Plan International was founded over 75 years ago with a mission to promote and protect the rights of children. The organisation was set up by British journalist John Langdon-Davies and refugee worker Eric Muggeridge in 1937, with the original aim to provide food, accommodation and education to children whose lives had been disrupted by the Spanish Civil War.

THE ROLE

• The Urban Program Manager will provide overall managerial accountability for Urban Programs in Nairobi and by extension Eastern, Coast and Nyanza regions emerging urban grants. The job holder will critically appraise grants progress, troubleshooting project issues, maintaining and monitoring risk registers and inputting into annual reviews and dissemination activities. Build and maintain effective working relationships with programme partners/ suppliers, key donors and stakeholders. The position holder will oversee the development and implementation of gender transformative programs in line with country and global strategies. The role will be responsible for the overall leadership, and ultimately accountable for grants management and program’s strategic direction, quality programming, results and donor compliance. This includes financial management, donor relationships and management, donor compliance, team leadership, risk management, stakeholder and partner relations throughout the project cycle. The incumbent will provide strategic oversight for effective program delivery in line with the Country and Global Strategy. The incumbent is a member of the Extended Country Management Team (ECMT) and shares in the collective responsibility of ECMT in driving excellence across PIK programs and responsible for furthering the influencing and advocacy agenda at the County level, while ensuring synergy across all the urban grants.
• The incumbent will build and manage partnership, networking and relationship with key stakeholders at county and sub-county levels, contribute to the development of concepts and proposals. The role will ensure safety and security, correct application of Plan Kenya policies and procedures, HR, programme and all aspects of programme support. The job holder will manage multi-million-dollar programs and must be abreast with Urban programming dynamics, donor regulations, environment and reporting.
• The role will directly supervise a minimum 8 staff in ensuring program design, implementation, quality and reporting, while ensuring efficiency throughout the project cycle and building their capabilities to deliver on program excellence and influencing agenda.

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Qualifications/ experience essential: 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences, Project Management, Development studies and related disciplines.
• At least 10 Years’ experience in relevant field preferable in management of multiple projects in Urban Context and programming
•  At least 5 years of leadership
• Strong organizational and time management skills; excellent attention to detail
• Adaptability to flex across portfolios in delivering multiple grants, tasks and responsibilities for effective team delivery
• The resilience to manage multiple projects concurrently, with the ability to support project monitoring and evaluate project delivery to tight deadlines
• Demonstrable experience in effective partnership engagement and management
• A minimum 5 Years in a leadership/managerial role leading Project Managers/Coordinators
• The role will have responsibility for the programme management from multiple grants with a value above US$5 million preferably across diverse thematic areas.
• Demonstrable experience in project cycle management
• Knowledge of programming methodologies.
• Demonstrable experience in Gender Transformative programming
• Can lead others in holding Plan and our team accountable to the Policy on Gender Equality and Inclusion.
• Sound understanding of integrated and rights-based programming.
• Ability to facilitate, enable and provide leadership in adaptation and utilization of Corporate Organizational systems. e.g HRIS, Y.O.D.A
• Good Interpersonal / Communication skills
• Strategic planning skills
• Analytical skills
• Risk management

Qualifications/ experience desirable:

• Master’s degree
• Sound understanding of integrated development issues and rights-based programming.
• Experience in developing strong, equal and robust partnership contracts or experience in strengthening civil society
• Experience in advocacy and influencing
• Knowledge and experience of urban programming models
• Experience in capacity building of partners
• Experience working with grassroots organizations

Languages required

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in Kiswahili and English