Creative Associates International Deutschland GmbH

Germany

**Background:** 

Creative Associates International is a dynamic, fast-growing global development firm that specializes in education, economic growth, democratic institutions, and stabilization. Based in Washington, D.C., Creative has a field presence in more than 25 countries with a strong client portfolio that includes the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, among others. Since its founding in 1977, Creative has earned a solid reputation among its clients and is well-regarded by competitors and partners alike. 

**Project Summary:** 

NEA/AC Supporting Local Governance and Essential Services (SLGES) – FURAT III project aims to strengthen the capacity of Syrian local governance actors to serve Syrian citizens in improving the quality, reliability, and equity of essential services to give Syrians hope for a better future. Special attention should be paid to identifying interventions that make civic councils more inclusive and representative while enabling them to demonstrate accountability and transparency to the communities they serve. Programming should broadly focus on strengthening local governance actors’ capacity to deliver essential services in northeast and possibly northwest Syria through subawards to these actors. 

**Position Summary:** 

The Senior Program Manager coordinates with the staff inside Syria to conduct community needs assessments, develop new activities that fit within NEA’s guidelines, and ensure timely implementation of activities in NE/W Syria. The Senior Program Manager also ensures that all programming associated within NE/W Syria is within the budget allocated by the client. Supervises the Senior Program Coordinators and directly reports to the Team Lead. The Senior Program Manager will be also involved in the closeout phase as well and will be providing direct support to the team to ensure effective closeout of activities.

## Tasks

**Primary Responsibilities**

**1- Stabilization activities:**

a- Activity Development

*   Manage the overall program and ensure that all program activities are completed within the defined timelines, budget, and scope.
*   Coordinate with Field staff to provide assistance to local partners in conducting community needs assessments and organizational capacity assessments (OCA).
*   Coordinate with the Field staff to provide assistance and mentorship to the local partners in their daily work and improve their deliverables.
*   Work directly with the local partners to develop ideas for new activities that fit within the guidelines provided by the donor.
*   Develop, design and plan strategically concept notes and Activity Approval Form.
*   Review the award contracts and neg memo, design milestone deliverables for project activities and provide technical review and concurrence of milestone completion after activity award.
*   Review activities’ description, budgets, and work plans. As required, work with the procurement team to develop procurement plan and market surveys for projects; and
*   Review detailed risk assessment and mitigation plans for each concept note and AAF to include all possible risks associated with the project.

b- Activity Implementation

*   Participate in approved activities kick-off meeting as main POC, explaining the agreement, SOW, terms, as well as conditions and milestones to the local partners or the council representatives.
*   Advise the local partners on requirements of technical milestone deliverables and provide feedback, in coordination with FURAT III field staff.
*   Provide day to day technical oversight of an activity portfolio of up to twenty activities to ensure effective programmatic delivery that meets the objectives of each activity.
*   Review technical milestone deliverables to confirm that they meet program requirements.
*   Work closely with the project’s procurement team to ensure procurements are completed on time and to specification.
*   Contribute to the program’s activity tracker, capturing all activities commitments and disbursements; and
*   As needed, work closely with the operations team on the in-kind procurement including preparing of Purchase Requests, and participating in the solicitation process.

c- Activity Close Out

*   Maintain complete and accurate activity files with minimal oversight.
*   Review the final technical report, de-obligation memo, and close out checklist of all activities and seek M&E input on the indicator section.
*   Conduct the financial review for activities and ensure that the budget tracker and HQ transaction are matching. Capture any discrepancies and communicate with HQ on documenting all notes.
*   Review de-obligation memo for activities with remaining balance; and

d- Program Representation

*   Serve as FURAT III representative in meetings with the local partners and other implementers in Berlin.
*   Present activities development and situational updates to the donor at weekly program meetings.
*   Coordinate with other implementer’s staff to ensure synergy of support for the local partners; and
*   Provide input and analysis into routine Program situation reports and other program reporting.

**2- Information & Research**

*   Design, develop and assess the research ideas,
*   Support the information & research team in producing written reports and make presentations.
*   Report on achievement of targets and identify any actions required.
*   Maintain regular communications with the local partners and field staff and provide any political, military, and/or social changes to the program and M&E team.
*   Share highlights, success stories, lessons learned, and challenges provided by the partners with M&E team for qualitative reporting.
*   Produce insightful research reports with sophisticated advice to support clients in their decision-making; and
*   Manages weekly report outputs, ah-hoc reporting and client RFIs, leads writing of quarterly reports.

