Position Summary

The Associate Director, International Programs is a leadership role within War Child Canada's International Programs team, responsible for guiding the effective implementation of our international portfolio and enhancing technical and operational support to country offices. Working in close partnership with the Director, this role helps to ensure that day-to-day functions of the International Programs department run smoothly and that programming across all countries is well-aligned, impactful, and locally led.

The Associate Director serves as an interface between country offices and headquarters teams, playing a key role in advancing the department's strategic vision. They lead efforts to strengthen program quality while supporting and empowering country offices to design and deliver technically sound, contextually relevant, and high-impact programs.

This role is ideal for someone who has both technical expertise and management skills, and who thrives in a collaborative, mission-driven environment. Direct reports include Business Development Manager and Manager, International Programs.

Responsibilities

Technical Support and Program Quality (40%)

• Provide leadership in War Child Canada's core thematic areas, with particular emphasis on education and youth employment.
• Support country offices in developing and adapting sector strategies that are contextually relevant and evidence-based.
• Support design of quality education and youth employment programming including needs assessments, consultations and specific program approaches
• Provide support to the integration of child protection and gender inclusion in education and youth employment programs.
• Coordinate with MEAL staff to develop indicators and tools that support effective monitoring and evaluations of education results.
• Facilitate technical reviews, coaching, and the application of good practices across countries.
• Promote knowledge sharing and peer learning, ensuring that experiences and innovations are documented and shared across teams.
• Represent War Child Canada in appropriate education and youth employment working groups internationally and in Canada

Team and Operational Leadership (15%)

• Support the Director, International Programs to lead the day-to-day operations of the International Programs team, ensuring cohesion, efficiency, and strong communication across team members.
• Provide supervision and support to direct reports, encouraging a culture of trust, accountability, and shared learning.
• Work closely with the Director to translate strategic priorities into action and foster integration across HQ and country teams.
• Coordinate cross-departmental collaboration in technical aspects of programming to support effective delivery of program activities and donor deliverables.

Program Oversight and Compliance (25%)

• Ensure that implementation is aligned with organizational strategy, donor requirements, and internal policies.
• Oversee systems that strengthen coordination between HQ and country offices, including planning cycles, reporting, and compliance processes.
• Monitor program budgets in collaboration with country teams and finance staff to ensure compliance with donor agreements and to proactively address variances.
• Provide support to new country program start-up and technical input into scaling or transitioning initiatives.

Consultancy and Capacity Support (5%)

• Manage a pool of technical consultants to address priority gaps in programming and support country teams on demand.
• Ensure quality assurance in consultant outputs and build internal staff capacity through mentoring and partnership with external experts.

Business Development, Donor Relations, and Reporting (15%)

• Support the development of high-quality proposals and donor reports in collaboration with technical leads, country offices, and the Business Development Manager.
• Provide guidance, review, and quality assurance for proposal and narrative reports to ensure alignment with donor expectations and organizational standards.
• Strengthen internal systems and capacity for timely, accurate, and compelling donor reporting.
• Contribute to donor engagement efforts, particularly around technical and programmatic areas of expertise.
• Help improve internal workflows and technical reviews related to funding submissions and report development across countries.

Qualifications

Experience & Knowledge

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in International Development or related field.
• A minimum of 7-10 years' experience in project design, management and monitoring and evaluation for programs in complex emergencies or early recovery and development programs, preferably in conflict settings or insecure environments, with progressive leadership responsibilities.
• Demonstrated technical expertise and experience (7-10 years) in education and youth employment.
• Experience working at an International Non-Governmental Organization headquarters is considered an asset.
• Experience working directly with country teams or field-based staff, particularly in fragile or conflict-affected settings.
• Strong track record in proposal writing, donor reporting, and program implementation.
• Demonstrated experience with Community Based Organizations, women's rights and gender equality programming, and the capacity strengthening of civil society organizations.
• Experience in capacity building for a complex international development environment.
• Experience in budget development, management, and oversight.

Skills & Ability

• Leadership style that emphasizes clarifying roles, reshaping responsibilities, and streamlining workflows to enhance team effectiveness and accountability.
• Excellent written and spoken skills in English are required, with strong analytical and report-writing capability including drafting and editing programmatic documents, program reporting, project oversight, etc. Arabic or French is an asset.
• Excellent administrative skills, backed by demonstrated experience in organizing and managing efficiently information, data, and accountability processes (including contract compliance and financial and narrative reporting);
• Ability to analyze challenges, apply critical thinking and problem solving to propose workable solutions.
• Strong managerial and team building skills
• Very strong technical background in education and youth employment.

What do we offer?

1. Salary: $99,200-$111,660 CAD per year, depending on experience
2. Benefits: Health, dental, disability, travel Insurance, and wellness and professional development funds
3. Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP): Matching after one year of employment
4. Vacation: Four weeks

Note: Application deadline is June 15th, 2025.