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ABOUT SPARK MICROGRANTS

Spark MicroGrants believes in a world where everyone lives with dignity and determines their own positive future. Spark has worked in 800+ villages in 6 countries and has pioneered a community-driven development model in sub-Saharan Africa. Spark works with NGO and Government partners to scale the model's adoption and impact on rural communities - on their own terms. Our model combines facilitated community meetings with a small, discretionary grant to catalyze local action and institution building. Read more about our Approach, Impact and Values on our website.

Spark seeks a strategic and seasoned leader with a significant experience of leading systems change in partnership with national and local governments to lead Spark expansion strategy. This role requires working with our Country Directors and other key colleagues to scale our programs in partnership with governments while maintaining program quality and compliance with organizational and donor policies.

OUR WORK

The foundation of our approach is the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), where rural communities are led through regular facilitated meetings to organize, conceptualize and implement local development projects, which are supported by a microgrant to fund them. The FCAP has been designed to improve local livelihoods, enhance social cohesion, and improve citizen engagement.

Our operating model is based on an international team of functional advisers (e.g. finance team, training team, design team) who support country teams. Country teams co-design the FCAP with local partners and government, train partners, and support quality monitoring and oversight. The size and scope of country teams depend on the needs of our partners. In Rwanda, for example, Spark is partnering with the Government of Rwanda to implement the Advancing Citizen Engagement (ACE) Project, supported by the Japanese Social Development Fund, the World Bank and Comic Relief. The midline results for external evaluations show encouraging positive change on multiple dimensions of economic development and social inclusion.

WHO YOU ARE

The Chief of Staff will work directly with the CEO and provide high-level support across the organization on emerging initiatives and opportunities. You are motivated to join us at a crucial juncture in our growth when we are investing in expansion via government and donor coalition building, and generating evidence about village cash and facilitation models. You do not want to do ‘development as usual’ and care about expanding high impact work through unique modalities. You will thrive in a highly dynamic role, manage a range of responsibilities. The ideal candidate is motivated by working in a fast-paced, global impact focused environment.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Chief of Staff will play a critical role in supporting the CEO by facilitating cross team coordination, managing special projects, and ensuring efficient operation of the executive office. This role involves a blend of administrative, strategic, and project management responsibilities, aimed at increasing the effectiveness of our leadership and organization.

A) Responsibility: Strategic Initiatives

Act as a thought partner and advisor to the CEO on strategic initiatives, developing and implementing high potential projects and assessing them as they roll out.

Year one goal: Develop internal processes for managing new funding opportunities and for investing in growth areas of strategic importance.

Duties:

1. Drive the annual and multi year strategic planning processes and monitor execution.
2. Gather, analyze, and prioritize information for the CEO, ensuring they receive timely and relevant data to make informed decisions, especially ensuring the CEO has early visibility into big wins and potential bottlenecks.
3. Track outcomes from strategic meetings, ensuring follow-up actions are completed and communicated effectively across the organization.
4. Assist in the drafting and review of internal communications, reports, and documents on behalf of the CEO.
5. Perform other duties as assigned to support the CEO and the organization’s mission.

B) Responsibility: Cross-functional Leadership & Coordination:

Act as a bridge between departments and countries, facilitating communication, removing obstacles, and promoting collaboration across teams. This includes aligning departmental efforts with organizational priorities.

Year one goal: Launch multi-year strategic plan, working with all departments, countries, and in coordination with the executive leadership.

Duties:

1. Serve as the CEO’s representative in key meetings and act as a point of contact between the CEO and internal departments, ensuring clear communication and organizational alignment.
2. Drive execution on cross-functional initiatives, ensuring goals are met, stakeholders are informed, and potential risks are mitigated to the extent possible.
3. Break down silos across teams, ensuring effective collaboration towards achieving the organization's strategy.
4. Facilitate effective communication within the executive leadership team, preparing agendas and providing concise summaries of key discussions and decisions.

1. Responsibility: Donor Engagement & Bi-lateral/Muti-lateral initiatives

C) Support the cultivation of foundation partners, and strategic initiatives with x-lateral partners.

Year one goal: Ad hoc support.

Duties:

1. Support the development and nurturing of relationships with current and prospective donors.
2. Organize and participate in donor-related events and meetings, ensuring comprehensive follow-up and tracking of progress.
3. Assist in creating donor reports, proposals, and presentations that align with the organization’s mission and strategic priorities.
   
   

Possible quarterly focal areas

Q1

• Complete organizational diagnostic and develop strategic alignment plan
• Establish CEO office systems and communications protocols
• Design executive team meeting cadence and decision-making processes

Q2

• Launch an update to the organizational OKR system and quarterly review process
• Review q report development process with team leads to optimize it’s utility for internal learning sharing
• Establish organizational health metrics and baseline
• Draft executive dashboard for key metrics tracking

Q3

• Lead mid-year strategic plan review and adjustment
• Develop leadership development framework for country directors in partnership with them

Q4

• Complete annual strategic planning process for following year
• Create board effectiveness evaluation system
• Facilitate the design of organizational scaling framework for new country expansion

REQUIREMENTS:

Qualifications, experience & skills:

• 10+ years experience in Africa of scaling evidence-based programs, growing government-led, NGO supported programming, with 5+ years in senior leadership.
• Experience with community-driven development programs.
• Demonstrated success in running complex government partnerships in multiple countries.
• Expertise in managing relationships with large multilateral agencies, specifically the World Bank.
• Fluency in impact evaluations and data-driven decision-making.
• Understanding of government financial systems and history of clean audits on programs managed previously.
• Excellent track record in designing and managing rural development programs.
• Strong project management skills and attention to detail are required.
• Excellent English written and oral communication.

Safeguarding

Our safeguarding follows a do-no-harm principle. All Spark staff are expected to respect and uphold the safeguarding procedures and principles to minimize harm to stakeholders, program participants, and the environment in compliance with the World Bank Environmental and Social Framework and national legislation in the countries where we operate.

OTHER INFORMATION

Job Location: Flexible. Preference for applicants based in NYC/East Coast but all applicants will be considered.
How to Apply: https://sparkmicrogrants.bamboohr.com/careers/125

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Spark Microgrants provides equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals. Employment decisions at Spark are based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. Spark does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by the law. Spark will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would result in undue hardship to daily operations.