🇸🇱 Job Vacancy @ Concern Worldwide – Programme Development & Quality Coordinator (PDQ Coordinator)

• All Programme Coordinators and Project managers, Grants Manager and Partnership Manager;
• Country Management Team (CMT), Finance, Logistics and Procurement, and HR;
• Concern Desk Officer and relevant technical advisors at head office
• Partner/consortium agencies MEAL focal points.

Concern currently operates Health, Education, WASH and Livelihoods programmes and humanitarian response work in four districts of Sierra Leone – Freetown and its hinterland (Western Area Urban & Rural Districts), Port Loko and Tonkolili Districts – with a smaller presence in five other districts.

• With the PD and relevant Programme Coordinator(s), oversee project design processes including contextual analyses, Theories of Change (ToC), log frames and specific studies in line with Concern’s PCMS and PM&E guidelines.  Ensure Concern’s and/or donors’ standard indicators are consistently used and monitored for effective performance.
• Assist in the development of MEAL plans for all programmes/projects place that are regularly reviewed.  Ensure that all M&E, integration of cross-cutting themes and programme quality initiatives are fully and accurately costed and included in budgets.
• Contribute to donor and other programme reports, providing feedback and quality assurance on data analysis and writing before sharing with external parties and leading the review of relevant sections of donor and other reports.
• With the Grants Manager, keep MEAL information up-to-date for each programme/project on Concern’s GMS system (and shared drive).
• Support the M&E team coordinate and strengthen programme/project-level M&E and learning activities, including the design and implementation of baselines, midlines, end line surveys and evaluations. Ensure the effective use of technology and innovative tools as part of this (e.g. including the use of Digital Data Gathering (DDG) devices). Ensure that all assessment/evaluation reports meet Concern and DAC criteria.
• Promote a culture of shared learning and support the MEAL team and Programme Coordinators to conduct participatory review meetings for all programmes to review targets, achievements and gaps or challenges, utilising the relevant log frame and other tools.
• With head office technical advisers, oversee any research activity conducted by the country programme, both directly and via consultants. Ensure research outcomes are clearly documented.
• Work with the MEAL departments of approved strategic programme/project partners to achieve effective and harmonised M&E systems, which can effectively incorporate and manage indicators set out in project proposals and partnership agreements. Provide technical advice and support where needed. Ensure that learning from partnership projects is systematically captured and shared between partners and Concern.
• Where Concern in Sierra Leone is a consortium partner – coordinate with MEAL focal person(s) from the consortium lead organisation and participate in consortia project MEAL working groups.
• Support the MEAL Team in overseeing Concern’s achievement of its accountability commitments and effective implementation of its Complaints & Response Mechanism (CRM). Ensure that feedback or complaints from stakeholders are handled in an appropriate and systematic way, with all sensitive complaints promptly reported to the CD. Lead on CRM reporting and adaptation of the mechanism in partnership with communities and other key actors.
• Monitor programme/project activities to ensure they are carried out in line with Concern’s systems and procedures and that full adherence to the Core Humanitarian Standard’s (CHS) commitments on accountability is achieved.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:

• With the Equality & Gender Advisor, drive the integration of Gender & Equality in all programmes/projects and develop tools and systems to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and impact of equality interventions across programmes/projects.
• Oversee progress in implementing the Equality Action Plan approved for Concern in Sierra Leone, liaising with other departments and raising issues affecting implementation to the CD and CMT.
• Enhance Concern’s equality approaches through strengthening work on diversity and inclusion in line with Concern Worldwide’s global strategic plan.
• Support the Equality & Gender Advisor implement training and awareness raising with staff, partners and other key external stakeholders and engage in relevant external bodies and fora as needed.

Advocacy and Communication, Visibility

• Promote and protect the reputation of Concern in external settings, ensuring that the organisation’s experience and expertise is well communicated and consistently presented, and that we are looked upon as a professional organisation, guided by policies and our Code of Conduct & Associated Policies.
• Responsible for leading the development and roll out of an advocacy & communication strategy at country, programme and project level – managing the Advocacy & Communications Manager and working closely with the CD and Country Management Team.
• Develop an effective knowledge management system to capture and share lessons learned within Concern and further afield. Working with relevant Programme Coordinators and the Grants Manager, play a leading role in contributing to the development of Concern Worldwide’s new Digital Workplace, the Grants Management System (GMS), and other knowledge exchange and management initiatives.
• Develop high quality communications materials and organise visibility events to support Concern’s advocacy and public communications work in Sierra Leone.
• Organise support for programme staff to write learning and case studies to illustrate key outcomes and impact of programme interventions for reporting purposes and lesson learning.

