Programme Director

Introduction
SOS Children’s Villages Malawi is a non-governmental child protection and development organization established in Malawi in 1991. Our vision is that every child belongs to a family and grows up with love, respect and security. Our mission is to build families for children in need, we help them shape their own futures, and we share in the development of their communities.

In pursuit of the vision and mission, we work in collaboration with the Government of Malawi and other partners to implement various projects focusing on child protection and development; entrepreneurship and vocational skills training for young people; livelihood improvement for vulnerable households, child and youth education, as well as advocacy in the areas of child rights and protection. Our programme coverage is country-wide, operating from Chikwawa, Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzimba and Mzuzu. To strengthen programme impact, SOS Children’s Villages Malawi intends to recruit a Programme Director, Advocacy and Communications Coordinator, Sponsorship Assistant and Protection, Gender and Inclusion Coordinator to support our programmes. Note that all positions are on full time, fixed term contracts for the period of 3 years renewable upon funding availability and performance.

Programme Director – Mzuzu

Position Summary:
The SOS Children’s Villages Programme Director (PD) leads the overall development and implementation of an SOS Children’s Villages Programme (CVP) in line with the vision, mission, strategies, policies, and standards of the organisation. The PD will represent the organisation in all interactions with stakeholders in the programme location. The PD will be responsible for coordinating the Children’s Village Programme activities and interventions; and ensures quality and effectiveness of services and their cost-efficiency through quality assurance and optimal use of resources.

Key performance areas and responsibilities:

Programme development, management and implementation

• Leads the development and implementation of programmes and projects in line with international and national SOS policies, strategies, quality standards, and guidelines.
• Leads the implementation of the programme management cycle including the annual and strategic planning to ensure that interventions are relevant to the local context, respond to the needs of the target group, and contribute to the development of sustainable social support systems
• Ensures the effective implementation of the HR Cycle in the CVP, following internal policy and or national labour laws.
• Builds accountability in the programme by ensuring implementation of simple and effective financial and administrative procedures, in accordance with defined policies, guidelines and standards.
• Ensures quality management in the CVP and ensures the implementation of national and international quality standards with guidance and monitoring from function staff in the National Office
• Ensures full adherence and implementation to internal Child Safeguarding (CS) and
  Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) policies and guidelines
• Leads and coordinates cooperation, partnership building, and networking efforts of the CVP with local and national authorities and other external stakeholders.
• Supports in the organizational proposal development initiatives to acquire high value funding partnerships

The suitable candidate must have the following minimum qualifications and attributes: –

• Advanced degree in the social sciences, development studies, or any related field
• 5 years’ experience in a senior position.
• Proven experience of working with vulnerable children and communities and knowledge of child rights and safeguarding issues
• Excellent planning, coordination, and reporting skills, with the ability to organize a substantial workload from multiple projects, diverse tasks and responsibilities.
• Strong financial management skills, particularly in budgeting and projects financial reporting.
• Ability to work independently and under pressure with minimum supervision.
• Demonstrate a high level of integrity.
• Ability to meet tight deadlines.

How to apply
Interested persons should submit their applications and detailed Curriculum Vitae with three traceable referees via the following email address: recruitment.sosmw@sos-malawi.org

Please ensure that you include your full contact details including telephone numbers. Closing date for receiving applications is on 13th May 2025. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

“SOS Children’s Villages Malawi has zero-tolerance neither on sexual exploitation, harassment, and abuse nor fraud and corruption, amongst other safeguarding aspects. SOS Children’s Villages Malawi also provide equal employment opportunities to all employees & qualified applicants without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, ancestry, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or class. The successful candidate will be required to complete safer recruitment checks including police and reference checks to help verify their suitability to work for SOS Children’s Villages Malawi.

SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES MALAWI IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER, ALL QUALIFIED CANDIDATES ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.