WORK FOR AN AWARD-WINNING NON-PROFIT SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

POSITION:                         Country Program Manager – Colombia

Industry:                             Non-profit/International Development

Job Location:                     Bogotá, Colombia with frequent travel to Medellín and other locations within Colombia and Latin America

Start Date:                         Immediate 

Term:                                  Full time, at-will employment

Salary:                                 Competitive with health and emergency evacuation insurance

WHO WE ARE

Founded in 2004, Build Change is a non‐profit social enterprise whose mission is to save lives in earthquakes and hurricanes. Build Change designs safe buildings, trains homeowners, builders, engineers and government officials to build them, works with governments to develop and implement building standards, partners with the private sector to improve building materials quality and create jobs, and facilitates access to incentive-based capital for reconstruction and retrofitting by partnering with financing institutions and government subsidy programs. Build Change started its work in Colombia in 2012, focusing on preventive retrofitting of existing vulnerable housing, in densely populated urban centers.

As part of its preventive strategy for Latin America, the Colombia Country Program is implementing retrofitting programs with the cities of Bogota and Medellin, and collaborating with the National Government on policy, and large-scale implementation. The program also leads technical resource development activities in partnership with Colombian Universities and other stakeholders.

For more information about Build Change and its programs in Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Philippines, Indonesia and Nepal, please visit www.buildchange.org.

YOUR NEW OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Director of Programs and Partnerships for Latin America (Director of Programs), the Country Program Manager will provide leadership management and general technical direction of the country program, ensuring an integrated vision among different components and actors, and a focus on achieving the results defined in the program goals. You will be expected to identify issues and risks related to program implementation, output effectiveness in terms of long-term disaster risk mitigation, and  long-term program outcome sustainability.

The Country Program Manager shall act as a key liaison between Build Change and all other counterparts and implementing partners involved with the country program. In this position, you will be expected to fulfill the following responsibilities:

• Business Development - With support and oversight from the Director of Programs, take the lead in the expansion of Build Change in Colombia, including but not limited to the development of new projects and partnerships and the ongoing formalization of ties between Build Change and its current partners.

• Process Management – Ensure the application of Build Change’s technical assistance platform for the Colombia preventive program (including Build Change’s homeowner-driven process, standard operating procedures, and best practices) across all of Build Change’s projects in Colombia.
• Implementation – Deliver Build Change’s Colombia projects on schedule, meeting milestones agreed to with donors (including ongoing housing retrofit projects: Lloyd’s Medellin, CVP-Bogota), and resolve issues that impact the project schedule immediately with stakeholders. You will also support the Director of Programs in ensuring implementation is achieved according to allocated budget.
• Coordination – Supervise Project Managers, technical and operative teams, as well as coordinate with local partner teams, donor teams, and with key local stakeholders (including local government or local branches of central government).
• Staffing & Team Building - Work with the Admin. Officer and the Project Managers to ensure sufficient staff with the correct skills are deployed in order to deliver the program goals.
• Strategy – Support the Director of Programs in implementing key points of Build Change’s regional strategy, including:
  • Promote and develop the capacity of national and international organizations to implement preventive structural retrofitting of housing and schools at scale;
  • Develop appropriate technical resources for local use, adhering to the Build Change practice of homeowner-driven implementation, culturally appropriate solutions, and technical excellence.
• Representation – Represent Build Change in discussions of homeowner-driven project implementation with government officials, partners, and key stakeholders.
• Reporting – Provide content for the project reporting, internally and externally, on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, quarterly), as required by the Director of Programs and as stipulated in Build Change’s grant agreements or other contractual agreements.
• Other: This position reports to the Director of Programs and Partnerships for Latin America. The Country Program Manager is expected to fulfill other tasks and take-on other responsibilities as directed by the supervisor.

The Country Program Manager is based in Bogotá, but will spend significant time in Medellín and other cities where Build Change has or is developing activities. This position will occasionally be asked to support the Director of Programs in specific missions in other parts of Latin America, such as post-disaster reconnaissance missions, and project scoping and implementation.

OUR IDEAL CANDIDATE

You are thoroughly committed to Build Change’s mission and have proven leadership, coaching, and relationship management experience. You are an exceptional, driven and experienced individual with proven management, communication and marketing skills and a continued desire to grow and learn. A construction-related degree such as structural engineering or architecture is helpful but not necessary if you understand and can articulate fundamental concepts of risk management, and resilient design and construction.

You presently have:

• An Advanced University degree in Program Management, Engineering, Architecture, Finance, Disaster Risk Management, or related discipline, with at least 5 years of professional experience. First level University degree and qualifying experience of over 7 years is also acceptable.
• In-depth understanding of the Latin American and/or Colombian context, especially related to development, risk management, or social interest housing
• An unwavering commitment to quality programs and data-driven program evaluation
• A valid passport

Your experiences include:

• Effectively leading performance- and outcome-based projects, with the ability to point to specific examples of having developed and operationalized strategies that have taken an organization to the next stage of growth
• Excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach and manage staff, set and achieve programmatic objectives and manage a budget
• Working cohesively on multidisciplinary project teams
• Marketing, public relations, and/or fundraising, with the ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders and cultures

You are able to:

• Work effectively in collaboration with diverse groups of people
• Ensure coherence and consistency in spite of urgent deadlines
• Communicate clearly, persuasively and passionately, in both written and verbal forms, with excellent interpersonal skills

You would describe yourself as:

• Fluent in English and Spanish
• Action-oriented and adaptable, with an innovative approach to project planning
• Curious, optimistic, tenacious and willing to find and implement sustainable solutions
• Passionate, idealistic, high level of integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed

ARE YOU INTERESTED?

Please visit http://www.buildchange.org/about/careers and click on the link for this position.  Applications will be accepted until filled.  Qualified women and Colombian nationals are encouraged to apply.  Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.  No calls please.