Human resource management and development

• Line manage PDQ Department direct reports. Set clear performance objectives, provide regular feedback and conduct performance reviews (in line with Concern processes), holding staff accountable for meeting agreed success criteria. Ensure effective performance management takes place throughout the department.
• Liaising with HR, design appropriate and effective mentoring, coaching and career development plans for PDQ managers and teams to build capacities. With HR, this includes establishing effective induction processes for new staff. Regularly provide technical and managerial support as needed.
• With HR, lead recruitment for vacancies in the PDQ Department. This includes updating job descriptions and periodically reviewing the departmental structure, proposing changes as needed to the PD.
• Ensure work within the PDQ Department teams is planned and organised in order to meet the organisation’s needs in the most cost effective manner possible. Ensure team members are given appropriate workloads and are working efficiently.
• Provide needs-based training and coaching for Concern staff and partners.
• Ensure full adherence to and promote Concern’s Code of Conduct & Associated Policies (especially Programme Participants’ Protection and Child Safeguarding policies) and other key Concern policies (including Equality, How Concern Understands Extreme Poverty (HCUEP), Approach to Emergencies, Anti-Fraud policies) within the PDQ department and more widely in the organisation.

General

• Effectively utilise the approved PDQ Department budget and request any necessary adjustments in a timely manner.
• As a humanitarian organisation, all staff are required to engage in / support emergency response work as needed (training and other support to be provided as appropriate). Actively participate in the periodic updating of Concern’s Preparing for Effective Emergency Response plan in Sierra Leone.
• Contribute to the ongoing reviews and updating of Concern in Sierra Leone’s Security Management Plan (SMP), the country strategic plan, and other cross-organisational Concern initiatives.
• Within the PDQ Department, ensure the efficient and transparent use of all project resources in order to maximize benefits to the targeted communities.
• Any other tasks as may be mutually agreed with the Programmes Director and /or the CD.

• Bachelor’s Degree in development studies, social policy or related discipline or accepted equivalent professional experience.
• At least five years relevant field based experience in the development / humanitarian sector.
• Previous experience in MEAL of development and humanitarian programmes and strong understanding of MEAL principles and processes.
• Demonstrated experience of proposal development and programme/project design.
• Knowledge and practical experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection methods.
• Knowledge of statistical concepts, with experience in sampling methodologies and data analysis.
• Experience working with Digital Data Gathering systems and data visualisation.
• Demonstrable experience in the nurturing of organisational learning in programmes.
• Strong understanding of research methodologies and the nature of evidence.
• Demonstrated experience in line management and building cohesive high performing teams.
• Excellent facilitation and training skills.
• Experience of working with partner organisations and building organisational & individual capacities.
• Clear understanding and knowledge of equality issues related to development / humanitarian work and contexts and a demonstrable commitment to the ethos and values of Concern in relation to ending inequality and extreme poverty.
• Excellent English writing and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Office.
• Able to work on own initiative, a high level of critical thinking and problem solving abilities.
• Good team player, flexible and politically and culturally sensitive.
• Proven ability to work calmly in high pressure environment.

Desirable

• Direct experience in advocacy and communications work.
• A background in operational research.
• Experience of working with consortia.

• Knowledge of the Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS), Sphere and other relevant global standards.

• Raising awareness and being updated on HIV & AIDS issues.
• Protecting him/herself and colleagues.
• Sharing information with colleagues and avoiding stigma and discrimination.

Therefore, each staff member of Concern is expected to be sensitive to equality issues in their relationships with colleagues and in their work and to participate in implementation of gender mainstreaming plans, both at the workplace and in programmes.

Concern has an organisational Code of Conduct (CCoC) with three Associated Policies; the Programme Participant Protection Policy (P4), the Child Safeguarding Policy and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Policy. These have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation, and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organisation, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context, staff have a responsibility to the organisation to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and Associated Policies as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the content of both the Concern Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies. Additionally, Concern is committed to the safeguarding and protection of vulnerable adults and children in our work. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable adults and children are recruited by us for such roles. Subsequently, working or volunteering with Concern is subject to a range of vetting checks, including criminal background checking.