DRC has been responding to various humanitarian crises in Lebanon since 2004, working with Palestinian, Iraqi and Syrian refugees. DRC received registration from the Ministry of Interior in 2011, and since then has focused primarily on responding to the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon and the resulting impact on Lebanese host community. DRC Lebanon’s focus is to ensure that we are able to respond to critical emerging humanitarian needs whilst improve the living conditions of displacement-affected populations and contribute to the achievement of durable solutions. With an annual portfolio of $12million, and with approximately 200+ staff, DRC is focusing its response in protection and economic recovery (Ec-Rec) sector in Bekka, North Lebanon and Beirut. DRC is also contributing to the evidence base and coordination structures in country through our Evidence Generation and referral information management (RIMs) teams.
About the job
The Programme Development & Quality Manager (PDQM) is a management position supporting country leads to ensure the country strategy and programme design are of high quality, based on evidence, and implemented according to the organization’s standards. The PDQM is responsible for leadership and management of the Programme Quality department, which consists of Grants Management, MEAL, Information Management, and Partnerships. This position also provides coordination and technical support to the Head of Programs (HoP). The position provides support to the HoP in donor relations and engagement as well as coordination to the Regional Office (RO) and HQ counterparts.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Programme planning and overall quality
Develop a Programme Quality Strategy for Lebanon programme with a focus on coordination and collaboration among different departments;
Contribute to the development, monitoring and review of country strategic documents and indicators including country log-frames and sectoral log-frames in line with regional and global strategies and plans;
Ensure monthly grants meetings with all relevant departments contribute to the review of overall progress, quality, consolidated spending, implementation, procurement, and staffing plans for each project and flag up discrepancies to the teams and HoP;
Lead on resource mobilization strategies
Ensure systems and tools for efficient grant management; and ensure a coordinated approach to risk-management in cooperation with relevant departments; ensuring dynamics is implemented in a timely manner and that grants are tracked and coordination with the RO and HQ;
Coordinate with the relevant departments for submission of quality proposals, revisions and reports; providing technical oversight on strategic considerations and programme activities so as to ensure accurate, coherent and timely reporting.
Liaise with donor representatives and coordinate donor visits to programme sites, in support to the HoP and Country Director (CD)
Lead on needs assessments, programme analysis to support annual strategy review and project/programme planning processes
Ensure lessons learned and analysis of data from MEAL to contribute to the development of high quality, innovative programs that are based on evidence and in coordination with relevant technical coordinators and specialists.
Drive new initiatives to expand/improve programmatic actions
Identify and advocate for future opportunities to for DRC to develop conflict-sensitive, accountable and gender sensitive programming in Lebanon as best suits the Lebanon context.
Assist in project implementation and reporting
Work closely with other departments to ensure an efficient and timely response
Actively participate in internal coordination meetings
Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL)
Oversee the MEAL Coordination unit to ensure MEAL framework and plans are available for all grants and effective system is in place including capacity of staff to gather, analyze and report on M&E indicators;
Contribute to creating and maintaining an environment for learning where ideas, solutions, challenges and learning are shared and adopted in programme design and implementation as part of the MEAL policy and implementation strategy
Ensure learning from the country programme is documented/captured, consolidated and disseminated, contributing to knowledge building and sharing within Lebanon and globally to influence policies and programme planning
Support the MEAL Coordinator leading and conducting learning activities. For instance, support planning of review workshops, prepare lessons learnt reports, organise internal or external evaluations and conducting accountability mechanism pilots
Coordinate technical assistance and capacity strengthening for project teams and partners in project management standards and related MEAL, including capacity assessment, training material development and delivery of trainings;
Support in the updating of CHS reviews, make recommendations for improvements whilst supporting the focal point for rolling out the recommendations across all departments
Ensure tools, processes and systems are in place for DRC to improve communication and accountability to beneficiaries
Complete regular field visits to deliver technical oversight, identify needs, provide support, troubleshoot, strengthen capacity, and ensure quality programming (when possible)
Act as the Safeguarding focal point for programming – ensuring staff are aware of Code of Conduct and DRC have in place a PSEA policy.
Information Management (IM)
Support and enhance linkages between IM team and other programmatic departments.
Support the IM Coordinator in evidence gathering for briefs for advocacy purposes;
Develop strategy for and manage implementation of IM policies, systems, and processes;
Partnerships
In coordination with DRC’s headquarters and regional offices, develop and roll out partnership strategy including management tools, guidelines, and other resources as needed to effectively management partnerships;
Improve partnership practices by periodically assessing DRC Lebanon’s partnership management approach taking into account both DRC and partners’ perspectives, capture lessons learned and best practices, and make recommendations for improvement.
Work with all departments to ensure recommendations are implemented and that progress is tracked.
Responsible for ensuring partnership assessements and ensuring technical coordinators/support depts are aware of tools and processes
Oversee the implementation of planned capacity building activities for partners in coordination with relevant DRC departments and measure changes in partners’ capacity levels through objectively verifiable indicators;
Ensure SGAs are drafted, monitored and followed up on a regular basis
Work with HOP/HOSS to ensure the technical coordinators have adequate indicators in place to monitor technical improvements in partners capacities
Directly conduct capacity building activities for partners, including training workshops and one-on-one mentoring of key partner staff on donor rules and regulations, reporting, program development, grants management, and other relevant areas as needed.
Develop and strengthen relationships with local partners and DRC colleagues in order to maintain trust in DRC’s professional standard and quality of work among all stakeholders.
Act as the focal point on partnership and localization agenda within the country team; where need be represent DRC externally on localization, engaging within the humanitarian community.
People management
Directly line manage the PDQ team in Beirut (including people planning, performance, well-being and development)
Provide staff capacity building for the PDQ team in Lebanon and other sector teams as needed
Support the recruitment of MEAL, information management and grants staff as required
Support the professional development of programme staff by carrying out an learning needs analysis which informs the learning and development plan.
Facilitate capacity building for team members and partners to develop stronger protection expertise in-country. This includes coaching, capacity and mentor building and providing technical matrix line management support to colleagues
About you
To be successful in this role we expect you to have at least five years of professional experience in humanitarian contexts with a range of PDQ responsibilities, preferably in partnerships, grants and MEAL
Moreover, we also expect the following:
Master's degree or equivalent in international relations, development, migration, Middle East studies, or related field or equivilant
Safeguarding technical certificate
At least 3 years' experience with people management; with the ability to lead and work with teams in rolling out M&E mechanisms, partnership approaches and/or grants management systems
Practical experience in applying CHS & partnership principles to programming; with the ability to set up and refine accountability systems along with proven experience of upward and downward accountability approaches and mechanisms and applying participatory methodologies
Demonstrable experience in the nurturing of organisational learning with the ability to draft strategies/frameworks
Solid experience in project development and management; including ability to lead on assessments, design, implementation, monitoring; with good skills in donor reporting, accountability, and compliance
Excellent leadership, coordination, communication, organizational and planning skills; with the ability to work flexibly in a diverse team in a dynamic environment, fostering a positive working environment, and manage issues sensitively and diplomatically.
Strong capacity building, facilitation, and presentation skills with the ability develop strong interpersonal relationships to facilitate communication and support partner and staff.
Commitment to integrate gender, protection conflict sensitivity and accountability into programming
Extensive knowledge of UN, US and European institutional donors and their compliance requirements with proven experience of developing successful funding proposals, contract management including consortia grants
Strong understanding of localization agenda as well as partnership approaches and tools
keen understanding of the complexities in the Middle East region