**3- Grants activities**

*   Managing and supporting the grants requirement and implementation for the activities.
*   Identify and develop strategies to optimize the grants administration process.
*   Oversee if the grants are implemented according to the operational and financial needs of the company.
*   Review all financial reporting to ensure all costs are allocable, allowable, and reasonable and that supporting documentation is complete.
*   Keep the relevant staff informed about upcoming deadlines and deliverables, thereby ensuring a smooth completion of work responsibilities.
*   Oversee the job of invoicing, accounting, reporting, and other administrative functions to ensure the successful execution of grant process.
*   Prepare financial and/or budget plans and allocation along with the planning and finance department in accordance with each requirement; and
*   Provide detailed reports to the donor and the senior management level with respect to the company’s progress.

**4- Capacity building activities**

*   Provide general oversight and input into ongoing capacity building activities.
*   Support FURAT III capacity building officer in developing effective implementation strategies with the civil councils.
*   Support the selected ToT trainers in developing and producing an overall training strategy.
*   Develop the skills and knowledge of program staff and partners to ensure successful program implementation and sustainability.
*   Provide expert advice and guidance to capacity building team/trainers on training and capacity building related matters.
*   In collaboration with the M&E team, support the analysis of the pre- and post-training assessments.
*   Collect and analyze data and produce impact reports on the conducted trainings.
*   Identify follow-on activities, areas of intervention, innovative approaches, and flag risk factors.
*   Assessing the advantages and disadvantages of possible strategies.
*   Provide recommendations for improvement and present findings to the capacity building team; and
*   Provide training to the new staff on capacity building and reporting requirements.

## Requirements

**Qualifications**

*   Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent, required in relevant field; relevant Master’s degree preferred; 
*   Must have 6 +years of general work experience and 4+ years of specific experience related to the position required. Must have 3+ years of supervisory experience with groups or teams of staff. 
*   Demonstrated professional experience and knowledge in designing components programming under donor regulations, preferably with the U.S. Government (USG); 
*   Demonstrated knowledge of regional conflict and political dynamics with a focus on the Syrian context strongly preferred; 
*   Demonstrated experience working on USG funded development/stabilization programming strongly preferred; 
*   Ability to analyze the work, define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions, and the ability to think innovatively. 
*   Demonstrated experience managing direct reports; 
*   Fluency in Arabic language required. Proficiency in English language required; and 
*   Authorization to legally work in Germany.

