POSITION TITLE: Program Coordinator
COUNTRY PROGRAM: Liberia
RESPONSIBLE TO: Country Director
STATUS: Full Time Temporary
SUPERVISORY CAPACITY: Surveillance/M&E Officer
DATE: February 2015
COUNTRY PROGRAM
ARC re-started operations in Liberia in 2014 based on a request from OFDA to provide clinical services and manage/maintain an Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) located in Fishtown River Gee County. Previously, ARC had worked in Liberia during the civil crisis with a focus on refugees and internally displaced persons.
ARC re-started operations in Liberia in 2014 based on a request from OFDA to provide clinical services and manage/maintain an Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) located in Fishtown River Gee County. Previously, ARC had worked in Liberia during the civil crisis with a focus on refugees and internally displaced persons.
ARC’s Ebola Response is very specific. OFDA’s support is specifically for the ETU and in River Gee. In the beginning it was expected that there would be so many EVD cases that there would be no opportunity or capacity to do any other development work. This has not turned out to be the case. There are few cases in the country and no cases in River Gee for well over 100 days. So now ARC can extend its framework of operations.
At the same time, ARC is obligated to maintain the capacity to provide clinical services and manage the ETU. Consequently, ARC will have two elements to its program a) the ETU and b) the programs that are “outside” of the ETU. The Program Coordinator will be responsible for the management of the programs that are “outside” of the ETU.
The main component of the ARC component is the ETU. Technically all medical and WASH staff are present for the operations of the ETU. Programs “outside of the ETU” are possible when there are no cases. As soon as there is a case all staff will immediately start work in the ETU. Thus all the medical and WASH staff are directly managed by the Medical Director.
Thus the post of Program Coordinator has been created for two main reasons - to strengthen the development programs in this extended framework with an initial focus on Health, WASH and Livelihoods; and to manage the programs that are “outside of the ETU”.
PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE POSITION
The Program Coordinator will work in equal partnership with the Medical Director and the Operations Manager to ensure that there is seamless work among the three functional areas. Consultation between the three positions will be required to address issues that are cross-cutting across two or three functional areas.
The Program Coordinator will work in equal partnership with the Medical Director and the Operations Manager to ensure that there is seamless work among the three functional areas. Consultation between the three positions will be required to address issues that are cross-cutting across two or three functional areas.
The Program Coordinator (PC) will be responsible for the successful implementation and development of the ARC program (except for the ETU component). S/he will lead in the process of developing new programs and funding opportunities from the perspective of the field based in River Gee County. S/he will be responsible for ensuring that activities achieve program objectives and that the monitoring, quality assurance and reporting systems are working optimally. All this will be done within ARC policies and donor policies and requirements.
The Program Coordinator will work with the Country Director to strengthen the program development, strategies, program quality, partnerships, and accountability.
The Program Coordinator will report directly to the Country Director.
MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES
Program Development
- In collaboration with the Country Director and the Sr. Manager of Program Development and Quality, explore new funding opportunities to ensure long-term sustainability of programs
- Lead in the design, implementation and reporting of assessments; as part of the research and design of potential projects
- Draft concept notes and project funding proposals
- Work with the Country Director on program strategy, partnerships, program quality and accountability
- Keep up to date with the current situation in the targeted sectors
- In collaboration with the Country Director, develop alliances at the technical level on issues of particular importance to ARC programming
- Identify potential project areas
Program Implementation
- Plan and coordinate the implementation of all ARC Liberia projects to be in-line with approved budgets, donor requirements and program deliverables and timelines
- Assist the project staff to develop regular work plans, reports, and budget forecasts and spending plans
- Provide technical supervision of all the ARC projects
- Oversee the implementation of a monitoring and evaluation plan for all the projects, in line with the ARC global results framework and donor guidelines. This system should ensure that activity, impact and output data is captured in an accurate and efficient manner, and that programs are continually tailored to optimize quality and impact levels.
- Collaborate closely with the Medical Director on all aspects of the health sector activities, especially with regard to medical staff work plans and accountability.
- Collaborate with the Operations Manager on operational planning
- Provide weekly and monthly reports on activities according to the work plan
- Provide program data for the OFDA quarterly reports
- Together with the Medical Director and Operations Manager maintain good working relationship and collaboration with the local authorities, government service providers and NGOs
- Help build a strong team spirit and take every opportunity to help staff grow professionally
- Any other duties as necessary
EDUCATION, TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED
- At least 5 years’ experience (ideally in sub-Saharan Africa), in relief/development work with senior management and supervisory responsibilities
- Master’s degree in one of the following – public health, water& sanitation, education, social services
- Previous experience with implementing programs funded by USAID, DfiD and/or UN
- Experience in grants management as well as strong understanding of donor regulations.
- Demonstrated experience and skills with full-cycle proposal development, program implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and budgetary development and monitoring.
- History of working effectively and respectfully with host country government, INGO and NGO partners
- Excellent analytical and strategic thinking skills and ability to develop short and long-term plans and strategies are required.
- A high professional standard of finance and procurement ethics as well as the willingness and ability to enforce compliance with ARC and donor policies and procedures is essential.
- Knowledge of best practices in project design, implementation of qualitative and quantitative assessments in community settings.
- Experience supervising large national and expatriate staff, starting up programs and working in difficult environments. Knowledge and understanding of best practice monitoring and evaluation systems and procedures.
- Excellent writing and analytical skills.
- Excellent MS Office skills including Word, Excel and Access database.
- Excellent spoken and written English.
HOW TO APPLY:
