Spark Microgrants - Programs and Innovation Director

GLOBAL PROGRAMS AND INNOVATION DIRECTOR DECEMBER 2020

ABOUT SPARK MICROGRANTS Spark MicroGrants believes in a world where everyone lives with dignity and determines their own positive future. Decades of prescriptive aid have side-lined the poor from the very programs meant to uplift them. For nearly a decade, Spark MicroGrants has been pioneering a new approach to international aid. We believe in local solutions and catalysing rural villages facing poverty into action. After years of refining a community organizing and seed funding model for rural village action, we are garnering demand from emerging nations and leading civil society organizations to train and support them to adapt and deploy the approach at scale.

At the heart of Spark’s model, the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), are ‘town-hall’ style weekly meetings, in which women and men, young and old, plan together for their community’s future. Each village democratically elects a leadership committee, establishes a village savings account, and launches a project of their choice. Members receive training on financial management and transparency, leadership, village planning, and advocacy. Each village then receives US$8,000 in seed funds to turn project ideas into reality and receives additional management support.

Spark is now active in 320+ villages in 6 countries, benefiting over 230,000 lives. In the next three years, we seek to accelerate the growth of this approach, through i) establishing a global Community of Practice based on cutting edge facilitation and training design, and ii) establishing a national scale program in Rwanda - our flagship program - in partnership with the Government of Rwanda.

As a team, we share a set of common values that shape ‘how’ we work. These are: 1. Facilitators. We do not impose; we enable others to generate impact.

2. Community-driven. We are motivated by what is best for the community.

3. Process-centred. The how of what we do is just as important as the what.

4. Authentic. Our vision and values live in everything we do.

5. Dynamic. We seek opportunities and are willing to take risks to serve our community partners better.

As Spark scales a national government partnership in Rwanda and expands its partnerships with civil society organizations and seeds new national programs, Spark MicroGrants seeks a dynamic and innovative Global Programs and Innovation Director to take the FCAP (Facilitated Collective Action Process) - Spark’s model for community-driven development - global.

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THE ROLE

TITLE:

Global Programs and Innovation Director

REPORTING TO:

Executive Director and Co-Founder

LOCATION:

Kigali, Rwanda or Kampala, Uganda prefered for the first year, then open location depending on program expansion and candidate preference

SALARY:

Competitive with generous benefits

START DATE:

April 2021

PURPOSE The Global Programs and Innovation Director will spearhead Spark Microgrants’ global expansion as well as provide programmatic support to a national scale up in Rwanda in line with Spark’s 3-year strategic plan.

Reporting to the Executive Director and Co-Founder, and directly managing Spark’s global program senior leaders, this position will be responsible for driving the acquisition of new partners, successfully launching a global FCAP fund and expanding the Community of Practice and Fellows. S/he will ensure

that that support services, including a digital training and replication toolkits are accessible and worldclass, and rigorous evaluations and published evidence from Spark’s work contribute to community-driven development (CDD) literature and inform thinking on effective facilitation methodologies for pro-poor programs. The post holder will work in tandem with Spark’s Rwanda Managing Director in charge of national expansion and will play a key role in supporting the roll out of the FCAP in Rwanda.

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MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES PARTNERS AND COALITION-BUILDING Success in 3 years will look like: • Launched and funded a global FCAP fund and fellowship reaching 140-350 new communities and set the path to scale within a Community of Practice that includes grassroots organizations, INGOs, governments and multilateral and bilateral funders.

Your responsibilities • Drive and expand Spark’s Community of Practice - a network of practitioners and funders Spark has trained in its methodology - and specifically develop and close bilateral and multilateral funding partnerships in support of the Community of Practice.

• Drive partner and fellow acquisition, launch the FCAP fellowship to direct bilateral and multilateral funding to grassroots organizations, and strengthen Spark’s partner processes from partner assessment and co-design, to training, implementation, and M&E. • Manage Spark’s Community of Practice Director and team, ensuring high partner and fellow satisfaction and that partnerships are conducted in line with Spark’s value of putting communities and local change at the

TRAINING, IMPACT, AND INNOVATION Success in 3 years will look like: • Rolled out a digital training platform and replication toolkit making the FCAP accessible to organizations, governments and citizens around the world and ensuring best in-class training, tools, and co-design.

