Program Manager - Cartago, Costa Rica

Start date: ASAP

Location: Remote

Length of contract: 1 year

About the role

Our GVI hub is located in Cartago, a Costa Rican city southeast of San José. This role is responsible for the overall running of the GVI Cartago, Costa Rica program operations, which is focused on community development.

The Program Manager’s role is to deliver world-leading volunteer and internship programs and manage the GVI 'hub', by focusing on growth, learning and impact. This person is responsible for ensuring effective day to day running of the program operations, building and maintaining partnerships with the community, effectively managing staff and participants, and achieving the financial and quality goals of the organization.

The ideal candidate for this position will speak proficient Spanish, be hugely passionate about community development and thrive off living in a communal setting among staff and volunteers. They will have strong staff and volunteer management experience, be experienced in health and safety, and feel comfortable with being the most senior person responsible for the day to day running of this base

About you

You are outgoing with a passion for community development. You excel in problem-solving and love to work with people.

Being fluid is your left arm, and resilient is your right. Your feet are firmly on the ground yet you are able to conquer the highest mountain if the occasion needs you to do so.

Your sense of humour is accommodating and your understanding of diversity and inclusion is something you are very proud of.

You are amazing as you are, and we’ll love having you on the team.

What you will do

• Oversee the overall day to day delivery of projects, including quality, impact and safety, and the overall effective functioning of the hub
• In conjunction with the People function and line manager, ensure the availability of field staff to meet the requirements outlined in the hub’s field model staffing plan as well as oversee training and onboarding of all new staff and participants.
• Effectively manage any issues that come up in the field on a day to day basis, including participant complaints, medical issues, natural disasters etc.
• Oversee day to day logistics of the project including participant arrivals, departures, visits off base, day to day needs, base scheduling, ensuring all participants know what they’re doing, when, and the day to day functions smoothly
• Connect and liaise with in-country partners to build and maintain relationships, ensuring projects are locally driven and have maximum valuable impact
• Design local development theory in line with GVI central theory, and implement project monitoring across participants, staff, community members and partners and periodic evaluation of impact
• Responsible for financial and overall reporting of the hub and working with line manager to utilize the recommended detailed analysis of the participant plan, hub costs and staff costs data to manage hub in an efficient manner.
• Work with the Program Director to roll out defined best practice covering all key aspects of the hub’s programs and operations.
• Provide recommendations to the Program Director and liaise with our Central Support Team to develop and implement new programs and initiatives as required
• Ensure the successful implementation and delivery of all GVI marketing and internal communication initiatives.
• Work with the central support office to ensure in-country legal compliance and maintain desired legal status through accurate and timely reporting.

What you will need

• Fluent Spanish is required for this role
• Proven leadership experience (3-5 years experience managing staff and volunteers/interns)
• Operations experience (in the tourism/travel industry is advantageous)
• Health and Safety Management experience
• Teaching and community development experience is advantageous
• First Aid qualification

What we offer

Package includes:

• Monthly salary
• Accommodation
• Food
• Visa costs (if applicable)
• Emergency medical and travel insurance

In addition, GVI has the following perks:

• Training fund
• Social allowance
• Leadership development
• In-house counselling support
• Growth opportunities across our 17 locations!

About us

GVI is an international multi-award-winning social enterprise on a mission to build a global network of people united by their passion to make a difference. We run programs in 13 countries worldwide aligned to the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

GVI is a platform for personal growth, and our staff have the ability to develop themselves across teams, departments, and even locations! We value passion, authenticity, entrepreneurship and innovation and treat all of our stakeholders with respect and compassion above everything else.

You can find out more about the types of work we do, and who we are as an organization here.

To apply

Please submit your CV along with a cover letter stating why you feel you would be the best candidate for this role.

Please note: We will do our utmost to respond to all applicants, however, given the large volume of applications we receive, this isn't always possible. If you do not hear back from us within three-four weeks, please take it that on this occasion your application was unsuccessful.