Senior Manager, Programme Learning & Policy Impact

Chemonics International; City Of London; Remote; GBP 44,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A global development firm seeks a Senior Manager to guide learning processes in support of the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine. The ideal candidate will have over five years of experience managing adaptive programming and producing policy reports, fluent English, and strong interpersonal skills. This role emphasizes cooperation with diverse teams and the ability to effectively communicate lessons learned.

Qualifications

• Minimum of five years' experience in relevant fields.
• Ability to work cooperatively with diverse teams.
• Strong fluency in English required.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate activities under Outcome 4 for PFRU.
• Monitor delivery progress and highlight concerns.
• Prepare reports on Outcome 4 for financing partners.
• Facilitate the adaptation learning processes.

Skills

Policy/research report preparation

Managing learning processes

Interpersonal skills

Fluent English

Communication and writing skills

Job description

About The Role

The principal full-time location of this assignment is Kyiv, Ukraine, with travel to other parts of Ukraine.

The Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU-2) is a multi-year, multi-donor funded programme managed by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The aim of PFRU-2 is to set improved conditions for the Ukrainian state, in partnership with civil society and the private sector, to lead on inclusive national recovery and revitalisation in the context of Russia’s aggression. This outcome is designed to facilitate and strengthen resilience for a more socially cohesive, inclusive, democratic, and prosperous Ukraine. PFRU-2 provides funds to Ukrainian and international delivery partners and implements projects based on research and evidence.

As a stabilisation-informed programme operating in a challenging and fluid context, PFRU is committed to flexible and adaptive programming. To do this, it must consistently reflect and learn on its activities and feed this learning back into decision-making and implementation. This requires tools and processes that facilitate this learning and adaptation. Moreover, as a major programme delivering on the ground in Ukraine’s most war-affected regions, PFRU has deep experience of ‘what works’, and is generating considerable learning that is useful to various Ukrainian and international decision-makers. PFRU-2’s Outcome 4 on ‘generating and sharing lessons’ focuses on both of these elements, i.e. PFRU’s internal learning processes and its sharing of data and lessons with others.

PFRU’s Learning Adaptation and Policy (LAP) Team brings together PFRU’s cross-cutting experts, including: Research; Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL); Stabilisation & Conflict Sensitivity; Strategic Communications; and Environment. The LAP Team works closely with PFRU’s thematic project teams, both to ensure that cross-cutting considerations are built into the design and delivery of PFRU activities and to share learning and good practices across PFRU. Although all PFRU teams contribute to the delivery of programme Impact and learning, the LAP Team has primary responsibility for facilitating and overseeing achievement against this outcome.

About the role

The Senior Manager will play a critical role in driving PFRU-2’s achievements under Outcome 4. They will lead day-to-day activity under this outcome, coordinating across PFRU to ensure the quality, and consistent use, of learning tools, processes and products. This will involve working closely with the head of the LAP team (DTL LAP), who is ultimately accountable for Outcome 4; the Senior Manager will also be asked to support other LAP team activities as required.

Key Responsibilities

• In cooperation with thematic teams, maintain an up-to-date workplan that identifies all relevant PFRU-2 activities corresponding to the delivery of Outcome 4. This includes all internal learning and adaptation activities and all planned research and lessons products.
• In cooperation with the MEL Team, monitor delivery against Outcome 4 – and highlight to the DTL LAP any areas of concern or particular importance.
• In cooperation with the MEL Team and the Reporting Team, prepare sections on Outcome 4 progress for Quarterly Reports and other reporting to Financing Partners.
• Develop tools and processes to support internal learning and adaptation.
• Working with thematic teams and the Research and MEL teams, identify areas/issues where learning processes are particularly important (e.g. they are critical for PFRU’s success, they rest on assumptions which may not hold true (including contextual assumptions), and/or they are deliberately piloting a new approach), and agree how and when learning processes will take place.
• Facilitate learning processes as required, and/or agree with others how learning processes will be managed and facilitated.
• In cooperation with the Senior Stabilisation Adviser (who leads facilitation of quarterly reviews) and the DTL LAP, prepare, and contribute to the delivery of, quarterly reviews. These alternate between internal reviews and higher-level ‘strategic reviews’ including Financing Partners.
• Ensure that learning is written up and shared in accessible formats, including quality assurance of all learning products.
• Ensure that lessons are fed into programme decision-making, and (where possible) capture evidence of how this has led to adaptive programming.
• Support the thematic teams with feeding learning into national policy designs and adaptations.
• Maintain an overview of existing and upcoming research, data and lessons products.
• Work with lead authors to ensure that they have considered how best to share PFRU’s data with others, including identifying key target audiences, considering what formats and messages are most relevant for this audience, and dissemination strategies.
• Write and/or edit, format and quality assure all relevant external products, particularly those that are intended to inform policy and programming of either the Government of Ukraine and/or international donors.
• Support broader LAP/cross-cutting activity as required, as directed by DTL LAP.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Essential

• At least five years’ experience in some or all of the following: preparing policy/research reports for a decision-making audience (for international donors and/or national governments), managing learning processes within a donor programme, delivering flexible and adaptive programming, working on stabilisation, conflict or similar programmes.
• Strong interpersonal skills: ability to work cooperative with a diverse team of Ukrainian and international staff across all levels of experience and seniority.
• Fluent English – essential for all PFRU staff.
• Excellent communication and writing skills – in particular writing in English to a high standard.

Desirable

• Ukrainian language skills are highly desirable.
• Experience working on prior FCDO (CSSF) programmes, particularly in Ukraine.
• Experience working on stabilisation projects, or other related thematic projects.
• Experience working with different levels of stakeholders: local actors, local and international NGOs, preferably in Ukraine.
• Managerial, problem solving and strategic planning skills.