Plan International
JOB OPPORTUNITY
Number of Vacant Position: 1
Job Level: None Specified
Degree: Bachelors(Undergraduate)
Job Category: Project, Programme Management
Location: Regional Office-East (Janakpur)
Title: Program Specialist – Learn (Education and Skills and Opportunities for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship (SOYEE))
Functional Area: Program
Reports to: Regional Manager
Location: Regional Field Office (East)
Travel required: Yes
Grade: D1
Type: Fixed Term Employment for 2 years based in Regional Office-East (Janakpur)
ABOUT PLAN INTERNATIONAL
Plan International is a development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We strive for a just world, working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners in over 75 countries. Our programs are underpinned by a core of defined values, including transparency and accountability, team collaboration, inclusion and integration, as well as the overall ambition to empower girls and young women as legacy.
Plan International has been working in Nepal since 1978 and developed a strong reputation as a respected development and humanitarian actor helping marginalised children, their families and communities to access their rights to health, education, economic security and protection. Through the support of local partners, Plan International works in 24 districts in Nepal.
Plan International Nepal has a vision for 2030 as “an inclusive, just and safe society where all girls and young women enjoy their rights and live in freedom”. This is coupled with the ambition of taking action so that 100 million girls learn, lead, decide and thrive as “Girls and young women in all of their diversity reach their full potential as equal and active citizens” by 2023. The country strategy is put into action through the implementation of three interrelated program areas defined as follows:
LEARN: the “Education and Skills and Opportunities for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship (SOYEE)” program aims to assist vulnerable and excluded girls and young women in adapting and thriving in a changing climate;
LEAD AND DECIDE: the “Youth as Active Drivers of Change and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR)” program aims to empower girls and young women in leading change, having control over their bodies and making informed decisions; and
THRIVE: the “Early Childhood Development (ECD), Child Protection and Child Poverty” program enhances vulnerable and excluded children, especially girls, to be valued and cared for without discrimination, fear and any forms of violence.
Plan international Nepal seeks candidates who practice feminist leadership, promote diversity, actively seek innovative solutions for problems, courageously and respectfully share their opinions and ideas, break down barriers and engender cross-department collaboration, practice active
listening, maintain confidentiality, build trust and are passionate about children’s rights and equality for girls.
ROLE PURPOSE
[A concise statement, capturing the primary reasons that this role exists and a clear articulation of the context of the role. How will this role contribute to creating lasting change for children?]
The purpose of this position is to oversee and ensure a high quality project implementation, in both development and humanitarian settings, and achieve targets towards Plan’s and/or donor’s requirements through overall management of the implementing partners within Learn program (Education and Skills and Opportunities for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship)in the respective areas and districts, under the direct supervision of Regional Manager. The position will represent Plan in various forums in the respective sector/s including in government at provincial, municipal and district level and other stakeholders. The position will also work closely with the Senior Technical Advisor – Learn of Country Office to enhance the capacity and skill of the partner NGO, local government and other key stakeholders and also to ensure the quality of the project delivery at the field level.
Description
DIMENSIONS OF THE ROLE
[This section provides a summary of the size and authority of the post. It covers the size of the budget held, the numbers of direct reports, other key stakeholders who may depend on it, the type of communication required, the external representation involved and the reach of the role.]
Reports to: Regional Manager
Budget Accountability: Approximately Euro 350,000(varies annually)
Number of direct reports: Dependent on funding for the region
Number of Indirect reports: None
External relationships and representation: Frequently represents Plan International Nepal to external stakeholders.
Provide Technical advice/support/quality monitoring:
Internal Interface: –
External Interface (i.e. stakeholders):
- To provide technical support to partners and conduct quality monitoring
Collaborate:
Internal Interface:
- Internal staff in Plan International Nepal
- Regional Manager, and Plan International field staff
- Work closely with the senior technical advisor – Learn of country office to get strategic direction, adheres to technical programme and project design and inputs on project implementation and also works with other relevant departments at CO as required.
- Work with Sponsorship Coordinator to ensure Sponsorship Commitments are met.
External Interface (i.e. stakeholders):
- With a diverse set of local stakeholders including municipal and provincial Government, INGOs, CSOs and Media in different working districts of the Regional Office
Build Relationship/Representation:
Internal Interface: –
External Interface (i.e. stakeholders):
- Represent Plan International Nepal in all government agencies at province, district and local levels as well as other relevant networks and forums as needed.
