Project Support Officer The Gambia

Job Title: Projects Support Officer

Reporting to: Country Director

Location: Based in Fajara, The Gambia, with travel to Senegal and Guinea Bissau

Rationale: The purpose of this semi-volunteer post is to support the Country Director and team to ensure that The Gambia and Senegal country programme is adequately funded & positive donor relations are maintained. This is a pivotal position providing the right candidate with the opportunity to gain solid experience and to learn with an International NGO.

Start Date: As Soon As Possible

Concern Universal helps communities around the world find practical, long term solutions to poverty. Our vision is a world where justice, dignity and respect prevail for all. We work in partnership to challenge poverty and inequality, supporting practical actions that enable people to improve their lives and to shape their futures. Concern Universal is a registered charity, based in the UK.

In the Gambia & Senegal, Concern Universal works towards a goal of ‘sustainable & dignified lives’, particularly for farmers in rural areas and with a desire to expand into neighbouring Guinea Bissau; and including a focus on peace-building in the Casamance area of southern Senegal. Programme areas include sustainable livelihoods for ‘stepping up’ & out of poverty (farmer training, low-cost irrigation technologies, development of market linkages); Resilience (disaster risk reduction, nutrition); community and partner capacity building (CSOs/NGOs Organisational development, governance, advocacy & rights). This work is implemented in close collaboration with approximately 15 established local NGOs as well as business and government partners.

An impact report conducted by Concern Universal in 2012 identified that as a result of our livelihoods programmes in the Gambia since 2004, 13,000 households (and specifically led by women and youth members) took on horticulture production as a result of our interventions. An annual increase in income of US$2.4million (spread across the 13,000 households) can be attributed to the work of CU and our partners. As well as highlighting the significant successes of our work, the impact review also identified areas where we need to do better to secure sustainable livelihood improvements.

Concern Universal’s programme in The Gambia and Senegal is funded by multiple donors, including USAID, DFID, Gates Foundation, AGRA, UMCOR, the EU, Oxfam America and ECOWAS. The majority of the programme funding is project-related with limited untied core resources. It is therefore imperative that a continuous funding base is secured every year, while ensuring compliance with current project grant contracts. Maintaining funding and income security of Concern Universal to match the scale, scope and timings of programme development is a key organisational challenge and at present there is a need for the country programme to continue to grow in order to be financially sustainable and to fulfil our 2014-2019 strategic plan. Under the supervision of the Country Director, the post holder will spend a considerable amount of time on grant management support and will maintain the Project Status Summary Report (PSSR) and internal reporting with the UK Office. The post holder is also required to support the Country Director to coordinate, contribute to and submit project proposals, maintain positive donor relations, identify funding opportunities and maintain the funding opportunity tracker & donor databases.

With a primary focus on The Gambia and Senegal programme, the post holder will also liaise with other Concern Universal Country Programmes, for instance in the development of joint proposals or sharing details of funding opportunities. The post holder will maintain close links with the UK Office to ensure effective coordination of donor correspondence.

The ‘country program’ covers 3 countries and is managed through a main office in Banjul where the PSO is based along with a Finance & Administration Manager, Program Coordinator and most of the local administrative and project management team. In addition a sub office is located in Dakar where the Country Director is based since 2015 and a sub office in Bignona in southern Senegal where 6 staff form a USAID project team. The PSO will travel regulalry between the Banjul and sub offices in Dakar and Bignona in Senegal and also to partners in rural locations when required. Occasional visits are made to Bissau, Guinea Bissau as required for program development. The PSO is a member of the Senior Coordination Team (SCT) that meets fortnightly (via skype) and the PSO takes the role of secretary to these meetings and leads on project pipeline and project reporting updates.

Objectives

1. To ensure timely reporting and communication on donor contracts and internal monthly reporting within CU;
2. To lead on building an institutional real-time knowledge of donors and various funding opportunities relevant to the needs of the programme;
3. To lead in developing funding strategies for the various thematic and strategic areas requiring funding within the programme;
4. To work with project managers, partners and the finance manager in preparing and submitting proposals in line with the specific funding strategies.
5. To ensure that co-funding gaps are closed.

