ABOUT OXFAM
Oxfam is a global community that believes poverty isn’t inevitable. It’s an injustice that can be overcome. We are shop volunteers, women’s rights activists, marathon runners, aid workers, coffee farmers, street fundraisers, goat herders, policy experts, campaigners, water engineers, and more.
And we won’t stop until everyone can live life without poverty for good.
Oxfam GB is a member of the international confederation Oxfam.
OUR VALUES AND COMMITMENT TO SAFEGUARDING
Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work, including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity, and financial misconduct; and is committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults, and beneficiaries with whom Oxfam GB engages. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.
The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organization.
OUR WORK IN ETHIOPIA
Since the early 1970s, we have been working to address the underlying causes of poverty and marginalization by focusing on developing sustainable livelihoods, providing water and sanitation, agriculture, climate research, gender, and humanitarian issues.
TEAM PURPOSE: To support Northern Ethiopian populations to access appropriate and equitable assistance that meets short-term humanitarian needs and mid-long-term development-related needs and priorities. To ensure quality, timely, and safe delivery of comprehensive and integrated projects and programs in Northern Ethiopia (Afar, Amhara, Tigray Regions).
JOB PURPOSE: The Programme Manager is responsible for leading and managing the Oxfam team working in the Northern Ethiopia programme office (and sub-offices), overseeing projects, programmes, and support services
DIMENSIONS OF THE ROLE:
Strategic Alignment and visioning: Outcome-oriented and ensuring that each project within the program supports the programmatic vision and the programme contributes to the organization’s strategic objectives and priorities.
Resource Allocation: Optimizing the allocation of resources (e.g., finances, personnel, equipment) across projects and program initiatives to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.
Risk Management: Identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks across the programme/ portfolio to minimize potential negative impacts on the organization.
Advocacy & Influencing: Contribute to Oxfam’s advocacy and influencing initiatives by suggesting advocacy and influencing asks around projects and programme; representation in public and private domains for advocacy and influencing for policy initiatives within the country, cluster, regional and global programmes in line with Oxfam’s priorities and values.
Performance Monitoring: Tracking the progress and performance of projects and initiatives within the programme/ portfolio to ensure they meet their objectives and deliver expected benefits.
Decision-Making: Decisiveness and making informed decisions about starting, continuing, or stopping projects and initiatives based on their performance and alignment with programmatic strategic goals.
An understanding of the wider issues of the team members’ professional work, the international humanitarian context, working in volatile and complex setup, Oxfam’s ways of working, the priorities of other departments/regions within Oxfam.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
General Responsibilities:
DIMENSIONS OF THE ROLE
• Leadership: Develop and guide program strategies to align with organizational goals and vision.
• Management: Oversee the execution and evaluation of programs, ensuring they meet objectives and timelines.
HR Consistency Checked HJ 17/07/2020
Budgeting: Effectively manage financial resources, ensuring programs operate within budget constraints.
Quality Assurance: Monitor and uphold program standards to ensure high-quality outcomes.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Program development and delivery
Under the leadership of the Country Director, provides overall strategic and technical leadership in the revision, planning, budgeting, and implementation of the Oxfam Country Strategy.
Ensures the delivery of a country program with demonstrable impact and is accountable for ensuring that the programme meets overall program quality and learning standards.
Manages and is accountable for the programme budget, including responding to high-level management and variance reports.
Working with the Program Quality and Learning Manager, develop, implement, and embed, a knowledge management system, that will ensure the sharing of knowledge across the program, other country programs, and the broader confederation.
Oversees the development of program and project improvement plans, to ensure effective and timely implementation of the projects and program.
Working closely with the Business Development Manager, identify opportunities for funding to ensure the financial sustainability of the country programme of Oxfam in Ethiopia
Develop a comprehensive understanding of Oxfam’s partnership approach, including work with coalitions and networks, adopting a strategic, proactive perspective on how to achieve partner led approaches to achieve sustainable change
Oversee the partner portfolio, with specific reference to the identification of both implementing and strategic partners and building and maintaining these relationships
Leads the development of country-level programme reporting – facilitating Programme Managers and other team members’ contributions to reporting, consolidating programme reports and providing high-level strategic analysis of programme impact
Directs and coordinates external program engagement
Strong links between development programmes, humanitarian preparedness and response and policy and advocacy interventions
Ensures that all work is carried out in a way that is sensitive to community needs and cognizant of inherent gender issues. In particular, promote the full and equal participation of women in all aspects of the work • Assist the programme team to develop, finalise and closely monitor their programme(s) budget
Work closely with the Finance Department to ensure effective financial and budgetary control of the programmes, according to OI’s policy and procedures
Manages a broad spectrum of programs or geographies, requiring a variety of competencies and skills of the job holder. Management tasks and problems are diverse and complex and involve a significant degree of risk (financial, security, brand).
Participate in the annual budget process, leading the program budget process, and provide ongoing oversight of program budgets
2 Coordination, networking, and representation
HR Consistency Checked HJ 17/07/2020
Provides strategic leadership and management of Oxfam’s programme in the country including development, advocacy, and humanitarian programming to maximise Oxfam’s influence and impact .
Coordinate and lead Oxfam’s one program in Ethiopia ensuring it delivers on the Oxfam Country Strategic vision and objectives and championing the new ways of working embodied in the Oxfam Country Strategy.
