Program Officer: Democratic Governance And Rule Of Law Program at Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa

Search closes: 28th September 2018
Reporting To: Program Manager: Democratic Governance and Rule of Law Program

OSIEA seeks to recruit a Program Officer, Democratic Governance and Rule of Law Program

Overall job purpose

The Program Officer’s core duties will entail provision of technical support in identification and fostering of effective grant making relations in a dynamic, creative and committed manner with a focus on OSIEA’s democratic governance and rule of law programming in the Eastern Africa region. The program officer will particularly focus on right to information and freedom of expression programming in the region.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide a bold vision for innovative work that will add value to the existing efforts in the region by identifying grant-making, operational, and advocacy strategies to advance democratic governance and the rule of in Eastern Africa, particularly in relation to right to information and freedom of expression.
• Support the program in conducting relevant legal and policy analysis in the region for internal and external audiences.
• Support identification of capacity and institutional development opportunities in partner organizations (grantees).
• Support network/coalition/alliance building for joint advocacy with grantees and constituents targeting governments, donor agencies, service providers, and the general public.
• Oversee administrative duties within the program and supervision of consultants.
• Develop partnerships with the rest of the program staff in the identification and evaluation of emerging and key development trends and priorities in a particular region.
• Scan the external environment to ensure program relevance
• Engage with civil society actors, attend meetings, solicit and evaluate grant proposals, follow-up with grantees and potential grantees. Conduct site visits as necessary.
• Coordinate meetings, conferences, partnerships.
• Participate in writing, editing or commissioning reports and advocacy documents on the Democratic Governance and Rule of Law program.
• Conduct advocacy in collaboration with grantees and constituents targeting governments, donor agencies, service providers, and the general public.
• Represent OSIEA at key functions and meetings related to the Democratic Governance and Rule of Law program.
• Reporting and budget management (portfolio reviews, monitoring programme budget and expenditure etc.)
• Participate in program learning, knowledge generation and management.

Person specifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field
• Eight years of relevant work experience on human rights and social justice.
• Substantive knowledge and experience working on human rights, democratic governance, and rule of law in the Eastern Africa context particularly in relation to the right to information and freedom of expression.
• Experience in grant making
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English
• Extraordinary initiative, creativity, and capacity to think strategically.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with a diverse array of people.
• Ability to manage several simultaneous projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong organizational skills and close attention to detail
• Integrity, team work, diplomacy and professionalism will be essential.
• Willingness to travel as needed.

At OSIEA, all employees are expected to work at integrating the organizational values into the performance of their duties and tasks on a daily basis and by participating in in-house working groups designed to uphold the values and foster healthy inter-office communication.