Organization: Adeso
- Africa Development Solutions
Position Title: Senior Project Officer, REGAL-IR
Reporting to: Deputy Chief of Party
Programme / Duty Station: Wajir
Duration: 1
year renewable
Starting date: ASAP
Salary Grade: Grade D
Organizational Context: Adeso
is an expanding and vibrant African based international development and
humanitarian organization.
At Adeso, we work with African
communities who are yet to realize their full potential; working inside these
communities to create environments in which Africans can thrive.
Our belief that economic, social and
environmental security is the bedrock of a healthy community drives the nature
and intent of our programming.
We work to prevent and overcome
situations that adversely affect community well-being by: reinvigorating the
economy, developing skills for life and work, providing humanitarian aid, and
influencing policy.
For the past 20 years we have
strengthened rural livelihoods through environmental awareness, training,
technology transfer and innovative humanitarian projects in pursuit of a
peaceful, self-reliant, and greener future. Currently, Adeso has programs in
Somalia, Kenya and South Sudan.
Adeso is an exciting and dynamic
organization experiencing managed rapid growth. It offers sound employment
conditions with opportunities for personal growth and development.
Project Summary: The REGAL IR program is a 5 year initiative aiming to reduce hunger and poverty, increase social stability and build strong foundations for economic growth by strengthening social, economic, and environmental resilience in pastoral and transitioning communities in Kenya’s arid lands.
It has six strategic objectives
including diversifying livelihoods, Livestock value chain Inclusiveness,
natural resource management, conflict management, disaster risk reduction, and
improving nutrition.
The program is implementing
activities in Isiolo, Garissa, Wajir, Marsabit, and Turkana.
Position Purpose:
- Lead teams of Project Officers (PO) and
Community Facilitators (CF).
- Ensure regular planning and high quality
project implementation in line with the overall REGAL-IR strategies,
approach and methodology.
- Ensure regular monitoring, documentation, and
reporting.
- Liaise and coordinate with government,
development and humanitarian agencies, private sector, and other
stakeholders at county level.
Specific Roles and Responsibilities:
1. Lead teams of Project Officers
(PO) and Community Facilitators (CF).
- Support recruitment of POs and CFs and ensure
adequate implementation structures are fully operational that are capable
to implement project operational plans in time and with high quality.
- Ensure that all POs and CFs are sufficiently
skilled to perform their work. Assess POs’ and CFs’ capacity building
needs, jointly develop capacity building plans and supervise their
implementation.
- Mentor POs and CFs. Provide on-the-job
capacity building for POs and CFs.
- Supervise and backstop POs regular field work.
- Coordinate directly with Field Operations
Assistant, Technical Advisors, Operation Manager, Communication Officer,
M&E, and other REGAL-IR staff to ensure smooth technical field
implementation and operation.
2. Lead and Coordinate REGAL IR
implementing partners’ county plans and target achievement.
- Support implementing partners in their
development and adjustments of up-to-date work plans and budgets;
- Provide regular technical backstopping and
supervision;
- Foster thematic integration, ensure harmonized
approaches, promote synergies and complementarily in programming and
implementation;
- Conduct regular reviews of partner
implementation progress and reports;
- In collaboration with REGAL-IR project
partners, coordinate with private sector actors, other projects and
government partners;
3. Ensure regular planning and high
quality project implementation in line with the overall REGAL-IR strategies,
approach and methodology.
- Lead regular monthly planning as well as
development and use of weekly work plans by all POs.
- Support POs to develop CFs’ work plans.
- Ensure that all work plans in the county are
in line with the overall REGAL-IR work plan.
- Ensure that work plans are coordinated across
all implementation sites in the county for avoiding duplication and for
making use of complementarities and synergies.
- In cooperation with TAs ensure that all field
work is implemented in line with REGAL-IR’s approach and implementation
methodologies.
- Ensure high quality standards of field
implementation that achieves measurable impacts at target group level.
- Establish transparent and accountable
mechanisms for targeting and ensure appropriate targeting as per REGAL-IR
strategy. Report errors of inclusion and exclusion.
- Ensure that project implementation is
community-led and driven and follows evidence-based better practices and
approaches.
- Ensure mainstreaming of gender equality,
focusing on the enhancement of women’s economic and social empowerment.
- Lead sector/theme integration at field level.
- Support needs assessments and other missions
for the development of additional proposals, which are integrated in
REGAL-IR, e.g. Crisis Modifier.
