Program Lead, Localization

About Asian Disaster Preparedness Center

ADPC is an autonomous international organization established for scientific, educational, developmental, and humanitarian purposes with a vision of safer communities and sustainable development through disaster risk reduction and climate resilience in Asia and the Pacific. Established in 1986 as a technical capacity building center, ADPC has grown and expanded its role to be for scientific, educational, developmental and humanitarian purposes. ADPC employs a wide range of professional expertise typically required for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience (CR) in an effective manner.

ADPC develops and implements cross-sectoral projects/programs on the strategic themes of risk governance, urban resilience, climate resilience, health risk management, preparedness for response and resilient recovery. Our strategic themes are complemented and underpinned by the cross-cutting themes of gender and diversity, regional and transboundary cooperation as well as poverty and livelihoods.

Through its work, ADPC supports the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the New Urban Agenda, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the agenda defined at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, and other relevant international frameworks.

For details, please refer to ADPC website at http://www.adpc.net/

Department introduction:

The Preparedness for Response and Recovery (PRR) Department of ADPC focuses on enhancing the preparedness, response management capacities of governments, response organizations, volunteers, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, communities, and other traditional and non-traditional actors of the Disaster Risk Management Ecosystem. It also strives to strengthen the capacity of institutions and at-risk communities for faster and efficient disaster recovery. The department works with the above-stated actors to ensure that the regional, national, sub-national, and local disaster preparedness, response, and recovery frameworks and implementation plans are in place well before disaster strikes.

Statement of intent:

The PRR department is currently implementing the Asian Preparedness Partnership (APP) program. APP is a multi-stakeholder regional partnership comprising national and sub-national governments, local NGOs, civil society organizations, media, academia, and the private sector in Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Sri Lanka, with the support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.   The APP promotes and supports locally-led actions to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters, commonly referred to as "localization."

Program Lead, Localization, under the overall guidance and supervision of the Director, PRR Department will lead and manage program activities with country program teams, consultants, interns, and partners under the Asian Preparedness Partnership (APP) being administered by the PRR Department of ADPC. Program Lead, Localization is responsible for leading, guiding, and managing the implementation of program activities through meticulous planning, review, and timely follow-up of critical deliverables with country program teams. The position will also lead regular and efficient sharing and exchange of information through effective internal and external communications, including generating program reports, development and implementation of advocacy tools and products, procedures, and systems, including knowledge management and outreach functions such as program-specific portals, websites, etc. 

Note: 

It is not the intent of this position description to cover every aspect of the position requirements, rather to highlight the most important areas of personal and joint responsibilities. 

Required qualifications:   

Required qualifications and specifications 

• Master's degree in Disaster Management, Emergency Management, Public Health, or related disciplines with substantial experience in the Asia-Pacific region.
• A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in program management, advocacy, knowledge management, communication, etc., in Disaster Management or a related field, is required; A minimum of 3 years of experience in international organizations or IGO is required.
• Excellent English language skills, both oral and written, are required. 
• Analytical capacity and the demonstrated ability to process, analyze and synthesize complex, technical information into user-friendly formats and products.
• Substantial experience assisting in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of disaster preparedness and capacity development programs.
• Advance knowledge and understanding of current discourse related to disaster risk reduction and humanitarian actions, including the existing disaster risk management systems, policy, and legal framework in the program countries.
• Proven ability to support the development of high-quality knowledge products, including the development of multimedia products, and provide guidance and training on the development of knowledge products. 
• Previous experience creating and implementing advocacy and communication strategies, including social media campaigns. 
• Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a concise and straightforward manner.
• High level of competence in writing and editing reports and other technical communications.
• Familiarity and experience of working with USAID, BMGF, the World Bank, and other donor-funded programs.

Preferred qualifications:

• Self-motivated, proactive, and takes initiative.
• Demonstrated ability to plan and organize work & time independently. 
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, team-oriented work style, and experience in working in a multi-cultural environment.
• Strong networking capacity and understanding of humanitarian and development nexus at local and regional levels. 
• Strong desire to learn, undertake new challenges, must be creative problem-solver and must have self-confidence, willingness to work hard, good sense of humor but with seriousness about the quality and excellence of work.

