Program Manager

Program Manager. Seoul. Posting Date: 09/14/2024. Deadline: 10/11/2024 Role Title Program Manager, Programs Contract Type: Fixed Term Program Duration: 5 years Reporting To Director, Programs Team Name Protecting Rights Defenders Opportunity Description In order for open society values to flourish, we need an active citizenry. Rights defenders are active citizens who organize to defend inclusive democracies, ensure that economic prosperity reaches the most marginalized, safeguard fundamental rights, and protect our environment. This Opportunity will work across many geographies in Asia, Africa and Latin America, including Indonesia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, and Guatemala. By developing and investing in country-level holistic protection models tailored to the needs of and co-created with indigenous, environmental and land defenders, and women human rights defenders, the Opportunity seeks to significantly reduce the number of attacks and create an enabling environment for them to safely exercise their ability to claim, defend, and enjoy rights. Role Purpose The aim of opportunities is to dynamically organize staff, strategies, and budgets around the demands of each opportunity. It balances the need for sustained attention to complex problems and demands rigorous planning and evaluation, while also providing leaders with the autonomy to pursue radical ideas and approaches. The Program Manager will be responsible for day-to-day liaison and coordination with grantee and partner organisations. The Program Manager will play a critical role with implementing the opportunity, which may use a variety of OSF's strategic capabilities, including advocacy, impact investing, strategic litigation, in addition to grant making. The expectation is that the Program Manager is a subject matter expert in the protection of rights defenders and digital rights. The Program Manager will be part of a small, globally dispersed team of five and will lead the design and implementation of the Opportunity's grant making and interventions in Asia. The Program Manager will also be the team's subject matter expert on digital rights and targeted surveillance of rights defenders, and provide technical support to colleagues in the team to address these challenges in the other regions in which the Opportunity works. Key Responsibilities As Program Manager, you will: Support the Director of Programs to deliver on the opportunity's outcomes with professionalism Deliver on day-to-day liaison with grantees to ensure the opportunity is designed, launched, implemented, and exited according to the outcomes defined Work collaboratively with other members within the opportunity team and with colleagues across OSF to ensure the opportunity is effectively leveraging OSF's capabilities to reach the agreed outcome Effectively manage the grant-making process by communicating with grantees for proposal submission, assisting in grant record preparation, grants processing, payments, reporting, and other related processes Build a strong understanding of the field and partnerships, in developing and designing the grant selection processes Manage relationships with partners, in close coordination with Geographic Policy Groups as relevant, and work with them to achieve OSF's strategic objective through the opportunity Work collaboratively in developing, assessing, and revising program strategies Work with leadership to maintain grant-making practice aligned with OSF's approach to grant-making and in compliance with organizational and external standards and regulations Assist in the construction, maintenance, and assessment of grant making portfolio(s), sharing responsibility for strategy design with manager Contribute to larger opportunity strategy Process and oversee progress of consultant contracts Monitor progress implementation, project risks, and other relevant status updates and communicate to Director of Programs regularly People Responsibilities (Total Team/DRs) No Key internal relationships Director, Programs; Managing Director Programs; Core Partners, Special Advisors, Grants Management, Operations Key external relationships External Partners Qualifications Essential: Educated to a degree-level (or equivalent) Desirable: Post-graduate education in law, human rights, digital rights, technology, sustainable development or public administration. Experience Essential: Multiple years' experience (in one or multiple organisations) in the field of protection of human rights defenders and/or advancing digital rights. Extensive expertise in the specific topic area as set out in the "Opportunity Description" above Prior working experience of operating within the non-profit community (for example multi-lateral, NGO, foundation or ambassadorial working environments) Expertise in supporting rights defenders and civil society groups mitigate the impact of targeted digital surveillance and/or experience engaging technology companies on addressing the challenge of targeted digital surveillance of rights defenders and activists. Competencies Functional Competencies: Conceives, designs and manages cross-department, cross-program or similarly complex projects; expected to effectively manage time, budget and stakeholders and network-wide or similarly complex coordination Able to generate, capture and organize information and knowledge to deliver prescribed outcomes Ability to conduct research to drive decision making by management Skilled in drawing out patterns Experience in budgeting, strategic analysis and planning Working well with a variety of public, private and NGO stakeholders Building and maintaining networks of stakeholders Promote strategic cooperation with governmental and other sectors, such as technology companies Knowledge of grant making best practices and the field of philanthropy Ability to build synergies, strengthen movements, and identify and fill capacity gaps across fields Demonstrate care and concern about partner organizations and the people who work in them Personal Competencies: Able to build consensus and coalitions with diverse audiences/stakeholders Possesses cultural sensitivity to work respectfully and effectively in different settings Ability to work independently as part of a global team and being self-motivated Demonstrates commitment to OSF's core values of humility, commitment, collaboration, respect, inclusivity and integrity Proven experience in collaborating with multi-country stakeholders Willingness to adjust working hours to include calls and discussions with colleagues and vendors located in various geographic regions Commitment to continuous learning and growth in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, antiracism and social justice Languages: An excellent knowledge of English and a good working knowledge of either Mandarin, Bahasa Indonesia, Hindi or Urdu. Subject to local laws, regular employment contracts may be converted to fixed-term contracts to align with the intended duration of the employment for the purposes of working on that opportunity; or alternatively the current permanent contract will be kept in place, with a side letter confirming the duration of the assignment to the time-limited project. Competitive rates of pay apply. Open Society Foundations is committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, and to building a diverse staff that reflects the movements, issues and communities that our mission serves. Candidates from all underrepresented backgrounds, identities and communities are encouraged to apply. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants and colleagues with disabilities. About Us The Open Society Foundations work to build inclusive and vibrant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. We are a global network of foundations committed to local knowledge and national expertise. Active in more than 120 countries, Open Society is the world's largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights. In addition to making grants to organizations and individuals, we engage in policy advocacy, legal advocacy and litigation, program-related investing, and public communications, as well as providing direct assistance to governments. The Open Society Foundations are the global philanthropies of George Soros, who, as chair, plays an active role in the work of the Foundations. If you need assistance or disability related accommodations in order to submit a job application, please contact us at: Recruitment Team Open Society Foundations 224 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019#J-18808-Ljbffr