Program Manager SRHR Next

CONFIDENTIAL – INTERNAL VACANCY ONLY

Scope:  Niger and Lebanon
Hours:  Full time
Reports to:  Head of Programs or one of the Portfolio Managers
Team:  Programs
Location: Any Hivos Office
Indicative grade: ZIM:6 KEN:13 TUN: 12 CR:7 : NL: 11,12
Programme: SRHR Next: Joint Leadership for Stronger Rights and Better Health

About the programme

SRHR Next is a 2.5-year SRHR programme bringing together 11 Dutch international organisations and local partners in eight countries, including Niger and Lebanon. This Alliance aims to protect and strengthen sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in a context of shrinking funding, rising anti-rights movements, weakened health systems, and increasing pressure on civic space.

The programme focuses on three interlinked result areas: strengthening SRHR service delivery and health systems; increasing access to inclusive, age-appropriate and evidence-based SRHR information and education; and supporting an enabling environment for the SRHR of women, young people and marginalised groups. The programme is grounded in localisation, locally led governance, meaningful youth participation, inclusion, and rights-based SRHR programming.

Hivos will serve as Country Support Partner for both Niger and Lebanon. In this role, Hivos will act as focal point and fund manager for the two country programmes, support mutual capacity strengthening, and ensure strong linkage between country-level implementation and the global Alliance coordination, learning, MEL and reporting structures.

Role Purpose

The Program Manager will lead Hivos’ oversight and coordination of SRHR Next implementation in Niger and Lebanon throughout the 2.5-year programme period, including the inception phase, country-level co-creation, implementation, learning, reporting, and close-out. The role will ensure coherent planning, high-quality delivery, sound financial and grant management, strong partner coordination, and effective contribution to the wider Dutch SRHR Alliance.

The Program Manager will work closely with in-country leads, local partner platforms, Hivos internal teams, the Alliance Manager, the Block Grant Manager, the Innovation, Expertise and Research Hub, and other Dutch Alliance members. The role requires strong programme management, partnership management, adaptive management, risk awareness, and experience working in fragile or politically sensitive contexts.

Key responsibilities

Programme coordination and strategic oversight

• Lead Hivos’ Country Support Partner role for Niger and Lebanon across the full 2.5-year programme cycle, including inception, planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting, learning, and close-out, ensuring that both country programmes are implemented in line with the SRHR Next vision, results framework, localisation principles, donor requirements, and Hivos standards.
• Support the in-country leads and partner platforms in finalising and implementing country theories of change, annual workplans, budgets, risk plans, MEL frameworks, and learning agendas.
• Ensure coherence between Niger and Lebanon implementation and the wider Alliance objectives, including equitable coordination, joint planning, inclusive governance, strategic use of resources, and a strong common voice for SRHR.
• Provide regular strategic and operational guidance to country teams and partners, helping them adapt programming to shifting political, security, civic space, and SRHR-related developments.

Partner coordination and localisation

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with in-country leads, local civil society partners, youth-led organisations, women-led organisations, organisations representing marginalised communities, and relevant Hivos and Alliance colleagues.
• Support locally led decision-making by ensuring that country partner platforms are meaningfully involved in planning, budgeting, implementation, learning, and accountability processes.
• Promote transparent communication, trust-based collaboration, shared responsibility, and equitable risk-sharing between Hivos, in-country leads, local partners, and the wider Alliance.
• Ensure that meaningful and inclusive youth participation, intersectionality, disability inclusion, and the participation of marginalised groups are embedded across planning and implementation.

Grant management, compliance and financial oversight

• Oversee the programmatic and financial management of Hivos’ country support role for Niger and Lebanon.
• Coordinate the preparation, review, and consolidation of country budgets, forecasts, partner agreements, financial reports, and donor reports in close collaboration with finance, grants, and compliance colleagues.
• Monitor budget implementation, spending rates, value for money, and compliance with donor and Hivos requirements.
• Support partner due diligence, contracting, capacity strengthening, and compliance processes while avoiding unnecessary administrative burden on local partners.
• Identify financial, operational, safeguarding, security, and delivery risks, and ensure timely mitigation and escalation where needed.

Monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning

• Coordinate with the MEL officer, national project managers and partners to ensure timely and quality data collection, reflection, reporting, and learning.
• Support the co-creation and roll-out of MEL tools, baselines, indicators, reporting templates, and learning processes for Niger and Lebanon.
• Ensure that monitoring and learning processes are useful for partners and support adaptive programming, rather than only donor reporting.
• Contribute to cross-country learning between Niger and Lebanon and support the exchange of lessons with other Alliance countries and the Innovation, Expertise and Research Hub.

