Head of Programs

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Role: Head of Programs
Employer: BRAC Liberia
Application Deadline: 14th April 2025
Work Location: Monrovia, Liberia with frequent (30%) travel to the field.

 

Application guide: Submit your CV and Cover Letter to info@afriqia-solutions.com with “Head of Programs”
in the Subject Line.

About BRAC International

BRAC International is a leading non-profit organization with a mission to empower people and communities in situations of poverty, illiteracy, disease, and social injustice. Founded in 1972, by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, BRAC is the largest non-governmental development organization in the world and is currently in 17 countries and operating directly in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ghana, Liberia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. 

BRAC launched operations in Liberia in 2008 and is currently in 12 out of 15 counties with a focus extreme poverty with programs on agriculture, food security and livelihoods, health, youth empowerment, education, microfinance and social enterprises. BRAC Liberia implements proven, scalable solutions that equip people with the support and confidence necessary to achieve their potential through integrated programs approaches that empower mostly women and youth. BRAC has institutional expertise on various programs touching the lives of over 100 million people in the Global South.

 

Key Purpose

The Head of Programs (HoP) is to function as point of contact for the day-to-day management of the programs of interests of the BRAC Liberia as an organization. She/he will take lead of strategic planning, program development, program risk management and provide supportive supervision to Program Managers across the entire program portfolio in Liberia. She/he will provide leadership and direction on program development, implementation, and resource mobilization as well as integrating effective monitoring and evaluation frameworks into program design and implementation. The HoP will maintain close contact with the technical anchors at BRAC International HQ, and at the Africa Regional Office to ensure BRAC Liberia profile and reputation with stakeholders are strong and reflect organizational values, vision, and mission. The candidate will deputize for the Country Director where necessary to ensure that desired program outcomes and objectives are delivered.

 

Responsibilities

 

Strategic Oversight

  • Share leadership accountability for the Country Program strategy to deliver impactful programming and operations in Liberia.
  • Support the development of a culture that reflects the values, vision, and mission of BRAC Liberia. 
  • Take lead in planning, promotion, implementation, and evaluation of programs and make sure an appropriate program framework is in place and program/project operations are consistent with regulatory guidelines and internal processes.  
  • Support BRAC Liberia to deliver outstanding results for beneficiaries and be the main liaison focal with donors. 
  • Participate in designing and managing a coherent organizational structure that is consistent with organizational practices and appropriate to program needs. 
  • Participate in Country Management Team meetings.
  • Together with the Country Director, organize and participates in the meetings of the Board of Directors of BRAC Liberia.
  • Participate fully in the annual budget process, leading the program budgeting process, and provides ongoing oversight and management of the program budget.
  • Deputize for the Country Director.

 

Program Performance, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

  • Provide oversight of the entire BRAC Liberia Program portfolio, ensuring strong design, implementation and learning from our programs.
  • Support the implementation of our flagship AIM Program, ensuring systems, processes, and structures in place to meet donor targets and deliverables. 
  • Serve as overall budget holder for programming department; manage and support budget holders for individual projects and grants.
  • Drive achievement of all project results and oversee project work planning, performance management, program frameworks, and risk forecasting and mitigation including through field visits to project sites and ensure that all project assistance is technically sound and appropriate.   
  • Support program teams to track and manage program and project milestones and deliverables, ensuring that goals are met, and deliverables are provided on time.
  • Define program indicators and develop data relevant resources and tools (including M&E plan, technical data collection tools, databases, dashboards, and reporting templates), that align with M&E Standards, donor requirements and overall BRAC goals.
  • Lead quarterly Program Management Team (PMT) review meetings, follow up and support implementation of ‘Action Points’ from quarterly PMT meetings.
  • Work in close collaboration with program leadership to implement studies or operational research, supervising data collection and analysis and presenting results.
  • Document processes and achievements to ensure best practices are captured and disseminated. This will include the continual re-evaluation of program activities and information, with resulting activity adjustments in keeping with new insights.  
  • Produce written reports on program activities, capturing the impacts of activities.
  • Ensure action planning and execution to resolve audit and evaluation findings and recommendations in a conclusive and timely manner.