Employee

Background: 
Creative Associates International is a dynamic, fast-growing global development firm that specializes in education, economic growth, democratic institutions, and stabilization. Based in Washington, D.C., Creative has a field presence in more than 25 countries with a strong client portfolio that includes the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, among others. Since its founding in 1977, Creative has earned a solid reputation among its clients and is well-regarded by competitors and partners alike. 
Project Summary: 
NEA/AC Supporting Local Governance and Essential Services (SLGES) – FURAT III project aims to strengthen the capacity of Syrian local governance actors to serve Syrian citizens in improving the quality, reliability, and equity of essential services to give Syrians hope for a better future. Special attention should be paid to identifying interventions that make civic councils more inclusive and representative while enabling them to demonstrate accountability and transparency to the communities they serve. Programming should broadly focus on strengthening local governance actors’ capacity to deliver essential services in northeast and possibly northwest Syria through subawards to these actors. 
Position Summary: 
The Senior Program Manager coordinates with the staff inside Syria to conduct community needs assessments, develop new activities that fit within NEA’s guidelines, and ensure timely implementation of activities in NE/W Syria. The Senior Program Manager also ensures that all programming associated within NE/W Syria is within the budget allocated by the client. Supervises the Senior Program Coordinators and directly reports to the Team Lead. The Senior Program Manager will be also involved in the closeout phase as well and will be providing direct support to the team to ensure effective closeout of activities.
<h2 id="tasks">Tasks</h2>
Primary Responsibilities
1- Stabilization activities:
a- Activity Development
<ul>
<li>Manage the overall program and ensure that all program activities are completed within the defined timelines, budget, and scope.</li>
<li>Coordinate with Field staff to provide assistance to local partners in conducting community needs assessments and organizational capacity assessments (OCA).</li>
<li>Coordinate with the Field staff to provide assistance and mentorship to the local partners in their daily work and improve their deliverables.</li>
<li>Work directly with the local partners to develop ideas for new activities that fit within the guidelines provided by the donor.</li>
<li>Develop, design and plan strategically concept notes and Activity Approval Form.</li>
<li>Review the award contracts and neg memo, design milestone deliverables for project activities and provide technical review and concurrence of milestone completion after activity award.</li>
<li>Review activities’ description, budgets, and work plans. As required, work with the procurement team to develop procurement plan and market surveys for projects; and</li>
<li>Review detailed risk assessment and mitigation plans for each concept note and AAF to include all possible risks associated with the project.</li>
</ul>
b- Activity Implementation
<ul>
<li>Participate in approved activities kick-off meeting as main POC, explaining the agreement, SOW, terms, as well as conditions and milestones to the local partners or the council representatives.</li>
<li>Advise the local partners on requirements of technical milestone deliverables and provide feedback, in coordination with FURAT III field staff.</li>
<li>Provide day to day technical oversight of an activity portfolio of up to twenty activities to ensure effective programmatic delivery that meets the objectives of each activity.</li>
<li>Review technical milestone deliverables to confirm that they meet program requirements.</li>
<li>Work closely with the project’s procurement team to ensure procurements are completed on time and to specification.</li>
<li>Contribute to the program’s activity tracker, capturing all activities commitments and disbursements; and</li>
<li>As needed, work closely with the operations team on the in-kind procurement including preparing of Purchase Requests, and participating in the solicitation process.</li>
</ul>
c- Activity Close Out
<ul>
<li>Maintain complete and accurate activity files with minimal oversight.</li>
<li>Review the final technical report, de-obligation memo, and close out checklist of all activities and seek M&amp;E input on the indicator section.</li>
<li>Conduct the financial review for activities and ensure that the budget tracker and HQ transaction are matching. Capture any discrepancies and communicate with HQ on documenting all notes.</li>
<li>Review de-obligation memo for activities with remaining balance; and</li>
</ul>
d- Program Representation
<ul>
<li>Serve as FURAT III representative in meetings with the local partners and other implementers in Berlin.</li>
<li>Present activities development and situational updates to the donor at weekly program meetings.</li>
<li>Coordinate with other implementer’s staff to ensure synergy of support for the local partners; and</li>
<li>Provide input and analysis into routine Program situation reports and other program reporting.</li>
</ul>
2- Information &amp; Research
<ul>
<li>Design, develop and assess the research ideas,</li>
<li>Support the information &amp; research team in producing written reports and make presentations.</li>
<li>Report on achievement of targets and identify any actions required.</li>
<li>Maintain regular communications with the local partners and field staff and provide any political, military, and/or social changes to the program and M&amp;E team.</li>
<li>Share highlights, success stories, lessons learned, and challenges provided by the partners with M&amp;E team for qualitative reporting.</li>
<li>Produce insightful research reports with sophisticated advice to support clients in their decision-making; and</li>
<li>Manages weekly report outputs, ah-hoc reporting and client RFIs, leads writing of quarterly reports.</li>
</ul>
3- Grants activities
<ul>
<li>Managing and supporting the grants requirement and implementation for the activities.</li>
<li>Identify and develop strategies to optimize the grants administration process.</li>
<li>Oversee if the grants are implemented according to the operational and financial needs of the company.</li>
<li>Review all financial reporting to ensure all costs are allocable, allowable, and reasonable and that supporting documentation is complete.</li>
<li>Keep the relevant staff informed about upcoming deadlines and deliverables, thereby ensuring a smooth completion of work responsibilities.</li>
<li>Oversee the job of invoicing, accounting, reporting, and other administrative functions to ensure the successful execution of grant process.</li>
<li>Prepare financial and/or budget plans and allocation along with the planning and finance department in accordance with each requirement; and</li>
<li>Provide detailed reports to the donor and the senior management level with respect to the company’s progress.</li>
</ul>
4- Capacity building activities
<ul>
<li>Provide general oversight and input into ongoing capacity building activities.</li>
<li>Support FURAT III capacity building officer in developing effective implementation strategies with the civil councils.</li>
<li>Support the selected ToT trainers in developing and producing an overall training strategy.</li>
<li>Develop the skills and knowledge of program staff and partners to ensure successful program implementation and sustainability.</li>
<li>Provide expert advice and guidance to capacity building team/trainers on training and capacity building related matters.</li>
<li>In collaboration with the M&amp;E team, support the analysis of the pre- and post-training assessments.</li>
<li>Collect and analyze data and produce impact reports on the conducted trainings.</li>
<li>Identify follow-on activities, areas of intervention, innovative approaches, and flag risk factors.</li>
<li>Assessing the advantages and disadvantages of possible strategies.</li>
<li>Provide recommendations for improvement and present findings to the capacity building team; and</li>
<li>Provide training to the new staff on capacity building and reporting requirements.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="requirements">Requirements</h2>
Qualifications
<ul>
<li>Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent, required in relevant field; relevant Master’s degree preferred; </li>
<li>Must have 6 +years of general work experience and 4+ years of specific experience related to the position required. Must have 3+ years of supervisory experience with groups or teams of staff. </li>
<li>Demonstrated professional experience and knowledge in designing components programming under donor regulations, preferably with the U.S. Government (USG); </li>
<li>Demonstrated knowledge of regional conflict and political dynamics with a focus on the Syrian context strongly preferred; </li>
<li>Demonstrated experience working on USG funded development/stabilization programming strongly preferred; </li>
<li>Ability to analyze the work, define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions, and the ability to think innovatively. </li>
<li>Demonstrated experience managing direct reports; </li>
<li>Fluency in Arabic language required. Proficiency in English language required; and </li>
<li>Authorization to legally work in Germany.</li>
</ul>

Senior Program Manager ( 2 Vacancies )

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