ACCOUNTABILITIES
Effective Partnership Management
- Manage implementing partners to ensure project deliverables are met as per the project design.
- Work closely with Technical Advisor/s and partners to achieve program quality.
- Ensure partner staff receives adequate training and support to deliver projects, including but not limited to, PMD Pro and guidance on Plan’s project cycle procedures.
- Working together with local authorities to identify key area to strengthen stronger inclusive andgender-sensitive programmes at provincial, municipal and school level.
- Ensure partner/s and their relevant staff understand and abide by Plan’s mandatory corporate policies during implementation of projects/programmes
- Implement and monitor audit actions of the assigned partner and seek necessary support fromPartner Support Specialist as required.
- Identify gaps in partner’s governance and staff capacity and develop areas of improvement and its monitoring mechanism
- Ensure mutual oversight and regular two-way feedback with partners.
- Effective collaboration and coordination with partner NGO and private training providers in theSOYEE projects to ensure efficient implementation.
Project Management
- Ensure a development of Project Outline (PO) & Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP) is in place and implementing partners complete the project/s according to schedule, within budget and following all mandatory compliances
- Support to develop safe & protective environment frame work for all children specially girls, Dalits and Children with disabilities in line with the Country Strategy (CS).
- Coordinate with Technical Advisor/s(specially Education and SOYEE)to ensure technical quality of projects
- Ensure project cycle is followed for each project including kick off meetings, drafting of project outlines, implementation of activities, mid and end term evaluation, and closures.
- Perform administrative and supportive activities to ensure the contracted services and expectations are carried out by the project team within Plan and within Implementation Partner organisation/s in accordance with executed contracts and the donors’ expectations.
- Ensure quality, timely and accurate reporting capturing disaggregated data, outputs, outcomes and impact of the project.
- Monitor project implementation to track progress against plan and per technical benchmarks and recommend corrective measures
- Identify risks and challenges in project implementation and develop mitigation measures.
- Act as liaison between partner organizations and Plan International Nepal to ensure smooth delivery of project/s.
Influencing, Campaigns and Communications
- Contribute to develop priority district/local level campaigns ensuring harmonisation with global/national priority campaigns in collaboration with Influencing, Campaigns and Communications and Program Quality and Innovation departments.
- Lead sectoral networking and representation and build relationships and alliances with relevant networks, government bodies, federations and other agencies at Province, district and local level.
- Lead evidence based lobby and advocacy within the sectoral program in planning and delivering campaigning and advocacy work and ensure that programme plans include influencing objectives
- Represent Plan in relevant committees, professional networks and mechanism to maintain organisation’s professional image.
- Be innovative to lead campaigns at local and advocacy for disability and social inclusion forpositive parenting, and other relevant issues affecting children.
- Contribute to communications and media work as required.
- Work jointly with other NGOs, CSOs, UN agencies and Government line agencies working on Education and SOYEE issues to promote coordination and resource sharing at the Palikas/districts/province level.
Review, Document and Learn
- Document field lessons acquired through monitoring visits and interaction with targeted communities, especially girls and young women.
- Disseminate success and failure stories to various departments to inform decision making
- Take integrated approach towards project implementation by avoiding duplication of activities among the three programmes (Thrive, Learn and Lead and Decide).
- Ensure home visit plan to sponsored family is developed, implemented and cross verified
- Document learnings through management of external visitors such as sponsors/donor visits as per guidelines
- Identify best practices, problems and issues around program implementation and works toward finding solutions for improvements, documenting, disseminating them
Mainstreaming Plan’s corporate policies in Implementation
- Ensure risks associated with Safeguarding Children and Young People are identified and mitigation measures placed during implementation of project activities.
- Ensure Anti-fraud, Anti-bribery and Corruption policy is clearly articulated to partners and necessary checkpoints are in place to prevent breach.
- Ensure value-based leadership is practiced by partner/s’ staff
- Ensure all Plan’s mandatory corporate policies are abide by during implementation.
Monitoring and supervision
- Work closely with MER Team to carry out baseline and end line surveys of the project.
