Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an International non-governmental organization supporting relief and development work in over 99 countries around the world. CR5 programs assist persons on the basis of need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality CRS works through local church and non-church partners to implement its programs, therefore, strengthening and building the capacity of these partner organizations is fundamental to programs in every country in which CR5 operates. CRS re-established presence in Nigeria in 2000 and currently focuses on agriculture, health and emergency programming.

POSITION : Deputy Chief of Party / Technical Program Director

Objectives

• Catholic Relief Services (CRS), in partnership with the Catholic Caritas Federation of Nigeria (CCFN), the Federation of Muslim Women Associations of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Mercy Corps, Making Cents International and 8 civil society organizations (CSOs), is implementing the Feed the Future Nigeria Livelihoods Project.
• It is a 5-year program with $15 million support from USAID and $5 million cost-share from CRS and partners. It is an agriculture-led project based in rural communities in Northern Nigeria’s Sokoto state, Kebbi state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
• The project is using a multi-sector approach to help 42,000 very poor households (with focus on women) increase their agriculture production and productivity, diversify incomes and improve nutrition.
• The key results of the project include improving agricultural production and productivity; improving household income; improving household nutrition (and WASH); and strengthening institutional capacity to implement poverty reduction interventions. **

Job Summary

• CRS/Nigeria is seeking a Technical Program Director (TPD) to lead the implementation of technical program activities for sustainable improvements in agriculture, food security, nutrition, livelihoods, entrepreneurial skills development and governance.
• The incumbent will provide technical leadership to the management of the project including assessment of progress and performance.
• S/he will report to the Chief of Party (COP) and will maintain close liaison with the M&E Director and Grants Manager.
• The TPD will ensure adherence to CRS’ technical and program quality standards in implementation and compliance by partners.
• As Technical Program Director, s/he will interact closely with the other consortium organizations and technical partners (including 8 civil society organizations - CSOs involved in the implementation of program activities), coordinate inputs by the CRS Technical Advisers, and supervise the work of the other managers/technical team leaders.
• The major responsibilities of the position are technical leadership, team building, strategic leadership, coordination, monitoring/evaluation, mentoring/training, supervision, and report writing. This position will also serve as the Deputy Chief of Party.

Primary Function

• The TPD will work with the Technical Team Leads and Senior Program Manager (SPM) to oversee all technical aspects of the project and ensure that activities are effectively and, efficiently implemented according to proposal objectives and donor requirements.

Specific Responsibilities
Program quality through technical service provision:

• Provide technical direction on agriculture, income generation, nutrition/WASH, education, social protection and governance.
• Manage a team of technical staff in various sectors (agriculture production, nutrition/WASH, savings-led microfinance and governance).
• Ensure all sectoral strategies are aligned with Government of Nigeria priorities and CRS’ “Pathway to Prosperity” intervention models as well as other CRS technical and program quality standards.
• Address bottlenecks and scale up best practices to achieve high-quality program implementation.
• Develop systems of planning, reporting, targeting and monitoring in consultation with the consortium organizations and Monitoring and Evaluation Director.
• Develop and manage the review of interventions to ensure synergy between sectoral interventions.
• Coordinate the involvement of technical assistance via advanced planning and discussions; managing consultants or technical assistance by developing and enforcing clear scopes of work and consistent engagement.
• Ensure the delivery of quality training and technical assistance on a timely basis
• Lead capacity building of sub-grantees (CSOs) and oversee learning in community of practice and peer exchange activities
• Coordinate with Grants Manager, Technical Leads and SPM in CSO budget development and oversight
• Oversee periodic technical reviews and implement evidence-based changes in program implementation and focus
• Mainstream gender-sensitive project interventions, through support and promotion of gender throughout all areas of the project.

Program quality through Promotion of Innovation in technical program areas:

• Identify innovation in the respective technical area from elsewhere and facilitate its adaptation and application within the context of the situation in project locations with all implementing partners.
• Regularly review the project sector strategies to ensure relevance and enhance program impact by suggesting appropriate alternative strategies and changes to the program
• Promote and facilitate innovation through capacity building and motivation of implementing staff.
• Along with the Chief of Party, periodically review progress and direction of the project and identify appropriate actions to achieve planned outputs.

Program quality through facilitation of learning across program technical areas:

• Support M&E Director in developing a "learning agenda / knowledge database " for the technical areas and coordinate the technical implementation of these learning agendas
• Enhance cross-learning within program technical areas through regular field visits, exchange of staff and other practical ways.
• Support M&E Director to record lessons learned and document success stories within the technical areas and facilitates its effective use to improve program quality and disseminate key achievements.
• With support from team leads, develop mechanisms for regular feedback on the quality of on the ground activities and targeting of supervisory support.
• Provide technical support to M&E Director in developing and conducting surveys and studies.
• Provide input into developing communications and networking systems (newsletter, website, events with government & stakeholders).

Representation and Advocacy:

• In collaboration with the Chief of Party, serve as primary technical program contact to donor, and other local and international stakeholders, responsible for addressing all technical program matters.
• Support Chief of Party to liaise with other stakeholders from government, international agencies and NGOs
• Lead in establishing linkages with technical persons from the relevant ministries
• Support CSOs to develop strong working relationships with community and village district administrations, local government institutions, and other existing projects within project locations
• Support Chief of Party to represent project in programming areas especially with relevant government ministries
• In collaboration with Chief of Party, strengthen linkages with existing and potential partner agencies and other donor funded programs
• In collaboration with the Chief of Party, oversee program communication strategies, including compliance with donor’s branding and marketing requirements, as well as CRS marketing and communication procedures.
• Contribute as a member of the Project Senior Management Team

Human Resource Management:

• Lead, manage and supervise all technical staff (including SPM) of the project meet program objectives.
• Conduct periodic reviews of technical program staff and SPM performance in keeping with CRS’ performance management system and mentor staff to ensure high levels of motivation, dedication, commitment, capacity, and teamwork.
• Manage recruitment portfolio of technical staff, in collaboration with the Chief of Party, Human Resources, and CRS country program management, to ensure optimum service delivery through recruitment of competent and qualified staff.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Manage a team of technical staff: Agriculture, Income Generation, Nutrition/WASH, Savings-led Microfinance, Cash Transfers and Governance

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should download the CRS Application Form, fill and send with a detailed Resume (maximum of 3 pages) in a single file Word document to: NG_HR@global.crs.org

Click here to download the CRS Application Form

 Note: “CRS is an equal - opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, etc. Qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply”.