Humanitarian Programme Strategist
Annual Salary and Benefits: According to Oxfam in Kenya Salary Scale
Internal Job Grade: C2
Contract type: Fixed Term (2 years)
Reporting to: Director Humanitarian Systems Strengthening
Staff reporting to this post: Operational personnel

Location(s): Nairobi, with occasional national travel to remote locations and international travel
Annual Budget: $250,000
Shaping a stronger Oxfam for people living in poverty

Job Purpose
To coordinate Oxfam's humanitarian responses and work with local organisations to improve the timeliness, efficiency, and effectiveness of disaster management in Kenya.
Kenya is experiencing more frequent and intense weather events, including drought and floods, and this can contribute to localised conflict over resources. The impact of the climate crisis on the most vulnerable communities regularly leaves 2m-3m people in need of humanitarian assistance. Women are disproportionately affected. Covid-19 has exacerbated vulnerabilities.
ODA has reduced as Kenya meets benchmarks for middle income status, yet extreme inequality persists, with absolute poverty of between 70% and 90% in ASAL counties and extreme vulnerability in urban informal settlements persists. Humanitarian needs often outweigh the capacities of local authorities and investments in strengthening resilience are not adequate to mitigate shocks, and Covid-19 is decimating government and household finances. Local organizations, when adequately resourced, are well placed to respond quickly to crises. They are embedded in communities, understand local dynamics and can better access hard to reach locations. They contribute to holding duty bearers to account and amplify the voices of marginalized communities through their advocacy. With a footprint in high-risk counties, they can ensure humanitarian support is timely, efficient, and effective, and the hardest to reach are reached first. Oxfam has also been working with like-minded INGOs to accelerate Local Humanitarian Leadership; collaborating on fundraising, providing technical support, ceding space at coordination forums and enhancing visibility of partners. Oxfam Kenya applies a one programme approach that seeks to support a holistic approach to humanitarian, development and advocacy for long lasting change in poverty reduction. Oxfam in Kenya works primarily in consortia with local partners. It supports programmes to improve food security and WASH outcomes, through a systems’ strengthening approach. Cash programming and market-based responses are becoming an increasingly important part of the portfolio. A feminist approach to humanitarian action and programmes that ensure the rights of women are essential metrics by which we measure success. From 2021-2023, Oxfam’s focus is on supporting communities through the Covid-19 pandemic, and crises driven by climate change. Oxfam is continuing to strengthen its efforts to support local humanitarian leadership, and explore innovative ways to prepare for, mitigate and respond to humanitarian crises.

The Humanitarian Programme Strategist will provide leadership in designing and coordinating resilience strengthening and humanitarian response programmes with local partners and external stakeholders. S/he will report to donors on the current grants and develop new opportunities; with local NGOs and likeminded INGOs coordinate capacity strengthening initiatives; promote integration between Oxfam’s humanitarian, development and advocacy work and contribute to Oxfam’s global strategic goals; and ensure that gender, safeguarding, and feedback mechanisms are mainstreamed across all our humanitarian work.

Key Responsibilities
Programme Conceptualisation, Design, Implementation and Management 30%
• Under the leadership of the Director Humanitarian System Strengthening (DHSS), contribute to the strategic and technical design, development, planning, budgeting, and implementation of the humanitarian programme strategy;
• Provide high quality analysis of the humanitarian situation in Kenya, and develop, with partners, early warning - early action scenario planning;
• Provides ongoing management oversight of Humanitarian programme budgets and staff assigned to these projects;
• Prepare the launching of the new project: recruitments, inductions, operational plans, logistics plans, and internal Oxfam systems and procedures;
• Ensures the delivery of a humanitarian projects with demonstrable impact and is accountable for overall program delivery, quality, and learning.
• Oversees the development of project improvement plans to ensure effective and timely implementation of the projects and program.
• Ensures that safeguarding standards are met, and women’s rights are protected and promoted in all of Oxfam’s humanitarian work in Kenya.
• Ensures organizational commitments about safe programming are respected.
• Deputises for the DHSS as required.

Programme growth and fundraising 30%
• Works closely with the DHSS, WASH and Social Protection Strategists, and, where appropriate, the Development Programme team to develop grant opportunities to ensure the financial sustainability of Oxfam’s humanitarian presence in Kenya;
• Monitors the funding pipeline and leads on income planning and forecasting at a project level;

• Working closely with the Funding Programme Relationship Manager and actively supports the building of relationships with the donor community to promote the work of the programme, sharing learning emerging from implementation, exploring opportunities for collaboration and or funding;
• Ensures compliance with donor contract requirements – and especially financial and narrative reporting - and Oxfam internal standards, policies, and procedures.
• Working with the MEAL Advisor, ensures that programme quality (monitoring, evaluation, learning and accountability) systems are developed, implemented and minimum standards adhered to with reference to set Humanitarian Practice Code of Conduct, Core Humanitarian Standards and Oxfam’s quality standards.
• Leads on project reporting, supporting individual project leads and partners in the development of consistent, high quality, timely reports.
• Explores innovation and incubation strategies for humanitarian and resilience programs.