- On the basis of the REGAL-IR sustainability
strategy, ensure project implementation adequately incorporates impact
sustainability.
- Contribute to internal learning, quality
enhancement (technical, operational) and cross county learning through
feedback, sharing of better practices and lessons learned as well as suggestions
for improvements.
4. Project activity implementation
and financial management.
- Provide guidance in implementation of all
financial and administrative activities in the county. Ensure monthly
budget forecasts are prepared and funds sent to the county are spent
expeditiously.
- Liaise with elders and other community
representatives.
- Facilitate PLPA processes with communities.
- Lead transparent and accountable participatory
targeting of project target groups and beneficiaries.
- Assess capacity building needs.
- Organize capacity building events and
processes.
- Coordinate relevant stakeholders and service
providers to deliver trainings to project beneficiaries
- Provide technical advisory assistance.
- Organize exchange visits.
- Conduct regular supervision and monitoring of
field implementation.
- Build CF’s capacities in order to enable them
to catalyze community learning and action plan implementation, including
planning, facilitation, monitoring, and documentation.
- Liaise with other POs for cross-learning.
5. Ensure regular monitoring,
documentation, and reporting.
- Lead field work for baseline,
annual/mid-term/end-term evaluations and other surveys at county level.
- Lead regular project monitoring at field
level. Coordinate monitoring with M&E and other TAs.
- Lead project documentation (e.g. success
stories, photos, case studies) at field level. Coordinate documentation
with Communication Officer and TAs.
- Ensure timely, comprehensive and complete
monthly reporting from POs and CFs.
- Review and validate PO reports.
- Prepare project monthly county reports and
other documents. Ensure reports and documents reach the M&E TA and/or
other users as per agreed deadlines.
- Lead regular and timely early warning
information sharing.
- In cooperation with M&E TA ensure
up-to-date and accessible county data base for all project activities and
sites. Take appropriate measure to avoid data, information and document
loss.
- Translate conversations and documents for
non-local language speaking staff to English when required.
6. Liaise and coordinate with
government, development and humanitarian agencies, private sector, and other
stakeholders at county level.
- Liaise regularly with communities, elders,
local authorities, private sector enterprises and other agencies
operational in project counties in North Eastern Kenya to ensure
coordination and effective implementation of intervention activities.
- Participate in stakeholder coordination
meetings and pro-actively contribute to county coordination.
- Represent REGAL-IR at county level.
- Lead practical cooperation between REGAL-IR
and government programs, REGAL-IR and other USG-funded projects as well as
REGAL-IR with other projects in the county.
- Ensure organizational security protocols are
strictly followed for county level operations and guide field staff and
others concerns on security management issues.
- Support organization of visitors’ and other
trips at county level.
- Support organization of workshops and
meetings.
- Any other duties as required.
Skills and Qualifications:
- University degree and or Diploma in
Agriculture, Livestock, Entrepreneurship, NRM, DRR or related livelihoods
field and at least 10 years’ experience working in similar projects.
- Minimum 5 years’ experience with NGO/
Government or UN agency in ASAL.
- Ability to multi-task and effectively handle
stressful situations.
- Ability to manage own workload and juggle
competing priorities in order to meet deadlines.
- Strong proficiency in capacity building,(
training and mentoring ) to project staff and partners.
- Excellent verbal and written communication
skills. Fluency in English and fluency in the specified County dominant
language is essential.
- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to
establish and maintain effective working relations within a team and with
other stakeholders.
- Proven problem-solving and negotiation skills,
and evidence of successful team leader and player;
- Proficiency in computer applications such as
word processing, spreadsheets, power point, etc.
- Strong report writing skills;
- Ability to live and work in an isolated ASAL
area in conditions of limited comfort.
- Willingness to travel frequently.
- Driving licence for motorcycle and ability to
use motorcycle in the project area.
Application Process
This is a challenging opportunity for
a dedicated and highly motivated professional.
If you would like to join this
dynamic team and help contribute to better resilience and economic growth for
African communities, please submit your application to jobs@adesoafrica.org,
quoting the position in the email subject matter by 15th May 2015.
Kindly note that applications
screening and interviews will be on a rolling basis.
Each application should be addressed to the Human Resources Director and include the following:
- An updated CV; and
- An application letter which should include
cover letter, remuneration requirements and contact information for three
work-related referees.
Applications not including all of the
above information will not be reviewed.
We regret that only short-listed
candidates will be contacted.
Adeso is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on one's background, beliefs, gender or sexual orientation.