Duties and responsibilities:

Program management and coordination 

• Lead the development of annual, quarterly, and monthly work plans for APP in consultation with the project teams and partners.
• Lead the management with country program teams, consultants, interns, and partners on the timely implementation of program activities according to the agreed work plans.
• Undertake research and development of technical reports and documents, concept notes, and consolidate inputs from consultants, program partners, and stakeholders in consultation with the country program managers and the regional team.
• Take the lead to plan, organize, and implement regional and national program activities such as training, workshops, program reviews, and meetings, including the conduct of follow-up activities and development of After Activity Reports (AAR) and meeting minutes.
• Developing proposals and networking for expansion of APP to other countries in the region through APP + approach.
• Draft and finalize SoWs, ToRs, MoUs, and other related administrative documents for the consultants, sub-awardees, and partnerships.
• Draft regular progress reports and updates to be submitted to the donor agencies and partners.
• Formulate and develop new proposals on localization workstream and search for funding opportunities, avenues, and partnerships to mobilize resources.

Finance and budget management:

• Oversee administrative, finance, and day-to-day management of the program with Finance, Human Resource, and Administration departments and program team members according to ADPC institutional policies and guidelines for carrying out activities under the APP.
• Lead the development of project and activity budgets following the overall budgets of the APP.
• Lead in project financial management, including monitoring of project budgets and reporting of monthly financial statements and reconciliation.
• Ensure timely submission of liquidation reports by the project countries, partners, and the project staff.

Research, information and knowledge management:

• Lead in the design, development, planning, and organizing of e-learning courses, thematic workshops, and webinars under the programs.
• Lead inter and intra-regional collaboration through cooperation with other regional networks and participation in regional and global events/ platforms for creating an enabling environment and promotion of localization agenda.
• Guide the design, production, and dissemination of knowledge products such as process documents, fact sheets, brochures, project overviews, multimedia products (audios and videos), success stories/ impact stories, and other related materials.
• Guide the production of content for monthly electronic newsletters, including carefully curated articles and preparation and production of briefing materials on the programs as needed/requested.
• Guide the development of background documents and toolkits to support advocacy, communication outreach, including social media toolkits for the programs.
• Lead the coordination of stakeholder outreach by planning and writing content for media, social media, and events.

Monitoring and evaluation:

• In collaboration with the M&E Lead, manage the M&E focal points for the APP, ensuring all information and data/statistics are collected, updated, maintained, and shared through regular progress reports, program performance monitoring sheets, and donor reporting, including the development of data collection tools and templates.
• Supervise the program management team to monitor the performance targets against the agreed M&E plans and work plans and report the progress in a timely manner.
• Draft monthly, quarterly, biannual, annual progress reports being submitted to the donors and the partner agencies.
• Draft and edit technical reports, special reports, and other related program documents.

Gender and diversity integration: 

• Lead and manage the process of integration of gender into APP programming and developing APP Engendering Guidelines and Tools.
• Bring together and manage a diverse group of stakeholders and people from different backgrounds, countries, race, religious beliefs, ethnicity, age, gender, physical abilities, political beliefs, and socio-economic status for successful implementation of APP interventions.
• Proactively coordinate with and guide the program team with different backgrounds, gender; ethnicity; race; etc., to increase trust and cooperation.
• Guide program teams to promote gender equality, diversity, and inclusion in recruiting human resources like staff, consultants, and interns.
• Guide program teams to ensure all program interventions are gender and diversity-sensitive.

Staff management and supervision: 

• Provide strategic direction to the program team for promoting the localization agenda in the region and the countries through the APP and APP + approach.
• Delegate and assign the tasks effectively and fairly according to individual strengths, workloads, and interests. 
• Supervise and manage the performance of the APP program team, providing timely feedback, coaching, mentoring, and learning opportunities.
• Provide support to the APP program team to implement new initiatives, promoting trust and confidence in the team for decision making and improving the team culture.
• Design and develop new interventions and program areas to expand preparedness for response and resilient recovery thematic areas of ADPC.
• Contribute to PRR strategies, programs, and overall work plans, and annual budgeting processes.

