Executive Director Program Quality & Learning - CARE India

Position: Executive Director Program Quality & Learning (ED – PQL)

Grade: A

Reports to: CEO of CARE India (CISSD).

Location: New Delhi, but with 35% travel time to CARE India fields.

Job Summary

This position is designed to obtain high-quality professional leadership for strategizing and implementing CARE India’s Programs and related projects. Success of this position will be measured through assessment of the level of attainment of measurable impact on both immediate and underlying causes of poverty and social exclusion, at scale, both in humanitarian emergencies and in social development programming setting. 

The position holder will be responsible for guiding and ensuring cutting-edge Program Development and Projects Designs, as well as effective implementation of those to achieve sustainable positive changes (Program Impact) in the lives and livelihoods of the target population of CARE in India and beyond. S/he will co-lead transformation of CARE India, jointly with the CEO and CARE India management teams, into a valued, world-class “knowledge organization”. That would constitute generation, harvest , documentation, cross-fertilization, and use of innovative “Knowledge processes and products”, jointly with partners at multiple level, to achieve the Program Goals as well as Project objectives of CARE and its government counterparts, and corporate as well as other partners.

Incumbent in this position will be accountable for ensuring effective integration of quality field projects, with selected advocacy interventions/social campaigns, and thereby advancing synergistic, long-term, and sustainable Impact in the lives of CARE India’s Impact Population (Women and Girls from Dalit and Adivashi communities). Incorporation of the Gender Equality and Diversity (GED) and Policy Advocacy constructs in CARE India’s Programming and Organizational management would be some of the key competencies required of this position holder, in addition to experiences in humanitarian and social development programming.

The Executive Director (PQL) is one of a Mission Management Team (MMT) members of CARE India. In that role, the incumbent would be responsible to work with the CEO and other MMT members to help advance the overall CARE India’s journey towards its vision. The position holder would also play a key role in organizing and managing the Program Committee meetings of the Board of Directors of CISSD, and also participate in the Board meeting, as scheduled.
The position holder would also coordinate with key CARE International (CI) Program forums, networks etc., and ensure CARE India’s value-addition in the CI Program work.

Direct reports:
The following positions will directly report to the ED – PQL:

Deputy Programme Director
Co-manage Head (Disaster Management Unit) with the CEO
Co-manage the Advocacy Director with the CEO
Co-manage Regional Programme Directors
Director (KMIML)
Head (Programme Development)

Key Responsibilities 

1. Staff management and leadership
• To supervise, guide and develop the direct reports using CARE India’s performance management system.
• To manage, oversee and support, jointly with the ED-Operations and Finance, the Regional Programme Directors to ensure effective, timely and quality Programme and projects delivery
• To build internal capabilities, in both people and processes, for poverty alleviation, gender and diversity equality and vulnerability reduction.
• Plan for and invest on building a cohesive Programme Team, who works closely with other teams of CARE India using “share leadership and achieve impact.
• To take a lead role in creating a climate for “Shared Leadership of MMT to make organizational decisions and develop & support the OLMT at all levels.

2. Program Strategy refinement and roll-out: Design longer-term programs, in alignment with the newly developed Program Strategy of CARE International (CI), through efficient and effective participation of Program Reference Groups:
• Lead periodic analysis of immediate and underlying causes of poverty, social exclusion and vulnerabilities among CARE India’s impact population, in collaboration with communities, partners, counterparts, and other key stakeholders, and update the Strategic Program Framework (SPF).
• Well analyzed integration of structural interventions with cutting edge, high-quality sector projects to pursue longer term “Program Goals”, simultaneously with ensuring attainment of sector objectives. This will include, as crafted within CARE India’s SPF, effective integration of Gender Equality and Diversity construct in both humanitarian and social development programming.
• Ensure mechanisms to enhance “technical quality” of programs, as well as humanitarian and social development projects.
• Ensure alignment of CARE India’s Program Strategy (SPF) with that of CARE International. Draw on the Learning, Knowledge, and Resource Persons of the CI world to enhance CARE India’s Program Impact.
• Participate in selected Program forums and networks of CARE International and others, as needed for pursuing CARE India’s Program Goals.

