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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 catalyse local action and institution building. Read more about our Approach,
Impact and Values on our website.

Spark seeks an experienced and strategic Program Development Manager to drive and manage the design of Spark’s Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP) model at national scale in Rwanda. The role involves working across the Rwanda country office and with global functional teams to develop and advance the uptake and implementation of the National Framework for Participatory Village Planning (NFPVP) in alignment with Spark and Government of Rwanda’s objectives. The NFPVP is a policy framework that outlines a harmonized and standardized approach to local planning at the village-level. This role is ideal for someone with a background in program design, especially with government counterparts, and community-driven development or local planning.

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 partnered 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.

WHO YOU ARE

You are a professional with experience in program design, community-driven development or local planning, and partnership with central and local government stakeholders. You are an effective and compelling communicator, comfortable with facilitating strategic discussions with colleagues and government counterparts, and a strong writer and presenter. You are excited to join us at a crucial juncture in the Rwanda program’s growth, where we build upon policy work done with the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) and the Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA) to design and actualize the implementation of the National Framework for Participatory Village Planning. The right candidate will not want to do ‘development as usual’ but question how aid works and ensure that Spark is ultimately accountable to the villages we serve.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Program Development Manager will report to the Rwanda Country Director, with a technical reporting line to the Program Development Director. As part of the Rwanda management team, the Program Development Manager will play a key leadership role in advancing Spark’s national program and policy goals by advising on and executing advocacy and design plans. The Program Development Manager will work closely with the Policy and Grants Manager, who leads on government relationship management, and Technical Advisors that are embedded within MINALOC and LODA.

1. Responsibility: Program Design and Strategy Execution

Year one goal: Finalize the NFPVP User Guide and supporting materials, ensuring guidance and tools are aligned with relevant central and district government policies and procedures. Support MINALOC and LODA to define and advance a NFPVP implementation and roll out strategy. Outline and drive forward Spark’s role in supporting this strategy.

Duties:

1. Identify and advise senior leadership on pathways for national program scale-up and drive the implementation of agreed strategies to achieve them.
2. Lead collaborative, in-country program design processes involving relevant stakeholders, potentially including government counterparts, internal teams, donors, and partners, to shape the national program.
   1. Coordinate Spark’s contributions to externally led design processes.
3. Plan and facilitate workshops and collaborative sessions—both planned and ad hoc—to guide government, donors, and partners toward set design objectives.
4. Apply relevant research, global learning, and best practices from both internal and external sources to strengthen the program and its impact. Contribute to development of learnings about effective advocacy strategies, program design choices, and process efficacy.

1. Responsibility: Technical Expertise and Team Management

Year one goal: Build Spark team’s understanding of the National Framework’s objectives, content, and implementation plans. Mobilize and coordinate technical expertise needed for the high-quality rollout of the National Framework, including materials development and technical advisor support. Together with the Rwanda management team, identify and propose strategies to address gaps for NFPVP rollout at central or local government levels.

Duties:

1. Provide technical guidance on key program areas, including CDD, participatory local planning, designing for national coverage and alignment with government systems, supported by the Program Development Director.
2. Build organizational understanding of the national program design through provision of onboarding, coaching, or other technical support.
3. Identify technical capacity gaps and recommend strategies to address gaps to support high-quality national program design and rollout.
4. Oversee a flexible team of technical specialists and consultants, scaling up or down based on phase and structure of design processes, to provide expertise as needed, such as on program costing, social inclusion, or community procurement modalities.
5. Manage a cross-departmental team to deliver activities and inputs in line with the national program design and rollout strategy.

1. Responsibility: Policy Advocacy and Government Engagement

Year one goal: Facilitate MINALOC, LODA, and District governments’ (as appropriate) technical understanding and ownership of the National Framework, User Guide, and implementation strategy. Identify and activate opportunities for technical support based on assessments of government systems, priorities, and needs.

Duties:

1. Recommend and oversee strategies for Spark’s policy and advocacy goals, setting direction for government engagement in collaboration with the Country Director and Policy and Grants Manager.
2. Advocate for the adoption and integration of FCAP approaches into national policies by analyzing the policy landscape and identifying entry points for institutionalization.
3. Work closely with the Policy and Grants Manager and embedded Technical Advisors to execute government engagement and coordination strategies.
4. As needed, support Spark’s external advocacy, engagement, and coordination with donors and potential partner entities to further policy and scale-up goals.

1. Responsibility: Strategic Materials Development

Year one goal: Produce a core suite of materials on the NFPVP and its rollout strategy for external advocacy. Respond to evolving needs and opportunities with high-quality, timely documentation for external engagements.

Duties:

1. Author concept notes, program documents, and strategic briefs that capture the vision, structure, and impact of a national program.
2. Develop policy materials, presentations, and other tools that effectively communicate the design to government, donors, and other external audiences. Tailor materials to different audiences based on engagement goals and phase of design/implementation.
3. Lead the coordination of internal inputs and reviews to ensure all materials are strategically aligned, polished, and responsive to external opportunities and audiences.

REQUIREMENTS:

Qualifications, experience & skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field
• Minimum 5 years of experience in community-driven development, participatory local planning, or large-scale rural development programs, ideally in Rwanda.
• Minimum 2 years of experience managing teams of people through complex program design or implementation. Proven ability to manage diverse interests, align stakeholders and drive execution toward a goal.
• Experience working with or within central/local government.
• Experience in designing or adapting program approaches to align with government systems is an asset. A strong interest in this area of work will be key.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with proven experience with facilitating strategic discussions, representing the organization externally, and producing high-quality written materials.
• Excellent English communication skills (written and spoken); fluency in Kinyarwanda.

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: Kigali, Rwanda.

Duration: Two year contract with option for renewal

How to Apply: https://sparkmicrogrants.bamboohr.com/careers/141