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Job Title:    Interim Director, Program Quality

Organisation: Right To Play

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

About Organisation:

Right To Play is a global organisation that protects, educates and empowers children to rise above adversity using play. By harnessing play, one of the most powerful and fundamental forces in a child’s life, we help 2.3 million children to stay in school and out of work, to prevent life-threatening diseases like HIV and malaria and to stay safe from exploitation and abuse.

Job Summary:   Reporting to the Vice President (VP) Impact & Quality, the Interim Director, Program Quality, drives excellence in Right To Play’s programming and is responsible for the leadership, oversight and management of the Program Quality (PQ) team, who support the implementation of global program strategies and theories of change.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

You will facilitate internal and external learning for continuous improvement and lead and mentor the PQ team to deliver programs that improve learning and wellbeing outcomes for children and young people.

You will lead and guide technical and training and resource development specialists in the design and delivery of play based learning and wellbeing focused programs, including those focused on education, psychosocial support and gender equality and girls’ wellbeing. Central to this role is providing leadership and strategic direction to strengthen program quality by supporting country offices and staff in designing, managing and implementing programs and projects that utilise play based approaches to improving children and young people’s learning, wellbeing and social emotional skills.

You will work with the Impact Director and VP, Impact & Quality to provide programmatic insights to support and steer organisational priorities. They also work closely with country teams, national offices and Global officers (in London, UK and Toronto, Canada) to identify and implement key program development initiatives.

Team leadership, management and coaching (40% of Time):

• Maintains a clear and compelling vision for the global Program Quality (PQ) team’s work, engaging them to develop and deliver against ambitious but achievable goals and supporting them to integrate and collaborate effectively within the whole organisation
• Leads and nurtures a collaborative, high-performance culture within the PQ team, adhering to and promoting wider Program Quality & Impact (PQI) Team principles in ways of working and interacting
• Collaborates with technical specialists to develop and manage strategic and operational plans for the PQ team
• Ensures appropriate resourcing of the global PQ team and tracks levels of effort to ensure timesheets are kept accurately across the team
• Provides ongoing leadership and mentorship for the team including core management duties (regular 121s, performance management, supporting professional development)
• Assesses organisational programming capacities and works closely with Country Directors and country-based programs teams to provide strategic and technical capacity strengthening, mentorship and support
• Establishes and maintains knowledge of key programmatic capacity building priorities and guides the development of professional development support plans to ensure relevant technical specialism is developed across Right To Play countries in collaboration with Training & Skills Lead
• Oversees and supports the delivery of thematic communities of practice to share learning across the organisation
• Contributes to development of annual departmental budget and oversees and tracks spending of global portfolio budget

Strategic program development (20% of Time):

• Ensures alignment of core programs to the goals set in the global strategic plan and global Theory of Change, including integrating Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) responsive considerations across strategies and programs
• Drives the development and socialisation of core program strategies and portfolio implementation plans for wellbeing and learning, ensuring broad involvement of colleagues across country offices
• Takes a lead in decision making related to the go/no go process for new programs/ projects, involving technical specialists in decisions as needed
• Collaborates with the Impact team to align program and project ToCs and strategies with appropriate indicators and measurement approaches
• Provides programmatic inputs to support decision making by executive team on funding priorities
• Works with Advocacy and Policy team to analyse trends and changes related to organisational programmatic priorities within the international development sector and communicates these to ensure Right To Play (RTP) strategy and programs integrate current thinking and international best practice
• Works with the Lead, Training & Skills, Training and Play Specialists to develop systems and processes to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in development and delivery of resources and trainings both internally and with external stakeholders
• Provides leadership and technical advice, in collaboration with Policy and Advocacy specialists, on country efforts to influence Ministries of Education and other GESI and wellbeing stakeholder policies, plans and position related to play based learning

Program Quality (20% of Time):

