Fresh Jobs at Save the Children

Reports to:  Head of Business Development

Role Purpose

• Save The Children is looking to add a skilled Proposal Budget/Costing Specialist who is passionate about being a part of a global team of individuals committed to improving the lives of children in Nigeria.
• This is a short-term position for initial six months with option to renew and/or convert into a full-time posts.
• The post holder is responsible for analyzing and determining the essential cost elements needed for each proposal submission, in relation to the donor’s requirements, and provides timely and effective leadership, guidance and support throughout the proposal development process.
• The Proposal Budget/Costing Specialist works as part of the Program Development and Quality team to assist in development of proposal budgets.

Key Areas of Accountability

• Thoroughly review solicitations/calls for funding and become an expert on funder instructions and requirements
• Develop proposal budget templates and guidance
• During proposals, work closely with technical advisors to identify and cost for project activities
• During proposals, work closely across all units such as Operations, Human Resource, Security, Logistics and Finance to identify and budget for operational costs
• Improve budgeting tools and processes within the Save the Children Nigeria CO, in line with Save the Children International and donor guidance
• Ensure that realistic, comprehensive and accurate budgets accompany all proposals
• Build staff capacity in budget development and budget-related areas of donor compliance; preferably including commercial contracts

Qualifications
Essential:

• Experience leading in the development of budgets for proposals for donors such as USAID, DFID, other bilaterals, foundations and/or corporations
• Experience with non-profit accounting, budget analysis and development
• Knowledge of donor rules and regulations
• Ability to work with technical experts to cost out proposed project activities
• Experience working with field office staff and/or headquarters staff to jointly develop proposal budgets
• Preference for candidates with contract/commercial budgeting experience
• Experience building the capacity of appropriate staff on the business/cost proposal process in accordance with Save the Children policies.

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent experience in a related field required.

Work Experience:

• Minimum 5 years overall experience, with 2-3 years developing project budgets

Skills: 

• Exceptional analytical skills
• Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team to meet deliverables
• Ability to cost for complex programs
• Ability to communicate guidance clearly to non-Finance staff
• Attention to detail
• Excellent Excel skills
• Ability to consistently meet multiple deadlines.

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Background

• With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Save the Children Nigeria was commissioned in 2015 to influence and inform policy changes, as well as mobilize communities towards the support for and uptake of Routine Immunization, Nutrition, and Reproductive Maternal, New-born and Child Health (RMNCH) services.
• The Anchor Grant Advocacy is a 3-year project for the purpose creating, promoting and sustaining enabled environment, that will ensure Nigeria is progressing in efforts around maternal and child survival. Advocacy efforts are focused on Post-2015, Action/2015 and the RMNCH continuum of care, specifically, RMNCH and Nutrition. The duration of the project is 2015 to 2017.
• In Nigeria the project is implemented at the national level, and in 4 states (Gombe, Jigawa, Katsina and Zamfara).
• Save the Children’s advocacy was focused on getting political and public commitments to end preventable child and maternal deaths; increase and sustain health financing and health workforce; promote funding for nutrition activities and mitigate challenges around effective RI coverage  at the national level and in focal project states.
• Through the project Save the Children has recorded some ‘big wins’ in influencing policy and legislation, undertaken budget advocacy, pushed for the most vulnerable children, and have elevated maternal, newborn and child survival issues. Save the Children has employed a number of tactics to achieve these feats including the generation and use of evidence, public mobilization, coalition and partnership building, and influencing and policy engagement.
• The International Save the Children Alliance defines Advocacy as “a set of organized activities designed to influence the policies and actions of others to achieve positive changes for children’s lives based on the experience and knowledge of working directly with children, their families and communities.”

