Consortium Manager

War Child is an international alliance working in 15 countries. This is an international charity working for children and youth affected by war. War Child initiated working in Afghanistan from 2002. In Afghanistan War Child Work with children and youth, who as a result of conflict, live with a combination of poverty, exclusion, and insecurity. These children and youth might include street children, child headed households, children conscripted into armed groups, unaccompanied minors, youth returnees and refugees, and children who have been put in Juvenile Rehabilitation Center and, the children and youth impacted by the climate induced disasters.  Our mission is to protect, educate and stand up for the rights of children and youth caught up in conflict, poverty, and exclusion. We also work on building the lives and climate resilient livelihoods of the children and youth.  We look forward to a world in which the lives of children and youth are no longer torn apart by war. This is a vision that can only be realized through the collective actions of children and youth themselves, the communities that they live in, their leaders, local organizations, War Child in Afghanistan, governments, and key decision makers.

Job Purpose

To provide overall coordination, leadership, and management of the IPS-2 consortium project led by War Child UK in partnership with WASSA, RSDO, AWEC, and AWUDO across six provinces. The Consortium Manager will ensure effective collaboration among partners, high-quality program delivery, compliance with donor (FCDO) requirements, and achievement of project objectives related to integrated protection services for vulnerable children, adolescents, and communities. The role will strengthen coordination mechanisms, oversee grant management, support partner capacity strengthening, and represent the consortium in relevant humanitarian coordination platforms. This position is open to both international and Afghan candidates; however, preference will be given to qualified Afghan nationals.

Job Description

The Duties and responsibilities may include but not limited to:

1. Consortium Leadership and Coordination

• Lead coordination of the consortium partners to ensure effective and timely implementation of the project across all provinces and districts.
• Facilitate collaboration between War Child UK and implementing partners to ensure alignment with project goals and workplans.
• Organize and lead regular coordination meetings including Program/MEAL, Management Committee, Technical Committee, and other consortium forums.
• Strengthen communication, knowledge sharing, and joint planning among consortium members.
• Ensure consistent field presence through regular monitoring visits to project locations to oversee implementation quality, provide hands-on support, and ensure alignment with program standards and donor requirements.

2. Partner Management and Capacity Strengthening

• Provide technical and operational support to partner organizations to ensure quality program implementation.
• Monitor partner performance and provide guidance to improve program delivery, safeguarding, and operational systems.
• Support partners in strengthening governance, program management, safeguarding, and compliance capacities.
• Facilitate learning exchanges and community-of-practice sessions among consortium partners.

3. Grant Management and Donor Compliance

• Ensure the project is implemented in accordance with donor requirements, approved budgets, and contractual obligations.
• Oversee partner grants, sub-agreements, and reporting processes.
• Monitor financial and programmatic performance against approved targets and indicators.
• Coordinate preparation of high-quality donor reports and ensure timely submission.

4. Program Quality and Technical Oversight

• Support the integration and quality delivery of Evidence-Based Methodologies (EBMs) such as TeamUp, BeThere, and SEEDS across program activities.
• Work closely with technical advisors and program teams to ensure adherence to protection standards and best practices.
• Ensure the project incorporates safeguarding, gender inclusion, disability inclusion, and accountability to affected populations.
• Conduct regular and systematic field visits across all project locations to ensure quality implementation, validate reported results, and provide on-site technical guidance to field teams and partners.
• Identify implementation gaps, risks, and bottlenecks during field missions and ensure timely corrective actions and follow-up.

5. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)

• Work closely with MEAL teams to monitor project progress and ensure results are achieved.
• Ensure data quality, learning documentation, and adaptive management of program activities.
• Promote accountability mechanisms including community feedback and complaints response systems.
• Triangulate field observations with MEAL data to ensure accuracy of reporting and strengthen evidence-based decision making.

6. Compliance, Safeguarding and Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with War Child policies, donor regulations, and humanitarian standards.
• Promote safeguarding and protection policies across all partners and program activities.
• Identify and mitigate operational, security, and programmatic risks affecting project implementation.
• Maintain field-level oversight to ensure safeguarding standards, and risk mitigation measures are effectively applied at implementation sites.

7. Representation and External Coordination

• Represent the consortium in national and provincial humanitarian coordination forums including relevant clusters and working groups.
• Strengthen collaboration with government entities, humanitarian actors, and relevant stakeholders.
• Promote visibility and strategic engagement of the consortium within the humanitarian coordination system.
• Ensure regular presence in field locations to strengthen relationships with local stakeholders and enhance coordination at sub-national level.

8. Strategic Planning and Reporting

• Support development of workplans, budgets, and implementation strategies.
• Track progress toward project indicators and targets.
• Provide regular updates and strategic inputs to senior management on program performance and challenges.
• Maintain overall accountability for field-level program performance through regular site visits, verification of progress, and alignment with strategic objectives.

Our Values

• Accountable to Children: Children can rely on us to respond to their voices and to treat them with respect and dignity.
• Transformative: Highlights our commitment to making real and sustainable improvements in the lives of children and communities, rather than simply continuing current practices.
• Equitable Justice: Emphasizes fairness, inclusion, and addressing inequality, especially for marginalized children and communities.
• Integrity: Refers to ethical behavior, professionalism, and honesty in everything we do.

Experience and mandatory criteria:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, Development Studies, International Relations, Public Administration, or related field.
• Minimum 7–10 years of progressive experience in program management within humanitarian or development organizations including at least 3 years in a senior or coordination role. Proven experience managing multi-partner or consortium projects, demonstrated by leading or coordinating at least one consortium project involving two or more partners, preferably funded by donors such as FCDO, EU, and UN .
• Strong understanding of child protection, MHPSS, safeguarding, and community-based programming with a minimum of 4–5 years’ direct involvement in at least two of these areas.
• Demonstrated experience in grant management, donor compliance, including management of at least one donor funded project cycle and experience of partner capacity strengthening initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of humanitarian coordination mechanisms and cluster systems in Afghanistan, evidenced by active participation or representation in relevant clusters/working groups
• Experience working with national NGOs and promoting localization approaches demonstrated by direct collaboration or partnership management in at least one project, including evidence of supporting localization or capacity strengthening efforts.
• Excellent leadership, coordination, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Strong analytical, reporting, and project management abilities.
• Fluency in English required; knowledge of Dari and/or Pashto is an asset.
• Ability to travel to field locations when required.

Child safeguarding and Adults at Risk
Our work with children and at-risk adults to ensure their safety is our top priority. We are committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults in all aspects of our work. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any behavior or practices that put children and/or vulnerable adults at risk of abuse or harm.
Successful applicants will be required to comply with and sign our Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct, and PSEAH Policy. You can find the Safeguarding and Integrity policies here:
https://warchild.sharepoint.com/sites/Integrity

 
Pre-employment checks
Employment with War Child will be subject to the following checks prior to your start date:

• a satisfactory police record check and a clear LexisNexis and Due Diligence check
• receipt of three satisfactory references
• Due to the urgency nature of the role, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the vacancy may close before the deadline.

Submission Guideline:

• Please go to this:https://war-child-alliance.jobs.personio.com/job/2592149?preview_id=f9248b9e-e6bf-4ac5-95fb-53d4ded8d01d&language=en
• Fill in your information, and attach your documents before the closing date.
• Applications submitted without a valid National ID will not be considered for shortlisting.
• Applications after the closing date will not be accepted.
• Please note that there is no telephonic inquiry and only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for written test/interview.