Project Coordinator – Livestock for Livelihoods UK NGO Jobs – Farm Africa

Job
Title:         
  Project
Coordinator – Livestock for Livelihoods

Organization: Farm
Africa

Duty Station: Moroto,
Karamoja, Uganda

Reports to: Chief
of Party L4L

About US:

Farm Africa, founded
in 1985, is an international non-governmental organization working in Uganda,
Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. We drive agricultural and environmental change to
improve lives. Our strategy has three pillars: agricultural expertise,
management and preservation of ecosystems, and the power of business to drive
prosperity. We believe Africa has the power to feed itself and are helping make
this happen by establishing and spreading the best farming and forestry
techniques so that poor farmers and herders have more food to feed their
families and to sell. We help smallholders manage their natural resources
sustainably so that they can withstand climate change challenges and shocks and
ensure their families have enough food in the future as well as now. Farm
Africa works in partnership with communities, government, local and
international organizations, and the private sector to innovate, learn and
share best practices for maximum impact of our projects.

About Project:

Farm Africa has the
ambition to be the leading European NGO specialising in Agriculture, Natural
Resource Management and Market Engagement. Farm Africa is mid-way through
delivering our £5m Livestock for Livelihoods (L4L) programme in Uganda’s
Karamoja sub-region and Ethiopia’s South Omo zone funded by the UK government
(UK Aid). Under this programme Farm Africa is working with local civil society,
SMEs, cooperatives and farmer organisations to develop market systems that
support livestock services and enterprises for 21,000 women, contributing to
women’s economic empowerment, reduced poverty and improved nutrition of women
and children. The project is addressing market failures in animal health and
breeding services to improve livestock productivity, building capacity and
assets of herders, establishing trade and enterprise opportunities and
improving household nutrition practices through behavioural change. It will
also demonstrate how nutrition interventions can build on women’s economic
empowerment to contribute to both increased income and improved household
nutrition.

Job Summary:  The Project Coordinator (PC) is a key role in
the senior management team in Uganda and is ultimately responsible for leading
L4L project implementation by Farm Africa and our partners in Uganda. The
project is being implemented across four districts of Karamoja sub-region
(Moroto, Napak, Kotido & Nakapiripirit). The PC will be required to manage
the planning, implementation, monitoring & reporting of all aspects of the
L4L project in Uganda through strong management and leadership of the project
delivery team. As part of this, the PC will play a lead role in internal and
external project reporting, financial management, partner management,
monitoring and evaluation of the project activities, outputs and impacts, and
ensuring that all stakeholders at the project area are fully engaged.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: 

To plan and manage
L4L implementation in Uganda in accordance with the programme’s agreed
objectives, work plans and budgets

Project
planning:

·        
In
consultation with the Programme Manager, Uganda (PM) and Chief of Party (CoP),
review and prepare the project’s work plan and budget as part of the quarterly
and annual planning process.

·        
Manage
monthly, quarterly and annual work plans for project activities and logistics,
identifying and responding to the implications of interdependencies between
different sub-project work stream activities.

·        
Ensure
all project staff and partners are clear on project plans and required
resources during planning.

Project
delivery, implementation and internal reporting:

·        
Ensure
that project activities are implemented and outputs achieved as planned, in an
organised manner, and within the agreed budget

·        
Ensure
the methodologies for each activity are clearly understood by the project team
and delivered according to Farm Africa Approaches.

·        
Review
progress regularly, submitting quarterly internal progress review reports
outlining progress, issues and actions being taken in the standard format.

·        
Proactively
identify and monitor any risks to non-delivery and, where required, develop and
implement action plans to address issues identified;

·        
Ensure
the timely submission of narrative and financial reports to the CoP to
facilitate compliance with donor reporting requirements indicated in the
financing agreement

·        
Spend a
high proportion of the time in the field visiting project activities to ensure
activities are on track and are in line with Farm Africa
Approaches/Methodologies

Financial
management and governance:

·        
Manage the
project within the agreed budget

·        
Work
with the Project Accountant & Administrator (PA&A) and PM to regularly
forecast budgets in line with any changes in implementation plans, and where
required, to reflect the changing financial context (e.g., inflation, exchange
rates)

·        
On a
monthly basis, review the budget monitoring report, and identify, analyse and
report back on the causes of spend variances to the budget and take action as
needed

·        
Implement
internal project financial controls, ensuring that financial management in the
project field office is in compliance with and exceeds the basic standards
contained in the Farm Africa finance procedures manual

·        
Ensure
that all procurement of goods and services is carried out in line with Farm
Africa’ procurement procedures and also follows the terms and conditions
stipulated in the financing agreement.

·        
Work
with the PM, Finance & Administration Manager (FAM) and wider Farm Africa
finance team to monitor financial risks, developing and implementing mitigation
actions as needed

·        
Monitoring
and evaluation of the project’s outcomes and impact

·        
Work
closely with the M&E Knowledge Management Specialist and CoP to contribute
lessons learned, ensure dissemination and maintain dialogue on key project
findings

·        
Ensure
the project’s log-frame and data collection plans are regularly reviewed and
refreshed, and the project is collecting the breadth of indicators required at
a frequency and timing in line with reporting purposes

·        
Lead the
project’s annual self-assessment process, and mid-year review process, ensuring
that necessary evidence is collected and all staff are actively inputting into
the process

·        
Ensure
that the project is regularly conducting beneficiary surveys, collecting other
data through relevant sources, developing case studies and collating photos