Thematic leadership and resource mobilization:

• Lead the sub-thematic area of Localization in the PRR department and develop proposals, programs, and Theory of Change.
• Work closely with Director to identify development partners and search for partnership avenues.
• Support the Director to mobilize resources for the continuation of current program scale-ups and scale-outs and design new programs. 
• Guide the geographic expansion and scale-up of PRR programs in the priority countries. 

Cross-programs support and coordination:

• Coordinate with other flagship programs of PRR such as PEER and PROSPER-India to establish and promote synergies and leverage support.
• Amplify cross-learning and lessons learned with other programs of PRR.
• Coordinate with other thematic and operational departments such as the ADPC communication team to enhance and promote program-related learning within and beyond ADPC.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the Director, PRR

This job description covers the general responsibilities and representative tasks of this position. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to program priorities and needs.

Performance competency

Core competencies:

• Integrity: Demonstrates the highest level of commitment and demonstrates respect for persons of concern to ADPC, partners and colleagues in all aspects of work. Ensures that personal and professional behavior is of the highest standard.
• Diversity Awareness: Able to embrace the uniqueness of all individuals along several dimensions such as race, religious beliefs, ethnicity, age, gender, physical abilities, political beliefs, socio-economic status, disability, political conviction, or any other distinguishing features.
• Equality Awareness: Understands that each individual has an equal opportunity to make decisions, participate in social activities, perform any work at the organization and to make the most of her/ his life and talents.
• Teamwork and Collaboration: Works constructively within a team and across teams in ways that allow the achievement of shared objectives. Works effectively with colleagues and partners. Fosters a positive and collaborative environment.

Preparedness for response and recovery department functional competencies: 

• Teamwork and collaboration: Works constructively within a team and across teams in ways that allow the achievement of shared objectives. Works effectively with colleagues and partners. Fosters a positive and collaborative environment.
• Results Orientation: Focuses on the delivery of agreed results through the effective management of internal and external resources to achieve results. Demonstrates a commitment to both personal and organizational excellence, with an emphasis on results.
• Analytical Problem-Solving Skills: Displays analytical thinking by identifying, defining and analyzing information, situations and problems. Arrives at viable solutions through a variety of approaches. Demonstrates critical thoughts, methodical review of implications, intuition and rational conclusions.
• Adaptability:  Demonstrates flexibility, both intellectually and behaviourally, to adapt to and work effectively in a variety of situations, often under demanding conditions, and to cope with the unforeseen or unexpected. Looks for opportunities presented by change and is not "paralyzed" by new and unusual scenarios. Creates opportunities to improve the way in which they work.

Preparedness for response and recovery department functional competencies: 

• Leadership: Shows clear initiative and proactiveness in steering the direction of staff under their responsibility. Provides vision and strategy; inspires others to action towards a common goal. Recognises team efforts while being approachable and respectful of others.
• Empowerment: Enables or authorizes an individual to think, behave, take action, and control work and decision-making about his/ her job in autonomous, independent, self- directed ways. Has managerial and organizational style that enables staff to practice autonomy, control their own jobs, and use their skills and abilities to benefit both their organization and themselves.

Reporting relationships: 

In performing the duties and responsibilities indicated above, Program Lead, Localization will be supervised by the Director, Preparedness for Response and Recovery Department of ADPC. 

The Program Lead, Localization will be directly reporting to the Director, Preparedness for Response and Recovery, and work closely with other Project/Program Managers and Project Coordinators of Preparedness for Response and Recovery.

How to apply: 

Interested Candidates can submit the completed ADPC application form (downloadable from https://www.adpc.net/igo/contents/HRA/ADPC-JoinUS.asp#sthash.7nHwjYd8.dpbs), resume, copy of degrees/certificate(s), and cover letter to adpcjobs@adpc.net by midnight Bangkok time on May 14, 2024.

Female candidates are especially encouraged to apply. 

ADPC encourages diversity in its workplace and supports an inclusive work environment. 

Note: Applicants who submit incomplete documents required as listed above will not be considered.