Back Strategic Programme Manager

Background:

Crown Agents has been appointed as the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) provider to deliver their programme entitled ‘Support to Civil Society’ in Ukraine. The project is a flexible, adaptive and scalable tool to enable the FCDO to scale up its funding to Ukrainian civil society in order to ensure an enduring voice for the Ukrainian people and support the resilience of CSOs through what could be a protracted conflict. The overarching objective is to improve the capacity, capabilities and resilience of Ukrainian CSOs.

The project will enhance the resilience and capacity of Ukrainian CSOs so that they can survive through to a post-war environment and later thrive to take part in the rebuilding of an independent and democratic Ukraine.

The project is based on working together with CSO through the following granting mechanisms:

1. Emergency grants for small value/short duration grants that meet critical support gaps essential for the operation of a CSO or commencement and continuity of life-saving activities.

2. Resilience grants to request capacity development, commodity, and psycho-social support for CSOs working on participatory governance, transparency, and accountability

3. Programme grants to support CSOs working with marginalised and excluded groups in the early recovery and reconstruction space with a strong focus on building relationships with local authorities.

Timelines:

The project will be delivered across three phases:

• Inception Phase: June 2022 – Sept 2022
• Implementation Phase: Sept 2022 – Dec 2023
• Exit Phase: Jan 2024 – Mar 2024

The role:

Under the direction of the Team Leader, the Strategic Programme Manager will:

• Work closely with the project team based in Ukraine to coordinate their work
• Ensure each project team member complete a workplan and updates it regularly
• Work with the team’s technical advisors and Team Leader to ensure the project is aligned with its strategic objectives
• Flag to the Team Leader any issues with delivery from the project team and/or foresee challenges that might impact the delivery of the project
• Identify gaps and needs of team members and propose solutions to the Team Leader to improve project delivery
• Support the Team Leader in coordination of donor meetings, events, and communication
• When necessary, take part in donor or partner meetings and liaise with national/local authorities
• When needed, contribute to project deliverables such as quarterly and annual reports, workplans, assessments etc.
• Any other duties as directed by the Team Leader

Essential Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in, management, administration, or similar
• Minimum of 5 years professional experience
• Understanding of civil society landscape in Ukraine
• Experience working and coordinating teams, assigning roles and responsibilities
• Ability to think strategically about the project and propose ideas to the Team Leader
• Fluency in Ukrainian and English
• Excellent client relationship skills

Desirable Requirements:

• Prior experience working with CSOs, donors, and demanding projects
• Experience working with national partners
• Experience working on FCDO-funded programmes

Reporting:

The Strategic Programme Manager will report directly to the Team leader