Senior Program Manager (Central Europe/Eurasia) – Early Childhood Program

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Senior Program Manager (Central Europe/Eurasia) – Early Childhood Program (Full-Time)

Position to be based in either London or Budapest

The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve this mission, the Foundations seek to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, the Open Society Foundations implement a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, we build alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. The Foundations place a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities.

Investor and philanthropist George Soros established the Open Society Foundations, starting in 1984, to help countries make the transition from communism. Our activities have grown to encompass the United States and more than 70 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Each Foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities.

The Early Childhood Program (ECP) promotes healthy development and wellbeing of young children, through initiatives that emphasize parent and community engagement, professional development and government accountability. Its rights-based approach and social justice framework give particular attention to minorities; children with developmental delays, malnutrition and disabilities; and children living in poverty. ECP programs are most active in Open Society Foundations’ traditional region (CEE/CIS), while at the same time providing technical expertise and planning more extensive initiatives in parts of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East/North Africa.

The ECP seeks to increase the quality, access and comprehensiveness of early childhood services, prioritizing disadvantaged populations, with the aim of improving equity and capability. To achieve these objectives in target countries, the ECP develops initiatives aimed at improving public policies and programs, builds capacity of professionals and civil society, promotes equity through targeting of early childhood programs, and monitors accountability of investments and service provision that impact young children and their families. The aim is to build effective systems in which government, professionals, civil society, communities and monitoring mechanisms effectively fulfill their respective roles to guarantee the right of each child to develop to his or her full potential.

The Senior Program Manager (Central Europe/Eurasia) will develop and monitor Open Society Foundations’ early childhood work in designated countries in collaboration with the ECP Director, Open Society Foundations’ Regional and Program Directors and staff in Open Society Foundations’ network of foundations. This will include oversight of Open Society Foundations’ extensive investment in its flagship early childhood program in the region, Step by Step, which was launched in 1994, and which has developed into a network of national professional early childhood NGOs and a regional association, the International Step by Step Association (ISSA). In addition, Open Society Foundations continues to promote initiatives that extend services to marginalized and disadvantaged populations who do not have access to comprehensive quality early childhood services, including, but not limited to children living in poverty; children living in rural areas; children with disabilities, nutritional deficiencies or developmental delays; and ethnic minorities and migrants. The post will report to the Director of Early Childhood Programs (based in London).

Responsibilities:

• Partner with and advocate for key Open Society Foundations network programs and national foundations and associated entities, to promote early childhood development as a key policy and programming activity.
• Develop and monitor new and existing strategic initiatives to promote early childhood development through Open Society Foundations’ network of National Foundations, Step by Step NGOs, the International Step by Step Association and other implementing partners.
• Serve as the primary Open Society Foundations contact for operating programs, grantmaking and NGO development focused on sustaining the Step by Step NGOs and ISSA.
• Coordinate more extensive initiatives, including not only piloting of innovative programs, but also overseeing Open Society Foundations’ role in structural reforms, policy reviews and policy development, in targeted countries.
• Manage multi and single country monitoring initiatives, evaluations and pilots in order to disseminate and share lessons learned and generate evidence for change.
• Produce briefings, policy papers and presentations for diverse audiences on all aspects of improving access to high quality, inclusive and effective early childhood services in Central Europe and Eurasia.
• Develop external partnerships with relevant early childhood development actors and organizations (at both European and country levels) and donor agencies, research institutions and advocacy organizations to promote early childhood development in the region.
• Identify, hire and coordinate appropriate international and national technical assistance to support projects in the field.
• Represent the program at training and events as required and participate in the development of evaluation reports and informational materials for internal and external audiences.

Experience & Skills:

• Postgraduate degree in early childhood development, education, psychology, sociology, public health, international development or a relevant field.
• Extensive knowledge of the international early education and development field, including familiarity with the activities of the main donor organizations, experts and networks and current trends in programming, evaluation and research.
• Knowledge of internal and external monitoring systems and formative and summative evaluation processes that are used to generate evidence to demonstrate the impact of specific initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience providing technical assistance to governments and NGOs, as well as strategic and organizational support to grantees and relevant institutions in transitional and developing countries.
• Demonstrated experience developing and managing multi-country, multi-agency initiatives, including management of consultants and the ability to mentor and monitor field teams through long-distance support.
• Experience negotiating projects, project budgets, grants and contracts with diverse organizations.
• Experience in working in the field of disabilities is a plus.
• Commitment to addressing the needs of young children and their families.
• Ability to listen and communicate clearly and effectively with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
• Willingness to travel frequently.
• High level of organization and self-motivation.
• Ability to work effectively and efficiently as part of a small team within a diverse and decentralized network.
• Excellent spoken and written English and presentation skills.
• Preference will be given to candidates who have foreign language skills, particularly Russian and Slavic languages and/or other languages used in Central Europe and Eurasia.

To apply:
Please send a covering letter (with ref: ECPSRPM in the subject line), your CV and a writing sample to: recruitment-ECP@osf-eu.org by 7 February 2011

Start Date: March/April 2011

Salary Range: Salary commensurate with skills and experience. Excellent benefits package.

Please note:
Due to the large volume of applicants expected – only those candidates selected for interview will receive notification.

No phone calls, please. The Open Society Foundations is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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