3. Scale-Up: Generate, gather, document, cross-fertilize valuable Program and Project’s “Knowledge” and use those for scaling up of successful projects and/or technical/social innovations
• Create concept papers, jointly with partners, to replicate successful models of “scale-up” of “proven interventions” in order to reach out to a larger impact population
• Utilize CARE relationships and programmatic ability with external agencies (Government, NGOs, and other agencies) to synthesize efforts to spread impact.
• Build expertise on processes, know-hows and exchange ”Knowledge” with relevant agencies, in and outside of India, which work on poverty alleviation.
• Coordinate with the Brand Building, Marketing and Fundraising team to ensure crafting of CARE India’s marketing messages based on the programs we do and updated ”Knowledge” we generate or gather.

4. Advocacy and Social campaigns: Strategize and re-strategize CARE India’s Advocacy work, to influence selected policies of the government, corporate sector agencies, multilateral agencies and NGO partners for achieving greater Impact
• Lead review and periodic revision of CARE India’s Advocacy Strategy, and ensure effective integration of field based “evidence” with selected Advocacy agenda of CARE India and its coalition partners.
• Ensure development of high quality “Policy Briefs” on selected Advocacy and Social Campaign issues, and disseminate those to influence critical discourse, through positive engagement with policy makers within government, private sector, multi-laterals, and peer organizations.
• Get the impact measurement of the Advocacy and Social Campaign work of CARE India done. Share those for adjusting and re-adjusting the Advocacy/Social Campaign strategy.
• Coordinate CARE India’s advocacy work with the global and regional advocacy work of CARE International (CI)

5. Innovations: Lead creation of social and technical innovations/products addressing gender inequality, vulnerability reduction, and poverty alleviation.
• Work as a research and development cell, creating innovating interventions addressing different scenarios.
• Mediate and innovate program interventions up to the level of activity implementation in insecure districts, to ensure impact and quality.

6. Impact Measurement and Knowledge Management
• Ensure roll-out of CARE India’s Knowledge Management, Impact Measurement & Learning (KMIML) Framework for each of the long-term programs and promote learning and organically pursue shared “Program Goals” of selected impact populations
• Create intellectual property on best practices followed by CARE India in various technical and programmatic interventions and make CARE India known as “World-class Knowledge Organization”
• Scout for “Knowledge”/proven interventions, package those and make those available for use of wider range of groups and organizations to address poverty and exclusion, including CARE India team and its partners.
• Ensure high quality Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation (MLE) of each of the projects. Using the MLE information, get quality and timely Reports to all stakeholders of projects.
• Get quarterly Organizational Performance review, reflection and learning sessions organized at multiple levels, based on CARE India’s dash-Board data, Ubora data, and MLE findings. Ensure effective use of those learning to promote quality and Impact of CARE India’s programming.

7. Partnership and network development: Develop strong and sustainable internal as well as external partnerships for sustained Impact at scale:
• Work in collaborations with CEO, ED-Operation & Finance, MMT, and RPDs to build a pool of “long-term partners” and ensure programmatic and technical quality of the emergency response and rehabilitation interventions.
• Coordinate and work with selected GED resource organizations &/or persons to ensure impact on “promoting gender and diversity empowerment” through programs.
• Build sustainable partnerships, alliances with well selected academic institutes, research organizations and other resources organizations for joint initiatives, and promoting high-quality programs.
Liaise with institutional donors, government counterparts, peer organizations in India and beyond, as appropriate in relations to program development and implementation.
7. Any other jobs, relevant for the position, as assigned by the CEO

Qualification & Experience 

Post Graduate Degree in one of the Social Science field (Including Health, Livelihood, Education, Gender / diversity, Humanitarian field) or any equivalent qualification, with more than 10 years of relevant experience in humanitarian and development sector particularly in areas of program development, Project Implementation, Project Management, quality assurance, and Knowledge Management.

Skills & Competencies 

1. High level of analytical skills with the ability to create intellectual property such as white papers, concept notes, policy briefs etc.
2. Excellent operational management skills with a focus on speed and high quality and creativity
3. High quality programme wills including skills in Gender quality and diversity
4. Good advocacy and relationship management / networking skills – both internal and external
5. Excellent team management and leadership skills
6. Demonstrated interpersonal, communication and presentation skills with a proactive approach of skills building and skill transfer
7. Excellent writing and communication skills in English. Skills of communicating in Hindi and / or one of the dominant Indian languages would be desirable.

Candidates should visit http://apps.careindia.org/eis/Recruitment/frmCareerOptions.aspx to apply for the positions online.

The last date of receiving applications will be 25th March 2014. Only short-listed candidates would be contacted.