by the DRC Country Strategy
• As guided by his/her line manager and taking into consideration his/her allocated portfolio), work with programme staff and partners in the design, development (and were appropriate, implementation) of high quality programmes and projects in line with the DRC strategy and programme frameworks;
• Contribute to the development of resource development plans, as well as to identifying new funding opportunities through donor mapping exercises;
• Support regional or joint programme funding opportunities as necessary.
• Where necessary and in discussion with his/her line manager, participate in surge requests from other International Development or Emergency Response Groups;
• Keep up-to-date with donor policy developments and trends, both within the relevant country/sub-region/sector, and more generally, and represent CAFOD in funding review groups/networks in the countries/sub-regions as appropriate.
Programme funding and partners’ fundraising capacity
• In agreement with partners and programme staff, assess existing partner capacities and systems to manage and implement institutionally funded programmes and, jointly develop programme and project funding proposals;
• Lead, co-ordinate or support the preparation of funding applications with donors such as: ECHO, DEC, DfID, EC, UN, Comic Relief, Big Lottery Fund, etc.;
• Contribute to investing in partners’ capacities, by jointly identifying funding needs, developing plans to strengthen capacities, e.g. proposal writing, programme development, monitoring & evaluation, etc., or identifying sources of support. This can be through identifying who is best placed to offer such support or by the direct provision of specific capacity strengthening initiatives;
• Support partners in accessing the tools and support required to secure and effectively manage institutional funding, as well as strengthening partner capacity in donor mapping and developing donor engagement strategies;
• To work with CAFOD’s Country Representative and Programme Management on designing a partners’ institutional funding capacity strengthening initiative/strategy.
Contract Management
• Working with programme staff and partners to manage various contracts, including financial and narrative reporting, and monitoring and evaluation (including facilitating external evaluations) of institutionally funded programmes, in line with jointly agreed standards (Programme Cycle Management), donor requirements, and CAFOD’s value of Stewardship;
• Responsible for reporting to donors – including financial reporting and ultimately responsible for the quality of those reports before submission.
• Support programme staff and partners on the development of plans, accounting frameworks and work plans, etc.
Internal and external representation
• In agreement with the Country Representative and programme management develop, nurture and manage relationships with donor organisations, and create opportunities to share CAFOD’s programme experiences with donor staff;
• Communicate with other teams within CAFOD to ensure that the programme is well understood, and that information is available for fundraising and communication needs. This may involve participation in sessions/events with supporters, communities of practice, working groups, etc., as agreed with the relevant manager;
• Where appropriate, liaise with the International Programme Funding Unit to ensure coherent donor engagement strategies are developed and maintained;
• Work with partners to regularly assess the quality of the relationship, ensuring that effective communication channels are in place, and that funding-related issues are timely addressed;
• In agreement with partners, contribute to raising the profile of partners’ work with relevant donors in the region and/or globally.
Systems and compliance
• Effectively use CAFOD’s programme management information systems to ensure programme and project information and documentation is up-to-date. This will include producing management information to support decision making;
• Ensure compliance with agreements, regulations and requirements attached to our work, including liaising with IPFU donor leads on donor compliance requirements.
This list of duties and responsibilities is by no means exhaustive and the post holder may be required to undertake other relevant and appropriate duties as required. This job description is subject to regular review and appropriate modification.
Child Protection
CAFOD recognises the personal dignity and rights of children, towards whom it has a special responsibility and a duty of care and respect. CAFOD, and all its staff and volunteers, undertake to do all in our power to create a safe environment for children and young people and to prevent their physical, sexual or emotional abuse. CAFOD is committed to acting at all times in the best interests of children, seeing these interests as paramount. This post involves responsibility for people who will have contact with children or young people and applicants will be subject to specific checks related to child protection issues.
Key Competencies
Person Specification
Understanding our context
- Understanding international development: Understanding and experience of international development and programme management and quality standards within this context
Working together
- Communicating; Able to communicate with colleagues and partners at a distance
- Looking outwards; Understanding of effective and values-based partnership work between northern and southern organisations and communities.
Making change happen
- Managing resources: the ability to prepare and monitor budgets, contribute to assessing the appropriateness of partner financial systems, and ensure compliance with, knowledge and understanding of financial
- Achieving results; experience of developing successful funding applications for institutional donors; experience of participatory project design, and use of analytical tools.
- Managing our performance: experience of developing and implementing monitoring systems to track the effectiveness of programmes.
Job-specific competencies
I. Understanding and first-hand experience of institutional funding work/projects, priorities, trends and donor conditions within the international development sector; , ideally with first-hand experience of working with the EC;
II. Experience of using programme cycle management tools effectively to deliver work within an agreed programme framework;
III. Able and committed to working with and strengthen or complementing the capacity of partner organisations and colleagues;
IV. iv. Finance management and budgeting understanding and experience.
V. Ability and willingness to travel within DRC and/or to the UK (approximately for 3months per year), sometimes at short notice;
VI. Thematic experience in one or more of CAFOD DRC key thematic areas (Livelihoods & Food security, Participatory Governance, and WASH)
VII. Experience of working with complex emergencies or protracted crisis.
VIII. Fluent French is a requirement for this post
Desirable Criteria
I. Fluent written and spoken French and English
How to apply:
Come and join us and help make a real difference in the lives of the world’s poorest communities.
**CAFOD is an equal opportunities employer. Recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.
To read more and apply, please visit the CAFOD website by the closing date.