About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) faces challenges in supporting youth transitioning from alternative care to independent living, with approximately 1,387 children lacking essential skills and systemic support. This issue is compounded by decentralized governance, inconsistent legal frameworks, and limited support programs, leading to inadequate preparation for independence.

Through our Kreiranje Odgovarajućih Rješenja za AKtivnu podršku mladima iz brige (KORAK) project, CRS aims to address these challenges through enhancing legislative frameworks, policies, and professional skills among key stakeholders. The project focuses on collaborative policy assessments, advocacy, and the enhancement of monitoring systems. Additionally, it empowers youth through life skills training, community engagement, and public awareness campaigns, fostering a sustainable support system for successful transitions to independent living.

Job Summary:

You will provide technical advice and support to a range of program design and implementation issues in the area of Care Reform in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to Country Program (CP) teams to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. You will Maintain a strategic overview of care related issues affecting children, monitoring trends and inputting to programming, country program strategy and planning processes in coordination with national authorities and partners. Your advice, knowledge, and support will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ Care Reform programming is across the globe.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Stay abreast of state-of-the-art developments in quality and innovations related to care reform and share relevant information and learning as appropriate.
• Support the development and contribute to the implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools and best practices in care reform that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and inclusion.
• Lead in the design and expansion of CRS care reform programming beyond support during transition to include working with government and partners to identify new opportunities to expand family-based care options, strengthen community-based services and social service workforce development.
• Provide technical solutions to, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools and M&E, helping to ensure high-quality implementation.
• Maintain working relationships with relevant governmental authorities with the aim of improving coordination and develop harmonized approaches to care reform, together with other stakeholders.
• Contribute to, and in some cases lead, the development of the technical design for proposals.  Support the process of preparation, design, submission and approval of project concepts and full-fledged proposals. As needed, act as a technical writer on proposal development teams. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
• Support capacity strengthening initiatives in care reform programming for staff and partner through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and coaching.
• Collect and analyze program data, capture and share lessons learned and best practices for specific projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the care reform learning agenda.
• Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, peer organizations, research and other institutions, participate in forums in the area of care reform to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings
• Ability to develop and maintain influence with government and other stakeholders
• Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
• Good technical writing skills
• Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Supervisory Responsibilities (if none, state none)

 None

Key Working Relationships:

Internal: KORAK Project Manager, KORAK Project Assistant, Head of Programs, PM1 PQ and Growth, Country Representative, Operations Manager II, HR Manager, MEAL SPO, Strategic Change Platform 5 stakeholders

External: Relevant Ministries, Centers for Social Work, Partner and Donor Organizations

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s degree in social work or related field required.
• Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in care reform, de-institutionalization and similar work required.
• Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in care reform, alternative care and de-institutionalization. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Experience in project design and proposal development. Experience in writing content for proposals.
• Knowledge of capacity strengthening best practices.
• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation and analysis.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.

Required Languages – Native/Fluent BHS and advanced English proficiency required.

Travel – Must be willing and able to travel up to 20%.

Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes for all staff. When demonstrated, they create an engaging workplace, help staff achieve their best, and help CRS achieve agency goals. These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
• Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission.  Is considered honest.
• Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.

Agency Leadership Competencies:

• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation. 

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position. 

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

CRS prioritizes candidates who are citizens/permanent residents of the countries where we have CRS offices.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer