The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, IRC provides life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees and displaced people forced to flee war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and 28 cities across the United States, we are restoring safety, dignity, and hope to millions of forcibly displaced people struggling to survive. IRC paves the way for returning home.
IRC’s vision is for individuals, households and communities to be resilient, self-reliant and able to thrive in a changing context. In Niger, IRC is present in the regions of Tillabéri, Agadez and Diffa with projects in the following areas: Environmental Health (EH) and Non-Food Items (NFI), including Emergency – Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), Protection (SGBV, child protection, protection monitoring and integration of protection), education, nutrition, health and livelihoods.
In Mali, IRC has been present since 2012 in response to armed conflict and political instability in the north of the country that have forced hundreds of thousands of Malians to flee south, further worsening the living conditions and livelihoods of the most vulnerable households. IRC is present in the Northern, Central and Southern regions and implements programs that promote community participation in the areas of health nutrition, education, water, hygiene and sanitation, protection, education as well as recovery and economic development, governance and emergency response.
In Burkina Faso, IRC launched its first phase of emergency response programming in the city of Djibo in April 2019, with mainly WASH activities. Then, IRC acquired funding from various donors to cover humanitarian assistance to people affected by the crisis in several regions: Sahel, North, Boucle du Mouhoun, Hauts Bassins, Centre-Nord and Centre. The sectors covered so far are health including environmental health, child protection, women’s empowerment and economic recovery.
About the project
The program aims to ensure that vulnerable people in Burkina Faso (Northern, Eastern and Sahel regions), Mali (Nara Circle) and Niger (Diffa and Mainé), especially small-scale producers, women and people living with disabilities have access to nutritious and climate-resilient local food production. IRC and partner organizations will work to scale up existing interventions in each targeted project site, using best practices and lessons learned to implement an integrated and adaptive program that can address both risks associated with food and nutrition crisis situations and structural vulnerabilities, with a focus on the inclusion of marginalized groups and support for access and control of resources by women.
Job Overview
IRC is looking for a dynamic leader to fill the position of Senior Project Coordinator. The Senior Project Coordinator will work closely with the Deputy Director of Programs to oversee and coordinate all aspects of the project, including leading strategic planning and decision-making, managing the activities, and supervising staff. He/she will serve as a key liaison with local and international implementing partners, the governments of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and other stakeholders. The Senior Project Coordinator will also establish and maintain an integrated vision between the different actors while ensuring adherence to all project objectives, performance requirements and Donor regulations.
Main Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Deputy Director of Programs, the Senior Project Coordinator will contribute to ensuring the effective implementation of project activities, partnership management, and due diligence of consortium partners and building strong and sustainable partnerships. He/she will coordinate with the program leads the day-to-day management of the project as well as the life cycle of the sub-allocations in accordance with the IRC Partnership of Excellence for Equality and Results system (the “PEER system” or “PEERS”). The Senior Project Coordinator will each be based in Mali or Burkina Faso; as such, the Senior Project Coordinator will have more direct day-to-day oversight of implementation in the country where he or she will be based.
Quality of the program/implementation
• The Senior Project Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the project in the three countries.
• Lead and supervise project planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting.
• In collaboration with the program coordinators, develop the main technical tools of the program. Review and adapt existing IRC technical training materials. Develop training materials where necessary to support the introduction of new programming approaches.
• Liaise regularly with field coordinators to provide project updates, discuss emerging challenges, and collaborate on the design of new programs or modifications to existing programs.
Budget management
• Participate in internal Budget versus Actual meetings as well as meetings with partners to ensure that the grant is on track and that all under- and over-spending are handled with adequate planning.
• Work closely with finance and grants teams to revise and adjust the budget as necessary.
• Work with the grants department to ensure that the project is implemented in accordance with Donor guidelines and that reporting requirements are met.
Monitoring, evaluation, quality assurance, and reporting:
• Maintain an effective monitoring, evaluation, and learning system.
• Responsible for all internal and external programmatic reports, including Donor reports.
• Coordinate evaluations and reviews of programs and ensure documentation of lessons learned for reporting and program preparation.
• Contributes to the development of guidelines, including the technical design of software and hardware interventions for all areas under his/her responsibility.
• Ensure that IRC and international humanitarian action quality standards are met throughout the project management cycle.
• Provide technical support in project areas to the team under his/her direct responsibility and to the overall mission.
• Ensures that gender, protection, and environmental impact issues are mainstreamed in all programs under direct responsibility.
Supervision and staff development
• Directly supervise the team and technically supervises other employees.
• Oversees the development of staff technical capacity-building plans and ensures that employees receive appropriate training.
• Maintain open and professional relationships with team members, fostering a strong team spirit and providing supervision and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform their duties.
• Assist staff in identifying professional development needs and opportunities.
• Work with staff to ensure that performance targets are regularly reviewed and met.
• Provide ongoing feedback on staff performance; Identify performance issues and work with staff and human resources to document and resolve issues in a timely manner.
Coordination of partnerships and subcontracts
• Ensure that Consortium partners follow the IRC PEERS which defines effective and responsive processes, delineates clear roles and responsibilities, and articulates the IRC’s strategic approach to partnerships.
• Mobilize, train, and provide ongoing technical support to technical focal points of consortia and program teams on working with partners.
• Reviews partners’ program implementation and assesses possible improvements based on lessons learned, best practices, etc.
