DanChurchAid (DCA) is looking for a new Senior Innovation Advisor to help drive our next generation of organisational innovation

• Do you want to help develop solutions that don’t yet exist, to humanitarian and development problems that most definitely do exist?
• Do you want to work with brilliant colleagues, to co-create and be given space to take leadership on initiatives?
• Can you advance ideas, advice colleagues, and guide an entire organisation towards new approaches?
• Can you bring your experience, knowledge and insights in to play to engage and enable everyone from senior leadership to field staff testing new ideas?
• Are you an experienced, visionary and dynamic individual with a good understanding of development and humanitarian programming?
• Can you inspire and push through new thinking in an inclusive and collaborative manner?

Then read on because DCA is looking to fill the position of Senior Innovation Advisor.

DanChurchAid and Innovation.
DCA’s has an inherent and continuing commitment to innovation based on the understanding that the most effective ways of bringing about the changes we want to see in the world might not be known to us yet. As such DanChurchAid (DCA) prioritizes innovation as a vehicle for always increasing impact towards our mission and goals, and in turn increase our impact.

DCAs strategic framework for innovation is based on the four principles of alignment, breadth, impact and scale. These principles ensure that innovation efforts are aligned with the strategic objectives, relevant for the entire organisation and seek to deliver impact at scale.

DCA has invested significantly in innovation in its international programme portfolio, and the ability to demonstrate innovation in programming is increasingly a funding and programming parameter for DCA’s key donors. This includes new or improved products, services, partnerships, programmes or processes/approaches, that create value for stakeholders and simultaneously ensures a larger impact against our global goals.

Initiatives are supported across DCA’s scopes of work at country and global level, and span the range of DCA’s thematic focus areas both at the pilot and scale up stage. These range from digital innovations to exploring new business models for DCA in fields such as impact investments and micro-insurance as well changing the way we organise our learning.

For example, new digitally enabled approaches to mine action in Libya; increasing use of weather data to make small holder farmers more resilient in the face of climate change in Cambodia and Zimbabwe; digitising village savings and loans associations and finding ways to increase financial inclusion in Uganda and Malawi; development of a mobile enabled peer-to-peer learning approach to support youth entrepreneurship in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya. Additionally, exploring market systems development and value chains for development is high on DCA agenda in engagement with private sector actors. Organisationally, an organisation-wide Community of Practice on innovation brings on board 50 staff from HQ and 10 country programmes and enables easy access to innovation resources while facilitating experience sharing and learning across the organisation, while the thematic advisory functions in the organisation have been reformed to better engage in cross-learning and learning.

The role of the Innovation Advisor;
In order to further this work DCA now embarks on broadening out and institutionalising approaches to innovation across a range of organisational processes and workstreams:

1. leadership, developing an organisation fit for innovation
2. strategy, unifying the organisation around innovation for global goals
3. partnerships, identifying, developing and maintaining partnerships for innovation
4. financing, financing innovation and development of innovative financing models
5. learning, generating and integrating evidence of innovative value
6. practice, supporting innovation from idea to scale

These are all areas in which DCA is already pushing the innovation agenda through efforts driven by a range of internal stakeholders. To provide further support, guidance, sparring as well as cohesion, we are looking to recruit a new colleague who can sit at the centre of these efforts and stakeholders.

As our new colleague we shall look to you to help us fuel and drive innovation efforts at the centre of formal and informal internal structures and networks, with the envisaged work of you – and the organisation more broadly - organised around the six works streams. We shall look to you to support ongoing innovation initiatives as well as identifying and harnessing innovations that emerge within as well as outside our organisation. With this position we are looking for someone to guide us as we build on the initiatives outlined above. We expect you to challenge and refine our thinking, provide inputs to strategic decisions and get involved with hands-on support defined by the organisational needs that you help us define and crystallise.

Responsibilities to follow the progression of our development

The new Senior Innovation Advisor will have a major stake in the DCA approach to innovation in the coming years and will therefore also be instrumental in identifying the priorities for his/her own position together with management. The position may change accordingly over time as DCA grows, learns and institutionalises its innovation portfolio.

Responsibilities envisaged for the first year include;

• Organize and lead a network of innovation drivers within DCA in alignment with DCA Innovation workstreams
• Lead and coordinate the further refinement and reflection on the DCA strategic framework for innovation as the framework for coordinating and strengthening cross-organizational efforts on innovation in DCA
• Continually evaluate, manage and coordinate the DCA Innovation Fund as well as identify priority areas for strategic investment balanced with boosting emerging innovations.
• Process and project support to DCA country offices and partners including coordination and/or facilitation of training and workshops
• Facilitate the documentation of results and ensure cross-organizational learning via dissemination of case stories, narratives, and reports.
• Scope, identify and support the positioning of DCA to attract and/or be eligible for resources becoming available through new financial instruments from the private and public sectors.
• Take the lead in partnerships for innovation including building relations with strategic partners, knowledge partners, programmatic partners and other networks and alliances.
• Representation of DCA in relevant innovation-focused events and collaborative forums in Denmark and internationally

Requirements

• Working knowledge or experience of development and humanitarian programming, preferably with insights in to new and emerging trends.
• Working experience specifically in Innovation is preferable but not a requirement.
• Experience in innovation in the humanitarian and development sphere, and understanding of the evolving roles of international NGOs
• Ability to identify major growth opportunities for DCA in new and emerging development financing and business models.
• Cultural sensitivity, strong communication and diplomatic skills, with the ability to build
• relations both within and outside DCA.
• Ability to lead informally and motivate colleagues from various technical backgrounds as well as a strong drive and commitment to getting the job done.
• The ability to lead processes, self-motivate, and collaborate in functional teams
• A relevant tertiary academic education at Master level and fluency in English – oral as well as written. French language is an advantage
• Available to travel 4-8 weeks per year

DCA offers

• Engaged professional colleagues in a rewarding and empowering workplace.
• The chance to make your mark on an organisation always striving to excel
• Opportunities to lead on initiatives and space to experiment
• Full time contract starting 1st of February or soon thereafter.
• Salary based on DanChurchAid´s collective agreement.
• An attractive pension and insurance scheme.
• 37 hours per week including ½ hour lunch break.

How to apply:

Submit your application

Please note that this is not an expat position and we do not offer housing, schooling or relocation, and formal requirements to live and work in Denmark are required.

Your application must consist of a motivational letter and CV. Only applications including both will be considered and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Please apply through our recruitment system no later than 6th December 2020. First round Interviews are expected to take place on the 9th and 10th December, with a second round on the 14th and 15th December.

Apply via: DanChurchAid (DCA) is looking for a new Senior Innovation Advisor to help drive our next generation of organisational innovation (noedhjaelp.dk)

For further information regarding this position please contact Head of Programme, Policy, Advocacy and Learning, Dennis Kjeldsen, dkje@dca.dk or phone +45 50 60 20 38

All interested irrespective of age, gender, race, religion or ethnic affiliation are encouraged to apply for the vacancy.

DCA conducts an anti-terror check as part of the recruitment process. It is a prerequisite that you can pass this check and maintain this status throughout your employment with us.

Everyone applying for a job with DCA must be ready to comply with our Staff Policy on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment, Child Safeguarding and Counter Terrorism policies.