Partnership and Coalition Building, Networking and Support 20%
• In consultation with the DHSS, oversees the partnership portfolio, with specific reference to the identification of strategic partners, and building and maintaining these relationships.
• Builds partnerships with diverse organisations to leverage and support humanitarian preparedness and response.
• Ensure programme and partners’ capacity is strengthened to better respond to emergencies if need arises.
• Supports local partners develop their Influencing capacity to encourage timely and effective whole of society preparedness and response to humanitarian crises in Kenya.

Human Resource Management 20%
• Manages the operational members of the Humanitarian Team deployed to specific crisis providing leadership and guidance and ensuring that the management of the team is in line with Oxfam’s HR policies and procedures.
• With support from HR, manages the life cycle of individuals within their team from pre-recruitment to exit, including performance management processes, and working with HR on issues such as disciplinary matters.

Technical Skills, Knowledge and Experience:
• A Master’s degree or equivalent in relevant discipline (preferably humanitarian or development studies, sociology, or the humanities).
• 10 years’ progressively responsible experience in emergency and development work and an understanding of multi-sectoral programming.

• Experience in managing food security & livelihoods, social protection, WASH projects, throughout the disaster management cycle.
• Experience and proven ability in writing proposals and reports to humanitarian donors (ECHO, FCDO, SIDA, BHA etc.).
• A proven record of effective and complex management in humanitarian work including managing budgets, staff, and funding of programmes.
• Excellent people management skills and proven experience in managing and developing teams.
• Proven financial management skills.
• Commitment to strengthening Local Humanitarian Leadership, and proven experience, in working with local partners.
• Excellent leadership, coordination, and representation skills.
• Diplomacy, tact and negotiation skills and sensitivity to cultural differences, and the ability to work in a wide variety of cultural contexts.
• Ability & willingness to travel to the field.
• Sympathy with the aims and objectives of Oxfam.
• Demonstrated experience of integrating protection, gender and diversity into emergency response programmes.
• Commitment to humanitarian principles and action and familiarity with the NGO/Red Cross Code of Conduct, the People in Aid Code, Oxfam International procedures and other regulatory codes (e.g. InterAction Field Co-operation Protocol).
• Key Behavioural Competencies (based on Oxfam’s Leadership Model)

Competencies **
Description
Decisiveness
We are comfortable to make transparent decisions and to adapt decision making modes to the context and needs.

Influencing
We have the ability to engage with diverse stakeholders in a way that leads to increased impact for the organisation We spot opportunities to influence effectively and where there are no opportunities we have the ability to create them in a respectful and impactful manner.

Humility
We put ‘we’ before ‘me’ and place an emphasis on the power of the collective, nurture the team and play to the strengths of each individual. We are not concerned with hierarchical power, and we engage with, trust and value the knowledge and expertise of others across all levels of the organization.

Relationship Building
We understand the importance of building relationship, within and outside the organization. We have the ability to engage with traditional and non-traditional stakeholders in ways that lead to increased impact for the organisation.

Listening
We are good listeners who can see where deeper levels of thoughts and tacit assumptions differ. Our messages to others are clear and consider different preferences.

Mutual Accountability
We can explain our decisions and how we have taken them based on our organizational values. We are ready to be held to account for what we do and how we behave, as we are also holding others to account in a consistent manner.

Agility, Complexity, and Ambiguity
We scan the environment, anticipate changes, are comfortable with lack of clarity and deal with a large number of elements interacting in diverse and unpredictable ways.

Systems Thinking
We view problems as parts of an overall system and in their relation to the whole system, rather than reacting to a specific part, outcome or event in isolation. We focus on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect. By consistently practicing systems thinking we are aware of and manage well unintended consequences of organisational decisions and actions.

Strategic Thinking and Judgment
We use judgment, weighing risk against the imperative to act. We make decisions consistent with organizational strategies and values.

Vision Setting
We have the ability to identify and lead visionary initiatives that are beneficial for our organization and we set high-level direction through a visioning process that engages the organization and diverse external stakeholders.

Self-Awareness
We are able to develop a high degree of self-awareness around our own strengths and weaknesses and our impact on others. Our self-awareness enables us to moderate and self-regulate our behaviors to control and channel our impulses for good purposes.

Enabling
We all work to effectively empower and enable others to deliver the organizations goals through creating conditions of success. We passionately invest in others by developing their careers, not only their skills for the job. We provide freedom; demonstrate belief and trust provide appropriate support. We give more freedom and demonstrate belief and trust, underpinned with appropriate support.

Work Hours: 8