Program Quality Manager

ROLE PURPOSE
The purpose of this position is to provide overall leadership and management of the Program Quality Department. The position is accountable for design and development of programs and for assurance of the program quality. This includes: 1) Leadership in acquiring resources (grants and private funds) and ensuring that grant opportunities align with Plan International Vietnam (PIV) strategy; 2) Leadership of technical sector teams (Skill Opportunity & Youth Economic Empowerment, Disaster Management, Gender Inclusion and Child Protection) whereby projects contribute to a portfolio of programming aligned with strategic objectives; 3) Leadership to Monitoring and Evaluation team ensuring that all projects and programs achieve the greatest impact, are gender transformative and strengthen our evaluation and research
DIMENSIONS OF THE ROLE
The main dimensions of role include the direct lead of a multi-disciplinary team to:
• Develop Program Strategy, Program technical guidance and projects in compliance with program quality policy and procedures (PQP)
• Establish a source of information in PIV for programming and influencing
• Develop systems and capacity of PIV's staff that help enhance program quality assurance
• Keep PIV informed of progress made in achievement of the strategic objectives
• Be responsible for fund raising to make sure PIV has sufficient financial resources
• Provide technical supports to PUs and partners to help them deliver high quality of program to the target beneficiaries
The Program Quality Manager is a member of PIV Country Management Team (CMT) and plays a central role in the design and implementation of country strategy and business planning. As a member of the CMT, the position holder will work closely with Country Director, Program Partnership and Impact and Finance to review strategic intent and grant priorities.
The dimensions of role also include the engagement in:
• Focal point for technical networks in the region and International Headquarter
• Representation of PIV in CSO networks in the country
ACCOUNTABILITIES
Specific responsibilities and accountabilities include the following:
1. Strategy, Planning and Alignment
a. Provide leadership in the development strategy and key technical sector priorities for PIV, ensuring that PIV strategy is aligned with PII strategy.
b. Ensure that that strategy document is fully understood and key components are translated into the country annual business plan, and development of annual implementation plans for the Program Quality team.
c. Ensure that PIV is able to operationalize both our grant and sponsorship funds in the organizational setting.
d. Support PIV team to ensure Central, Provincial and District situation analysis data is available and updated on a regular basis.
e. Ensure alignment of grants with PIV strategic goals and priorities. This includes leadership on the development, implementation and evaluation of technical approaches and programs.
f. Facilitate the review and revision process, if needed, of the existing CSP and the development of the new one responding to changing national, regional, and global priorities.
2. Accountability and Evidence-Based Programs
a) Manage and ensure that all PIV's interventions have a strong evidence base and that all activities are in line with PII and humanitarian industry global standards.
b) Continually research issues related to child poverty and girls' rights in Vietnam to keep CMT informed of opportunities for child-rights programming, and to build reliable evidences of issues related to all programmatic areas
c) Continue to advocate for PIV Program Quality and Effectiveness standards both internally and externally, and ensure that PII standards are met.
d) Lead the coordination and review of major program quality documents including report writing and ensure documents meet donor and international best practice quality standards.
e) Maintain a good understanding of development context in Vietnam; strengthen the technical team to seek emerging successes, learning of best practices and building relationships to reinforce PIV's mission and core values
f) Technically coordinate sector and Programme Quality support; produce good documentation and well-coordinated reporting system; and share lesson learned among PIV staff and program stakeholders.
g) Make sure policies and legal frameworks related to PIV's core programs are carefully studied to make PIV well informed of opportunities to advocate for positive changes
h) Communicate and share data and information with PIV CMT so that data can be used to learn and apply best practices from other development organisations. show best practice to others and support in decision making.
i) Support the technical teams to analyse, summarize and contribute to Donor reports with good quality.
j) Ensure quality of the programmes in the country, reporting system is established and roles clarified.
k) Programs and reports are backed up with good solid evidence and donor reports meet the deadline and high standards of quality.
l) PQ and PU staff have sufficient support and a sound understanding of the program logic related to PIV strategic objectives.
m) Ensure that PIV is effectively contributing to global advocacy initiatives and has high quality advocacy, public engagement and campaign plans in place.
