Associate Program Director Job in Kisumu Kenya - Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Job Title: Associate Program Director

Project: Safe Water Program (SWP)

Duty Station: Kisumu, Kenya

Reporting To: Program Director–SWP Kenya

Start Date: Immediate

Deadline: 22 January 2011 – Applications considered on a rolling basis

Introduction

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a rapidly growing, global organization with operations in over 40 countries. We design innovative, cutting-edge approaches to solving development problems, rigorously evaluate these programs, and promote the adoption of those with proven impact.

This occurs both through the dissemination of results to policy makers, practitioners, and donors, as well as the actual design and implementation of new programs at a national level.

IPA-Kenya (IPAK) is IPA’s oldest and largest country office, and the center of a major IPA scale-up initiative –the Safe Water Program (SWP), which is pursuing a national scale-up of the Chlorine Dispenser System (CDS) in Kenya.

The program is the first of its kind not only in Kenya, but internationally, and offers the unique opportunity to transform child health and development based on rigorous evidence of the dispenser system’s cost-effectiveness and impact.

SWP currently serves 400,000 people in Kenya with access to safe water—this represents an 8X growth in program size in 2011. The program’s mission in Kenya is to reach at least 5 million with access to safe water, averting nearly 2.3 million cases of child diarrhea and over 2,200 child deaths each year at this scale.

A new role for SWP, the Associate Program Director will be responsible for ensuring a strong platform for accomplishing this through managing SWP’s operations, research and development and support teams.

The APD will be a senior member of SWP’s management team who will lead the core functions of SWP’s Kenya country program. Reporting to the Program Director, the APD will manage several officer-level staff as well as the Research and Evaluation Manager and Program Operations Manager.

They will liaise closely with the senior management of the Country Office to ensure compliance with all relevant systems and procedures and elicit support where required.

Specific Responsibilities

Core Functions Oversight and Coordination

Coordinate activities between field operations, research/evaluation and administrative/information systems functions
Lead coordinated planning processes for these core functions
Provide supervision, guidance and support to several officer-level staff as well as the Evaluation and Research Manager and Program Operations Manager

Strategic Planning

Contribute to strategic planning processes for SWP in Kenya and globally
Take overall responsibility for executing major activities in line with program strategy

Staff Development and Human Resource Management

Work with other senior managers to ensure a strong and continued focus on professional development of junior staff across the program—including maintaining staff development plans and identifying relevant training opportunities
Ensure a strong set of practices are in place across the program around recruiting, performance management and other areas of human resource management
Coordinate the annual evaluation process for SWP Kenya staff

Administrative and Information Systems Development

Lead the development of in-program policies and systems for administrative management, procurement, donor compliance, information systems and information technology management to facilitate the smooth functioning of SWP projects and office operations
Provide oversight over these functions and build out the administrative support staff as needed
Coordinate with administrative support offered by IPA’s Kenya country office and international headquarters

Financial and Budget Management

Lead the budgeting process for the Kenya program, including appropriate delegation to senior managers and field office coordinators
Prepare quarterly reports tracking budget versus actual expenditure
Ensure appropriate financial data is collected for future program planning and cost effectiveness projections
Lead monthly reviews of in-country expenditure

External Relationship Management

Take overall responsibility for management of local relationships (i.e. at the district and provincial levels)
Ensure external relations functions are appropriately documented, coordinated and delegated to headquarters staff and field offices
Coordinate site visits by internal and external stakeholders

Learning and Knowledge Management

Coordinate documentation of implementation lessons learned across the Kenya program
Ensure best practices are well-documented and accessible to a variety of audiences— government partners, implementing partners in other countries, SWP staff within and outside Kenya, research programs within IPA
Coordinate with IPA research programs generating knowledge relevant to SWP’s work—provide research question input, incorporate results into implementation best practices

Qualifications

Education: Graduate degree or equivalent professional qualification

Experience:

Significant management experience, including at least 2 years of senior management experience
Experience managing within a cross-cultural team
Experience coordinating operations and planning across organizational functions
Sound knowledge of administrative and information management systems in a relevant context
Significant work experience in Africa, ideally Kenya /East Africa
Financial and budget management experience

Knowledge and Skills:

Strong written and oral communication skills; strong interpersonal skills
Strong management skills, including demonstrated ability to develop skills and expertise of high-potential junior staff
Demonstrated leadership skills especially in leading and empowering teams
Strong critical thinking and judgment skills
High level of comfort with information technology and databases
High level of comfort with evaluation, research and data analysis
Intellectual flexibility and willingness to form and adjust opinions based on evidence
High degree of fluency with Microsoft Word and Excel
Exposure to managing USAID grants a plus

Personality and Attitude:

Driven by SWP’s mission of bringing safe water to millions of Kenyans, averting thousands of child deaths from waterborne disease
A strong commitment to evidence-based practice and policy in the development field
An entrepreneurial spirit – SWP is a dynamic program, with many opportunities for growth

To Apply

Applications can be submitted via email to ipak.water.jobs@poverty-action.org with the subject line “Associate Program Director Application.”

Please attach the following documents:

Cover letter explaining interest in the position and fit for the role
CV/resume
(Optional) A work sample—ideally, a tool or business document that showcases management skills

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted by email for an interview.

Applicants are encouraged to apply early, as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

The application deadline is 22 January 2012.