Project Coordinator – Support to the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa 102 views1 applications

Project description

The Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) initiative funded by the EU was launched in 2016. The first two phases focus on setting up the CoM SSA network, including a Secretariat and a Helpdesk based in Accra, creating local ownership and forming a core group of 13 cities and early movers. The Phase III builds on the two previous phases and aims to scale-up the initiative’s impact by expanding and sustaining the network and reaching a greater number of beneficiaries, bridging the gap to finance investments and fostering coordination with other initiatives. CoMSSA Phase III is jointly implemented by Expertise France (EF), the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), in cooperation with CoM SSA Phases I and II partners, Secretariat and Helpdesk. It is co-funded by the European Union (EU), German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

Under the CoM SSA initiative, local authorities are invited to make a voluntarily political commitment to implement climate and energy actions in their communities and agree on a long-term vision to address three issues, namely (i) access to sustainable energy, (ii) climate mitigation and (iii) climate adaptation. In order to translate the political commitment into practical measures, CoMSSA signatories commit to produce and implement a Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP). Phase III will support local administrations through three pillars:

1. SEACAP development, Integration and Monitoring;
2. Technical Assistance and support for sustainable energy investments in urban areas;
3. Promoting regional cooperation and enhance learning from good practice.

Within pillar 1, the implementing agencies will support around 15 new cities in 10 countries in the development of their SEACAP according to the CoM SSA guidelines (http://comssa.org/guideline/#tools). Pilar 2 and 3 are closely linked to the activities implemented within the Pillar 1. However, the action will integrate a larger number of the Covenant of Mayors signatory cities..

Job description

Expertise France’s action will focus on pillar 1 and 3 and support 5 to 6 cities in the elaboration of their SEACAP and in the reinforcement of their energy and climate planning capacities. EF team will also work closely with AFD and the other partners on pillar 2 activities.

• Within the 1st pillar of the project, local administrations will be responsible for the implementation and coordination of the local activities, however Expertise France will provide technical and administrative assistance to the beneficiaries.
• Within the 3rd pillar, Expertise France will be in charge of the organisation of one main international event and several smaller activities gathering representatives from the CoM signatory cities.

The project coordinator will be in charge of the overall coordination, monitoring and reporting of the activities implemented by EF. He/she will ensure that activities and expenditures are in line with EF approach and procedures.

In that purpose, the project coordinator will be supported by a project assistant and a technical unit composed of a team of consultants available on request and including at least 1 SEACAP specialist, 1 monitoring, evaluation, assessment and learning (MEAL) specialist and ad hoc thematic experts (urban planning, street lighting, waste, floods…)

She/he will work in close collaboration with the project manager from EF headquarter in charge of following up of the project who will support him/her in part of the procurement and financial tasks and facilitate the communication with the security, legal and financial department.

They will jointly work on the eventual strategical reorientations. The project manager

The project coordinator will be based in Lomé (Togo) and he/she will be particularly involved in the implementation of the project in the West African cities. He/she will work closely with the cities focal points. For East African cities, the coordinator will be supported by a deputy coordinator, based in Kampala, who will coordinate the project activities in the sub-region.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership

• Provide dynamic, strategic leadership and coordination of the programme.
• Motivate the project stakeholders and encourage their commitment to programme objectives.

Organize and lead the relationship with the partner cities, by maintaining a regular communication with the local focal points

Coordination and reporting

• Oversee the implementation of the project activities in an effective and efficient manner, in close collaboration with the technical team, the project manager and other colleagues as required;
• Develop and maintain close working relations with institutional and technical partners of the project in the 2 countries concerned;
• Liaise and coordinate actions with the Project coordination unit based in Brussels.
• Define (purchase order) and coordinate the missions of the technical support team according to needs identified with the municipalities.
• Manage the procurements for services requested in the framework of the elaboration of the SEACAP.
• Participate in the identification of the remaining cities to be supported and the definition of the activities to be implemented.
• Responsible for the quality check of the approach and activities implemented in the East Africa cities (possible involvement in some activities of the project in East Africa).
• With the support of the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) Expert, develop and implement an efficient M&E system.
• Supervise the budgetary and accounting management of the project in line with the requirements of Expertise France and of the European Union;
• Responsible for the elaboration of the technical and financial reports to the donor;

Representation

• Liaise and represent the programme at the meetings with the cities and at the steering committees.
• Support EF headquarters’ team in maintaining a smooth contractual relationship with EU commission (DG DEVCO), and with the other member state agencies implementing the project. Especially with AFD.
• Ensure visibility for actions of the project in line with the Communication and visibility plan and with the communication and visibility manual for European Union external actions with the support of the PCU, the project manager at EF and the communication services of Expertise France;

Qualifications and skills

University degree preferably at master level in political Sciences, urban planning, environment or energy.

Fluency in french and english, both written and spoken;

Computer literacy: text processing tools, spread sheet tools, financial and planning tools;

• Excellent analytical, writing, organizational and presentation skills.
• Excellent public speaker

Proven skills in management, problem-solving and decision-making

Professional experience

• At least 6 years of experience as project manager/coordinator in sustainable development projects.
• Good knowledge and understanding of the climate change impacts on urban areas, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa;
• Proven experience in coordinating, managing and leading complex projects, international teams in at least 2 projects ;
• At least 2 year working experience of collaboration with national and/or local governments in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Proven experience of EU-funded project’s management;

Other information

– Location: Lomé, with regular travels in Mali, Kenya,Uganda and Europe.

– Duration: 1 year renewable 2 time (full-time)

– Starting date: asap from the 15th of September 2019– Type of contract: to be discussed.

– Remuneration: depending on the profile