 

Fundraising, Networking and Partnerships  

  • Help to establish, maintain, and improve active working relationships with the host government authorities at central and local levels.  
  • Represent BRAC Liberia in sector working groups, network/alliance meetings, events and forums at national and international levels.  
  • Manage relationships with stakeholders, participating in BRAC-wide and regional initiatives.  
  • Ensure effective partnerships at all levels as per standard procedures and guidelines of the organization including building capacity of the partner organizations.  
  • Support Program and Project Managers to strengthen networks in collaboration with various actors at local levels as well as building strategic networks and alliances.  
  • Ensure effective information flow and communication with other stakeholders including partners and international teams.  
  • Initiate and nurture networks and alliances with academia, and research institutions.
  • Coordinate overall funding process from donors including identifying strategic leads, developing funding strategies that support country program growth.  
  • In close coordination with GRMP and in-country teams, lead the development of high-quality concept notes and proposals for submission to various donors.
  • Ensure preparation of timely and high quality institutional and donor reports that reflects the impact of BRAC’s programs in Liberia.
  • Provide leadership in organizing and managing external stakeholders’ meetings to share learnings.

 

Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development 

  • Promote accountability and high performance encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation.  
  • Ensure appropriate staffing within the Programs Department/unit including at field office levels for all staff to understand and to perform their roles.
  • Manage the Program team; define expectations, provide leadership and technical support as needed, and evaluate direct reports regularly.  
  • Manage the recruitment, training, and promotion of staff as appropriate and ensure the availability of appropriate professional development opportunities for staff.  
  • Incorporate staff development strategies and Performance Management Systems into the team building process. 
  • Manage the performance of all staff in the Program Department through effective use of the Performance Management System, including the establishment of clear, measurable objectives, ongoing feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased evaluations.

 

Safeguarding, Safety and Security  

  • Establish a safeguarding culture across all levels of the program by implementing the safeguarding policy. 
  • Act as a key source of support, guidance and expertise on safeguarding for establishing a safe working environment.  
  • Responsible for ensuring team members are appropriately trained, supported, and have access to resources regarding issues that are identified and actioned in accordance with the safeguarding policy and procedure.  
  • Follow the safeguarding reporting procedure in case any reportable incident takes place, encourage others to do so.
  • Work with the Safety and Security focal persons to ensure that minimum operating standards are met by field teams and that periodic security assessments are carried out and reports submitted to the Country Senior Management team on time.

 

Education and Knowledge

  • University Degree in development or business or education or social sciences or other related fields.
  • Post graduate qualifications in the same field are an added advantage.
  • A minimum of 10 years management experience in an NGO or other humanitarian environment, including significant field operations in running development programs.
  • Good understanding of main program sectors of BRAC Liberia which includes education, health, food security/livelihoods, youth and women empowerment. 
  • Proven experience in designing and winning competitive proposals for major institutional donors as well as managing grants including compliance with the donor standards.
  • Excellent knowledge for establishing and managing a strong monitoring, evaluation and learning system for complex programs.  
  • Experience in designing and conducting quantitative and qualitative data collection, including social impact assessment, desk reviews, interviews, and field work.
  • Substantial knowledge and experience of effective financial and budgetary control and supporting projects to stay on course with implementation.  
  • Previous experience of managing and developing a sizable team and the ability to lead, motivate and develop others to achieve high impact results. 

 

Skills and Competencies

  • Exceptional general management and communication skills, including ability to communicate effectively with people of varied professional and cultural backgrounds.
  • Strong strategic and creative thinking.
  • Demonstrated ability to take a strategic view across a large complex program portfolio.
  • Excellent communication and negotiation skills.  
  • Demonstrated skills in writing, editing and reporting.  
  • Good knowledge of financial and administrative management.  
  • Personal commitment, drive for results, efficiency, and flexibility.  
  • Proficiency in the use of MS Office.  
  • Ability to mobilize and influence different audiences and communities.  
  • Able to build capacity and develop others.  
  • Commitment to the organizational vision, mission and values.