TEAM LEADER / PROJECT HEAD

Job Summary:

CARE is one of the world's leading international humanitarian and development organizations, committed to helping people in poor communities improve their lives and alleviate poverty. Founded in 1945, CARE is working over 100 countries to fight global poverty and marginalization. CARE has been active in Bangladesh since 1949 and is one of the largest programs in CARE confederation. Women and girls are at the core of all CARE programs because they represent half of the marginalized group and it is not possible to overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. CARE Bangladesh works to implement programs with long-term impacts that result in sustainable changes for the extreme poor and marginalized communities.

Bangladesh has made impressive strides in its social and economic development, achieving lower middle-income status in 2015 through stable macroeconomic conditions and substantial poverty reduction. The nation adeptly navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining positive real GDP growth through prudent macroeconomic policies and effective stimulus measures. However, challenges persist, particularly for its youth population. With an overall unemployment rate of 8.9% among those aged 15-29, around 27% of this group is labeled as NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). Notably, this NEET issue is predominantly a gender concern as approximately 90% of NEET youth are female. Social norms emphasizing women's household roles and movement restrictions contribute to these disparities which is evident in the significantly lower female labor force participation.

The EARN Project in Bangladesh aims at economic engagement of the NEET youth, especially women, in rural and semi-urban areas of the country. The project offers education and skills development with a focus on women-centric facilities, employment and enterprise development support, enhanced employability through creating employer linkages and upskilling of Socio-Emotional Behavior (SEB) and Entrepreneur Development (ED) skill, incubation support for employment and entrepreneurship. In order to ensure participation of women and other underserved segment, the project will promote an enabling environment, especially for the women, through targeted awareness raising and communication programs, family-based planning, counseling and involving the communities and families in planning and monitoring of implementation.

In the case of Bangladesh, a country particularly vulnerable to climate change, there are several potential benefits, and specific conditions, including youth-centric ones, that can enhance climate co-benefit advantages. The project is designed for addressing climate change impacts and disasters. Bangladesh, in general, is increasingly being exposed to climate change-related hazards. The location of the project would be spread over many sub-districts, including extreme precipitation and flooding. Education and training programs have been severely affected by flooding in particular. The potential risks to education/climate resilient training facilities covered by the project due to flooding would be significantly reduced by the design of these facilities and the inclusion of soft components (e.g., training and awareness programs), which take flood risk into account.

The project will undertake climate resilience programs and enhance institutional capacity to improve the understanding of the responsiveness to disruptions from climate change and geophysical hazards. All skills development training will incorporate climate sensitization courses that will include adaptation and mitigation measures. The proposed competitive innovation funds will also be used to customize the new climate responsive awareness among the beneficiaries.

Department of Youth Development (DYD) is the implementing agency of the project under the supervision and guidance of the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS). The project is implemented by a dedicated Project Management Unit (PMU) under DYD. The PMU is led by a Project Director (PD). The project will be implemented through GO-NGO-Private Sector collaboration.

The Team Leader/Project Head will provide overall leadership and technical support to the program team. He/she will manage strategic connections with government entities, partners, and internal stakeholders, crafting high-quality programming and fostering robust relationships. He/she will support developing strategic objectives and work plans for the unit through the active participation of the team members. Moreover, he/she will ensure efficient monitoring systems and sound financial management, demonstrating cost-effectiveness to donors.

Responsibilities and Tasks:

Leadership and Oversight

The Project Head will provide overall leadership and technical support to the program team.

He/she will manage strategic connections with government entities, partners, and internal stakeholders, crafting high-quality programming and fostering robust relationships.

He/she will support developing strategic objectives and work plans for the unit through the active participation of the team members. Moreover, he/she will ensure efficient monitoring systems and sound financial management, demonstrating cost-effectiveness to donors.

Adhere to and support CARE Bangladesh’s Safety and Security policy and systems

As part of this role, the job holder will be expected to adhere to and support CARE Bangladesh’s Safety and Security policy and systems as part of their day to day duties, and comply, at all times, to safety & security protocols and directives, including reporting. Staff must maintain situational and self – awareness and be aware of the safety – security related consequences of their actions upon themselves, their team and the organization as a whole.

Safeguarding

CARE is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct and expects staff to promote the welfare of children, young people and adults at all times. CARE expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our Code of Conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate this commitment are recruited to work with us.

Qualifications:

Master’s Degree in sociology, social work, Business studies, anthropology, development studies, or other relevant disciplines.

Strong project management skills with a demonstrated track record of successful project delivery

Minimum 15 years general experience in the field of Youth skills development program.

Minimum 10 years’ experience as a Team Leader/Project Director is required.

Develop, manage and lead programme related strategic liaison with Government, development partners, and internally between consortium partners.

Lead the development of high-quality programming, annual plans and budgeting processes.Ensure that an effective monitoring system is in place for achieving programme targets and sound financial management, ensuring that value for money can be effectively demonstrated to the donor.

Strong skills and experience in maintain good working relationships with government officials, Ministries, Development Partners as well as divisional and district-level authorities.

Report writing, analyze data for decision making and participation.

Familiarity in local language of beneficiaries will be an added advantage for team leader.

Excellent computer skills especially in MS Excel and experience with using email.

Excellent oral and written English skills.

CARE Core Competencies as noted below:

Candidates need to be highly motivated and committed to CARE Bangladesh’s vision, mission, and long-term development work to significantly improve the lives of the most vulnerable and marginalized Candidates must be capable of displaying great learning agility, support and encourage knowledge sharing across projects, for the ultimate benefit of all of CARE’s mission wide initiatives.

Interested candidates meeting the above requirements should apply through CARE Bangladesh’s e-recruitment site: on or before May 11, 2024.

Note:

CARE Bangladesh aims to attract and select a diverse workforce ensuring equal opportunity to everyone, irrespective of race, age, gender, HIV status, class, ethnicity, disability, location and religion.

Women are particularly encouraged to apply.

Any personal persuasion/phone-call will result in disqualification of candidature. We guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria.

CARE Bangladesh has a non-negotiable policy of ZERO TOLERANCE towards discrimination, harassment and abuse. All employees are expected to abide by the Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse & Child Protection Policy of CARE Bangladesh.

Internal and external applicants shall be treated equally in the entire selection process.

To ensure transparent processes during recruitment, internal candidates should discuss potential applications with their Line Managers to ensure endorsement of their applications by respective Line Managers.

There is no cost involved with applying for positions with CARE Bangladesh. Any solicitation of job application costs should be regarded as fraudulent.