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Action Against Hunger in Tanzania seeks a dynamic and results-oriented Program Development and Quality Director to lead the development of the Country Strategy, spearhead program design, secure funding, and champion Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) practices. Through collaborative leadership and capacity building, S/he will ensure efficient program design, strong partnerships, and adherence to global standards, ultimately contributing to a lasting reduction in child hunger in Tanzania. This role will be responsible for driving collaboration across various teams to ensure the strategy's success. S/he will develop annual plans, report on results, and oversee the delivery of high-quality, evidence-based programs that align with Action Against Hunger's 2021-2025 International Strategic Plan (ISP). As a senior leader, the Program Development and Quality Director will play a crucial role in capacity building, coaching and mentorship. S/he will coach technical heads of departments to maintain program quality in line with global standards and key performance indicators. Besides, s/he will represent Action Against Hunger in meetings with government officials, donors, partners, and other stakeholders. S/he will also play a key part in securing funding and ensuring project design aligns with the Country Strategy. Working in collaboration with the Business Development Unit and the respective department heads, s/he will spearhead the design of high-quality programs. Purpose: The Program Development and Quality Director spearheads the development of impactful programs that address child hunger and undernutrition in Tanzania. This role champions towards ending hunger and translates ACF's mission and vision into a strategic Country Plan aligned with Tanzania's specific needs. Engagement: The Program Development and Quality Director cultivates a collaborative environment that fosters innovation and high performance. This involves building capacity through mentorship and knowledge sharing, while forging strategic partnerships with government agencies, donors, and other stakeholders. A strong emphasis is placed on advocacy for child rights and influencing policy to create sustainable, locally driven solutions. Delivery: In close collaboration with program leadership, the Director ensures the effective and efficient delivery of high-quality programs through meticulous design, robust monitoring, evaluation, and continuous improvement processes. This includes securing sustainable funding, implementing innovative approaches, and effectively communicating program impact to stakeholders. The goal is to contribute to a lasting reduction in child hunger and undernutrition through ACF’s interventions. 1. Strategic Program Leadership and Alignment: Lead the development of the Tanzania Country Strategy Plan (CSP), ensuring alignment with Action Against Hunger's ISP3 goals and global SDG objectives. Foster synergy and cross-functional collaboration between program departments (Nutrition & Health, FSL, WASH, MEARL, Advocacy, Gender & Protection) for Multi-sectoral program design to ensure effective communication and knowledge sharing to optimize resource utilization and drive program impact. Oversee the identification of needs and gaps in fighting hunger and undernutrition across Tanzania, informing strategic program direction. Develop innovative and evidence-based program concepts that address priority needs in Tanzania. Develop program strategies that integrate Nutrition, health, WASH, and FSL, gender protection, social protection components to improve nutrition outcomes. Secure leadership buy-in for the Country Strategy Plan and secure resources for program implementation and work with senior management to set clear program objectives and targets. Align program activities with regional nutrition priorities and international best practices. Lead the development of clear program Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Research and Learning (MEARL) frameworks that contribute timely internal project evaluations and evidence generation for learning Identify and assess potential risks to program implementation and develop mitigation strategies to ensure program sustainability and resilience. Develop and implement a strategic framework that optimizes project portfolio alignment with organizational objectives, ensuring resource allocation and risk management are balanced. Develop and implement a comprehensive project management competency development framework to enhance skills across the organization and identify opportunities for program expansion and diversification to reach more communities in need. 2. Enhance program effectiveness and impact through robust quality assurance, monitoring, evaluation, research and learning. Establish a robust Earned Value Management (EVM) system to measure project performance, enabling proactive decision-making and continuous improvement through Model for Improvement, Lean Six Sigma, and Theory of Change etc. to drive program excellence. Standardize MEARL system assessment framework aligned with Action Against Hunger's global strategy, incorporating quality improvement methodologies and project models Embed risk management and contingency planning into the project lifecycle, building organizational capacity to withstand and adapt to challenges. Lead the development/updating of the hunger and undernutrition Situation Analysis, including analysis of country context and considering hunger hotspots, IPC, SMART+ and gender issues, ensuring participation and buy-in from all relevant staff, partners and other stakeholders as necessary. Develop/update and drive forward the Country Strategy Plan (CSP) with senior management and the country office team, ensuring alignment with the global strategy with fight against hunger and undernutrition at the core of all programming and advocacy work; and support the delivery of the CSP strategic pivots. Provide leadership on