Organization Overview
Tostan is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Dakar, Senegal and currently operating in six West African countries. Strategically, the organization is committed to continuing to develop its core competency of empowering education and to documenting and scaling the sustainable impact it creates across a range of issues. Tostan’s flagship model, the 3-Year Community Empowerment Program (CEP), has already reached thousands of communities in both West and East Africa since 1991. Outcomes in governance, education, health, economic empowerment, and the environment are currently tracked, and Tostan has been particularly proud to play a significant role in the large-scale empowerment of women and girls and the community-led abandonment of harmful practices such as female genital cutting and child marriage. New models for building partnerships with communities after the CEP, and for sharing Tostan’s approach with a range of local and global audiences, have joined powerful additions to the ever-evolving CEP to create a unique and exciting strategic moment.
Mission
The Program Officer is responsible for providing support to the Programs team while also building their capacity and operational efficiency.
The position will be based in Dakar with frequent travel to the Tostan Training Center in Thiès as well as occasional travel to the field as required both within Senegal and in the other countries where Tostan operates.
Duties & Responsibilities
Technical:
- Support Programs team in all of their duties, including project cycle management and strategic planning;
- Organize, plan and sometimes facilitate program-related meetings and circulate meeting minutes to stakeholders;
- Regularly update key departmental tracking and planning documents and other tools to present and advance Tostan’s programs;
- Perform field visits and actively support senior Program team members before and during missions.
Tostan Training Center (TTC) training:
- Assist in the organization and planning of trainings for Tostan field staff;
- Assist in the capacity-building of Tostan Trainers who facilitate TTC seminars for NGO leaders, activists, students and academics;
- Support TTC training preparation including participant selection, relationship management and correspondence with participants and key training partners (NGOs, foundations, partners and donors);
- Support social media campaigns that include sharing of news on current and past trainings, interviews with participants and upcoming trainings;
- Actively engage past training groups through social media (What’s App, Facebook, or other)
- Support the creation of marketing and communication materials to promote TTC trainings on Tostan’s model;
- Coordinate with Monitoring and Evaluation on TTC seminar evaluations and sharing key learnings with TTC training team;
- Assist in improving and updating programmatic knowledge management and documentation systems.
Strategic:
- On request, assist in research on theories, methodologies and developments in key programmatic issue areas such as human rights, Female Genital Cutting, and child marriage to inform Tostan programming and strategy; generate ideas and ensure innovative programming and up-to-date knowledge within the Programs department;
- Present the Tostan program and the TTC to external audiences upon request (panels, webinars, interviews, etc.);
- Work with Tostan staff to help prepare them for presentations to external audiences.
Collaborative:
- Support the ongoing collaboration of the Programs team with other departments including Grants, Monitoring & Evaluation and Communications;
- Contribute to writing, reviewing, or editing concept notes, proposals, action plans, narrative and financial reports for donors, program summaries and presentations on Tostan in collaboration with the Grants, Philanthropy and Finance Departments;
Key qualifications and Selection criteria
Education:
- Master’s degree in International Development, Public Relations, African Studies, Political Science or related field.
Language Proficiency:
- Full working proficiency in both written and spoken English and French
- Proficiency in Wolof or any other African language is beneficial.
Knowledge & Experience:
- Good knowledge of Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program and other post program modules
- Strong online research skills;
- Minimum of one year working with an NGO or other development agency, preferably in Africa;
- Experience working with communities in rural settings;
- Experience working in a multicultural, tri-lingual team setting;
- Good communication and interpersonal skills;
- Strong multitasking, planning and organizational skills and ability to meet multiple overlapping deadlines;
- Strong understanding of organizational development and capacity building.
Characteristics:
- Belief in the power of human rights education for social change; passionate about human rights, particularly the rights of women and girls;
- Pro-active and positive approach;
- Ability to work both independently with minimal supervision and as part of a team;
- Strong ability to build, develop and maintain collaborative relationships and represent the organization externally;
- Ability to develop, plan, and implement short and long term goals.
How to Apply:
Please email resume and thoughtful cover letter including a list of references outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity, to hr@tostan.org.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Please be prepared to submit samples of work and demonstrations of ability should you be contacted for an interview.
Please ensure you put “Program Officer”.
The deadline for applications is: Monday, 22 January 2018.
We will consider internal and external candidates.
Please note, incomplete applications will not be considered.
Tostan is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate all applicants without unlawful considerations of race, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.