3. Provision of Technical Support to the Program Unit (PUs) and Partners
a) Monitor the principles in partnership in Plan Vietnam, and provide technical support when needed, to make sure the program delivery process is efficient, effective and influencing
b) Strengthen capacity for PUs and partners in enhancing resiliency of the ethnic minority communities
c) Analyse gaps in institutional capacity of partners and PUs and help them fill these gaps
d) Identify the needs in technical support from PUs and partners to have appropriate response plans
e) Coordinate the support in assessment, design and implementation and monitoring
f) Develop and deliver training to PUs' staff to enable them to deliver accountable, evidence based, quality interventions
g) Conduct monitoring support visits to PUs implementing Projects and provide in the field technical consultation as requested
h) Provide assistance as needed to PUs staff in the preparation of annual plan with clear budgets, monthly cash flows and Semi-Annual Management Reports
i) Assist the PUs to promote Civil Society engagement in development
4. Business Development and fund raising
a) Diversify funding stream and proper resource allocation and mobilization to support the strategy execution and ensure sustainable financing in the country.
b) High quality grant proposals are developed, ensuring all proposals submitted by PIV meet donor requirements and are strategically aligned.
c) Yield to community and overheads are maintained at appropriate levels.
d) PIV is clear of its competitive advantage in the donor's market and best positioned to be a partner of choice.
e) Provide leadership in managing the grant acquisition team - including grant pipeline tracking and assessment of opportunities (go/no-go decisions). b)
f) Gather intelligence on grant opportunities and develop relationships with counterparts in National Offices, the Regional Office, and local stakeholders (eg. UN agencies, multi-lateral institutions, and embassies).
g) Work together with the Program Partnerships and Finance Department to ensure budgets are competitively costed within donor requirements.
h) Support CD with funding negotiations with National Offices and other donors by providing all relevant technical information and serving as liaison to some of the conversation with NOs and Donors.
i) Support the Program Quality technical team to build relationships with technical working groups to ensure better alignment with donor priorities and funding opportunities.
j) Work closely with the Country Director, continue to update/revise supporter engagement strategy and practices to adapt to changing context.
k) Coordinate the donor visits and participate in donor visits when necessary
5. Networking and Coordination
a) Ensure strong collaborative partnership in the country are built which position PIV as a strategic partner with national and international stakeholders.
b) PIV programmes embedded within government programmes in each of our areas and MoUs with government and other players to achieve objectives & outcomes.
c) Actively network, build relationships, and strengthen reputation and positioning of PIV with key donors present in Vietnam as well as PIV National Offices through regular meetings and other engagement activities.
d) Develop mutually supportive relationships with other departments and staff in PIV and actively work with them in order to facilitate effective management, administration and good teamwork culture.
e) Represent PIV on Program Quality related matters to other NGOs and branches of the Government of Vietnam.
f) Participate in relevant regional and international networks, working groups, workshops, and meetings. Contribute in
6. Team Leadership and Management
a) Ensure that PQ Team is strengthened - improved leadership in their area of expertise, communicate often and clearly with the wider team, are engaged, trust and challenge one another for results.
b) Manage all direct report staff, including: staff recruitment, orientation, ongoing management support, quarterly coaching, annual performance planning and appraisal.
c) Professional and personal development of staff is ensured through on job coaching, identification of learning and training needs and opportunities.
d) PQ team exhibits a culture of accountability through a results-based approach with much harder expectations.
e) In coordination with HR and OD department, develop workforce plan to ensure the Program Quality department has the right number of staff and technical skill to meet the organizational demands.
f) Spend at least 20% of time in the field to visit PUs, projects, communities and target villages.
g) Engage in regular interaction with program participants and partners.
h) As a member of CMT, participate and positively contribute to wider organizational decisions and policies. Attend and contribute to the CMT meetings, and represent the Management Team in other forums and venues.
i) Meet with the Country Director regularly for support and updates, and for quarterly coaching and annual performance appraisal reviews.
j) Plan and seek support for continued professional development.
k) Undertake other duties as reasonably assigned by the Country Director.
l) In times of emergency, provide technical support to disaster responses as directed by line management.
Internal relationship
a. With CMT members
b. With the Business Development Unit and Program Units (PUs) for smooth cooperation in development of project proposals and fund raising
c. With Program implementation team
d. With the PUs
e. With all PIV's departments
External relationship
a. With policy and advocacy working group with international organisations (development partners)
b. With technical networks and other relevant institutions at National level
c. With key non-governmental organisations (NGOs), UN-agencies for shared learning, joint implementation and leveraging similar interventions in people participation
d. With Vietnam Civil Society Organizations working in development
e. With the Ethnic Minority Working Group
Organizational Chart of Program Department