Start Date: April 2020

Location

Either Brussels or Washington D.C.

Position Summary

The OGP Local Senior Program Officer (SPO) will be responsible for supporting the implementation of an ambitious new strategy for significantly scaling OGP’s efforts to support open local government. The SPO will work closely with the Lead for OGP Local and the rest of the Support Unit on a highly collaborative and transversal approach to implement the OGP Local Strategy, working with internal teams in the OGP Support Unit and OGP partners.

In the short-to-medium term, the SPO will be responsible for program implementation, developing and executing annual implementation plans and reviews, brokering connections between the OGP Local community, and running a knowledge sharing and learning program. The SPO will work closely with the Lead, Local  in increasing OGP’s visibility as a center of excellence for open local government – as an incubator for promising reforms, and as a hub for accessing knowledge resources, subject matter and practitioner support.

The ideal candidate will have strong experience in program management, strategy execution, the skills to effectively operate across all levels of organization, be self driven, and able to take ideas from concept to successful execution with minimal supervision. The position will involve representing OGP at external events.

Key Responsibility Areas 

• Program Development, Implementation, and Review
  • Annual work planning and implementation
  • Developing and monitoring a results framework for the OGP Local strategy
  • Ongoing program development
  • Ongoing progress monitoring and documenting to assess how programmatic priorities or delivery mechanisms might need to be adjusted
• Strategic Partnerships Development
  • Institutional partners: support development of strategic partnerships with organizations and networks that can help expand the reach of OGP’s local efforts e.g. UCLG etc
  • Knowledge and Learning Partners: Support the OGP Local lead in the development and growth of the OGP Local knowledge and learning program.
  • Funders: support fundraising for the Local program and related funder management
• Support to Open Government Leaders
  • To enable them to make optimal use of the OGP platform, connect them to peers and thematic experts
• Cross-Organizational Coordination to Support the Local Program
  In particular:
  • Thematic team: on identifying thematic leadership potential within the local program and providing requisite thematic support
  • Learning and Innovation team: coordination for the development of an online, group-based onboarding and continuous learning program. Coordination on donor reporting
  • Comms: Story development, communicating lessons learned from the Local program
  • Country support: identifying regional and in-country partners to strengthen national-local linkages

Education

Advanced degree or equivalent experience in political science, international affairs or relevant field, with specific expertise in local governance and decentralization

Job-related Requirements and Skills

• At least 7-8 years of experience, including strong program management, fundraising and partner management experience
• Self-starter, able to take ideas from concept to execution, with minimal supervision
• Strong writing skills, and able to present ideas clearly and succinctly to a wide range of audiences
• Familiarity with building or maintaining communities of practice and practitioner networks and developing knowledge sharing and learning programs
• Demonstrated ability to work with and advise government officials, politically savvy and good at building relationships with a wide range of people and organizations.
• Familiarity with civil society networks, donors/funders, and experts working on governance issues across a range of sectors
• Outstanding interpersonal, and teamwork skills
• Ability to work across different levels of organizational hierarchies
• Fluency in Spanish, French or other relevant languages highly desirable

Candidates should submit their application through this link. Please attach your resume, a cover letter, and an original writing sample to support your application. The deadline for applications is 28 February 2020. 

Open Government Partnership, is an “at-will” and equal opportunity employer. Applicants and employees shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender (including pregnancy and gender expression) identity, color, marital status, veteran status, medical condition, or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local law or ordinance.

Reasonable accommodation will be made so that qualified disabled applicants may participate in the application process. Please advise in writing of special needs at the time of application.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Duties are generally carried out in a normal business office environment – i.e., working at a computer while sitting at a desk for extended periods of time. Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the described essential functions of the job.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: Office is handicapped accessible and located close to public transportation. Work space is open plan and shared with other organizations. Occasional travel may be required to OGP events/ meetings via long-haul flights in economy class.