Plan International
Position: Project Manager,
Supporting Female Renewable Energy
Entrepreneurs & Adoption of Solar Power in Kilifi
Department & Location: Programs (Project based in Kilifi)
Duration: 18
Months Fixed Term Contract
Reports to: Program
Manager – General
Purpose: The
main purpose of this position is to oversee the implementation of project
titled ‘Supporting Female Renewable Energy Entrepreneurs and Adoption of Solar
Power in Kilifi, Kenya, funded by Plan International Canada.
The role is responsible for planning,
implementation, personnel management, resource management, monitoring & evaluation,
associated stakeholder and partner relationship management, and timely quality
reporting.
Designing and development of
complementary or new funding proposals is expected and the Project Manager
ensures quality of project activities/results including coordinating external
technical support/expertise as required.
This position will provide leadership
role in implementation of proposed project in Kilifi. It will make sure that
project contributes to improved livelihood and entrepreneurship opportunities
for young women while also increasing access and use of clean renewable energy
solutions for vulnerable girls and boys and their families in the poorest
households in the Kilifi region of Kenya.
Promoting female entrepreneurship and
expansion of market structures into rural villages will provide opportunities
for economic self-sufficiency and business education for women; the promotion
of solar power energy technologies will improve education, safety and
protection of vulnerable girls and boys and help build the resilience of their
families.
The position will also be responsible
for cross-cutting corporate quality management, supporting in designing
operational monitoring/compliance mechanisms to improve systems and procedures,
sound design of and overseeing monitoring and evaluation, periodic analysis of
the business units, and ensuring that information collected is reflected upon,
used to improve ongoing projects and is incorporated into high quality grant
proposals and reports.
The incumbent should be familiar with
working on Child Protection, Women’s Economic Empowerment especially with solar
industry, partnerships with local government, civil society and the private
sector.
Additionally, s/he will be familiar
with managing large donor projects including having a great deal of
understanding of donor guidelines and regulations.
S/he will have managed project
budgets over and above USD 2 million preferably across various implementation
sites and have worked with strategic and implementing partners.
Dimensions of Role: The Project Manager will report to the Program
Manager-General based in Nairobi. As this position will be based in the Kilifi
Program Unit office, the position will also work collaboratively with the
respective Program Implementation Manager in Kilifi.
S/he will supervise a Project
Implementation Officer (PIO) based in Kilifi and will have project oversight of
all other contributing staff and partners in this project. S/he will uphold
Plan’s Purpose and Values, promote programme principals (transparency, gender
equity and diversity), to enhance programme impact. Ensure modelling of Plan’s
values among all project staff.
The incumbent will have a good
understanding of solar industry (home solar kits) and women’s entrepreneurship
in rural communities.
S/he will also have the ability to
manage complex partnerships especially with private sector and financial
institutions.
Additionally the incumbent will have
a good understanding and working experience of economic and social well-being
of adolescent girls and young women in Kilifi and Kenya, and efforts required
to increase income, improve control over income, build economic skills, and
provide leadership to improve the quality Village Saving & Loan
Associations (VSLA) in Kilifi.
Typical Responsibilities – Key End Results of Position:
Expected Outputs: The Project Manager
will deliver concrete outputs as following:
·
Build and manage relations with
financial institutions and private sector involved in this project.
·
Follow up and make sure required deliverables
are implemented on a timely basis.
·
Identify, select, train and build
capacity of women entrepreneurs in solar products.
·
Build capacity of VSLAs in delivery
of home solar kits supply chain.
·
Follow up and provide technical
support to the project.
·
Facilitate knowledge building and
information sharing in relation to the knowledge outputs of the project by
partners.
·
Ensure delivery of the expected
results of the Kilifi Solar Project.
Key Result Areas:
·
Planning and implementation of
project activities, oversees programme in line with the approved Theory of
Change and Detailed Implementation Plan, compliance with design methodologies
and approaches.
·
Monitoring progress and quality
together with M&E team.