Primary Outcomes

• Nigeria requests RMNCH services, ambitious targets (ending all preventable MNC deaths under 5) and indicators, linked to ending all preventable child deaths, are enshrined in post-2015 global development framework (particularly around immunization, family planning and nutrition
• Global post-2015 goals/targets relating to maternal and child survival are translated into Nigeria's national and sub-national targets/strategies/plans/manifestos for 2015 and beyond
• Commitments made by the Nigerian government as part of Every Woman Every Child (EWEC) initiative, A Promise Renewed and the Every Newborn Action Plan are honoured
• RMNCH services to all children and mothers, particularly marginalised and underserved communities, are prioritized around achieving equity
• Commitments on women's rights and equity (particularly those made at the London Family Planning Summit) are honoured and increasingly respected, costed plans are in place and delivered by the Nigerian government.
• Allocative efficiency of health workforce maintained
• Costed plans developed and implemented by relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies at National and State levels
• International Code on the Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes fully implemented by Nigeria
• Domestic resources for nutrition and approval for specific budget lines at national and state levels secured. In particular, at least two Federal MDAs and two state governments budget and expend for Nutrition sensitive and specific interventions
• New Routine Immunization Strategic Plan (NRISP 2016+), based on lessons learnt from 2013-15 NRISP, developed, costed and implemented with a strong focus on equity and excluded groups
• Implementation framework for the National Health Act developed and a specific percentage of the Basic Health Care fund is agreed and ring-fenced for Immunization services
• Functional Cold Chain Equipment made available in every ward in project states
• Planned Preventive Maintenance and Repair System for cold chain Equipment developed and institutionalized in each project state
• Functional Cold Chain Equipment made available in every ward in project states
• Planned Preventive Maintenance and Repair System for cold chain Equipment developed and institutionalized in each project state

Objective of the Assignment

• Save the Children plans to carry out a thorough and comprehensive fact taking exercise in a form of narrative documentation to capture what has transpired in over the past three (3) years tenure of the project. The documentation exercise will specifically be looking at achievements (‘big wins’) and key change areas that have occurred include but not limited to (i.) expected achievements, (ii.) lessons, and (iii.) challenges.
• As part of the requirements involved for the exiting the Anchor Advocacy Grant, Save the Children intends to engage skilled and experienced consultant to conduct the project documentation exercise.

The major objective of the consultancy for project documentation is for knowledge documentation, sharing and management purpose. We aim to document and corroborate evidence in the Anchor Advocacy Project reports for reference. In this regard the consultancy will focus on the following:

• Collect and produce evidence in the form of a compelling narrative on the project ‘big wins’
• Determine what role Save the Children played in the results
• Indicate clearly what the impact of the advocacy intervention has been

Scope of Work/ Key Tasks

• Desk review of appropriate project documents/materials for a clear understanding of the achievements, lessons and challenges: materials to proposal and log frame, project implementation reports and other relevant documents/materials;
• Plan the documentation work basing on the project context in collaboration with Save the Children Advocacy staff. Design a feasible documentation sampling in collaboration with Save the Children and project partners (determine sampling frame). These will be discussed and agreed with the Save the Children Advocacy Program team;
• To aid the collection of relevant information, the consultant will talk to key targets including line government officials and partners. This may involve conducting Focus Group Discussions and key informant interviews
• Collation, presentation and analysis of findings
• Drafting, review and submission of narrative report  with case studies

Geographical focus:

• The documentation will be conducted at the national level and the focal states of Save the Children’s advocacy engagement on the Anchor Grant (Gombe, Jigawa, Katsina and Zamfara).

Deliverable:

• A finalized detailed field work plan
• Final narrative documentation report of project achievement
• Case studies
• PowerPoint presentation of key achievements
• Final consultancy report

Time commitment (20 days):

• Review of the work plan including developing study instruments and data gathering tools and sharing with Save the Children study reference team for the approval before commencement of the assignment (1 day)
• Literature review of reports, assessments and strategic documents and review of the context (3 days)
• Participatory reviews and information collection: identify and collect secondary information from different project documents. Involving field visits to collect primary information through observations, one-on-one interviews, FGDs (10 days)
• Participatory and independent analysis and report & case studies’ writing and debriefing with Save the Children team (3 days)
• Feedback sessions for input and feedback on findings and recommendations (1 day)
• Production of the final documentation report and final consultancy report and submission (2 days)

Selection Criteria

• An award will be made to consultant on: Methodology (30 Points), Quality of demonstrated past performance (30 points), Best Price (30 points), contract duration (5 points) and start date to contract (5 points)

Supervision:

• The consultancy will work under the overall supervision of the Advocacy and Policy Advisor with support from the Advocacy and Campaign Manager and the Director, Advocacy and Campaign

Qualifications

• Minimum of 7 years demonstrated experience in progressively responsible positions in advocacy and campaigns
• Proven experience in successfully developing and implementing advocacy and campaign strategies
• Proven experience in on-site documentation of project activities
• Experience in producing reports, project documentation, and/or knowledge management (skills)

Technical and Financial Proposal:

• Qualified candidates should send a detailed CV, indicating key qualifications, professional achievements, detailed activity plan of the tasks mentioned in this TOR and a detailed budget/financial proposal indicating the tasks to be carried out and the payment to be made.

