Area Manager, Tana River County

We are an international humanitarian organisation dedicated to tackling poverty and suffering in the world’s poorest countries. Concern Worldwide began working in Kenya in May 2002 with the development of an urban programme in Nairobi. Our work expanded into a multi-sectoral programme focusing on urban and rural livelihoods, primary education, HIV and AIDS…

Area Manager, Tana River County

Job Purpose

• The Area Manager is responsible for leading Concern’s projects in Tana River County. This responsibility covers programme delivery including coordination, programme planning and overseeing the day-to-day operations of field staff and supporting the operational functions (human resources, logistics, finance & administration, staff safety and security). In fulfilling these responsibilities, the Area Manager will work closely with the Programme Coordinator and Programme Director to ensure that the programmes are carried out in line with Concern’s policies and procedures.

• The Area Manager serves as Concern’s senior representative at the County level, providing leadership in external engagement and coordination with key stakeholders. Working in close partnership with the Programme Coordinator (PC) and Programme Director (PD), the Area Manager contributes to strategic planning, monitors programme performance, and identifies opportunities for scale-up or adaptation in response to emerging needs and contextual changes while providing technical support towards toward quality and timely implementation of programs. S/he will be responsible for developing the quarterly work plans, strengthening the capacity of the officers (Livelihoods, Health and Nutrition, Monitoring Evaluation Learning (MEL)and Governance & Advocacy) and leading the monitoring and documentation of all projects in the county.

Programme Cycle Management

• Provide leadership in implementation of the programs in Tana River County ensuring projects are executed in line with relevant strategies and donor guidelines. This also includes holding projects inception and planning meeting with County teams for effective implementation.

• Prepare and implement County specific program annual and quarterly implementation costed workplans that correspond to the approved donor proposals and budgets and update these on a timely basis.

• Prepare and share recruitment and procurement plans with HR and Logistics colleagues, and update these on a timely basis.

• Work closely with other Concern program teams and implementing partners to foster layering, sequencing and integration of various interventions towards desired outcomes.

• Timely initiate all program activities in line with the relevant program documents to ensure all planned activities are completed within set timelines and program commitments

• Support cross-sectoral periodic programme reviews to assess programme progress, capture lessons learnt and adapt programme strategies as necessary in accordance with Concern’s results-based management principles. Ensure mainstreaming of cross-cutting issues/approaches throughout the programme cycle including Accountability to Affected Population, Gender, Protection, Conflict Sensitivity, Accountability and do no harm philosophy.

• Ensure the local authorities and communities are meaningfully engaged in programme development in line with the Core Humanitarian Standards initiative and best practices.

• Support community entry process for all the projects implemented in Tana River, ensuring the project priority is aligned to community needs to strengthen existing capacities

• In collaboration with program Technical Advisors, develop, continuously review and adapt implementation strategies for various program approaches such as Climate smart agriculture, Village savings and Loans associations, value chain development, business development services, Market based approaches, Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) Community Health Strategy, etc.

• Working closely with the program coordinators, Technical Advisors and County based project team, ensure program adaptation to the prevailing contextual changes to ensure relevance to the local needs.

• Actively promote intersectoral linkages such as Gender, Equality, Conflict and Peace, Protection, HIV and AIDS, Disaster Risk Reduction, Environment, Climate Change Adaptation, and Partnerships where relevant

• Contribute to development of donor proposals and budgets ensuring that all direct and indirect costs are fully and accurately budgeted.

• Work effectively with the support functions (operations and finance) to ensure that the programme, finance, HR and logistics needs are planned and met.

Team Management

• Line manages direct reports, contributing to their capacity building and career development through technical support and on-the-job training and coaching, including a thorough induction at the start of their contract.

• Provide technical mentorship to the officers(s) and including identification of capacity gaps and support in addressing them for effective implementation of the County program.

• Ensure that all department positions have accurate job descriptions and that each member of the team fully understands outcomes which are expected of them, by setting SMART objectives, and that they are aware of the success criteria relating to their work.