WE ARE HIRING! Bilingual Program Officer: English/French

Job Description
Program Officer (Bilingual English/French)

JOB TITLE:	Program Officer (Bilingual English/French)
FT / PT:	Full-time, 40 hours per week
LOCATION:	Nairobi Office
PROGRAM:	PAL Network Secretariat
REPORTS TO:	Program Manager
SUPERVISES:	Fellows, Interns

We are currently seeking a competent and energetic Program Officer (Bilingual English/French) to join the People’s Action for Learning (PAL) Network Secretariat based in Nairobi. The Program Officer will be responsible for carrying out PAL Network activities in a manner that amplifies the existing effort and supports new countries. The Program Officer will support the Program Manager in developing strategies and plans in line with the network’s vision and ensure implementation of those plans. Under the guidance of the Program Manager, the Program Officer will provide the following support:

Responsibilities

NETWORK DEVELOPED

1. Serve as the primary point of contact in the Secretariat for French-speaking citizen-led assessment countries;
2. Strengthen the development of existing network by building relationships with network members, identifying their needs and developing and maintaining regular lines of communication and coordination both with, and between, network members
3. Identify opportunities to utilise and develop the knowledge, tools and skills created by the network members
4. Develop and support activities of the working groups, offering a convening role on behalf of the Secretariat
5. Prepare such materials as will be required to support the development of the network

NETWORK EXPANDED

1. Proactively reach out to potential countries and groups that could benefit from exposure to and participation in citizen-led assessments
2. Communicate with contact persons in countries who are interested in starting citizen-led assessments
3. Assist in the design and development of resource kits for new countries through consultative process with country teams and consultants
4. Maintain close communication with, and carefully track new and potential network countries against the PAL Network ‘readiness checklist’ and regularly communicate progress with Secretariat team
5. Assist in preparing materials required for exploratory visits where necessary

 EXPERIENCES, KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING SHARED

1. Assist in the development of training materials including toolkits and training curricula
2. Develop case studies, best practices, and examples of excellence to promote the exchange of approaches between existing and potential network members
3. Assist in the development of e-learning, document sharing and knowledge management platforms and help to create communities of practice
4. Evaluate on-line tools to strengthen knowledge management / exchange, learning and collaborative actions
5. Provide inputs to strengthen on-line resources, databases’, portals, blogs and newsletter

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

1. Develop short, medium and long-term workplans and budgets for the PAL Network Secretariat;
2. Lead the implementation of special projects in key thematic or technical areas aligned to the strategic goals and objectives;
3. Report on a monthly and quarterly basis on progress of program activities to the Program Manager;

Person Specification

Evidence that applications meet the essential criteria will be assessed by the following methods: Application (A), Interview (I), Test (T) and References (R), as indicated below:

 Qualifications

1. Full professional fluency in English and French (written and spoken) (T)
2. A Masters Degree in a relevant field (A)
3. Four or more years of relevant experience in some combination of research, education, international relations, global networks (A&I)

Skills and Competencies

• Ability to translate high level technical documents from English to French and from French to English (T)
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to take initiative and deliver results on short notice and with minimum supervision; (I&R)
• Ability to think innovatively and creatively in order to achieve tasks and overcome challenges; high degree of entrepreneurialism with evidence of successfully putting original ideas into practice; (I&R)
• Excellent ability to summarize and synthesize complicated information in both English and French (T)
• Experience of working successfully with civil society organisations and ability to motivate partners from a geographical distance (I&R)
• Experience of representing a civil society organisation at a regional or international level;
• Experience of working successfully across different cultures;

 Terms and Conditions

• This post is offered as a 12-month contract starting January 4^th 2016, including a 3-month probation period. The contract may be renewable provided funding is secured for the post and satisfactory progress is made.
• The standard working week is 40 hours per week. However, the demands of the job are likely to be such that a willingness to work longer hours as sometimes required is necessary.

Application Procedure
To apply for this position, please send the following documents to info@palnetwork.org by the close of business on Sunday November 8^th 2015:

1. Cover letter (maximum of 1 page)
2. CV (maximum of 2 pages)
3. Three writing samples (at least one in French, one in English) of no more than 2 pages each

Applications should be a maximum of 8 pages in length, as specified in the instructions above.