Regional Program Development Specialist

Job description

REGIONAL PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST

“Outraged by the injustice faced by people with disabilities and vulnerable populations, we aspire to a world of solidarity and inclusion, enriched by our differences, where everyone can live in dignity”.

Handicap International, also known as Humanity & Inclusion or HI, is an independent and impartial aid and development organisation with no religious or political affiliations operating in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. We work alongside people with disabilities and vulnerable people to help meet their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights.

Since the organisation was first founded in 1982, we have set up development programmes in 62 countries and responded to many emergencies.

HI is engaged in an employment policy in favour of disabled workers. For further information about the association: www.hi.org.

CONTEXTUALISATION

The South East Asia region is characterized by its size, the diversity of its contexts and, above all, by its cultural and linguistic heterogeneity (7 major languages and more than 500 local languages). This is the region of birth of HI and our activities are still largely traditional, with a dominant in Inclusion (42% of the 2021 budget volume), Rehabilitation (19%) and Mine Action (15%). The region encompasses a wide variety of humanitarian contexts, ranging from the civil war in Myanmar, to support to the Vietnamese government in the development of an international standard of rehabilitation services, or to emergency responses to climate-related disasters in the Philippines.

In February 2020, HI initiated the process of regionalization of the Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam programs, joined later by China (October 2021) and the Philippines (January 2023). The regional office is in Vientiane (Laos). In March 2023, decision has been taken to further merge the Myanmar/Thailand program into the Mekong program to finalize the integration of the Regional Direction and Geographic Direction. The merge should be completed by January 2025 the latest. The Regional Program Development Specialist will support all the countries within the South East Asia region.

About the position:

Under the authority of the Regional Project Unit Manager, and in collaboration with the Regional Director, Technical Head of Program and Country Managers, the Regional Program Development Specialist (RPDS) actively contributes to the development of the program by designing, implementing and monitoring the fundraising strategy for the program to which he/she is attached. He/she identifies funding opportunities and leads the process of developing concept notes and project proposals through to submission to donors (public institutions, foundations and the private sector).

Line manager: Regional Project Unit Manager

MISSION/RESPONSIBILITIES

Mission 1: Strategic positioning & planning

• Observe donor strategies and priorities at country/regional level and monitor opportunities in order to anticipate calls for proposals and identify bidding opportunities.
• Participate in the development and monitoring of the operational strategy, with particular focus on the fundraising action plan and internal project documents
• Ensure follow up, implementation and monitoring of the fundraising strategy. Interact with identified donors to understand their perception of HI's current programming, and identify their areas of interest in order to target fundraising efforts
• Draw up a mapping of other humanitarian and development actors (INGOs, UN agencies, government representations) to monitor trends and remain competitive
• Analyse fundraising trends and inform the program on transformation rate, project coverage, duration and amounts secured
• Coordinate fundraising efforts, especially networking, monitoring of donor opportunities
• Liaise and mobilise adequate team members to support fundraising efforts (technical experts, country managers, etc).
• Organise regular meetings with country managers
• Coordinate with other programmes/countries to gather and promote best practices, facilitate dialogue with donors (for prospection / replication of activities)

Mission 2: Relationship management

• Work with the Program Director and Country Managers & Technical Unit to strengthen HI's attractiveness and influence, developing key relationships with relevant decision makers in, national and local organizations, donors and major international organizations;
• Develop active and quality working relationships with donors and strategic partners in the country identify potential consortium.
• Participate in various platforms and meetings on behalf of the CM to increase HI's visibility and allow for information gathering on funding opportunities
• Promote HI's technical positioning, approaches, know-how and skills within the relevant networks with a view to developing consortium agreements with the support of the Technical Unit.
• Develop supporting documents, such as "project sheets" and/or "donor sheets"; and develop new tools such as capacity statement
• Set-up a CRM policy and ensure that it is updated as necessary.

Mission 3: Proposal development

• Coordinate proposal development, distributing tasks among the key people involved the writing of the project proposal for submission to the donor, in accordance with HI's proposal writing process and tools (PD-tool, project development tracking tool, etc.), including the development of: logical frameworks, MEAL plan, narrative description of technical approach, planning, staffing and budgeting
• Ensure coordination and triangulation framing with O2, IPSO, HQ shared services, HQ PDO and technical staff and the HI mission
• Proactively coordinate the involvement and input of all relevant technical advisors (HQ and mission staff) for all proposal development
• Identify, where appropriate, relevant/competitive arrangements (consortia, multi-country projects, etc.) and facilitate negotiations;
• For consortia: ensure coordination and communication, and manage stakeholder input during project development;
• Review the project proposal/final concept note prior to submission for compliance with donor guidelines and expectations, consistency between the budget and the technical description, and overall quality;
• Proceed (if necessary) with the final submission of concept notes and project proposals to donors.
• Coordinate and collaborate with HI national associations (IPO/IPSO) for all relevant donor proposals

Mission 4: Capacity Building

• Develop training modules on proposal writing and project cycle management for all programmes’ staff and local partners when relevant
• Provide training on donor rules, regulations and strategies for all programmes’ staff involved in the writing of the proposal

Mission 5: Emergency Preparedness and Response Responsibilities

• Contributes to the program's emergency preparedness actions and, during an emergency, adapts his/her work modality to contribute to HI’s effective humanitarian response

PROFILE

Qualification(s) and Experience(s):

• A degree in from an accredited educational institution in international development, or other relevant fields is essential
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in similar positions, including at least 2 years' in program development
• Proven proficient level knowledge of donors, donor contract analysis and strategic analysis skills are required.
• Expert level proposal and narrative report writing skills
• Proficient level networking, representation and negotiation skills are required;
• Experience in facilitation and/or design of training and skills enhancement programs, both face- to-face and distance learning is required;
• Financial and budgetary management skills are required.
• Previous professional experience in the region and/or knowledge of the region preferable

CONDITIONS OF POSITION

• Type of contract: Fixed terms contract
• Location: Based on candidate’s profile
• Starting date: As soon as possible- expected from 01/12/2023
• Wage: According to profile and experience

TO APPLY: Only online by joining a CV and cover letter via the following email: [email protected]. Only short-listed candidates will be notified.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATION: 12/10/2023

Humanity & Inclusion (HI) is an equal opportunity employer. Women and people living with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. HI promotes and upholds the principles of equal opportunities and its policies (PSEAH, Child Protection etc). HI has a zero-tolerance approach to any harm to, or exploitation of, a vulnerable adult or a child by any of our staff, representatives or partners. Recruitment to all jobs in HI includes, in particular, criminal record checks and the collection of relevant references. Safeguarding our beneficiaries is our top priority in everything we do. For further information about the association: http://www.handicap-international.fr/

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