Program Officer, First Nation Youth Leadership Program

JOB POSTING: “Program Officer, First Nation Youth Leadership Program”

CLOSING DATE: August 30th, 2011

Organization: Right To Play International

Department/Division: Canadian National Office

Work location: Toronto and/or Thunder Bay

Authorized to Work in: Canada (i.e., Canadian citizen or permanent resident)

Background:
Right To Play is an international development organization that uses specially-designed sport and play programs to improve health, build life skills, and foster peace for children and communities affected by war, poverty and disease. Working in both the humanitarian and development context, Right To Play has projects in more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America.

Right To Play is a global-scale implementer of Sport for Development and Peace programs and takes an active role in driving research and policy development in this area and in supporting children’s rights.

Job Summary: The Program Officer will be responsible for the on-going supervision and support of 10 Community Mentors facilitating the Youth Leadership Program in 10 First Nations Communities in Ontario. This will be a one-year full-time position based in either Toronto or Thunder Bay. The Program Officer will report directly to the Program Manager, with overall accountability to the Deputy Director of Aboriginal Initiatives. As a Program Officer, the overall goal is to offer support, supervision and administrative guidance to 10 Community Mentors implementing programs in their respective First Nation communities. This position will require frequent travel to various First Nations throughout Ontario.

For more information on Right To Play’s Youth Leadership Program in First Nation communities, please refer towww.righttoplay.com/PLAYProgram.

Responsibilities:

1. SUPPORT THE DESIGN AND DELIVERY OF YOUTH COMMUNITY MENTOR TRAININGS (% of Time: 10%): The Program Officer will work with other Right To Play staff to help plan, lead and assess two Community Mentor workshops for all Community Mentors participating in the Youth Leadership Program. • Create hands on, activity based training using the Youth Leadership Modules to develop the content.
   • Send out pre-training questionnaires for all Community Mentors. • Plan, lead and assess Community Mentor workshop #1 for all 30 Community Mentors (focus on module 1, 2 and inter-generational tournaments). • Plan, lead and assess Community Mentor workshop #2 for Community Mentors (focus on module 2, 3 and end-of-year celebrations). • With the support of partners, finalize training resources for the Youth Leadership Program.
2. PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AND SUPERVISION TO COMMUNITY PROGRAMS (% of Time: 15%): This includes delegating tasks and ensuring work plans and responsibilities are completed in a timely and concise manner. • Liaise with Community Mentor and First Nation (Chief and Council members) on a regular basis to ensure tasks are being completed, and to create a strong support system for the Community Mentor. • Ensure the completion of 10 partnership agreements with 10 communities. • Finalize implementation/work plans for all Community Mentors.
3. MONITORING AND EVALUATION (% of Time: 60%): All Program Officers are responsible for supporting Community Mentors and assessing programs to ensure the highest standard of program quality. • Finalize Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting toolkit for Community Mentors that will reflect the types of information that will be collected. • Visit each First Nation Community at least twice throughout the year to provide support to the Community Mentors as they implement workshops, tournaments and events. • Gather feedback from participating youth and community members about the successes and challenges of the program. • Collect all reports from Community Mentors as they are completed. • Summarize community reports and work with M&E Coordinator to ensure proper information and processes are followed.
4. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT YOUTH LEADERSHIP SYMPOSIUM (% of Time: 5%): • Work with a team of Right To Play staff to help plan, lead and assess the Youth Leadership Symposium to take place in June. •Coordinate all logistical details required to host an event of this size.
5. MAINTAIN PROJECT BUDGETS (% of Time: 10%) • Assist Community Mentors in preparing monthly spending projections. • Work with Community Mentors to complete and submit monthly spending reports, including coding expenses appropriately. • Liaise with Finance and Administrative Officer to problem-solve and appropriately report on expenses to donors.

MINIMUM EDUCATION LEVEL: • Minimum University Degree complete in the any of the following areas; political science, sociology, indigenous learning, outdoor recreation, education, international development. • Trained or willing to be trained in how to effectively facilitate workshop sessions for young people aged 10-30 years old.

MINIMUM EXPERIENCE: • 2-3 years experience in program management and supervising staff – must be comfortable in supporting a team of 10 staff members in First Nations communities.
• 2-3 years experience in budget management, planning and reporting. • 2-3 years experience working with First Nations Communities. • Experience in designing and facilitating leadership and/or youth related training sessions for large groups. • 2-3 years experience in facilitating workshops for groups of 10 or more, or willing to learn.

COMPETENCIES:
• Highly motivated and committed to program success. • Strong attention to details when planning. • Strong verbal and written communication skills. • Good team work ethic, and also capable of working independently. • Able to work under pressure. • Accurate and timely reporting. • Coaching and mentoring skills. • Strong planning and coordination skills. • Decision making skills.

IT/SOFTWARE/TECHNICAL SKILLS: • Budgeting. • Personnel management – must be confident in supervision of 10 staff. • Analytical and written skills, including research and the writing of proposals and reports . • Experience working in First Nation Communities. • Knowledge of Microsoft programs. • Able to navigate internet and email use. • Familiar with office equipment. • Attention to detail in planning large events. • Ability to manage budgets. • Knowledge of completing program reports and collecting various program statistics.

LANGUAGE SKILLS:
Speaking, reading, and writing fluency in English.

Salary: We offer a competitive salary

Employment Start Date: September 12th, 2011

Contract Duration: Eleven (11) month contract, with possibility of extension

Contact:
If you are interested in applying for this position, please send your resume and cover letter to: hr3@righttoplay.comand kindly quote “Program Officer, First Nation Youth Leadership Program” in the subject line. Please indicate your salary expectations in the cover letter.

While we thank all applicants for their interest, only those selected for interviews will be contacted.

Right To Play - Human Resources Philosophy

Right To Play is an international humanitarian organization that uses the power of sport and play to improve the lives of children in the most disadvantaged areas of the world. We believe that all children have the right to play.

Right To Play’s human resources philosophy reflects the spirit that drives the organization. The philosophy influences the kind of people who are interested in working for us, the kind of people we recruit and how we treat our people.

Right To Play’s culture is entrepreneurial, where employees are encouraged and empowered to perform in the context of rapid international growth, and to aim for the highest quality and adopt global best practices in delivering our programs.

Our employees are global citizens who are passionate about improving the world we live in through value-based grassroots activities. We work on the ground with and through people in the communities we serve to improve the lives of their children. By having a constant presence in these communities and helping them develop the resources and skills they need to help themselves, we aim for sustainable, long-term development.

To translate our vision into action, our philosophy for delivering our programs is “LOOK AFTER YOURSELF, LOOK AFTER ONE ANOTHER”. Our employees are the backbone of this delivery, and the philosophy supports them by defining the desired outcomes of our human resources philosophy. This means that we pay competitive salaries, provide comprehensive benefits, encourage employee social events, provide development opportunities and a great work environment.

We measure the success of this philosophy by indicators such as employee satisfaction surveys and staff turnover rate, as well as the overall success of Right To Play.