Civil Society Strengthening Manager

ROLE PURPOSE

• As part of our purpose and global strategy, Plan International has committed to supporting girls, boys and young people as active drivers of change for gender equality and children’s rights. A core component of this work to support adolescents and youth, and particularly girls, to take collective actions for systemic social and political change that contributes to the realization of human rights and gender equality.
• Over the next five years all of Plan International’s entities will be guided by our refreshed Global Strategy “All Girls Standing Strong Creating Global Change” which will help us achieve three core objectives: Increased Impact, Strengthened Legitimacy, and Improved Sustainability. Underpinning this all is our focus on girls and young people and our drive to become even more youth-centred. 
• In this context, this role contributes in consolidating Plan International’s position as a reliable
• Partner and ally for girls’ rights issues at regional level through the supervision of the Pan African States Accountability project (PASAP). The Civil Society Strengthening Manager will be responsible for the technical and
• financial management of the PASAP project. This project works with local civil society partners to strengthen their capacity and support their efforts to hold governments accountable to their commitments on child rights. She/he will work collaboratively at multiple levels with MEESA and AU LO where the project activities are also implemented to ensure lasting change in the lives of children, girls, youth and their communities.

Dimensions of the Role 

The position holder will: 
•    Contribute to Plan International’s work on partnerships and strengthening civil society through the successful implementation of the Pan African States Accountability project (PASAP);
•    Ensures principles of meaningful youth participation are practiced in the ways of working with youth-led actors 
•    Ensure the high quality standards and requirements are met in the implementation of the project;
•    Monitor the budget execution as well as timely and quality delivery in line with the project agreement;
•    Ensure safeguarding requirements are met in the engagement with the project key stakeholders and in the implementation of the project activities;
•    Document and share the learnings and tools from the implementation of the project with the wider organisation;
•    Maintains regular and structured engagement with key stakeholders and partners working on PASAP activities.
•    Work with the programs and influencing functional leads to ensure the project activities are consistently supporting our ambition in terms of gender transformative approach and 

Accountabilities

• Technical and financial management of PASAP
• Ensure the standards and requirements are met throughout the implementation of the Project, and manage the relationship with the PASAP partners in line with Plan International standards and values;
• Ensure that Plan’s partnership principles and management steps are communicated to partners and are applied within the partnership, including principles of co-creation and mutual accountability
• Ensure that regular partnership oversight meetings are conducted to reflect on partnership relationship and regular feedback mechanisms are integrated into the work
• Monitor the budget execution as well as timely and quality delivery in line with the project agreement and ensure all the project activities are delivered on-time, within scope and within budget
• Ensure resource availability and allocation for the successful implementation of the project
• Develop a detailed project plan to monitor and track progress;
• Manage changes to the project scope, project schedule and project costs using appropriate verification techniques and approvals;
• Measure project performance using appropriate tools and KPIs, proactively take the corrective actions needed;
• Report and escalate to management as needed;
• Ensure risk analysis and management is integrated into project planning and delivery, including management and mitigation of project risks and partnership risks
• Maintain a comprehensive project documentation and information;
• Track project performance, specifically to analyze the successful completion of short and long-term goals;
• Meet budgetary objectives and make adjustments to project constraints based on financial analysis;
• Develop comprehensive project plans to be shared with the management as well as other staff members;
• Ensure safeguarding requirements are met in the engagement with the project key stakeholders and in the implementation of the project activities;
• Document and share the learnings and tools from the implementation of the project;
• Perform other related duties as assigned;

Capacity strengthening of selected partners under PASAP

• Ensure all partners are fully aware and orientated on Plan’s core organisational policies, standards and ways of working. This may include, but is not limited to partnership principles, safeguarding, gender and inclusion, codes of conducts, whistleblowing mechanisms etc.
• Based on partnership mutual appraisals, including partner due diligence assessments and other assessments (e.g. organisational development and learning needs), co-develop capacity strengthening plans with partners, and coordinate, support and monitor implementation of these plans for partners and CSOs strengthening efforts as part of the project
• Safeguarding of children and young people & gender equality mainstreaming
• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Key relationships

• Local and regional civil society partners, including youth-led partners
• Collaborate with other members of the WACA Regional Hub Team to mobilise required
• expertise needed for the successful implementation of PASAP;
• Collaborate with colleagues working on similar activities in the region as well as PASAP team in MEESA and African Union Liaison Office.

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

Essential:

• Demonstrated ability to network and liaise with CSO, Youth/girls led organisations and an in-depth understanding of the principles of meaningful youth participation;
• Experience in Partnership management aligned with Plan International Partnership
• Principles, Policies and Standards
• Experience in managing project, including budget management and timely production of accurate narrative and financial reports is essential
• Experience in applying and supporting civil society strengthening approaches in different contexts at different levels, including supporting CSO strengthening activities
• Experience in working and engaging with regional mechanisms like ECOWAS and ECCAS, or advocacy experience at a regional or pan-African level
• Good planning and prioritization skills
• Good knowledge of West Africa child rights issues and frameworks, the operating
• environment and political climate
• Fluency in French and English, both written and spoken

Desirable:

• Proven skills in cross cultural settings and organisations
• Flexibility, and capacity to work collaboratively
• Ability to handle complex situations remaining calm and focus on the objectives and outcomes, to make judgments, adjust and execute work autonomously
• Ability to work under high pressure with a great level of personal organisation