Job and Career Info

Job Description

The Organization
Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international non-profit organization that promotes peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC, SFCG’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict – away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. SFCG seeks to help conflicting parties understand their differences and act on their commonalities. With a total of approximately 400 staff worldwide, SFCG implements projects from 28 offices in 22 countries, including in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the United States and Africa.

Summary of Position
This is a newly established Director-level position and reflects SFCG’s commitment to expand the scale, scope, and ambition of the work we do involving children and youth in transforming conflict. The Children and Youth Programme Director will work closely with our field and support staff in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium, to provide support to lead SFCG’s work with children, youth and peacebuilding. This involves securing additional funding for children and youth work, strengthening SFCG approaches to children and youth programming, providing technical and fundraising assistance for programs, networking and liaising with the international community, and identifying and creating new opportunities for growth in children and youth programming. The position is part of the Institutional Learning Team, and the Children and Youth Programme Director works with the Director of the Institutional Learning Team to implement the children and youth strategy. Click on this link to find out about the Children and Youth Programme http://www.sfcg.org/programmes/children/about_us.html . The position reports to the Director of the Institutional Learning Team, and is based in Washington, DC.

Work Environment
Search for Common Ground has a great work environment with a mission of peace-building in the world. Search is a stimulating and richly rewarding organisation to work for – full of hard-working, friendly, bright, enthusiastic, and passionate people dedicated to the work they do. There are many opportunities for team-building and involvement in staff events (e.g. monthly staff meetings, peace-building films, and brown bag sessions, such as informational seminars by employees). The organization has won numerous awards.

Responsibilities

Key Priorities
- Strengthen organization-wide capacity and methodology for programming with children and youth in peacebuilding, which involves working with field programs to identify best practices, applying proven methodologies throughout the organization, and producing toolkits and programme guidance;
- Identify and pursue new programmatic and funding opportunities for programming with children and youth, focusing on developing opportunities for field programs as well as fundraising for global initiatives;
- Implement the Strategic Plan for Children and Youth that was developed in 2009;
- Provide ongoing technical assistance to field and headquarters-based programs, articulating SFCG’s approach to children and youth work, training staff and partners in the approach, supporting cross-fertilisation visits, and supporting the design of local and global initiatives; and
- Create new relationships with key institutions and individuals within the children and youth field, particularly among donors and other agencies.

Other Key Duties
- Monitor existing children and youth grants, which include developing relationships with donors and monitoring the sub-grants made to field offices. Manage existing children and youth funding to strengthen the organisation’s approach;
- Lead the Washington Network on Children and Armed Conflict in partnership with USAID’s Displaced Children and Orphans’ Fund, which entails shaping policy and practice dialogues in Washington, DC on children’s issues by facilitating bi-monthly meetings;
- Participate in the research and development of new programs and projects, where appropriate; and
- Engage in the continuing development of the Institutional Learning Team as well as the organization, its mission and its staff, through the sharing of experience and knowledge.

As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.

Minimum Qualifications
Essential
- Bachelor’s degree in international development, international relations, conflict resolution or other related field;
- 5-7 years of relevant work experience focused on children and youth in conflict contexts, including field-based experience;
- Knowledge of and successful implementation of best practices in the children and youth field in conflict contexts;
- Knowledge and experience in program design and implementation;
- Experience in proposal writing and development with a track record of successful fundraising in this area;
- Ability to prepare and maintain budgets;
- Ability to represent projects professionally to a variety of audiences;
- Strong organizational skills and ability to work well under pressure with strong attention to detail;
- Excellent writing skills with a demonstrated ability to write to publication standard and produce practice guides;
- Demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit and creativity;
- Excellent knowledge and proficiency of Microsoft Office software;
- Highly motivated and energetic;
- Excellent interpersonal skills and capacity to work with a variety of different partners and colleagues from different cultures;
- Ability to work with minimal supervision;
- Ability to travel 15-20% of time;
- Flexibility; and
- Sense of humor.

Desirable
- Experience in child protection or education-focused organizations working in conflict situations;
- Field experience, preferably overseas;
- Experience working with youth-led organizations; and/or
- French language skills.

Salary: Salary is commensurate with education and experience, with excellent benefits

Reference Code: RW_86BR4T-4