Contract duration: 2 years with possibility of extension

Starting date: as soon as possible; ideally during August 2024

Country Programme: Moldova

Base: Chisinau

Line Manager: Country Director

About People in Need Moldova:

People in Need (PIN) has been working in Moldova since 2003, providing development assistance to Moldovan people in three focus areas: agriculture and economy, social protection and inclusion, and civil society empowerment and engagement. Since the conflict in Ukraine escalated in February 2022 and brought the consequent displacement into neighboring countries, PIN has been providing emergency aid focusing on protection, cash transfers, education, winterization, livelihoods and other areas to both, refugees and host population. PIN Moldova has currently established large portfolio of both, emergency and development funding, and scaled up its operation across the whole country.

About the role:

Head of Programme (HoP) supervises the entire development as well as emergency programme portfolio, in line with PIN strategic pillars and on the basis of the overall Country Strategy, including formulation of new proposals and continuous quality improvement of programmatic work. S/he manages all the programme teams (approximately 40 staff in-country) and closely collaborates mainly with Programme and Project Managers on quality implementation and capacity development. Together with Country Director and Head of Systems and Operations, HoP is part of Senior Management Team (SMT) and actively participates in strategic guidance and decisions relevant to PIN Moldova Country Programme. HoP (next to Country Director) represents PIN to donors and partners, ensuring that PIN is recognized for its field experience and models of action. Internally, HoP contributes to a positive working environment for all the staff and ensures that Safeguarding principles are well integrated into programming.

Main Duties & Responsibilities:

Senior Management

• Contributes to development and promotes of an organizational culture that reflects PIN’s values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up people to deliver outstanding results for the affected population
• Leads and empowers program teams to grow in their full potential, becoming more independent, embracing their own agendas and taking full responsibilities and ownership over their given tasks and portfolios
• Assist the Country Director in the management of the Country Programme within SMT
• Lead the programme side of the development and humanitarian activities/interventions and roll-out of the Country Strategy
• Participates/Contributes in senior management meetings and strategic decision making

Programme Management

• Ensure effective operational management of PIN’s programmes through line management of Project/Programme Managers and M&E unit;
• Ensure timely and high-quality reporting to donors and HQ (regular updates to project progress both from budget spending and indicators perspective – project drawings, ITT and workplans are regularly updated); reviews and validates external reporting prepared by program & MEAL teams)
• Supports program teams in communication and coordination of activities with Czech partners and activities taking place in the Czech Republic.
• Make sure that project developed meets high standards in terms of design, implementation and M&E through proper Project Cycle Management;
• Support preparation of programme budgets collaboratively with programme and finance staff (ensure financial aspects of program management is understood and followed by respective PMs);
• Track programme status through internally developed systems (Power BI), and regular (project) review meetings;
• Promote (lead) on coordination between programs and operations: regular documented team/project meetings for planning and progress monitoring purposes (reviewing workplans, procurement plans, financial drawings, progress on indicators)
• If necessary, lead on internal and external program/project assessments and evaluations and ensure the execution of baseline, periodic, and final evaluations as necessary in coordination with PMs/POs, TAs and any other relevant staff;
• Together with the desk (HQ) ensure that technical staff (both Technical Advisors and Program Managers) provide input into proposals and proactively and regularly communicate planned requirements for program design and implementation;
• Promotes participation and accountability towards beneficiaries, local authorities, local partners and donors;

Projects/Program Design

• Take a lead role in developing program strategies and annual plans ensuring coordination of all technical input to country strategy, proposals and reports;
• Actively support and contribute to the development of new project proposals, within existing PIN programs and in line with PIN country strategy and PIN Relief and Development Department strategy;
• Network among donors and key stakeholders to actively seek funding opportunities, help increase the quality of proposals, understand donor priorities and ensure coordination;
• Ensure the design and development of development and emergency programs of a high quality that contribute to the PIN global and country strategies and plans.

Human Resources & Capacity Development

• Lead the recruitment of key programme staff as line manager, and validate other recruitments of programme staff with due respect of high-quality standards and fair and unbiased procedures;
• Ensure team collaborative work and exchange of experience across the Programme structure; directly facilitate team work among line-managed staff and units, and recommend and ensure that team work and integrated approaches are streamlined in different levels and with other units
• together with CD and RD, ensures that current and future human resource needs are identified and correspondingly budgeted reflecting the current and forecasted scope of the country programme;
• Coaching, mentoring and other developmental opportunities, including participation to the development of capacity building plans for national staff in the programme department;

Learning and Information Sharing

• Contribute to sharing of experiences, lessons learned, and good practice across sites and from other PIN country programs and promotion of learning from relevant best practices internally and externally;
• Ensure that all official program documentation is properly stored and available for the future.
• Sets time for one’s own capacity building, including people management skills.

Representation & External Relations

• Support the Country Director to ensure that PIN is well represented and visible in the donor community, among key stakeholders and partners, and within coordination fora, delegating as appropriate to programme staff;
• Help establish, maintain, and improve active and regular working relationships with local authorities, donors, partner agencies including major institutional donors, local and international NGO, and other actors of the local civil society;
• Supervise program staff attending and participating in cluster/fora/platforms, focusing on clusters/areas where PIN has comparative advantage (strategic priority) and thus also consequently to empower national staff to represent PIN in more specific technical fields

Main requirements:

• Excellent experience in development & emergency work required (experience as per PIN Moldova Country Program strategic pillars is an advantage);
• Excellent (and proven) people’s management skills, managing programme teams, partnership management skills;
• Excellent communication skills and strong ability and willingness to transfer knowledge;
• Strong critical analysis and problem-solving skills;
• Ability to organize and plan effectively;
• Proven experience in proposal development; and understanding of MEAL systems;
• Experience within the region and understanding of local dynamics preferred;
• Cultural sensitivity;
• Fluent English both spoken and written; knowledge of Russian/Romanian is an advantage;
• We are looking for nationals that have an entry-visa free regime with Moldova or nationals that already hold a valid a multi-entry Schengen visa;
• We encourage Moldovan national candidates to apply for this position.

What PIN Offers:

• Working environment in a well-established middle-sized and continuously growing international NGO in a challenging context;
• Reimbursement and benefits according to PIN salary scale and HR policies; expected monthly reimbursement 2850 – 3050 EUR super gross (based on experience), plus monthly subsistence allowance of 1350 EUR;
• Housing allowance;
• 25 days of holiday per year;
• Travel health insurance (covers health care incl. the repatriation);
• Reimbursement of travel expenses with travel to the country of residence once every 6 months of work;
• Reimbursement of costs of visas and vaccinations; assistance with the visa application procedure;
• Reimbursement of the medical check-up before and after the deployment;
• Free 24/7 medical helpdesk and psychological consultation available online;
• Free access to e-learning sites, global PIN’s Induction Training, Technical Advisory Unit onboarding, and individually tailored capacity-building opportunities.