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Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Contract length: 6 months

The Role

• The EFSL Advisor will be expected to lead on sectoral assessment, programme design and master budgeting, coordination, and support fundraising, recruitment and procurement. In most circumstances, the post holder will be expected to mentor and/or capacity building existing country programme staff.

Qualifications and Experience
Essential:

• Significant management experience working in emergency response, including direct experience in implementing cash transfer programmes, market analysis and economic recovery.
• Previous first phase emergency response experience is essential
• Education to MSc/MA/ level in a relevant subject or equivalent field experience
• Previous experience of managing a team
• Previous experience of project management
• Experience of and commitment to working through systems of community participation and accountability
• Demonstrated monitoring and evaluation skills
• Ability to work both in an advisory and a hands on implementation capacity
• Proven capacity to supervise, train and coach staff
• Experience of representation and ability to represent SC effectively in external forums.
• Experience of preparing successful funding proposals for donors
• Ability to write clear and well-argued assessment and project reports
• Excellent communication skills with a high level of written and spoken English
• Strong influencing skills and experience in advocacy
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy
• The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.
• Commitment to the aims and principles of SC. In particular, a good understanding of the SC mandate and child focus and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support

Desirable:

• Language skills in Hausa
• Knowledge and / or experience in using HEA, COD and EMMA / MIFIRA
• Familiarity with nutrition surveys
• Experience or knowledge of working and living in Northeast Nigeria
• Specific experience of designing and managing DFID, USAID, EU and ECHO projects
• Specific experience of working in consortia projects.

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Location: Maiduguri, Borno Nigeria
Desirable: Fluent in English
Contract length: 06 months

The Role
Working closely with the DTL and Project Director and other FSL program managers to:

• Administer the development and successful implementation of work plans and oversee the creation of reports and other deliverables to FFP in a timely and accurate manner.
• Oversee and support implementation through a local partner, including the supervision of proper targeting, identification, registration, and monitoring of beneficiary lists to prevent overlap with other humanitarian programs in the intervention zone.
• Quality technical leadership and advice to the local partner around the design, implementation and monitoring of project work at state and community levels.
• Coordinate closely with other humanitarian actors and UN agencies carrying food vouchers, and food distributions for geographic mapping and to ensure program activities are in line with national and humanitarian food security priorities.
• Ensure that efficient systems are in place to support all aspects of project activity, including financial and grant management, project monitoring and evaluation, and sub grant management, and that they support the effective use of project resources in compliance with FFP regulations.
• Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) team to develop appropriate monitoring and evaluation plans and to capture learning opportunities around the effectiveness of voucher-based programming, and in particular, the use of e-vouchers.
• Ensure regular monitoring of the market prices and generation of monthly market assessment reports.
• Ensure compliance with all grant, FFP and government provisions, and timely fulfilment of all project programmatic reporting requirements.
• Oversee timely expenditure of approved budgets, avoiding both under spending and overspending on grant line items.
• Work with the logistics team in the identification and selection of vendors to participate in program activities
• Ensure that all vendors working on the program are abreast with and respect all SCI rules/regulations pertaining to the program as well respect the rights and privileges of beneficiaries
• Maintain close contact with the service providers facilitating the food assistance program and ensuring timely replenishment of beneficiary accounts as well as tracking beneficiary transactions.

Qualifications and Experience
Essential:

• Extensive experience of working within a senior management role within a complex country programme in an emergency response or fragile state
• Previous experience of managing programme teams in large-scale first phase emergency response is essential
• Education: MA / M.Sc level (or equivalent field experience) in Agriculture, Rural Development, Development Studies and other relevant qualifications.
• Experience of M&E and beneficiary accountability systems in large complex programmes
• Experience of developing and negotiating successful partnerships with institutional donors
• Proven ability to influence change at an operational and strategic level
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy
• A high level of written and spoken English
• The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.
• Commitment to the aims and principles of SC. In particular, a good understanding of the SC mandate and child focus and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support.