Director of Programs

Job Description: Job Title: Director of Programs
Reports to: Executive Director
Number of Positions: 1
Effective Date: July 5th, 2021
Job type: Permanent, Full time
Location: Remote

ABOUT US:
Amref Health Africa was founded over 60 years ago as the Flying Doctors of East Africa with a mission to bring critical health services to remote communities. Since then, we’ve grown to be Africa’s leading health charity. We believe that everyone everywhere should have the right to health. From our headquarters in Nairobi to our offices around the globe, we work to ensure the most vulnerable remain healthy through community driven and African-led health programs.

Rationale for the Position
The Director of Programs is a member of the organization’s core group that provides strategic support to the Executive Director in achieving the goals and commitments in the organizations.

The Director of Programs will lead the broader program department of Amref Canada and will have a primary function of Strengthening Program Excellence by focusing on the delivery of high-impact programs that leverage proven capabilities and inspire donors, partners and the public, and play a significant role in enhancing financial sustainability by taking an integrated approach to strengthening and diversifying the funding base through grant acquisition from institutional donors.

Core Responsibilities

Grant Acquisition

• Overall responsibility for growing the institutional funds through channels such as Global Affairs Canada, foundations, identifying potential new projects and partners, with the support of the broader programs team and consultant as required
• Lead coordination for grant identification, pipeline management and proposal writing, monitor the timeline, status of proposal and communicate to the relevant parties as appropriate (inclusive of project design, proposal preparation, submission, managing relations with donors/partners, fundraising, etc.)
• Ensure overall design integrates best practices (e.g. match funding requirements and staffing structure) into proposal development and collaborate with the fundraising department to ensure alignment (i.e., adequate fundraising capacity to meet match funding requirements, and good thematic alignment with fundraising)
• Review final draft for coherence and manage submission to the donor

Grant Management:

• Responsible for overall quality assurance of grants/programs in line with donor requirements and Amref Health Africa’s strategic directions, internal policies and
• Work closely with the Director of Finance to ensure review of progress reports received from country offices, evaluate expenditure to be commensurate with project period elapsed and outcome achieved, take appropriate remedial action necessary.
• Ensure appropriate measurement of financial, programmatic, and impact performance against stated objectives, milestones and goals
• Monitor the overall project/program portfolio in cooperation with country offices to plan and execute work plans and to build upon best practices in program management.
• Set Program-associated performance targets for Amref Health Africa in Canada and lead actions to achieve those targets
• Support team’s adherence to internal policies, processes and program management standards, and performance targets.

Partnership Development/ External Representation

• Senior representation of Amref Health Africa in Canada and its programs within external sector forums as required (e.g. thematic focus groups, conferences, communities of practice (e.g. OCIC, Cooperation Canada, CanWaCH)
• Actively develop partnership with other sector partners, and position Amref Health Africa, as a go-to organization for Global Health in Africa
• Continually engage on organization-wide advocacy calls/meetings in order to identify and strategize opportunities to more actively participate in Amref Global’s evolving advocacy focus
• Work closely with the Director of Communications to support their work to increase visibility of projects being managed by the Canada office

Team Development

• Lead or participate as required in the recruitment, orientation and support of the programs department
• Adequately identify the needs of the department and in collaboration with the Executive Director (as required) ensure adequate distribution of resources to meet organizational objectives
• Optimize employee engagement to create working milieu of high morale and participation
• Work with staff to develop objective performance measurements to ensure consistent, high-quality evaluation and goal setting in the programs department.
• Facilitate cross-departmental collaboration and strengthen internal communications with programs staff throughout the organization
• Instill a sense of accountability among team members by modeling tight oversight of individual and organization performance standards.
• Create and promote a positive, multicultural work environment that supports consistency throughout the organization’s strategy.

Program Administration

• Support/ Supervise the development of meeting agendas and keep up-to-date documentation for dialogue, action planning and events that involve stakeholders external to Amref Canada in the organizational database
• Support the Executive Director tracking and updating of appropriate systems (such as the operational plan) and provide concise reporting are available for Board presentations

Knowledge

• 5-10 years’ experience working in international development (preference for experience in African contexts and experience with health programming).
• Extensive knowledge with Project Management tools (e.g. Results-Based Management Logical Frameworks, etc.), budgeting, resources allocation, program monitoring and evaluation.
• In-depth knowledge of health care/ systems in Africa, especially in countries where Amref Health Africa operates
• In-depth understanding of the Canadian funding landscape especially from institutional donors
• Experience contributing to organizational and strategic planning as a member of Senior Management within a Canadian non-profit organization.

Competencies

• Ability to manage complex, multifaceted projects resulting in measurable successes and program growth.
• Ability to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of tools and processes in program design, management, and evaluation.
• Ability to standardize the measuring instruments and criteria and harmonize the program review process.
• Ability to monitor and review progress, manage risks, and maximize results.
• Demonstrated results in managing through complex systems and proven experience negotiating win-win agreements.
• Ability to identify and prioritize stakeholder groups, both nationally and internationally.
• Ability to put in action the stakeholder engagement plan/relationship management plan.
• Ability to leverage and utilize resources to accomplish organizational objectives.
• Ability to plan, implement and prioritize tasks, optimize resources and work with others to accomplish organizational goals or priorities.
• Effectively able to work as part of a small and dynamic team and supervise junior program management staff members.
• Ability to grow employees through coaching, guiding and providing learning experiences.
• Competencies for seeing the “Big Picture” of funding and the health landscape in Africa, including relationship building, trust development, consultation, collaboration, visioning, and partnership building
• Ability to go beyond conventional ways of doing things, especially around resource mobilization, and working effectively in a small organization
• Ability to figure out a line of action based on evidence-based assessment in spite of the ambiguous situation, and strict timelines in adherence to line of action
• Strong verbal and written communication skills to deliver information and messages in written and verbal formals for designated audiences

To respond to this opportunity, please send your resume and cover letter [email protected] by June 18, 2021.

Amref Health Africa in Canada is an equal opportunity employer. Recruitment and selection procedures reflect this commitment. Amref Health Africa in Canada is committed to diversity in the workforce and individuals from all disadvantaged groups are encouraged to apply.

We thank all applicants for their interest in working with Amref Health Africa in Canada however, only those selected for an interview will be contact. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE