Job description

TITLE: Localization Senior Officer
TEAM/PROGRAMME: EGY Localization OKR LOCATION: Cairo
GRADE: 3 CONTRACT LENGTH: Calendar year, with possibility of renewal

CHILD SAFEGUARDING: (select only one)

Level 3: the post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Localization Senior Officer will support the establishment and implementation of a locally led funding mechanism in Egypt through coordination of project activities, stakeholder engagement, capacity strengthening initiatives and operational support under the guidance of the line manager. The localization senior officer will cooperate and work closely with the localization technical consultant to ensure the project set up is on track and consistent with the locally led funding mechanism in Egypt. The Senior Officer will manage the project according to SC Project Management Manual (PMM) standards, ensuring timely delivery of governance, legal, fiduciary, MEAL, capacity strengthening milestones while enabling local actors to assume leadership.

The role will support SC strategic approach to advance genuine localization in Egypt by ensuring that resources flow directly to the organizations closest to communities and best positioned to identify and address their priorities. The role will be responsible for communication and coordination with government and civil society organizations to establish internal system for the locally led funding mechanism to operate. The role holder will clearly communicate from the outset that the locally led funding mechanism is locally led, with SC acting only as a facilitator and steward to ensure full accountability and compliance to national law and SCI policies and guides. The localization senior officer will ensure the real participation on all categories of the Egyptian civil society on the decision making mechanisms

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: TBD

Staff reporting to this post: 1 Coordinator

Budget Responsibilities: Yes

Field Travel: The Localization Senior Officer is expected to travel as needed to other governorates.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Project Planning & Implementation:

• Support in finalization the project workplan, timeline and risk register in line with PMM.
• Communicate with the local actors to ensure their understanding and participation on the project set up
• Coordinate and manage activities across set-up, systems development, pilot grants, and transition/hand-over phases.
• Track progress against milestones and report regularly, including through Award Review Meetings.
• Ensure high-quality, timely deliverables and effective use of project resources to meet stakeholder and donor obligations.
• Support in ensuring compliance with SCI policies and procedures, including safeguarding and child safeguarding across all activities.

Governance capacity building and stakeholder facilitation

• Collabiorate with the local consultants and oversee delivery of agreed outputs.
• Work closely with the localization technical consultant to ensure that the set-up phase is participatory and is consistent with localization concepts and approaches
• Organize and facilitate inclusive consultations with CSOs, grassroots groups, DPOs, youth- and women-led organizations, government stakeholders, donors, and private sector partners.
• Support in creation of the locally led funding mechanism (e.g., Terms of Reference, governance structures, board election processes, governance charter, and SOPs) ensuring transparent and participatory processes.
• Facilitate and support coordination of the locally led fund mechanism ensuring the election process is participatory and accountable
• Monitor the application of safeguarding/child protection policies and proportionate due diligence aligned with PMM and local law.
• Support engagement with legal advisors and maintain documentation related to registration processes and ensure the mechanism’s structure is compliant and context appropriate. Support sustainability and resource mobilization planning, including contributing information and documentation required for donor briefs/pitches and coordination of fundraising engagement.
• Support in designing and delivery of capacity strengthening for local actors (e.g., financial management, MEAL, safeguarding, and governance) and coordinate external technical support.
• Support implementation and documentation of learning and reflection activities for the locally led funding mechanism.Support in Implementing a time-bound transition plan from stewardship to local ownership, progressively transferring decision-making to local actors.

Reporting

• Coordinate work with MEAL to implement monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning systems, ensuring that learning informs ongoing delivery and future design.
• Compile accurate, timely narrative and financial reports (monthly/quarterly and ad hoc) in line with donor requirements and agreed indicators.
• Support in monitoring the project milestones and indicators and ensure accountability incidents are addressed and feedback provided to beneficiaries and participating CSOs.

Staff Management and Development:

• Ensure appropriate staffing within the project and that roles/responsibilities are clearly understood.
• Use SCI performance management processes to set expectations, support performance and deliver staff development plans.

Budget Management and Compliance:

• Support in managing the project budget, including forecasting, tracking burn rate and ensuring expenditure is aligned to agreed budget lines.

Coordination:

• Work closely with the Partnership team and with Program Development, Quality and Impact colleagues to align approaches and strengthen design of similar projects.
• Develop and maintain relationships with government stakeholders and local actors, and coordinate with internal support functions to enable smooth delivery.
• Coordinate with other locally led paltforms to ensure complementary of support provided

Risk management and communications.

• Support the maintainance of the project risk register and mitigation actions; ensure timely escalation of high risks to the Head of Programs and SC Norway.
• Participate in some of external communications during start-up, ensuring messaging emphasizes local leadership and SC’s stewardship role.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.
• Self-accountable to ensure the project plan is on track including financial plan

Ambition:

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same.
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others.
• future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• builds and maintains effective relationships with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters.
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength.
• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

· honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in international development, Social Sciences, Law, Business Administration, or related field; Master’s preferred.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in capacity strengthening of local actors. at least 3 years in project management roles involving fund or grant mechanisms, pooled funds, or donor compliance.
• Solid experience of the context in Egypt with strong understanding of NGO legal/regulatory environment and Ministry of Social Solidarity processes.
• Proven experience in governance design, fiduciary systems, MEAL, safeguarding, and capacity strengthening for local CSOs.
• Strong facilitation skills and experience convening diverse civil society, government, and donor stakeholders.
• Ability to travel within Egypt; strong MS Office skills; familiarity with PMM or equivalent project management frameworks.
• Fluent in Arabic and English (written and spoken).

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities 

The role holder is required to perform the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to perform the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to perform the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.