About the role: This is a 2 year, new role with unaccompanied terms based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with a salary of Grade 4 (€44,133 – €49,038).
You will report to Sierra Leone Programme Director (PD) and will lead on the future strategic development of Concern’s Livelihoods Programme in Sierra Leone. You will be responsible for the effective implementation of projects within the Livelihoods portfolio, line management of Livelihoods Project Coordinators and Managers, and play a key role in mobilising resources to expand the programme.
We would like you to start early January 2023.
Your purpose: This is an exciting opportunity for the right candidate to shape the significant growth of Concern’s Livelihoods Programme in Sierra Leone, in partnership with key line ministries and (I)NGO partners. You will provide leadership and management to the livelihoods sector, and technical support to ensure Concern is delivering high quality, relevant, impactful and accountable programming that targets hard to reach, underserved communities living in conditions of extreme poverty. This includes oversight of Concern’s existing Livelihoods portfolio which takes an integrated and systems approach to Food Systems from production to food consumption to achieve greater food security and resilience among vulnerable households and communities. Gender transformation, environment protection and Climate Change Adaption are key aspects of our approach. You will also play a key role in positioning Concern towards new funding opportunities in Sierra Leone and developing high quality proposals.
You will be based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with frequent travel to the other districts where Concern works.
Reports To: Programme Director (PD)
Direct line reports: Livelihoods Project Coordinators and Managers (2 presently).
Liaises With:
- All Sector Coordinators (Education, Livelihoods, Emergency, MEAL), Programme Quality team, Grants Manager, Partnership Manager and wider Livelihoods team;
- Country Management Team, Finance, Logistics and Procurement, and HR;
- Concern Desk Officer and relevant technical advisors at head office;
- Partner/consortium agencies, relevant Donors, UN agencies and Ministry stakeholders (including Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), Directorate of Nutrition under the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, SUN Secretariat within the Office of the Vice President, and Ministry of Youth Affairs.
You will be responsible for:
- Programme Leadership and Development:
- Lead the strategic development and implementation of Concern in Sierra Leone’s Livelihoods Sector Programme in line with the country strategic plan. Analyse and understand the context, opportunities and needs, ensuring participation of partners, community and other stakeholders at all stages;
- Lead the design of Concern’s livelihood projects with targeted communities, government institutions, partners and other stakeholders – ensuring alignment with Concern Worldwide’s livelihoods & organisational policies & strategies, government of Sierra Leone policies & strategies, and global standards of best practice;
- With the support of Concern’s technical advisors, ensure livelihoods programming is in line with the How Concern Understands Extreme Poverty approach – effectively integrating cross-cutting themes of equality, partnership, protection, environment & climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and HIV & AIDS;
- With the PD and Country Director (CD) proactively identify livelihoods funding opportunities and play a key role in positioning Concern to secure funding. This includes participating in or leading the development of new proposals and working with the Partnership Manager to identify and support the assessment of potential strategic partners.
Programme and Grants Management
- Effectively manage all aspects of donor grants for livelihoods work in Sierra Leone – including timely submission of high quality donor reports as per donor agreements; monitoring implementation performance and quality and taking corrective action as necessary; achieving targets in accordance with agreed objectives and in line with Concern’s approaches and policies. Manage risks and escalate to line manager when necessary, with suggested solutions/actions;
- Overall responsibility to ensure all livelihoods projects have annual Detailed Implementation Plans (DIP), with realistic timeframes, budgets and milestones, and procurement plans. With the support of the PD, and liaising with relevant departments, ensure that all resources needed (technical, financial, HR) are in place to implement plans. Regularly review the DIP etc. and update relevant components at least quarterly;
- Provide technical backstopping to the livelihood teams and partners, ensuring the development, review and harmonised utilisation of best practices for specific technical interventions;
- Support local partners under livelihoods projects in ensuring timely and quality implementation of the components under their responsibility. This includes supporting the Partnership Manager in partner assessments and establishing jointly agreed capacity building plans;
- In collaboration with Concern Finance and Support Systems management, capacitate Concern and key partner staff in donor requirements and compliance rules under specific contracts. Ensure that all livelihood staff are aware of and comply with Concern’s policies and procedures and any updates;
- Prepare the Livelihoods sector annual budget and participate in regular budget revisions. Oversee and support effective budgeting, expenditure tracking and other aspects of budget management of livelihoods projects in line with Concern financial procedures and donor requirements. As part of this, develop the capacity of project coordinators/managers;
- Liaising with the finance department, produce monthly expenditure forecasts and review monthly donor management accounts, providing explanations of variances as necessary and taking necessary follow-up action in a timely manner;
- Organise the effective and comprehensive start-up and close out of all projects according to Concern processes and donor guidelines;
- Collaborate with other Programme Coordinators and Advisors to ensure livelihoods projects are successfully rolled out with a collaborative approach – this is particularly essential for any integrated projects/programmes.
