PROGRAM DIRECTOR (Bilingual Burmese/English)
Yangon, Myanmar Office
We are looking for an entrepreneurial, public-spirited team player to lead Namati’s growing legal empowerment and land rights effort in Myanmar
About Us
In a world where billions of people live outside the protection of the law, Namati is dedicated to putting the law in people’s hands. We’re building a global movement of grassroots legal advocates who work with communities to advance justice. These advocates are fighting on the front lines to ensure that people can protect their land, access essential services, and take part in the decisions that govern their lives.
We draw on that grassroots experience to seek large-scale structural changes— we have already achieved policy changes that affect millions of people in multiple countries. And our ambitions don’t end at the national level - our global campaign for internationally agreed justice targets has been endorsed by 200 organizations and four former Heads of State.
As we move into our next phase of development we’re growing a global team of passionate, results-oriented, and big-hearted advocates. We are united by a common mission and a strong culture. And we have some hefty supporters, including an advisory board with leaders like Amartya Sen, Mo Ibrahim, Fazle Abed, and Madeline Albright.
We’re just beginning. Please consider joining us.
For more information about Namati, please visit www.namati.org/about
About the Myanmar Program
Myanmar is undergoing a major transition, opening space for significant change for the first time in decades. In this climate, legal empowerment can pursue two aims simultaneously: (1) working directly with people to exercise rights and (2) collecting and analyzing data on those grassroots efforts – mapping the character of grievances, revealing where the system is failing, and identifying achievable reforms – to build an information base for policy advocacy.
In Myanmar Namati partners with civil society groups and law firms to implement community-based paralegal programs and push for change related to land, natural resource rights, and environmental justice. With a local partner, we are supporting grassroots legal advocates in five divisions/states to empower farmers to register land, resolve land disputes, and secure the return of grabbed land under a new legal framework. We are testing new methods, data collection tools, and technologies to continually improve the reach and effectiveness of our paralegals’ work. We will use data from this effort to recommend specific improvements to land policy and practice.
Namati also strengthens existing legal empowerment efforts by sharing methods and other practical tools gleaned from our legal empowerment experience around the globe.
About the Position
As Program Director, you’ll be responsible for country-wide management of Myanmar program operations. You will grow Namati’s interventions in Myanmar by shaping the overarching program strategy and identifying new opportunities for partnerships and advocacy. You will collaborate with local partner organizations, coordinate data collection and analysis, and manage Namati’s Yangon-based staff. You will also lead on the preparation of major publications documenting the results of the program.
Because Namati is a close-knit, yet decentralized organization with staff all over the world, we are especially committed to maintaining a strong team culture. You should therefore also be comfortable using technology platforms and capable of flourishing in a virtual working environment with colleagues hailing from diverse cultures and background. You will also frequently travel domestically to fulfill your responsibilities at all of our program locations, and on occasion, internationally.
Here are some of the tasks you might tackle in a typical week:
• Facilitating a Yangon team meeting to discuss paralegal training needs and confirm list of sessions on legal knowledge and skills building for upcoming paralegal training. • Delegating pieces of the training preparation to the members of the team, and defining a timeline with benchmarks to monitor progress over the next three weeks. • Reviewing data analysis conducted by other members of the Yangon team. • Sending our local partner NGO a modified partnership agreement and project budget based on recent discussions of unexpected costs and over/underspend year to date. • Confirming Namati’s interest in co-hosting a convening of land-related civil society groups, and contributing to the initial thinking on the structure and agenda of the event. • Planning a comprehensive orientation schedule for a new staff member, to provide a strong foundation of understanding of both Namati-wide and Myanmar-specific strategy, programming, and organizational culture. • Preparing a draft 2015 budget for discussion with the DC-based Director of Finance and Administration.
Overall, you’ll be responsible for:
• Managing all of Namati Myanmar operations in Yangon and all program sites. • Building on the overarching program strategy and sub-strategies for each thematic area and working to refine in collaboration with our CEO, Vivek Maru. • Directing the scoping of new projects and partnerships (including supporting the program development and implementation process – pre-program assessment, program design, monitoring and evaluation, etc). • Working closely with our local partner organizations, including on negotiating roles, design, budgets, and paperwork. • Supporting the technical work of our partner organizations in the field, including of the program design, training, program implementation, and all documentation processes. • Overseeing the process of monitoring and evaluation, data collection, analysis, and reporting of program results and findings. • Developing and maintaining good working relationships with government officials, international organizations, and civil society groups in each thematic area and program site. • Supporting the development of strategies for national or international advocacy efforts based on data resulting from grassroots interventions. • Leading the production publications on program methods and findings. • Hiring additional Myanmar program staff as required. • Overseeing the preparation of budget and work plans for each program site in collaboration with our national partner organizations. • Monitoring budget allocations and expenditures. • Assisting our Finance Department in reviewing our national partner organizations’ contracts, contract deliverables, grant proposals and grant reports. • Coordinating with other Namati offices on financial, legal and operational tasks.
About You
You’re an accomplished, organized, detail-oriented project manager with experience in designing, implementing and evaluating programs in cross-cultural situations. You are a native or near-native Burmese language speaker with a high degree of fluency in written and spoken English. You have a demonstrated track record (5 to 7 years) of fieldwork; field-based data collection, quality control, and analysis; and community organizing and/or technical assistance. You are a creative problem solver who is able to design and manage program monitoring and evaluation with extraordinary initiative and motivation. In your career you’ve also acquired strong financial management skills and have spent time developing and working against budgets. You are also excited about managing a diverse and decentralized team of staff and partners. You’re incredibly tech savvy, particularly with Microsoft Word and Excel, web applications, and database software.
We would prefer that you have a background in legal aid, land issues, natural resource management, and/or environmental justice, but if not, then we at least insist that you can demonstrate a passion about and commitment to legal empowerment principles and have a strong global perspective, with accompanying experience and values.
Location
Yangon, Myanmar, but you will also frequently travel domestically, and on occasion, internationally.
Compensation
Commensurate with experience.
To Apply
Please email resume, English language writing sample and cover letter with salary requirements to: employment@namati.org. In your email, please identify where you saw the job posting.
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.
No phone calls, please.
Namati is an Equal Opportunity Employer.