- Ensure effective project monitoring by taking necessary corrective actions that are being followed up and reviewed periodically
- Undertake frequent field monitoring visits and report performance against established schedules and targets with regular update in SAP as per the milestones set in PO
- Work closely with Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Coordinator at Regional Office and also with Learn Program MER Specialist, and the Senior Technical Advisor – Learn at Country Office to ensure that implementation of activities is done in line with M&E requirements.
- Consolidate and report all Education and SOYEE related projects quarterly to the STA – Learn and Learn MER Specialist at Country Office, and Regional Manager.
- Provide technical support to Partner NGOs to make best use of data in their Education andSOYEE Sector planning process through input, analysis and utilization of data.
Ensures Sponsorship program commitment practiced in programme implementation
- Ensure team member/s and partner staff capacity is strengthened to work on Sponsorship commitments
- Conduct periodic review with delivery partners to ensure all sponsored children/families are reached through programme or projects.
- Ensure programme commitments towards sponsorship children/families are achieved
- Ensure home visit plan to sponsored family is developed, implemented and cross verified
Team Leadership and Development
- Practices value-based leadership demonstrating Plan International’s core values and behaviour showing exemplary behaviours underpinning feminist leadership principles
- Works to continually strengthen the team to ensure a strong professional image among partners
- The team performance objectives are well defined, regular performance development discussions held and monitored and reviewed regularly with feedbacks for improvement using Plan International performance management system.
Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.
TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE
[This section details the skills, knowledge and expertise the post holder will be required to demonstrate in doing the job well.
This should include clear levels of technical expertise and skills that support our work at national, international, and global level.]
Essential
- Master’s degree in Development Studies, Management, Education, Master in TVET, Sociology or relevant sector with 2-3 years of experience working in the relevant sector or Bachelor’s Degree in Development Studies, Management, Education, Sociology or related sector with 3-5 years of related experience for the role
- Experience in designing / managing projects on Education and SOYEE sector in Nepal.
- Experience in policy advocacy on issues on Education and SOYEE sector.
- Understanding of Education and SOYEE in Emergency and its operationalization during emergency response.
- Advance knowledge and experience of National Education programs, project and policies.
- Knowledge of monitoring and evaluation of Education and SOYEE projects and program.
- Experience in networking/engaging with key actors on Education and SOYEE sector.
- Experience of working with private sector actors (employers and their associations )
- Experience in capacity development of project staff including partner staff & stakeholders on gender transformative education promotion
- Capacity to produce evidence-based, robust program design and public policy recommendations and positions.
- Good knowledge of written and spoken English. Ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with colleagues, a variety of team members and external contacts, through good written and spoken communication skills
- Commitment to Plan’s goals, mission, values and approach including the ability to lead on safeguarding and child protection matters where necessary.
- Understanding of gender issues and able to incorporate it as a crosscutting approach to education and SOYEE sector.
Desirable
- Understanding of the structures, processes and trends in the Nepal political system.
- Understanding of the principles of decent work
- Good understanding of the processes by which you achieve policy change and of how to conduct power and political analysis.
- Ability to plan work and meet deadlines when working under pressure on a number of projects.
- Commitment to Plan’s values including the rights and needs of children.
- Experience of working for an international organisation
- Experience of working with private sector training providers.
Skills
- Operational planning & execution
- Analysis & reasoning
- Managing work relationships ( internal/external)
- Communicating, one to one, in groups both in writing, verbally, presentations and reports in English, Nepali and relevant local languages.
- Preparation and management of budgets and assessment of financial implication in work situations
- Facilitation, negotiation and networking
- Persuasion and ability to influence
- Ability to problem solve, handle setbacks and pressure
- Ability to use basic office electronic equipment & computer applications
PLAN INTERNATIONAL’S VALUES IN PRACTICE
We are open and accountable
- Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
- Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
- Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
- Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
- Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people
We strive for lasting impact
- Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
- Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
- Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
- Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.
We work well together
- Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
- Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
- Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
- Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.
We are inclusive and empowering
- We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential
- We respect all people, appreciate differences and challenge equality in our programs and our workplace
- We support children, girls and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives.
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
The position is based in Regional Office of Plan International Nepal with frequent travel to project districts, Municipals and community as required.
LEVEL OF CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
High level: Frequent interaction with children
Say Yes ! To Keeping Children and Young people safe and Protected.
Application Method
Application Method
Application Deadline: Friday, 10th June 2022