·
Partnership management: plan,
coordinate, oversee and follow up on partner work plans and deliverables.
·
Budget management; monitor
expenditure against approved budget and revisit plans to ensure budget
performance is in-line with regulations as well as expected deliverables.
·
Ensure compliance with donor requirements
and regulations.
·
Support the project team and ensure
effective people management ensuring welfare, contract, compliance, and
performance appraisal.
·
Timely preparation and submission of
accurate project reports as per signed contract.
·
Smooth/efficient project performance
and effective management of and communication with project team.
Contribution to proposal development inclusive of evidence-base/learning within project, technical expertise, field-based data collection for design, communication/liaison with relevant stakeholders/partners.
Contribution to proposal development inclusive of evidence-base/learning within project, technical expertise, field-based data collection for design, communication/liaison with relevant stakeholders/partners.
·
Profile Plan work through his/her
involvement in relevant cluster meetings and at the County level.
Work in close collaboration and coordination with:
Internal Contacts:
·
Other Plan Project Managers
·
Technical Support Team and Program
Managers
·
Designated Project Accountant
·
Finance, Procurement, and
Administration
·
Kenya Country Office M&E
·
Business Development and Grants Team
Limited contact with Plan International Canada colleagues
Limited contact with Plan International Canada colleagues
External Contacts:
·
County/Sub County Government,
Administrators
·
Government Technical Departments/Line
Ministries
·
Local VSLAs, SACCOs, Solar energy
providers, and Solar energy training institutions
·
Other INGOs, local NGOs, Private
sector, UN agencies and organizations implementing in the same geographic
areas, program sectors, et.al.
·
Implementation communities
Oversee & Coordinate Project
Implementation (40%)
·
Oversee any contractual partner
deliverables and ensure deliverables are met in a timely manner and with high
quality. Serve as the main point of communication for implementing partners on
her/his project in close collaboration with Finance and Grants Department.
·
Submit accurate project reports
(Narrative & Financial) on time, according to country office and donor
regulations.
·
Manage overall partner/s
implementation of the project cycle.
·
Ensure that interventions are planned
and implemented for maximum impact, synergy and cost-effectiveness.
·
Establish targets by interventions
and areas.
·
Ensure compliance with established
targets and quality of project outputs and results.
·
Ensure proper management of project
database, records, and files.
Manage Project Resources (20%)
·
Prepare a breakdown of project budget
by interventions.
·
Monitor expenditures by interventions
and ensure compliance with approved budget.
·
Review expenditure reports on a
monthly basis.
·
Prepare activity-based forecasts.
·
Ensure timely budget adjustments and
revisions in compliance with donor regulations.
·
Ensure compliance with country office
and donor policies, contracts, and agreements.
Build and maintain stakeholder
relations (10%)
·
Coordinate with relevant Plan staff
in sensitizing county and sub-county level government authorities about project
activities, beneficiary selection criteria and policy and procedure of project
implementation.
·
Ensure that project strategies are
robust and in line with Plan Kenya Country Strategic Plan, and shared with all
stakeholders.
·
Promote effective working relations
with county and sub-county stakeholders.
·
If necessary, liaise with Plan
International Canada colleagues.
·
Motivate the communities and local
government officials to contribute and participate in implementation of project
activities. Attend periodic project-related meetings in the area of operations
and brief supervisor.
·
Coordinate with other NGOs, UN/donor
agencies, and private sector players working within the operational areas to
avoid duplication of efforts.
·
Coordinate with other Project
Managers and other internal stakeholders on resource allocation/mobilization
and information and ensure that appropriate synergies with others are achieved
as it relates to implementation of multiple projects in the same geographic.
Human Resources Management (10%)
·
Ensure that project staffs know their
roles and responsibilities.
·
Communicate/share work plans with all
players.
·
Conduct staff performance appraisals
regularly.
·
Coach and mentor direct reports to
enhance their skills for current and higher positions.
·
Continuously engage project staff in
overall project objectives, implementation strategy, reporting system and
internal controls, inter alia.
