The Chalmers Center exists to equip the church to walk alongside people who are poor to break the social, spiritual, and material bonds of poverty. To fulfill this mission the Chalmers Center seeks to empower churches in the Majority World to develop local solutions to poverty alleviation through new, kingdom-centered interventions. To help the Chalmers Center to achieve this goal, the Manager of Innovation-MW will oversee the implementation of a brand new Chalmer's program: Innovate: A Creative Process Toward Community Flourishing (Innovate-MW).
The Program Manager, in collaboration with the Majority World Deployment team, will test the training materials, develop the program design, and implement this program with Chalmer's partners in West Africa as well as other partners throughout the Majority World. The position encompasses training, equipping, and mentoring coaches and partners for program implementation; field visits for monitoring and evaluation; and ongoing program development and innovation data gathering for the Kingdom-Centered-Innovation (KCI) Team's ongoing innovation activities.
Responsibilities:
Commits to pray and advocate for the poor and the church in light of the mission of the Chalmers Center
Attend and contribute to regular Deployment and KCI meetings
Works closely with Chalmers West Africa Direct Partners to equip Lead Trainers, test innovations and establish high quality Innovate implementation processes
Collaborates with the MW Deployment and Curriculum & Training Teams to field test and adapt design thinking training for the Majority World
Conducts frequent field visits to Innovate-MW projects throughout West Africa, (and eventually worldwide), for monitoring, evaluation, and feedback to guide curriculum revisions and program development
Stays abreast of best practices and tools in design thinking and innovation (especially in the Majority World context) to support KCI and Curriculum & Training Teams with up-to-date insights for ongoing curriculum and program development
Recruits, trains, and provides ongoing support to a team of coaches for Indirect Partners (in collaboration with the Deployment Team)
Collaborates with the Director of West Africa Operations on partner relations and training; program implementation; and providing field-based feedback to the KCI team
Collects data on training effectiveness, events, and outcomes for reporting purposes
Operationalizes reporting system on direct partner church innovations for the KCI Team
Qualifications:
Minimum of a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in community development, business, or related field
Familiarity with design thinking and other innovation tools
Minimum 1 year of experience working with an international organization
Excellent communication, training, facilitation, leadership, and mentoring skills
Cross-cultural skills to develop, adapt, and present culturally contextualized innovative programming
Familiarity with using online platforms for meetings, training, and facilitation
Minimum of intermediate skill in computer applications (email, word processing, spreadsheets, presentation, social media platforms, etc.)
Desire to work out of a distinctively biblical framework
Excellent interpersonal skills in multicultural settings
Enjoys teamwork and collaboration; believes we are better together
Responds to challenging and changing situations with humor, adaptability, and creative solutions
Fluency in written and spoken English and French required
Initial program testing and development primarily in Accra, Ghana and Lome, Togo with expansion of program to other global locations
Expectation of up to 30% international travel
Why you’ll love working with Chalmers:
Working with friendly, passionate, and mission-focused co-workers
Integrating your knowledge and professional skills with your faith
Collaborating in an environment where ideas are freely shared and valued
