Strategic Planning Advisor - Aga Khan Foundation

Job Opportunities

Position Title: Strategic Planning Advisor to the Provincial Government
Report to: Regional Program Manager
Duty Station: Afghanistan (Regional Office)
Announcing Date: January 13th 2010
Closing Date: January 27h 2010
Vacancy Number: KBL/2010/097

Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is a private international, nonprofit, and non-denominational development agency. It seeks sustainable solutions to long term problems of poverty, with special emphasis on the needs of rural communities in mountainous, coastal and other resource poor areas across the world. Concentrating its efforts in health, education, rural development and strengthening civil society sectors, AKF’s approach is based on long-term commitment that is maintained through political and social uncertainty.

Aga Khan Foundation, Afghanistan is part of a dynamic network of development agencies currently operating in over 30 countries across Central and South Asia and East and West Africa. AKF,A currently manages and implements the largest, multi-sectoral development programme within the network and has built a strong reputation with the Government of Afghanistan, donors and local partners in a number of technical fields. At present, it is seeking an exceptional individual to fill the position of *Strategic Planning Advisor to the Provincial* *Government *of one of the provinces in Afghanistan.

Job Summary:
One of the key outputs delivered by the Advisor during 6-month tenure was a comprehensive profile of the province. The profile was developed in close consultation with the governor and all government departments, international organizations and select local organizations, ensuring coverage of all sectors. This work is a central component underpinning provincial planning in the province, and the stakeholders have agreed that it should be developed as a tool to strengthen the knowledge base upon which each line department develops provincial plans.

The Strategic Planning Advisor will also form part of a core group aimed at strengthening provincial planning processes in the province. S/he will work with the Governor and other advisers to assist the provincial government in analyzing the information emerging from the database, and to use that analysis to develop relevant and realistic strategic plans which can meet national and local processes and priorities. The database will be established in the office of the Governor.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Updating, refining and validating the existing provincial profile through sharing it with relevant Departments and stakeholders and converting that to Information.
• Assist the Government to review and refine the existing provincial development plan This includes support to sector working groups to review and update sector plans, with a view to ensuring that plans are appropriate and relevant and represent a holistic approach to the sector, and insuring that the planning is in line with ANDS. drawing in specialist technical assistance where needed;
• Work with the Government to agree an appropriate development planning structure which meets the requirements of central government, but is adapted to the specific requirements of the province. This includes reviewing the work of the existing committees and providing support where change is necessary to ensure that sector working groups and committees work more effectively and officials’ time is used efficiently;
• Assist the provincial government to develop a monitoring system which is meaningful and feasible within the context of the strategic plan; this involves building on existing systems and structures with the aim of drawing out and promoting best practice and developing a culture of understanding around monitoring and evaluation.
• Assist in development and institutionalization of the Provincial Resource Centre and its system for data collection, processing and analysis on a sectoral basis e.g. education, agriculture, health, business promotion, livestock, and tourism. It is intended that this sectoral work would lead to establishing sector profiles, analyzing the potential for each sector identifying key constraints and issues facing growth in each sector and linking these to current or planned development efforts by GOs and NGOs and identifying future courses of action for each sector
• Assist departments in sharing the sector analysis with various stakeholders including, NGOs, people’s representatives, donor agencies, and UN in order to build a common understanding between and among various players and enrich initial analyses on each sector.
  

Reporting:
The consultant will have a dual reporting relationship he will report to the Governor and also he will report to the AKF Regional Programme Manager of the province. The consultant is expected to work and coordinate closely with the Technical coordinator, Head of technical department and Head of executive Department in Governor Office, Head of the Department of Economy and the adviser who works with Department of economy.

Qualifications and Experience Required:

• Demonstrated leadership skills, acquired in a challenging multicultural environment, combined with the energy of a self-starter, imagination and drive.
• Ability to initiate things and work without intensive supervision.
• Demonstrated team-building and strong organizational, interpersonal and negotiations skills, particularly in cross-cultural contexts.
• PhD with seven years or masters (from an institution of international repute) with at least 12 years of programme management/policy and planning/networking and coordination experience and ability to relate their specific fields on the following development themes, issues and approaches in areas such as Gender, Micro-planning, Poverty, Equity & sustainability, Community Mobilization, Micro-advocacy, Project management, Tourism and Eco-tourism, Governance, Disaster Preparedness and Relief Management, Participatory Learning and Action/ Participatory Rural Appraisal, Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation, and Development Communication.
• Experience in long-term planning processes and translating these to operational plans
• Experience in institution development and administration – experience in seeding start-ups would be a significant asset
• Knowledge of Dari would be a significant asset but is not essential
  

Application:
Applicants meeting the above requirements are requested to submit a cover letter along with their CV and the names of three references electronically to Jobs.afghanistan@akdn.org
No later than January 27th, 2010 or submit hard copy to AKF, National Program Office House No 43 Street No 13 Main Road Wazir Akbar Khan Kabul Afghanistan.

Only short listed candidates will be invited for an interview.