·
Ensure that staff welfare issues are
communicated through appropriate HR and management structures as well as
maintain a good feedback mechanism.
·
Handle grievances and participate in
disciplinary hearings as relevant.
Design, Monitoring & Evaluation
and Reporting (20%)
·
Establish proper data collection,
consolidation and reporting mechanisms at county and sub county level.
·
Consolidate project reports and
analyse results.
·
Review and analyse monitoring and
evaluation data and recommend adjustments to design as needed.
·
Ensure that approved reports are
synthesised and disseminated among stakeholders.
·
Support design of new programmes
based on evidence from project, context in the area of implementation and/or
technical expertise.
·
Liaise with program team to ensure
learning is available to the wider organization and outside as relevant
(including development of case studies, documentaries, stories etc.)
·
Support effective documentation of
project outcomes.
Specific Factors
Decision Making
The incumbent makes both programmed
and non-programmed decisions that include:
·
Decides on resource allocation within
approved budget parameters.
·
Decides on project priorities within
approved project work plan.
·
Decides on what skills are required
to execute project stages within approved project proposal.
·
Decides on schedule for internal
project field visits/monitoring visits; locations for donor and stakeholder
visits with appropriate approvals.
Pressure of Work
·
Regularly makes decisions on
relationship, personnel and resource management. Pressures related to high
targets, complex programming environment and necessity of high quality
deliverables exist. Seasonality and other environmental conditions may at times
affect work pressure and need to be mitigated.
Consequences of error
·
Significant mismanagement exposes
Plan to reputational risk as well as potential financial risk if resources are
not used wisely. Similarly, poor personnel management practices can lead to
staff dissatisfaction and adversely affect performance.
Knowledge, Skills, Behaviours, and Experience Required to
Achieve Role’s Objectives:
Functional competencies:
·
Builds strong relationships with
project partners, private sector partners, focuses on impact and result for the
client and responds positively to feedback.
·
Demonstrates excellent networking and
interpersonal skills, including ability to operate effectively across
organizational boundaries.
·
Lead the Kilifi Solar project with
strong focus on women entrepreneurship and proper use of home solar kits.
·
Demonstrates substantive knowledge
and understanding of gender equality and development issues.
·
Demonstrates substantive knowledge
and experience in the provision of coordinated support and management of rights
based programmes aiming to advance gender equality and young women’s economic
empowerment.
·
Demonstrates ability to think
conceptually and analytically.
·
Demonstrates strong oral and written
communication skills.
·
Demonstrates strong facilitation
skills as well as conflict resolution skills.
·
Demonstrates openness to change and
ability to manage complexities.
·
Consistently approaches work with
energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
·
Remains calm, in control and good
humoured even under pressure.
·
Demonstrates good interpersonal and
diplomacy skills.
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
·
Bachelors of Arts or a Master’s
degree or equivalent in a relevant subject (Business Administration, Gender and
Development, International Development, Project Management).
Experience:
·
Minimum of 6 years of project
management experience, with proven success in managing partnership projects to
achieve results.
·
Experience working with solar
industry especially on home solar kits, working on interventions focusing on
women’s economic empowerment specifically and on gender equality and young
women’s economic empowerment.
·
Specific expertise in gender
responsive business skills capacity building.
·
Exposure to Gender Responsive
Budgeting initiatives.
·
Experience in results-based and
rights-based programming.
·
Proven analytical and writing skills.
·
Strong facilitation and training
skills and interpersonal skills.
·
Proven experience in capacity
development, coaching and mentoring.
·
Strong expertise in Monitoring and
evaluating of programmes.
·
Experience providing coaching,
mentoring and leadership to team members.
·
Experience with engagement at a
strategic level, Governments and INGOs.
Values: Commitment
to Plan International Kenya’s values.
Physical Environment and Demands: Ability to travel 60% of the time.
The position will be based in Kilifi
with frequent travel to different locations at sub-county level.
Level of Contact with Children: Medium contact – Occasional interaction with children
How to Apply
CLICK HERE to apply online