Develop and facilitate links with civil society (including non-implementing partners), the private sector, academic /knowledge institutions, and governments, initiating contacts and building associations that can be used to enhance Oxfam’s work, and identifying key partners to collaborate with on the delivery of the program
3 People development and management
Strategic management and thought leadership
Ensures that team members have access to staff development opportunities, identifies and addresses capacity gaps and provides ongoing counselling and support to team members
Motivate and support the Programme Team, providing leadership, inspiration, capacity building and guidance and ensuring that the management of the team is in line with Oxfam’s HR policies and procedures.
Establish effective relations with programme managers and other managers at all levels for the application of matrix management responsibility of Programme and Programme Support staff based in operating locations.
Ensure all programme teams have set annual performance objectives and perform quarterly and annual performance appraisals as per the Let’s Talk Process
Manage and support the Programme Team to deliver on the OCS (Oxfam Country Strategy), providing leadership, inspiration, and guidance, and ensuring that the management of the team is in line with Oxfam’s HR policies and procedures.
With support from the Human Resources unit, manages the life cycle of individuals within the team from pre-recruitment to exit, including Let’s Talk processes, people’s development, and working with HR on issues such as disciplinary matters, among others.
Work closely with the Head of People and Culture on the human resources planning for the programmes team, including staff retention and talent management, and succession planning.
4 Leadership and Management
To provide direct support to the Country Director and the Programme Managers in the field on all matters of program and grants management with a view to ensuring quality program development and implementation standards are met.
Leadership, management, negotiation, and coordination skills (of people and projects) in a complex multi-stakeholder, networked, global and largely virtual environment
Provide leadership to the programme team, ensuring the best possible support to the programme and advice to the country management team.
Liaising with managers in the country in order to resolve problems related to the effective functioning of the program function.
About You
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Most importantly, every individual at Oxfam GB needs to be able to:
Live our values of INCLUSION, ACCOUNTABILITY and EMPOWERMENT (read more about these here).
Ensure you commit to our ORGANISATIONAL ATTRIBUTES (including adhering to the Code of Conduct):
1. Be committed to our feminist principles, and to applying them in your day-to-day behaviour and your work. Be ready to keep learning, with accountability to those who experience oppression as a result of their identities, such as their gender, race/ethnicity, disability, class, or LGBTQIA identity.”
2. Be committed to undertaking Oxfam’s safeguarding training and adhering to relevant policies, to ensure all people who come into Oxfam are as safe as possible.
Experience, Knowledge & Competencies
Essentials
For this role, we have selected the most relevant feminist leadership practices, which we will use for assessment purposes (which you can read more about here):
Self-Awareness
Mutual accountability
Strategic Thinking and Judgment
SKILS, Experience, Knowledge & Competencies
Postgraduate from a recognized university/ college in International Development, Sustainable Livelihoods, Humanitarian / Programme Management, or any other area that can bring added value to the job.
HR Consistency Checked HJ 17/07/2020
Relevant programme management experience of at least 10 years, preferably in an international NGO/operational UN agency/equivalent, out of which at least 7 years should be senior leadership/managerial experience
A minimum of seven years of experience in the field leading development and humanitarian programmes in one or more challenging contexts in developing countries.
Good understanding of development issues in general, with significant knowledge and experience in one of the fields of (a) sustainable livelihoods and resilience, b) gender and development
Good managerial skills to coordinate the Ethiopia program team to deliver on the Oxfam Country Director’s objectives.
Ability to coach on the building of strong, credible relationships with international and local NGOs, government associations, business leaders, and communities
Ability to adjust to constantly changing situations while maintaining focus on delivery and follow-through
Strong analytical and conceptual thinking skills; able to understand complex issues and translate them into simple, workable actions and plans
Ability to think strategically, work creatively, effectively and in an innovative manner
Commitment to Oxfam’s overall aims and policies and experience of promoting women’s rights and those of marginalised people in all aspects of Oxfam’s work in Ethiopia.
Proven analytical and conceptual thinking, high-level research, project management knowledge and skills and experience using participatory tools and methodologies for assessment, programme identification, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
Comprehensive knowledge and experience of development programs, humanitarian response and advocacy and campaigning.
Knowledge of capacity building, learning and development activities and how to create a learning and sharing environment with a strong knowledge management basis
Commitment to and knowledge of creating a partner-led operational environment, with an ability to create an internal Oxfam approach that is focussed on developing and supporting partner organisations to achieve direct impact and results relating to Oxfam’s objectives
Knowledge of, and experience in working with donors
Excellent influencing and persuasive skills and personal gravitas to gain respect and build and maintain strong, credible relationships, with internal and external stakeholders at all levels
Influencing experience and ability to develop organisational networks and associations
Demonstrated organisational awareness and understanding of knowledge management
Strong analytical and conceptual thinking skills; able to understand complex issues and translate them into simple, workable actions and plans
Persuasive influencing, motivation, team building, and facilitation skills
Good understanding of management roles and dynamics in organizations
Developing organizational strategies and plans for communication and measuring effectiveness
Experience in managing and developing others, including direct line management
Experience in leading and managing conflict resolution
Ability to liaise with a wide range of people, both internally and externally at very senior levels (OI, Executing Affiliate, and other senior organizational leaders) with credibility, tact, and diplomacy