INTERNAL/EXTERNAL VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Project Manager
CARE Ethiopia’s mission is to work with poor women and men, boys and girls, communities and institutions, to have a significant impact on the underlying causes of poverty in Ethiopia.
Date: October 31, 2017
Vacancy No: 130/17
Place of Work: Hawassa, or Addis Ababa with extensive field travel (TBD)
Closing Date: 10 days from the announcement
Number of vacant posts: 1 (One)
Term of employment: Regular
Contract duration: 9 months
Duty starting date: Immediately
OBJECTIVE: The Project Manager will provide oversight and management to life skills training activities funded by the Gap Foundation and implemented in coordination with the USAID-funded Livelihoods for Resilience Activity. The Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (PACE) curriculum provides life skills training to women who are members of village economic and social associations (VESAs), with the goal of building their agency, self-confidence, and economic empowerment. During the 9-month pilot phase in Sidama Zone of SNNPR, the focus of implementation will be on learning—how well can the PACE curriculum be adapted to rural Ethiopian women? Can it be used effectively within the VESA context? It is useful in preparing women for business and potentially employment? The Project Manager will oversee a team of Life Skills Trainers who will facilitate discussions and trainings within VESAs in order to build women’s capacity as well as to generate data to answer these key learning questions.
The purpose of the Project Manager position is to provide overall leadership, coordination and supervision of PACE activity interventions and staff. S/he ensures CARE’s project implementation; monitoring, evaluation guidelines and plans are followed to effectively contribute to the achievement of project results and CARE's strategic objectives to address underlying causes of poverty and food insecurity. The Project Manager also establishes and maintains effective working relationships with government and non-government partners working in the Woreda.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS:
Project Implementation
· Provide overall leadership, coordination and supervision of PACE Activity interventions and staff;
· Organize the implementation process of all set targets planned for the PACE Activity with respective supervisors and staff;
· Ensure that all staff have updated monthly and quarterly implementation plans;
· Regularly visit field activities and provide formal and informal feedback to the project staff in terms of adequate and inadequate progress as well as recommendations for improved performance;
· Ensure that targeting of women for life skills training is done in participatory manner;
· Build the capacity of project staff and its partners in technical issues pertinent to the sector;
· Coordinate with the Livelihoods for Resilience Activity LDM unit to inform project planning and monitoring as required;
· Continuously assess project’s context, assumptions and changes in the working environment to ensure that the project focus, strategies and activities remain relevant and to proposed adjustments when needed.
Planning of PACE Activities
· Facilitate the preparation of the project plan together with other project staff;
· Share draft plans with project management team, staff and partners involved in the implementation and incorporate their input into the plan;
· Work with Life Skills Trainers to plan activities on a quarterly and weekly basis;
· Ensure that gender issues are properly addressed during the process of the project planning and implementation;
· Communicate with the Livelihoods for Resilience team and the Gap on any issues that arise.
· Based on past accomplishments and achievements, adjust project targets, strategies, resources and delegation of responsibilities to ensure appropriate progress toward project objectives;
Staff Supervision, Coaching and Capacity Building:
· Supervise and oversee Life Skills Trainers as they provide training and facilitate group discussions within VESAs on the following topics, as per the PACE curriculum:
· Together with the project staff and partners, set project quality standards and action steps and monitor the performance accordingly;
· Provide refresher training to Life Skills Trainers as needed
· Provide technical backup along with close coaching and mentoring support, to enable Life Skills Trainers to work effectively in the two implementation woredas;
· Support the development of high performing teams at the woreda and ensure that appropriate procedures and policies are followed;
· Conduct performance review and appraisal of the employees under his/her supervision according to CARE’s policy;
· Enforce the sexual harassment policy and the gender and diversity policy within the PACE Activity.
Monitoring, reporting and learning
· In consultation with Livelihoods for Resilience LDM unit and the PACE M&E Specialist, organizes a monitoring system to collect baseline and periodic data for tracking project performance and decision making;
· Plan and conduct quarterly project review meetings to assess progress, adjust plans, and draw/disseminate lessons learned;
· Collect monthly and quarterly performance reports from the Life Skills Trainers;
· Together with the M&E Specialist, check and confirm the correctness of the reported activities;
· Prepare the monthly and quarterly reports and submit them to the Livelihoods for Resilience Activity leadership and, if requested, to Gap. The report should include the detailed descriptions, challenges, problems faced and lessons learned in the reporting period.
· Ensure that information to monitor project progress and organizational performance, including M&E data are collected and used for organizational learning, decision making, reporting, and for promoting innovations.
Project Budget Management
· In collaboration with finance staff prepares annual budget based on project proposal and ensures compliance with donor requirements;
· Ensures appropriate utilization of fund codes for charging budget expenditures;
· Monitor monthly budget burn rates and make adjustment when needed;
· Ensure timely financial reporting is done and shared with the HO finance;
Networking, Learning and Representation
· Keep up to date with developments in the project, including best practice examples in-country and internationally, and ensure ongoing personal development and learning;
· Liaise with key private sector stakeholders, such as tenants from the Hawassa Industrial Park, to understand needs and priorities of employers;
· Establishe and maintain formal and informal communication mechanisms with private sector, community partners and other stakeholders as relevant;
· Make formal presentations to the counterparts about project progress, challenges, lessons learned and needed adjustments.
QUALIFICATIONS (KNOW HOW)
A) EDUCATION/TRAINING
Required:
· B.A. degree in Economics, Business Administration, Sociology, Gender, or other related field.
Desired
· Master’s degree in Economics, Business Administration, Sociology, Gender, or other related field.
B) EXPERIENCE:
· Five years experience in community participatory project implementation or related activities.