Program Design Manager – Spark MicroGrants

Spark MicroGrants believes in a world where everyone lives with dignity and determines their own positive future. For nearly ten years, Spark MicroGrants has been pioneering a new approach to international aid. We believe in local solutions and catalyzing rural villages facing poverty into action.

At the heart of Spark’s model, the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), are ‘town-hall’ style meetings, in which women and men plan together for their community’s future. Each village democratically elects a leadership committee, establishes a village savings account, and launches a project of their choice. Members receive training on financial management and transparency, accountable leadership, village planning, and advocacy. Each village receives US$8,000 in seed funds to turn project ideas into reality and receives additional management support.

Spark is now active in 320+ villages in 6 countries, benefiting over 230,000 lives. In the next three years, we seek to accelerate the growth of this approach, through i) establishing a global Community of Practice based on cutting edge facilitation and training design, and ii) establishing a national scale program in Rwanda – our flagship program – in partnership with the Government of Rwanda.

Our team of 50+ people is spread across 4 countries in East Africa and the US, sharing a common vision and value system. These are:

1. Facilitators. We don’t impose; we enable others to generate impact.
2. Community-driven. We are motivated by what is best for the community.
3. Process-centered. The how of what we do is just as important as the what.
4. Authentic. Our vision and values live in everything we do.
5. Dynamic. We seek opportunities and are willing to take risks to serve our community partners better.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for candidates with a strong interest in design thinking & curriculum development, ideally within a rural development context. The right candidate will not want to do ‘development as usual’ but question ‘how’ aid works and ensure that Spark’s program ultimately serves and is accountable to the villages we serve.

1. Co-Design

2. Own the process of co-designing programs & tools with potential partner organizations or governments
3. Lead the co-design of program tools with new & existing partners
4. Develop and adapt the FCAP model, guides & tools to community, user, and partner needs

Program Quality

1. Collect learnings on the  implementation of FCAP in villages & lead working group discussions on how to integrate new learnings into the FCAP model
2. Work with Training Design, M&E & Program Teams to analyze program quality and identify room for improvement
3. Based on both, continuously adapt and improve the FCAP model, guides and tools for community impact and to meet partner needs and expectations

4. Innovation

   1. Suggest and test new ideas for the FCAP to the wider Design Team

5. Management 

1. Directly manage, invest in and develop FCAP Design Officers across countries towards driving excellence, promoting and embodying Spark values in the team.

Passion for rural communities owning their future

• You are driven by a world with a strong civil society where communities are in the driving seat of local change.
• You are passionate about rural community development.

Design thinker

• You have a strong interest in design thinking, program design to uplift rural communities  and  have had the opportunity to try it out and you are excited about the opportunity to dive in deeper.
• You have experience in instructional design and/or building and adapting processes/models for different programs or contexts.
• You pair this functional expertise with an understanding of rural community development

Implementer

• You have experience in creating program curricula and implementing ideas and processes, the ability to influence adoption in the team, and iterating the process based on learnings.
• You are organized and enjoy bringing structure to your team, ensuring that plans are well thought-through and meaningfully engage key stakeholders.

 Team builder

• You are excited at the opportunity to join a growing team and to integrate design thinking into organizational strategy.

You have the cultural fit to work with us here at Spark, if:

• You are dynamic, self-driven, and proactively seek out feedback.
• You keep yourself organized, yet lift your head up to think strategically on the regular and relish the challenge of applying a range of approaches to answer complex questions.
• You are a leader with a passion for transforming bold ideas into actionable strategies. You drive new initiatives, embrace and push for change, and aren’t afraid to try something new.
• You are a facilitator, you listen intently, integrate feedback, and create an environment where everyone feels comfortable to speak up and develop ideas together.
• You drive thoughtful processes to make strategic decisions and problem solve. You collaborate and prioritize an inclusive process that can be replicated in the future.
• You are authentic. You speak your mind, and you live your values.

• Spark has grown every year since founding. You will join as a team lead with immense opportunity to shape the future of the organization and grow as a leader.
• Spark has been recognized by the Government of Rwanda, NYTimes, Obama Foundation, Draper Richards Kaplan, Forbes, and beyond as a leader in community-driven change.
• You will be joining a team that hails from ten countries around the world and is committed to a new world where every village and every neighborhood has the power to drive local change.
• You will have the freedom and autonomy to make your role your own. We want to hear your innovative ideas, your vision for the future, and your critical questions.
• You’ll never be bored – AND we also respect and value work-life balance and your need for downtime, vacation, and reflection. That’s why in addition to salary, we provide generous paid leave benefits.

Currently, our field operations are adapting to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Our teams are supporting our communities virtually, and we expect that when things open up, demand for development solutions will be high in the communities we serve. We are working on refining our growth and virtual support models at this time.

Location: Kigali, Rwanda or Kampala, Uganda with the possibility to start remotely for the first 3-6 months, depending on COVID restrictions and safety.

Start Date: Flexible, however, targeted start date is March

We will agree on a three-month probation period with learning and performance objectives. We are looking for someone who is committed to this role for at least 2 years.

Salary expectation: $1300 to $2000 monthly depending on years of relevant experience 

Follow this link  to submit your application

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