The BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI) seeks to hire a Program Director to spearhead BRAC UPGI’s efforts to scale the Graduation approach in Egypt. The Program Director will drive sustained impact on extreme poverty through engaging and influencing governments, local partners, and other key stakeholders to adopt, implement, and scale Graduation programs and policies.

Reporting to the Director of Country Portfolio, the Program Director for Egypt will lead and implement BRAC UPGI’s country strategy for Egypt, oversee technical assistance engagements to partner organizations including governments, multilateral and bilateral institutions, develop and maintain close working relationships with civil society organization and development actors engaged in programs or advocacy initiatives designed to assist people in extreme poverty; create and leverage opportunities for policy reforms that address extreme poverty; and work closely with BRAC UPGI’s global support units to embed the Graduation approach to extreme poverty alleviation into the Government of Egypt’s social safety net programs.

The Program Director will also have a reporting line to BRAC International’s Egypt Country Director and will work in close collaboration with the BI team. The Program Director plays a critical role in supporting strategy development, cultivating strategic partners, influencing policymakers, and strengthening the technical capacity of government personnel and other partners. This position will be based in Cairo, Egypt, and will work closely with team members based in the US, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Responsibilities:

Strategy Development:

● Develop a detailed strategy and work plan for BRAC UPGI’s engagement in Egypt, building on the UPGI’s initial country entry strategy.

• Conduct needs assessments in coordination with national/local civil society groups and government actors.
• Conduct strategic stakeholder meetings and workshops and share learnings and evidence with partners to drive influence.

● Cultivate and manage partnerships with the government (at multiple levels), multi/bi-laterals, donors, and private sector actors.

● Create stakeholder engagement strategies in coordination with the overarching country strategy with technical, communication, and advocacy colleagues.

● According to UPGI’s Diversity Equity Inclusion & Belonging principles, build and manage an effective country engagement team to implement the strategy and work plan.

Country Engagement:

● Actively engage in government consultations and working groups, multi- and bilateral working groups, and civil society working groups related to poverty reduction, economic inclusion, and social protection.

● Identify policy asks for governments and develop policy briefs to support national scale-up of Graduation, including where and how the Graduation can be integrated into new or existing government policies/programs.

● Identify, explore, and pursue partnership opportunities and entry points for scaling the Graduation approach within Egypt more broadly with many potential stakeholders, including government, CSOs, media, peer agencies, think tanks, and other research organizations.

● Drive strategy and action plan for civil society engagement and strengthening by conducting ongoing monitoring of the civil society landscape, including developing partnerships agreements with strong actors.

● Develop training for local government service providers on crucial Graduation topics to address skills and capacity gaps (monitoring, evaluation, livelihood development, and beneficiary targeting, for example). Plan and lead immersion visits for key government partners to Bangladesh or other countries to experience the impact of the Graduation program firsthand.

● Support country engagement team members liaising with and advising national and local government and multilateral institution partners such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, and various UN agencies on the design, delivery, evaluation, and promotion of impactful Graduation and other economic inclusion approaches integrated into social protection systems nationally.

● Design, plan and oversee government Graduation programming and implementation with the support of UPGI.

• Conduct assessments to inform program design and policy.
• Identify implementing partners for engagement, develop operational plans, tools, and processes for execution of Graduation programming and;
• Review program progress with in-country and global colleagues, including developing Egypt-specific KPIs to measure progress, chairing quarterly strategy review sessions with global team members, and adjusting strategy in response to new developments/opportunities and challenges.

Other (Safeguarding Responsibilities):

● Ensure the safety of team members from any harm, abuse, neglect, harassment, and exploitation to achieve the program’s goals of safeguarding implementation.

● Practice, promote and endorse the issues of safeguarding policy among team members and ensure the implementation of safeguarding standards in every course of action.

● Follow the safeguarding reporting procedure in case any reportable incident takes place, and encourage others to do so.

Qualifications:

• A proven track record in developing strong relationships with partners, governments, civil society actors, multilateral institutions, or peer agencies.
• Master’s degree in social sciences, international development, or other related fields required.
• 7 – 10 years of experience in international development, government service, NGOs, or civil society organizations required.
• Sector expertise in livelihoods and economic inclusion, social protection, gender, or financial inclusion; Graduation, cash-plus, or similar experience preferred.
• Proactive leader with the ability to prioritize and effectively manage competing work streams.
• Diplomatic, with strong interpersonal skills and a high degree of political sensitivity.
• Strong English skills and fluency in Arabic are required. French language skills are a plus.
• Exceptional communication and representational skills.