• Leads the development and implementation of tools to assess program quality, which may include quality checklists, program audit tools and updated program development and design processes
• Tracks program and project quality in collaboration with Impact team and Global Country Office support team, regularly feeding back learning to improve standards, make evidence-based decisions and improve quality of delivery in country
• Advises the Global Partnership Team in developing high quality project proposals
• Collaborates with Global Partnership Team to identify appropriate consortium partners for major grants
• Reviews and involves Specialists in the design of major proposals to ensure they align with programmatic strategies and organisational priorities, as well as quality standards
• Contributes to the development of global learning agenda with Impact team to identify best practices and programs
• Collaborates with Research & Innovation Specialist to support pilot projects through R&D framework

Internal and External Representation (15% of Time):

• Serves as a member of the Senior Management Team of the PQI Unit, ensuring quality, evidence and learning are at the core of decision-making for the team
• Leads on the development of strategic partnerships and networks with key universities, research institutions, and international NGOs for the purpose of advancing RTP’s program quality strategy and contributing to a broader sector-level knowledge base
• Organises RTP representation in key strategic working groups and networks
• Represents team in the development of strategic organizational initiatives
• Represents PQ team in building and stewarding strategic partnerships to raise revenue
• Represents the voice of PQ team in presentations to Executive Team and the International Board of Directors

Performs Other Duties as Assigned (5% of Time)

• Promotes and upholds high standards of safeguarding, participation and accountability across all of RTP’s work
• Understands and embeds the principles of gender equality and social inclusion into project and program design, implementation and quality assurance
• Upholds a commitment to learn about, promote and embed play-based approaches to learning
• Engages in ongoing learning and upskilling related to gender equality and social inclusion through play-based learning

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• Master’s degree in subjects related to education, gender equality, social inclusion and children and young people’s protection and psychosocial wellbeing or equivalent practical experience
• Seven years of relevant professional experience in role(s) with progressively senior levels of leadership in international development at a global level
• You’re a compassionate team leader with an ability to communicate and collaborate with colleagues across various disciplines.
• You’re enthusiastic about our mission to transform children and young people’s learning and wellbeing through play and motivated by working in a values driven organisation.
• You have a combination of strategic and practical skills, ideally related to one of RTP’s core programs (Early Childhood Care & Education, Primary Education, Psychosocial Support, and Gender Equality and Girls’ Wellbeing) and use your experience to drive the quality and impact of evidence-based programs.
• You create and maintain an inclusive, supportive and happy team and are able to inspire and motivate those you manage.
• A passionate advocate for the power of playful learning and an ability to communicate this passion and impact to inspire others
• Strong knowledge of issues related to education, gender equality and wellbeing in development and humanitarian program design, planning and implementation
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills to think and plan strategically and the ability to translate this into practical and feasible operational program planning
• Proven record of effectively leading high performing, diverse teams, including in mentoring and coaching
• Lived experience working in a country context relevant to RTP’s strategy
• Strong understanding of international education, gender equality and wellbeing bodies and policy
• Experience with planning and implementation of multi-country education, gender equality and wellbeing projects funded by governments and foundations
• Strong affiliation or engagement with relevant global/local development networks
• Demonstrates leadership and models RTP’s culture code
• Consistently communicates a compelling vision that generates excitement, enthusiasm and commitment to the organisation’s mission, purpose and goals
• Champions the culture of continuous improvement that promotes organisational learning, innovation, achievement and support
• Demonstrates ability to work flexibly and navigate change management processes
• Program design and management
• Funding proposal development
• Advanced Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook and Teams
• Coaching and mentoring experience
• Financial management
• Fluency in spoken and written English; fluency in Arabic, French or Portuguese is an asset

How to Apply:

All candidates should apply online at the link below.

Click Here

Deadline: 14th July 2024

NB: While we thank all applicants for their interest, only those selected for interviews will be contacted. Shortlisting of applications will begin immediately, and interviews may be held before the closing date.

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