Job Description

Client: BRAC UPGI Team Lead: Position: Location: Dates of Assignment: Duration of Assignment:
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Government of the Philippines Julie Kedroske Assistant Provincial Coordinator Sultan Kudarat (National) August 2022 - October 2022 3 months
About BRAC Ultra Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI) Beginning in 2002, BRAC pioneered the Ultra-Poor Graduation approach in Bangladesh, a comprehensive, time-bound, and sequenced set of interventions designed to enable the most vulnerable and destitute households to progress along a pathway out of extreme poverty. BRAC established the Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI) to deliver technical assistance to agents of scale on how to adapt and implement the Graduation approach and other holistic economic inclusion and social protection strategies. For more than a decade, BRAC has served as a leading provider of global technical assistance and advisory services for the Graduation approach to governments, multilateral institutions, and NGOs worldwide.
Project Background The Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) is a capability-building program for poor, vulnerable, and marginalized households and communities to help improve their socio-economic conditions through accessing and acquiring necessary assets to engage in and maintain thriving livelihoods. Through Administrative Order 11 series of 2011, SLP was formally introduced as one of the core programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for poverty alleviation. As SLP gears toward its 10th year of implementation, SLP embarks on a new project to explore new strategies to enhance the Program’s implementation process and improve delivery of services to the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized households and communities. DSWD, in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Australia, is planning to integrate the Graduation approach into the current SLP process to holistically address the poverty challenges of SLP participants and ensure the sustainability of its interventions. This will begin through a series of Graduation pilots as part of the Padayon SLP program in the provinces of Iloilo, Bukidnon, and Sultan Kudarat. The program will provide a set of holistic interventions as an additional support mechanism for SLP participants. This will complement the Department’s efforts to strengthen delivery of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). In the post-COVID context, the integration of the Graduation approach will benefit and strengthen the resilience of the poor and vulnerable households whose employment and income have been adversely affected by the shut-down of most economic activities, travel restrictions, and social distancing requirements.
BRAC UPGI’s Technical Assistance Role To support DSWD’s implementation of the Graduation approach, BRAC UPGI will deliver advisory support, building on the experience of prior projects that successfully utilized the Graduation approach to provide comprehensive support to households living in extreme poverty in the targeted provinces. BRAC UPGI’s technical assistance will focus on four key areas: 1) pre-implementation, 2) social preparation of Graduation participants, 3) resource mobilization, and 4) project implementation and monitoring.
Scope of Work The Assistant Provincial Coordinator will provide technical and management support to the Provincial Coordinator for the day-to-day activities of project implementation as needed, particularly by serving as a technical support resource for the Padayon SLP Program Development Officers (PDOs) in his/her province. S/he will also be responsible for a limited caseload of participating households and will deliver regular coaching and monitoring to those households. S/he will report to the Provincial Coordinator of his/her respective province. Specific responsibilities include:

• Provide technical support and guidance to PDOs to strengthen delivery of livelihood support, coaching, and monitoring to Padayon participants; such as: assisting PDOs to conduct accurate livelihoods monitoring, supporting PDOs to develop livelihoods coaching strategies that are informed by monitoring data, providing guidance on livelihoods risk management, providing recommendations on expanding and diversifying livelihoods, etc;
• Identify key services available to participants within the project barangays, including health, education, safety nets, and community support groups; and develop strategies for PDOs to facilitate linkages between participants and these services;
• Regularly review household welfare and livelihoods monitoring data, including conducting random household spot checks to ensure project implementation activities and participants’ progress are on track;
• Conduct monthly monitoring and coaching visits to participating households to assess households progress, work through challenges households are facing, and provide consistent mentoring;
• Liaise with PDOs, Provincial Coordinator, Field Manager, and Monitoring & Data Officer about project progress, challenges, learning, and decisions;
• Provide other technical and administrative support to the provincial team, as assigned by the Provincial Coordinator.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in social science, development studies, business or related field, master’s degree preferred;
• Background in people and team management, project management, and leadership;
• Demonstrated experience in livelihoods strengthening, particularly for agriculture and livestock-based livelihoods;
• Demonstrated experience in programs related to poverty reduction, economic inclusion, community development or social protection;

• Experience working on government programs, especially in DSWD program(s), preferred;
• Strong knowledge of the local context in terms of vulnerabilities and barriers faced by poor populations and basic services available;
• Excellent skills in oral and written communication, interpersonal, leadership, organization and time management.
• Excellent written and spoken English language and communication skills. Tagalog, Hiligaynon and Bisaya (as relevant to the province where the position is based) desirable.

How to Apply Candidates are encouraged to apply by submitting the following:

• Resume
• Cover letter
• Three references

Please submit all documentation electronically to BRAC International no later than August 12, 2022. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Only soft copy applications will be considered, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.