Risk management, safeguarding and conflict sensitivity

• Ensure that Niger and Lebanon implementation is informed by regular context analysis, political economy analysis, conflict sensitivity, and security risk monitoring.
• Support partners to develop and update country-specific risk management, safety and security, safeguarding, and contingency plans.
• Ensure that SRHR programming is implemented in a conflict-sensitive and Do-No-Harm manner, particularly given the sensitivity of SRHR, shrinking civic space, anti-rights narratives, and potential risks faced by partners and rights holders.
• Coordinate with relevant Hivos colleagues to ensure compliance with safeguarding, integrity, duty of care, data protection, and digital security standards.

Alliance coordination and representation

• Represent Hivos in relevant SRHR Next coordination spaces, including operational meetings, country support partner meetings, global management discussions, and learning exchanges.
• Act as the main internal and external coordination point for Hivos’ role in Niger and Lebanon, ensuring timely information flow between country partners, Hivos teams, and Alliance structures.
• Contribute to Alliance-wide planning, reporting, learning, positioning, and problem-solving, while ensuring that country-level perspectives and partner voices are reflected.
• Support coordination with the Alliance Manager, Block Grant Manager, and Innovation, Expertise and Research Hub as needed.

Team leadership and staff management

• Provide line management and supervision to the MEL Officer, Advocacy Officer, two Project Managers, and Program Assistant, ensuring clear roles, workplans, priorities, and performance expectations.
• Support team members through regular check-ins, guidance, coaching, problem-solving, and performance feedback.
• Ensure effective coordination across programme, MEL, advocacy, finance, grants, compliance, safeguarding, and security functions.
• Promote a collaborative, accountable, inclusive, and supportive team culture, with attention to staff wellbeing and effective workload management.
• Ensure that the programme team contributes effectively to planning, implementation, reporting, learning, advocacy, risk management, and Alliance coordination processes.

Working relationships

The Program Manager reports to the Portfolio Manager Africa or the Portfolio Manager Swana/EU and directly manages the MEL Officer, Advocacy Officer, two Project Managers, and Program Assistant.

The Program Manager works closely with Hivos programme, finance, grants, compliance, safeguarding, security, and MEL colleagues. They will also work closely with in-country leads and partner platforms in Niger and Lebanon, the Dutch SRHR Alliance Manager, the Block Grant Manager, the Alliance MEL Manager, the Innovation, Expertise and Research Hub, other Dutch Alliance and local civil society partners, including youth-led groups, women-led groups, and organisations representing marginalised communities.

Profile

The ideal candidate is a strong programme manager with experience in SRHR, gender justice, human rights, civic space, or health systems strengthening. They are comfortable managing complex multi-country programmes, working through partnerships, and balancing donor compliance with locally led implementation.

Required qualifications and experience

• A relevant advanced degree or equivalent professional experience in international development, public health, SRHR, gender studies, human rights, social sciences, or a related field.
• At least 7 years of relevant experience in programme management, preferably in SRHR, gender equality, human rights, health systems strengthening, or civil society strengthening.
• Demonstrated experience managing donor-funded programmes across the full programme cycle, including inception, implementation, reporting, learning, and close-out.
• Experience managing multi-country, multi-partner, or alliance-based programmes.
• Strong understanding of SRHR, gender equality, inclusion, youth participation, and rights-based programming.
• Experience working with civil society organisations in fragile, conflict-affected, or politically sensitive contexts.
• Strong grant management experience, including work planning, budgeting, partner contracting, donor compliance, financial monitoring, and reporting.
• Experience with MEL, adaptive programming, learning processes, and results-based reporting.
• Strong understanding of localisation, equitable partnerships, and shifting power in international cooperation.
• Excellent coordination, facilitation, communication, and relationship-building skills.
• Fluency in English is required.

Key competencies

• Strategic and adaptive programme leadership.
• Strong partnership and coalition-building skills.
• Sensitivity to power dynamics and commitment to locally led development.
• Ability to manage complexity across different countries, partners, systems, and timelines.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent writing and reporting skills.
• High level of political sensitivity, discretion, and cultural awareness.
• Commitment to feminist, inclusive, rights-based, and anti-discriminatory approaches.

How to apply

Please submit a cover letter (maximum 1 page) and CV (maximum 2 pages) as soon as possible by clicking the ‘Apply here’ button. Applications are being received until May 26th, 2026, midnight CAT.