• Led rigorous evaluations and published evidence and standards that contribute to community-driven development (CDD) literature and inform thinking on effective facilitation methodologies for pro-poor programs.

Your responsibilities • Manage Spark’s Design Director and team, leading on training, co-design and toolkits that adapt the FCAP to the local context while retaining core impact drivers.

• Manage Spark’s Impact Director and team to reliably define & measure the FCAP’s impact both through internal and external evaluation and analysis.

• Lead a conversation with stakeholders, jointly advocate for, challenge, and continue to refine and test Spark’s standards and impact drivers for effective community-driven development.

• Lead and reinforce a culture of innovation, including designing and evaluating pilots and A/B testing of the FCAP.

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP Success in 3 years will look like: • Supported Spark’s Rwanda MD (your counterpart) in the successful rollout of the FCAP to 250 communities in Rwanda as part of a World Bank funded initiative and larger plan for national scale.

• Developed a strong group of Senior Managers leading their departments’ vision and team independently and successfully Your responsibilities • Oversee Spark’s global program senior leaders, their teams and strategy: the Community of Practice team, the Design team, and the Impact team • Directly manage, invest in, and develop 4 senior leaders and oversee and strengthen a team of 25+ staff, driving excellence and promoting and embodying Spark values in the team.

• Work closely with Spark’s Rwanda MD and ensure your functional teams (Impact & Design) serve the Rwanda team with quality as they roll out the ACE project to 250 villages and advance the goal of national coverage.

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REQUIREMENTS The ideal candidate will be highly value and mission aligned with a strong commitment to a more just world, experienced but dynamic and open to working in and shaping a young, fast-growing environment. S/he will be able to communicate effectively across the whole organisation, and have a proven track record building teams, networks, and coalitions.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE • Ability to be an inspiring and strategic leader in a dynamic, multicultural, and values-based environment • A track record of building relationships and coalitions and developing new programs with government, bilateral, and institutional donors, and coaching teams on partnerships management • Ability to work effectively with national and community CSO counterparts • Proven background of impactful thought leadership and advocacy around community driven development or participatory design methodology • Attitude to thrive in an entrepreneurial setting, and able to adapt to dynamic growth and change • Significant experience managing diverse teams, including coaching, and creating opportunities for meaningful professional development, and hiring world-class talent • Expertise with high-quality project management relevant to the work that Spark does, including with scenarios and risks that lack off-theshelf playbooks.

• Comfort and agility with human-centred design, quantitative assessment, program quality metrics, and financial management • Strong written and oral communication skills • Knowledge of French or Spanish would be an added advantage • Strong alignment with Spark MicroGrants mission and values

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HOW TO APPLY All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. To apply for this post, click on the “Apply� button in the job advert page and complete our online application form. Please provide a CV and cover letter in two different documents, which should be prepared before applying as they will be considered in the application process. The cover letter should be no more than two pages and explain why you are interested in this post and how your skills and experience make you a good fit. The document should be saved in MS Word in the following format: The document should be saved in MS Word in the following format: Your First Name-Your LastName-Document Name-Date (mmyy) eg, Pat-Jones-CV122020-SparkMicrogrants or Pat-Jones-CoverLetter-122020-SparkMicrogrants.

TIMELINE Closing Date: First stage interviews: Final interviews:

5th February Week of February 8, 2021 Week of February 22, 2021

EQUALITY STATEMENT Equality and diversity are at the core of Spark MicroGrants values. Staff are expected to work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is valued and respected.

SELECTION PROCESS All candidates will be notified about the status of their applications. Shortlisted candidates may be required to undertake an additional assessment prior to the final interview.

QUERIES If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information, or would like to have an informal discussion, please email spark-microgrants-mdgpi@oxfordhr.co.uk in the first instance.

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ABOUT OXFORD HR Oxford HR operates globally - mainly within the international development and charity sectors. We carry out retained executive search mandates at board and senior management levels. We also offer human resource and organisational development consultancy.

Oxford HR has many years of experience in search as well as an extensive network of international development, social sector, corporate, public sector, and academic contacts from across the world. We carry out comprehensive and often international searches designed to meet the specific needs of our clients.

Oxford HR’s team members have significant personal experience of working in international development and the social sector as well as the corporate and governmental sectors. We are in a unique position to find and assess talented individuals from a variety of backgrounds.

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