• Encourage overall program cohesion through coordination and information sharing with and among partners.
• Strengthen relationships for other partnerships (e.g., with government entities).
• Management of partnerships and subcontracts
• Review changes to sub-allocation agreements, if any, and follow IRC’s internal review process for all sub-allocation documents.
• Work effectively with supply chain and finance partner teams to ensure underfunding mechanisms are PEERS compliant.
• Coordinate the start-up of partnerships/sub-projects. This includes preparing and chairing partnership/sub-award opening meetings in accordance with IRC’s PEERS, in coordination with support functions and program teams, to ensure projects start with clear expectations from both parties.
• Coordinate quality monitoring of the implementation of partnerships/sub-recipients. This includes but is not limited to preparing and chairing partnership/sublease review meetings according to the schedule determined during the pre-award assessment; reviewing partners’ performance against the program, work plans, and budget forecasts, as well as reviewing partners’ compliance with procurement, human resources management, financial management and other requirements outlined in the partnership agreements and its specific terms and conditions, in accordance with the IRC PEERS.
• Prepare and chair partnership/underfunding closing meetings, as required, and oversee the overall closure of partnerships/underfunding, in accordance with IRC’s PEERS; This includes, but is not limited to, integrating reflection, lessons learned, and future planning; preparing closing letters for underfunding and ensuring that all requirements of the underfunding agreement have been met.
• Lead, organize, and participate in the planning, organization, and participation in technical and financial monitoring visits of partnerships/sub-fellowships to assess partners’ performance and compliance with their partnership agreement, Donor regulations, and overall program plans, in accordance with IRC PEERS. This includes coordinating contributions prior to monthly grant review meetings to ensure that IRC’s commitments to the Donor are met and working closely with program managers and finance teams to ensure that partnership monitoring schedules are rigorously adhered to and that supporting documentation is prepared for review.
• Support the planning and organization of Donor monitoring visits, and participate as required, in accordance with agreed schedule.
• Work collaboratively with M&E and program coordinators to provide advice on strengthening monitoring and evaluation with partners, as well as to design tools and create systems to effectively monitor progress against partners’ capacity-building plans.
• In close collaboration with supply chain units, maintain accurate records of program assets; this includes managing the program asset register, leading the asset disposal process when necessary, monitoring assets during regular partner monitoring visits in accordance with IRC PEERS and donor regulations on asset management.
Reporting
• Ensure that reporting schedules are prepared and shared by consortia.
• Collect and compile program narrative reports across consortia and ensure timely submission to program coordinators for review.
• In collaboration with the finance branch, ensure the timely review of partners’ financial reports, in accordance with the provisions of their partnership agreements, in coordination with the review of programmatic reports.
Capacity building of partners
• Review partners’ capacity building/development plan based on the results of the pre-assessment, ensuring that the capacity building/development plan is responsive, focused, and responsive to the needs and priorities of the organization.
• Design tools and create systems to effectively monitor progress against partners’ capacity-building plans and to assist partners in their organizational development.
• Contribute/lead, as appropriate, in the regular collection of lessons learned and disseminate them among Consortium partners in order to maximize program impact and contribute to the strategy and direction of future programs.
Professional Standards
• Consistently and proactively monitor/evaluate the safety and security of the team; promptly report concerns or incidents to the personnel management team, and liaise with community leaders and other external parties, as appropriate, to maintain/improve the security environment of IRC programs.
• Other duties assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs.
• All IRC staff are required to adhere to the IRC Way Standards of Professional Conduct and IRC Country Employment Policies.
Job Requirements
• A graduate degree from an accredited university in international development or a related field is encouraged.
• 7 years of experience in managing resilience programs related to food security and climate change adaptation.
• Experience managing large-scale, multi-million-dollar, complex, multi-country, and multi-partner projects.
• Programming experience in West Africa.
• Ability to follow multi-country teams and work remotely.
• Demonstrated success in staff capacity building and participatory, flexible, and gender-sensitive programming and implementation.
• Strong communication skills, both oral and written.
• 10 years of experience in program administration, grant management and/or project management in an international NGO or similar organization.
• Knowledge and expertise in consortium management
• Knowledge and expertise in the use of project management methodologies and tools, resources, and change management techniques
• Autonomous, able to set priorities independently and solve problems with minimal guidance.
• Demonstrated ability to work successfully in a volatile environment, within and across departments/functions, and to develop good relationships with staff locally.
• Experience working in conflict and crisis situations and knowledge of humanitarian programs.
• Demonstrated ability to manage budgeting, monitoring, and planning of complex projects.
• Knowledge of development or nutrition, food security, and climate change is a plus
• Knowledge of the regional context, with experience working in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso preferably
• Fluency in written and oral French and English.
Key Working relationships
Reporting to: Deputy Director Programs
Work environment
• Standard office work environment
• The position is based in the IRC Country Office in Bamako (Mali) or Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).
IRC is an organization committed to complying with employment non-discrimination legislation. IRC considers all applicants on merit regardless of race, sex, colour, origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability.
IRC and IRC employees must adhere to the values and principles contained in the IRC WAY (Standards for Professional Conduct). These are Integrity, Equality, Accountability and Service. In accordance with these values, IRC operates and enforces policies on protecting beneficiaries from exploitation and abuse, safeguarding the child, harassment in the workplace, and retaliation. ».
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More Information
- Job City Burkina Faso, Mali