Human resource management and development:
- Line manage Livelihoods Project Coordinators and Managers and ensure they are appropriately managing their teams. Set clear performance objectives, provide regular feedback and conduct performance reviews (in line with Concern processes), holding staff accountable for meeting agreed success criteria;
- Design appropriate and effective mentoring, coaching and career development plans for members of the Livelihoods team to build their capacities. This includes liaising with HR to ensure an effective induction when new staff join Concern and regularly providing ongoing technical and managerial support as needed;
- With HR, lead in the recruitment process for Livelihoods project teams. This includes updating job descriptions as needed and periodically reviewing the livelihoods sector team staffing structure – with recommendations for any changes to the PD and HR;
- Ensure that work within the Livelihoods team(s) is planned and organised in a way which will meet the organisation’s needs in the most cost effective manner possible; ensuring that team members are given appropriate workloads and are working efficiently.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability and Learning:
- Conduct regular visits to programme locations to monitor implementation and quality, and coach and mentor staff and partners;
- Working with the Programme Quality & MEAL Coordinator and MEAL Coordinator, ensure that;
- all livelihoods projects have strong MEAL plans in place, in line with Concern policies and systems, using standard and approved tools, and that the MEAL plans are feasible;
- indicators set for projects are reflective of project aims and are realistic and measurable;
- evaluation and learning from monitoring is regularly shared with teams for improved performance;
- Review meetings (internal and external with partners, project stakeholders and programme participants) are conducted and learning used to adjust programming as necessary;
- Case stories and lessons learnt are captured and shared;
- Support partners to equally engage in effective MEAL planning and implementation;
- Fully incorporate Concern’s Accountability and CHS commitments in livelihood programming design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.
- Lead on producing internal and external livelihoods reports – donor reports, monthly and annual Concern reports, reports on Service Level Agreements for the Government – ensuring high quality and that reports reflect contributions from the whole team and partners.
- Ensure that Livelihoods project related documentation is continuously input and updated in Concern’s grants management system (GMS).
- In collaboration with the Accountability Supervisor, participate in the design and implementation of accountability and quality initiatives ensuring their integration into livelihoods projects. Ensure project teams take ownership of Concern’s Complaint and Response Mechanism (CRM).
Visibility and Representation
- Present Concern’s livelihoods work and related learning at national and international livelihoods-related fora as may be required (or support team members to do so where appropriate), thus contributing to Concern’s advocacy and public communications work;
- With the Programme Quality team within the MEAL Department, ensure that information products, programme briefs and capacity statements are produced and shared within Concern and with external partners and platforms;
- Represent Concern and maintain effective partnerships/relationships with key Sierra Leone government institutions (e.g. line ministries of Agriculture & Forestry, Environment, Social Welfare, Gender & Children’s Affairs, Youth Affairs, SUN Secretariat in the Office of the Vice President), UN agencies, NGOs and civil society organisations, private sector companies, and other relevant bodies;
- Promote joint planning and implementation of programme interventions with relevant government institutions and other actors to help achieve maximum sustainability;
- Initiate and develop new relevant partnerships with international and local NGOs and CBOs to strengthen the impact and scope of Livelihoods programme.
General:
- Ensure full adherence to and promote Concern’s Code of Conduct & Associated Policies (especially the Programme Participants’ Protection Policy and Child Safeguarding), Equality, Accountability commitments, Community Based Complaint & Response Mechanism, and Anti-Fraud Policy across the livelihoods programme and team;
- Promote and protect the reputation of Concern in external settings, ensuring that the organisation’s experience and expertise is well communicated and consistently presented, and that we are looked upon as a professional organisation, guided by policies and our Code of Conduct;
- As a humanitarian organisation, all staff are required to engage / support in emergency response work as may be necessary (training and other support will be provided as appropriate). Actively participate in the periodic updating of Concern in Sierra Leone’s Preparing for Effective Emergency Response (PEER) plan;
- Contribute to the ongoing reviews and updating of Concern in Sierra Leone’s Security Management Plan (SMP), the country strategic plan, and other Concern initiatives;
- Ensure the efficient and transparent use of all project resources in order to maximize the benefit to the targeted communities. Ensure adherence to Concern policies and procedures;
- Any other tasks as may be mutually agreed with the Programmes Director and /or the CD.
Your skills and experience will include:
Essential:
- Degree in agriculture or livelihoods related discipline or accepted equivalent professional experience;
- Minimum 5 years food security and climate smart livelihoods programming experience in developing country contexts, including at least 3 years at management level;
- Demonstrated experience in line management and building cohesive high performing teams;
- Experience of working with national partners and building their capacity;
- Skills and experience of liaising, networking, and advocating with senior Government officials and policy makers and senior representatives of other relevant institutions;
- Strong skills and experience of fund raising and donor grants management, monitoring of large programs, proven ability to report on impact/result of the program
- Demonstrable experience in project cycle management and MEAL techniques;
- Excellent English writing and verbal communication skills;
- Excellent computer skills, including Microsoft Office;
- Good team player, flexible and politically and culturally sensitive;
- Proven ability to work in calmly in high pressure environments;
- Ability to demonstrate initiative;
- Demonstrated strong commitment to addressing gender and other forms of inequality.
We also value the following special skills and aptitudes:
- High level of critical thinking and problem solving abilities;
- Experience in integrating environment and climate change adaptation, gender and equity, partnership, protection, disaster risk reduction, Common Humanitarian Standards (CHS) is an added advantage;
- Training of trainers and facilitation skills;
- Experience of managing consortia projects.
Apply: All applications should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by the closing date.
Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer posts before the closing date.
Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.