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Job Title:  Project Officer

Organisation: Solidaridad

Duty Station:   Uganda

Reports to: Project Manager

About US:

The Solidaridad Network is an international civil society organisation founded in 1969. Its main objective is facilitating the development of socially responsible, ecologically sound and profitable supply chains. It operates through nine regional expertise centers in over 50 countries. We envision a world in which all we produce, and all we consume, can sustain us while respecting the planet, each other and the next generations. Our mission is to bring together supply chain players and engage them with innovative solutions to improve production, ensuring the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy that maximizes the benefit for all stakeholders.

Job Summary:  The Scaling Investments for Resilience of East Africa Coffee Producers programme (“PfC Coffee”) aims to transform the East African coffee sector to have an inclusive, resilient and economically viable coffee production that moves from slow and small to speed and scale. This transformation will ensure improved coffee productivity, food availability and dietary diversity among the coffee-growing households. The transformation will be achieved through application of good practices, cost-effective infrastructure, ICT and other innovations. The position entails working with small and medium-scale coffee farmers through different interventions as designed in the project. The overall objective of the position is to contribute to the improvement of the farmer’s livelihoods through better incomes realized from an improvement of their Coffee quality and quantity while preserving the environment.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Project Planning

• Support the preparation of project work plans, budget, and time schedules for implementing the project activities.
• Support the identification and planning of technical activities and requirements to implement the project as per organisational standards.

Project Implementation Follow-up

• Coordinate and implement day to day project activities with beneficiaries and partners in field ensuring that technical quality and standards are considered and respected during project(s) implementation.
• Ensure project activities are on time, target and budget, using effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems to reach desired impacts.
• Assist the Project Manager to trouble-shoot any project challenges during project implementation.
• Provide regular and timely updates on progress and challenges to the Project Manager and other team members.

Beneficiary Engagement and Accountability

• Adhere to Solidaridad’s Code of Conduct and treat all beneficiaries with respect and without any distinction or discrimination based on nationality, race, ethnicity, tribe, gender, religious beliefs, political opinion or disability.
• Support the selection of beneficiaries benefiting from the project activities.
• Communicate Solidaridad’s Complaints and Response Mechanism target communities and participate in solving complaints related to the project in coordination with the Project Manager.
• Keep records of all the project activity documents, in particular beneficiary list, completion certificates, attendance sheets etc.
• Help maintain a beneficiary master database containing all beneficiary registration and baseline information, as well as the project activities from which the beneficiaries benefitted ensure the data is protected from misuse in line with Solidaridad’s data protection policy.

Internal and External Coordination

• Participate in project coordination meetings with the project team.
• Develop project communication materials for internal coordination.
• Ensure that project field staff understand and are able to perform their roles and responsibilities.
• Follow-up the work plans and day-to-day activities of the project field staff.
• Ensure a positive working environment and good team dynamics among project team members.
• Undertake communication and liaison activities to actively consult and involve beneficiaries, key informants, actors, partners and stakeholders in all stages of project design and implementation.
• Cultivate good relations with key actors – local, regional and international, including government authorities and non-government organization actors, through regular attendance at technical meetings and bilateral meetings.
• Identify opportunities to collaborate and coordinate efforts with other organizations to ensure our activities build upon – rather than replicate – the work of others.

Partner Management

• Provide support to partners in project implementation and ensure timely and qualitative implementation of projects by partners in line with Solidaridad’s and donor requirements.
• Participate in review meetings with partners, with particular attention given to the relationship aspects of partnership collaboration, and ensure that any issues or disputes are resolved in a timely manner.

Logistics and Security

• Contribute to the development of project plans (e.g. procurement, logistics etc.), when assigned.
• Send accurate and precise order forms in a timely manner to the quality function team.
• Ensure proper management and use of the project assets and stocks.
• Plan field team movements based on available fleet and applicable policies.
• Ensure that each member of the project field team is aware of security issues, policies, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and they follow them accordingly.

Finance and Quality Control

• Forecast monthly cash requirements for the month’s project activities and submit to the Project Manager.
• Assess the project activities undertaken and ensure efficient use of resources.
• Undertake regular field visits to provide technical guidance and supervision, as well as regularly monitor the progress of the project activities.
• Assist with monitoring project activities implemented by field staff and partners (if any).
• Document lessons learned and best practices and share them with the Project Manager and the Regional Communications Officer, so they can be reflected in project planning, communication materials and decision making.

Grant Management

• Ensure adherence to donor procedures.
• Support the Project Manager in the preparation of progress and final reports, ensuring the quality and accuracy of technical information for activities.
• Participate in communication activities through the regular collection of pictures and stories related to project activities.
• Participate in business development processes through the provision of expert programmatic advice related to contextual knowledge.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• Relevant academic level education- Undergraduate degree or higher – in relevant field (e.g. Agriculture, Public Policy, Development Studies, Social Science, Project Management, Strategic Management etc.).
• At least three (3) years’ experience working with projects (Coffee) funded by international agencies or development partners.
• Demonstrable experience in project design, planning and implementation.
• Experience with proposal writing and technical report writing.
• Experience in designing and facilitating workshops and seminars would be desirable.
• Ability to work independently and as a member of a team to implement projects and local partners to effectively meet project needs.
• Ability to work effectively with governmental and non-governmental organizations and local communities in carrying out project objectives.
• Excellent reporting skills and ability to relate sensitively to diverse groups.
• Self-driven and able to deliver results with minimum supervision.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills (in English and Swahili).
• Excellent critical, creative thinking and analytical skills.
• Experience in program administration, operating procedures, oversight and monitoring.
• Ability to work with database applications.
• Knowledge of project funding procedures and guidelines.
• Ability to work in diverse situations.

How to Apply:

All interested and qualified candidates should send their one-page cover letter (including salary expectations and availability) and CVs to:

Email: hr.eca@solidaridadnetwork.org

Subject: “Project Officer Uganda

The CVs will be evaluated as they are received. Only successful candidates will be contacted.

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