Head of Programme Development & Influencing

The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 85 years, and are now active in more than 80 countries.

ROLE PURPOSE
The Head of Programme Development & Influencing leads the country programme team and the development and implementation of strategies to deliver quality programmes and influencing initiatives to children and communities using Plan’s Global Approach to Programme and Influence. S/he oversees ensuring Plan International’s programme and influencing initiatives meet highest levels of technical outcomes, produce results for children, and particularly girls, and contribute to the achievement of Plan’s local and global strategic plans.S/he supports the Country Management Team to strengthen programme and influencing quality, mobilise resources and to provide opportunities for partnering, networking, learning and knowledge management.

The Head of Programme Development & Influencing is managed directly by the Country Director and may at times be required to take on the responsibilities of the Country Director (CD) position in his/her absence.
DIMENSIONS OF THE ROLE
• A member of the Burkina Country Management Team (CMT) and manages senior advisors and managers in the areas of programme strategy, resource mobilization, communication/influencing.
• Reporting regularly to the CD on the management of all risks associated with programme strategy and effectiveness, resource mobilization and emergency response.
• Technical oversight and support to Country Programmes for designing, implementing, evaluating and resourcing programmes and advocacy/influencing initiatives.
• S/he oversees the annual program & influencing process, monitors progress towards the achievements of CS goals and global strategic goals, and defines measures to ensure Plan International’s programme & influencing work is effective and puts our global programme & influencing approach into practice, whether in humanitarian or emergency circumstances.
• Supports programme integration, learning & knowledge management, timely and effective delivery of commitments
• Works closely with Operations and the Head of Program Quality Implementation to ensure timely support to programme delivery and good planning of activities that require logistical, finance, administrative, HR or security support.
• Upon delegation of the CD, the Head of Programme Development & Influencing may approve all commitments, contracts, grants, leases, disbursements and transfers to third parties up to €200,000.

ACCOUNTABILITIES
1. Strategic planning and delivery of programmes
The Country Strategy is reviewed, updated and monitored

• Leads the revision and annual planning processes for the existing CS and the development of the new one responding to changing national, regional, and global priorities, including Plan International’s own with an adapted strategic RM plan that reflects its CS’s aspirations.
• A yearly research and evaluation plan supporting the CS implementation and contributing to program quality is set, developed and implemented.
• Emergency interventions are appropriate to identified needs and gaps and are maximising Plan International Burkina’s added value, while ensuring adherence to humanitarian standards and minimising security risks.
• Clear strategies for disaster risk reduction, mitigation and response are in place at country level and embedded as appropriate into long term programmes
• Strategies or plans in the area of communication, advocacy, influencing and resources mobilization are developed, implemented and progress adequately documented.
• Plan International Burkina has an efficient knowledge management system/approach in place that helps learning, sharing, scaling up, and innovation
• Grant management is recognised as being of a high standard and agreed commitments are met in a timely manner and to the expected quality
• The programme team budget is developed, implemented and monitored to the highest quality
• Responsible of the development and the regular monitoring of Plan International programme & influencing risk management plan/dashboard.
• Plans and implements measures to ensure that strategy and programme & influence initiatives are gender transformative, inclusive and conflict sensitive, and that they build resilience and strong partnerships and contribute to a global movement for girls and gender equality
• Puts in place measures to ensure that all programme & Influence initiatives – whether development or humanitarian - implemented follow to nationally and globally recognized technical standards as well as to Plan’s own.
• Provides guidance to ensure that every project has a results framework/Theory of Change and a sound monitoring & evaluation plan in place and ensure it is adequately costed and implemented in accordance with global standards and guidance using corporate systems.
• Provides regular report on programme and influence initiatives as per global standards and guidance.
• Leads the documentation of the lessons learnt from projects and ensure they are discussed within the team and the wider organization; and that they inform the continuous improvement of Plan International’s work

2. Influencing
An influencing and advocacy strategy is in place to support partners in driving changes in policies, norms, behaviours and practices to eliminate gender inequality, discrimination and Gender Based Violence (GBV).
• Responsible of the development of an influencing plan and ensure that Plan International Burkina Faso’s projects include effective and measurable influencing activities that result in outcomes for girls and wherever possible contribute to Plan’s global influencing agenda and a global movement for girls and gender equality.
• Establish and maintain regular and structured communication with key stakeholders at national and local level (e.g. government, civil society) in order to deliver effective and collaborative influencing.
• Achieve change through a combination of influencing approaches, including developing local policy recommendations, lobbying, building coalitions and partnerships, engaging youth movement, developing strategic communications.
• Implement capacity building activities toward the development of partner-specific advocacy strategies
• Mentor partner organizations in advocacy and lobbying skills, including conducting power relations and conflict analyses
• Support partners and allies in the quantitative and qualitative assessment of the results they have achieved in terms of national influencing.
• Coordinate reporting on the results achieved in terms of influencing according to established standards.
• Contribute to the documentation of learning and innovations developed by Plan, its partners and allies (lessons learned, best practices, methodologies, approaches, life stories, etc.).

3. Working with Youth
A strategy and mechanisms are in place to support youth groups and movements to implement projects, carry out influencing activities and campaigns and lead change
• Ensure youth programming is relevant to the local context
• Review and provide input into project work plans
• Ensure that youth issues are mainstreamed across project activities
• Participate in stakeholder forums and steering committees that affect youth in particular.
• Ensure that Plan’s Child Protection Policy is respected

4. Resources Mobilization
Relevant grants acquisition and quality grant management are in place to support the delivery of the Country Strategy

• Country Resource Mobilisation strategy is developed and implemented in conjunction with key stakeholders to deliver the country grants target.
• Grants acquisitions are in line with the country strategy
• Leads and manages the development of high Concept Notes & proposals with full participation of the Programmes, Influencing Strategic team and partner’s organizations to ensure grants acquisitions.
• The country annual targets for grant acquisition is agreed and achieved.
• Effective collaboration with NOs, institutional donors and organisations at local and international level are established and maintained.

5. Team management
The Programme Department is a high performing team supporting quality interventions

• Participates actively and effectively in the Country Management Team (CMT).
• The team’s performance objectives are well set, efficiently monitored using Plan’s performance management system.
• The members of the Programme Team are adequately supported in their work and their development needs are identified and met.
• Country staff capacity to deliver Global Approach to Programme and Influencing is being enhanced and adequately monitored
• Adequate staffing and cost recovery is in place to ensure the right resources are available for Plan International Burkina’s ambition
• Assess technical needs to implement Country Strategy and projects and work together with other members of the CMT such as HROD to ensure Plan International Burkina Faso has the technical capacity needed to deliver on strategy and programme & influencing plans.

Location: Ouagadougou - Burkina Faso

Type of Role: Local fixed term

Reports to: The Country Director

Grade: E

Closing Date: august 31, 2023

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion.

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