·        
Oversee
mid-term, final evaluation and other external evaluations, ensuring that
learning and recommendations from those evaluations are explicitly incorporated
into the project’s future implementation activity

Support the
contract management for the project, ensuring that donor reports are of a high
standard and that delivery is in line with contractual requirements

·        
Support
annual PPR reflection processes to assess any adjustments needed to budget
allocations for the project

·        
Ensure
timely narrative and financial reporting from the region is secured, in good
time for collation by the CoP and submission to the donor

·        
Proactively
identify any required changes to donor-agreed regional work plans, objectives
and/or budgets, working with the CoP and PM to agree and implement any
necessary contract revisions or renegotiations

·        
Ensure
compliance with donor procurement and other contractual requirements

·        
Support
management and oversee the quality of donor visits to the region

Leadership and
management of a project team of 11 staff

·        
Working
with the Country Office team and PM, lead on the recruitment of new staff to the
project team

·        
Hold (at
least) monthly staff meetings and send minutes and key action points to
partners and any relevant stakeholders

·        
Provide
leadership and motivation to all project staff building values-based team
working and individual staff skills relevant to the project.

·        
Regularly
provide both informal and formal coaching and feedback to all project staff

·        
Effectively
and promptly deal with any poor performance and actively recognise and
encourage strong performance

·        
Actively
seek feedback on own performance and effectiveness from both country leadership
as well as own project staff.

·        
Hold
in-person supervision sessions with all line-managed staff at least once per
quarter (to discuss progress against their personal development objectives and work
targets) and carry out in-person annual appraisals with all line-managed staff

Manage and nurture
mutually beneficial partnerships with stakeholders

·        
Proactively
identify and raise with the PM and CoP any project-related delivery risks, and
work with project partner staff to implement action plans to resolve identified
issues

·        
Act as a
regional level ambassador, promoting the project, including hosting visitors,
speaking at workshops and conferences, and meeting donors and other officials
when required

·        
Provide
formal representation of the project at regional level with respect to key
signatory government parties; ensure periodic reports are submitted to them on
a timely basis

·        
Convene
quarterly project meetings, involving representatives from all stakeholder
groups

·        
Support
organisation of external events, forums and conferences to share project
lessons and experiences

Play an active role
as a member of the Farm Africa Country team

·        
Contribute
to the development and implementation of Farm Africa’s strategy

·        
Identify
and explore opportunities to grow and expand the country project pipeline, both
in relation to the current project or related to new project opportunities

·        
Work
with the Country Director and the Programme Design Team to prepare funding
proposals where requested, ensuring that any lessons learned during
implementation are documented and built into future project design

·        
Participate
in country-level or pan-Farm Africa programme meetings with other project
coordinators, as reasonably requested

Qualifications, Skills and Experience: 

·        
The
ideal candidate for the Farm Africa Project Coordinator – Livestock for
Livelihoods job placement must hold a Post graduate degree or equivalent in
Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Pastoral Development, Rural
Livelihoods or other relevant field

·        
Detailed
understanding of the livestock and pastoralism sector in Uganda, in particular
with relation to small ruminants

·        
Detailed
understanding of market-based approaches to development and particularly
approaches which encourage greater participation of women

·        
Significant
experience in a project manager/coordinator role (or equivalent) in an INGO or
agri-business

·        
Experience
of implementing gender-focused or gender mainstreaming activities on a
multidisciplinary project.

·        
Experience
of operationalising project plans for complex programmes with multiple partners
and external stakeholders

·        
Experience
in financial management, including managing a budget of at least UGX 1.5bn p/a

·        
Experience
of budget monitoring, identifying spend variances and planning corrective
action where under/over spends are identified

·        
Experience
of internal and external reporting, including organising or overseeing ongoing
data collection by project delivery teams.

·        
Experience
of leading or overseeing procurement of consultancy services – including
drafting Terms of Reference documents and taking part in the technical review
of bids received.

·        
Experience
of leading a diverse team and supporting them to deliver a range of field-based
activities.

·        
Experience
of performance management including capacity building staff as required, and
appropriately addressing performance issues where necessary.

·        
Excellent
professional network within Karamoja, in particular with DLG and INGO teams
engaged in similar fields of work.

·        
Excellent
written and oral communication and presentation skills with the ability to work
with both Government and Private Sector stakeholders

·        
Ability
and willingness to travel widely and frequently both within and outside the
Karamoja sub-region

·        
Fluent
written and spoken English

·        
Adept in
Microsoft Windows including Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint

Desirable:

·        
Further
relevant academic qualification in the area of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural
Development, Pastoral Development, Rural Livelihoods or other relevant field

·        
Knowledge
and understanding of Social & Behaviour Change (SBC) approaches

·        
Knowledge
and understanding of eco-system management, ideally in a rangeland//fodder
management context.

·        
Experience
of leading projects delivering change using a market-systems approach

·        
Experience
as senior manager working within a pastoralist systems context

·        
Experience
of working in Karamoja

·        
Experience
of working as part of a consortia on a complex development programme

·        
Fluency
in Karamojong

How to Apply:

All candidates should
send an updated CV, salary history, and a two-page supporting statement
detailing how you meet the person specification to
ugandarecruitment@farmafrica.org including ‘Project Coordinator- L4L Project ’
in the subject line.

Please DO NOT send
additional documents such as certificates and references with your application.
Successful candidates ONLY will be required to provide these documents during
the referencing process.

First round
interviews will take place w/c 23rd September 2019 at Farm Africa’s country
office in Kampala. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Deadline: Tuesday 17th September, 2019 by 5.00pm EAT

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