Responsibilities:

1. To communicate and coordinate work relating to donor funding within The Gambia and Senegal programme (including current development of cross border work in Guinea Bissau).
2. To advise and when necessary support project managers on donor guidelines and contractual obligations, particularly on reporting, co-funding, procurement and visibility requirements & work with the Programme Coordinator to ensure a coordinated approach to donor grant management.
3. Support to ensure timely narrative and financial reporting to donors in collaboration with Project managers, Finance manager and Country Director
4. Coordinate building an institutional real-time knowledge of donors and various funding opportunities relevant to the needs of the programme; and provide project managers with access to and support on donor funding guidelines and application processes – leading on proposal development where necessary.
5. To ensure that the submission of proposal submissions for all projects is coordinated with the relevant staff at project specific levels and with the Country Director as appropriate, including development of proposal budgets.
6. Develop clear and deliverable short (1 yr) and long-term (3-5yr) funding strategies for each project/programme area primarily with Project Managers and Partners under the supervision and drive of the Senior Finance Manager and Country Director;
7. Assist the Country Director in building donor relations and in attending meetings with donors as appropriate and required, and maintaining timely communication with donors in conjunction with Project Managers and Country Director
8. Produce communications, including brochures, social media and website contents, as necessary.
9. Co-ordination and maintenance of the Monthly Project Status Summary Report (PSSR) & act as a key point of contact with the UK office in relation to the PSSR.
10. Communicate wider non-Gambia/Senegal specific funding opportunities to other CU country programmes where appropriate;
11. To build the capacity of other CU staff in proposal writing, project reporting and profile documentation.
12. To support partners in development of proposals, donor linkages and grant management.
13. To contribute to organisational management decisions
14. Other tasks as agreed with the Country Director.

Personal Profile

The ideal candidate is a well-organised, motivated and methodical person with work experience and good understanding of donor relations, contracts and proposal development, excellent writing/communication skills, capable to carry out work with limited supervision and interested in consolidating his/her work experience in institutional fundraising and grant management support. The applicant should ideally be committed to a two year (24 month) posting that will be challenging but also rewarding with a diverse range of responsibilities and experience possible.

Essential qualifications

1. Fluent written and spoken English
2. Excellent report writing skills
3. Faultless attention to detail
4. Good interpersonal skills with a patient, flexible & responsive disposition
5. Two - three years relevant work experience
6. Degree level qualification in Development oriented field or other relevant subject and/or equivalent academic capacity
7. Understanding (and experience desirable) of working with donors
8. Solid Planning and Organisational skills
9. Ability to work proactively, under own initiative with minimal supervision
10. Ability to work to tight deadlines and multiple priorities in a demanding environment
11. Strong computer skills: Excel, Word and Outlook
12. Commitment to humanitarian values and capability to adapt to the local work environment and constraints.

Desirable qualifications

1. Proven experience in proposal writing and understanding of project budgets
2. Proven experience in grant and contract administration – experience with USAID grant management an advantage
3. An understanding of co-funding mechanisms in relation to Institutional Donors.
4. Familiarity with large international donor contractual requirements
5. Experience of budgeting and financial management
6. French (or Portuguese) written and spoken language skills an added advantage.
7. Interest/experience in communications (brochures, social media, website content etc)

Terms & Conditions

This is an unaccompanied position providing the right candidate with a significant opportunity to gain solid overseas experience and increasing responsibilities within an international NGO.

Benefits include: Grade 1a salary (£5,000 per year); local living allowance (paid in local currency, currently GMD30,000pcm (c. GBP475pcm), medical, emergency and travel insurance, accommodation and an annual return flight to country of origin.

HOW TO APPLY:

Application Process

To apply for this position, candidates must submit a completed Application Form toapplications@concern-universal.org by 28 April 2016.

Please visit www.concern-universal.org to download the Application Form. If you have difficulty accessing it, then contact us at the above e-mail address. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to initial telephone interviews w/c 2nd May. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.