monitoring of progress against the CSP, and completion of accurate, on-time Country Annual Report of outcomes and impact for children, aligned with the Global Results Framework. Facilitate the development and pursuit of thematic and cross-cutting strategic priorities in line with the CSP, including localization, disability, rolling out Nutrition centric- Humanitarian development Peace nexus, SBCC, gender and protection mainstreaming, social protection programing, refugee and IDPs needs programing to guide current and future ACF programming and advocacy work, including Humanitarian Strategies. Support ownership and commitment to the CSP by all staff and departments through clear communication, regular feedback on progress and engagement of all functions in updates. Lead the development of a comprehensive program quality assurance and accountability framework in collaboration with HEARO and HQ advisors and harmonize a system for capturing and addressing beneficiary feedback and complaints through implementing harmonized Accountability to Affected community (AAP) at country level. Promote the use of data-driven decision-making to improve program effectiveness as well as identify areas for improvement and best practices to scale up. Advocate for and invest in continuous learning and capacity building for program staff on quality improvement approaches/models and methodologies in line with the national guidelines. Spearhead quarterly project review meetings for the country program and conduct in house evaluation to document best practices. In close collaboration with heads of department, conduct regular field visits to assess program implementation and provide technical guidance in line with Action Against Hunger, government policies and donor guidelines. Design, pilot and implement digital data collection tools, including mobile devices for field staff, to streamline monitoring, evaluation, and reporting processes aligned with Project management tools (PMI) DHIS2, PIMS systems. Establish a centralized database for storing program data, integrate data visualization tools, conduct regular assessments, explore mobile applications for community engagement, and develop digital platforms for training and capacity-building activities. In close collaboration with MEARL team both at country and regional level, integrate digital tools into the reporting process to enhance data accuracy and efficiency. 3. Building and manage High-Performing Program Team: Provide strategic leadership and direction for the PDQ team and head of departments, setting clear goals, objectives, and performance expectations. Foster a culture of innovation and experimentation within the program team. Represent ACF at meetings with government officials, donors, and other key stakeholders’ networks. Lead the team for the development and execution of a strategic portfolio management office to optimize resource allocation and balance risk across projects. Establish standardized Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) templates and guidelines for teams’ efficient project planning and execution. Lead, mentor, and coach a team of technical HODs in Nutrition & Health, FSL, WASH, MEARL, Advocacy, Gender & Protection, and Knowledge Management & Capacity Building to develop clear sectoral plan and consolidate country AOP in line with regional and HQ annual operational plan (AOP) Recruit, retain, and develop a highly skilled and motivated program team with expertise in child rights and nutrition sensitive programming. Establish a culture of continuous learning and professional development within the program team and maintain robust quality assurance systems to ensure program adherence to standards and best practices to strengthen a culture of continuous improvement through data-driven decision-making and capacity building. Empower program staff to lead program design, implementation, and evaluation activities. Foster a collaborative and results-oriented work environment within the program department. Ensure adherence to Action Against Hunger's child safeguarding policies and procedures within the program team. Conduct regular performance reviews and provide constructive feedback to program staff. Lead change management initiatives to ensure successful adoption of new project management tools, processes, and technologies. 4. Resource Mobilization and Sustainable Partnerships: Develop a comprehensive resource mobilization strategy and BD work plan to secure funding for the Country Strategy. Engage in donor/business intelligence and prepositioning with major donors, consortia and alliances. Ensure that the Country Office has up-to-date knowledge of donor strategies and frameworks, funding mechanisms Conduct regular program reviews, compliance and audits to identify areas for improvement to ensure data quality assurance. Lead the development of high-quality proposals aligned with donor priorities and child rights principles. Build and manage strong relationships with government entities, donors, and partners. Advocate for increased investment in child rights programming in Tanzania through strategic communication and engagement. Secure funding for innovative and sustainable program initiatives that address critical needs. Play a leading role in designing compelling and competitive concept notes and proposals, including: Alignment with our ACF-US strategy and ACF’s Theory of Change – innovating, building on and generating evidence, identifying strategic ways of partnering; supporting broader change in policy and practice Engaging with technical experts as needed to ensure high quality, evidence-based designs that draw on needs assessments, learning from past programs and ACF's vision, principles and mission to save the lives of children and their families from hunger and undernutrition with multisectoral programing and child safeguarding principles. Ensuring partners are identified, facilitate partnership brokering, and are appropriately engaged in program design and proposal develo