Senior Program Manager at Skills Outside School Foundation

The Senior Program Manager will be responsible for organizing programs and activities, managing delivery and coordinating with internal and external staff, lead project delivery and manage small teams, and provide overall leadership in the design and delivery of SOSF programs. The Managers overarching focus is to position SOSF to achieve its mandate. The specific areas of focus include: strategy, grant management & fundraising, stakeholder management including the board, and guiding programmatic delivery.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The duties and responsibilities for the position include:

Program and Grant Administration

• Overall monitoring on grants/programs for both external/donor requirements and SOSF internal policies and requirements.
• Provide ongoing monitoring of the status of programs and complete regular check-ins on grant requirements.
• Rationalize the delivery of programs through new and existing partnerships
• Guide design and development of new component programs
• Ensure appropriate measurement of financial, programmatic, and impact performance against stated milestones and goals
• Support team’s adherence to internal policies and Program management standards.
• Overall responsibility for Grant sourcing with the assistance of Program Officers
• Lead coordination for grant identification, grant matrix population and proposal writing, monitor the timeline, status of proposal and communicate to the relevant parties as appropriate.
• Review final draft for coherence and manage submission to the donor.
•  Ensure that the flow of funds permits SOSF to make continuous progress towards the achievement of its mission and that those funds are allocated properly to reflect present needs and future potential
• Oversee the financial status of the organization including developing long and short- range financial plans, monitoring the budget and ensuring sound financial controls are in place; set financial priorities accurately to ensure the organization is operating in a manner that supports the needs of the program and staff
• In collaboration with the Head of Admin, HR and finance, and media & comms, fundraise as appropriate to achieve the objectives and strategic plans of SOSF

Partnership Development and Management

• Coordinate partnership negotiation & development, ensuring necessary teams are engaged to help further program, country and regional interests.
•  Exercise collaborative efforts with other social service organizations, NGOs, companies, institutions and governments to develop and expand services that benefit our clients, beneficiaries and the community
• Develop and preserve relationships with foundations, trusts, companies, organizations, and individuals who could become donors or funding sources or partners

External Representation

Represent SOSF interests and programs with external stakeholders, in concert with the respective relevant teams.

Strategy, Planning & Learning

• Support team with strategy development and planning and visit program activities to support facilitation of the process as requested.
• Facilitate learning across departments and programs including codifying lessons learned and knowledge of resources/tools/best practices, etc.
• Collaborate with the board to develop, refine, implement and monitor SOSFs’ strategic plan while ensuring that the budget, staff, and priorities are aligned with SOSFs’ core mission
• Provide strategic guidance for program, stakeholder management and talent management
• Conduct origination, business development and new opportunity mapping Including expansion into new states
• Drive organizational structuring as required to follow new priorities, imperatives and strategic direction of SOSF
• Appropriate tracking systems, for regular presentation to the board, funders, and other key stakeholders
• Stakeholder Management
• Expand the SOSF strategic partnerships and maintain the existing ones
• Manage grant database and stakeholders’ database
• Formulate and execute comprehensive marketing, branding and development strategies that will ensure consistency throughout the organization and enhance revenue from major donors, foundations, government agencies, and corporations

Recruitment

Participate in the interview process for new staff, providing contextual information on programs and realities of the position, and selection for key positions as identified with the recruiting manager.
For new-hires, support recruiting manager to provide briefings on context, strategy and programs as initial step in the onboarding process.

Internal Communication

Oversee the Media and Comms Officer with respect to internal communications and ensure knowledge management systems are up to date and accurate to support communication with other teams.

Accountability to Beneficiaries

Support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to standards guiding our work

Leadership Management

• Lead, coach, develop, manage and retain SOSF high-performing staff (full time staff, part time staff, interns, program support officers, NYSC core members and others)
• Build and entrench a culture of professionalism, efficiency and innovation in line with core SOSF values and philosophy
• Establish effective decision-making processes that will enable SOSF to be flexible and efficient in achieving its long and short-term goals and objectives
• Collaborate with the Board; seek and build board involvement with the overall and continuous strategic direction of SOSF
• Facilitate cross-departmental collaboration and strengthen internal communications with staff throughout the organization
• Create and promote a positive, multicultural work environment that supports consistency throughout the organization's strategy, operational methods, data collection needs and impact evaluation

Supervisory Responsibility:  Six (6)

Reporting Relationship: Chair of the Board of Trustees

Works Directly With: Other units and departments, including Admin, HR and Finance, Legal and Corporate Secretariat, Media and Communications and Programs

DURATION OF ROLE: 12 MONTHS (Renewable)

ESTIMATED HOURS PER WEEK: 40 HOURS (Minimum)

KEY SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

 The Senior Program Manager should demonstrate competence in all of the following:

• Program Management: Understand program design and implementation.
• Strategic Management: Understand the formulation and implementation of goals and initiatives for organization benefits.
• Stakeholders Management: Establish system and matrices for effective stakeholders’ management.
• Staff Management: Establish and sustain a culture that drives open mindedness and positive relationship among staff whilst motivating core staff for retainership
• Behave Ethically: Understand ethical behaviour and business practices, and ensure that own behaviour and the behaviour of others is consistent with these standards and aligns with the values of the organization.
• Build Relationships: Establish and maintain positive working relationships with others, both internally and externally, to achieve the goals of the organization particularly with current partners and sponsors; Command a professional image.
• Communicate Effectively: Speak, listen and write in a clear, thorough and timely manner including by phone with several stakeholders; Articulate the foundations’ mission, program objectives with relevant stakeholders.
• Creativity/Innovation: Develop new and unique ways to improve operations of the organization and to create new opportunities.
• Foster Teamwork: Work cooperatively and effectively with others to set goals, resolve problems, and make decisions that enhance organizational effectiveness.
• Lead: Positively influence others to achieve results that are in the best interest of the organization.
• Make Decisions: Assess situations to determine the importance, urgency and risks, and make clear decisions which are timely and in the best interests of the organization; Proactively take actions necessary to produce results and able to work independently/with little guidance.
• Organize: Set priorities, develop a work schedule, Monitor the progress towards goals, and track details, data, information and activities.
• Plan: Determine strategies to move the organization forward, set goals, create and implement actions plans, and evaluate the process and results.
• Solve Problems: Assess problem situations to identify causes, gather and process relevant information, generate possible solutions, and make recommendations and/or resolve the problem.
• Strong strategic, analytical, and project management skills: demonstrated ability to take responsibility for a diverse number of activities and to complete them in a timely manner; deadline driven, and able to manage multiple projects and engagements simultaneously.
• Strong attention to detail and editing skills
• Self- Management: Is self-directed, eager to meet and exceed objectives, and excited to take on more responsibility.

EDUCATION

• A university degree in Project management, business administration, business management, law or a related field of study
• Masters’ degree or a certification in business management, Project Management, Human Resources Management is an added advantage
• Proficiency in MS Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint)
• Proficiency in cloud software applications (Skydrive, DropBox, Google Docs)

REQUIRED PRIOR EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of 2-3 years’ experience in a management position
• Prior experience in a strategy-based position
• Prior experience working in a not for profit or in the not-for profit space
• Prior experience in a program related role

RECOMMENDED PRIOR EXPERIENCE

• Prior experience in the education or employability sector
• Prior experience running a business