Assistant Program Officer

Context

JRS is an organization of the Catholic Church, in particular of the Society of Jesus and is a collaborative venture between the laity and the religious. The Jesuit Refugee Service is involved in a service to refugees, IDPs and other forcibly displaced persons, through personal presence. The service that JRS offers is direct and human, and often exposed to the sufferings and limitations of refugee life. This can involve arduous physical conditions, work under stress and limited resources. Through our presence we help sustain the values of human solidarity and hope in people who have faced the realities of displacement occasioned by disasters (be they natural or man-made), disastrous inequalities in political, economic, ethnic, social and other spheres of life, hatred and despair.

To do its work, JRS seeks to recruit those who can offer service under such difficult conditions, work in a collaborative and transparent manner, commit themselves to train others in whatever competencies they possess, and live a lifestyle that reflects a commitment to address issues of injustice.

General Purpose of the Position

The Assistant Program Officer works in close collaboration with the Program Officer. The Assistant Program Officer based in Kibondo, Tanzania, will coordinate and support the implementation of all aspects of programming in the Country. He/she will be responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating the national program in consultation with the Country Director. He/she will also be responsible to develop and strengthen the needs assessment as part of the multi-year strategies, seek new funding opportunities, objectively assess the quality of the projects and for implementing a specific program for refugees. The Assistant Program Officer will build positive and effective relationships with key partners in order to promote the goals of JRS Tanzania.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Development and the reinforcement of needs assessment process

Following the guidance of the Program Officer,

• Leading and update planification for all project in Tanzania
• Elaborate high quality donors report and maintain good communication.
• Organize and manage the needs assessment process by theme, population and/or territory (multi-sectoral approach) and propose innovative initiatives to the Country Director.
• Feed into strategic thinking on the programming of future projects.
• Strengthen the consistency and quality between the on-going projects by proposing innovative or more relevant activities.
• Formalize and synthesize the needs assessment into internal concept notes (Guidance Notes).

Search for new funding opportunities.

In close collaboration with the Country Director,

• Update the “database” of donors and partners.
• Establish a strategic watch on call for project opportunities.
• Support the development of a methodology for emergency planning in order to respond effectively to the challenges of the Country Office.
• Support the development of the national plan of operations and annual planning by ensuring alignment with the Regional and Global strategic plan of JRS.
• Actively seek funding opportunities for current and future projects: have a good knowledge of JRS operations and the humanitarian context.
• In collaboration with the Country Director, maintain good relations with humanitarian actors at the local level and with donors, have a good knowledge of their strategies.
• Participate in thematic, strategic and programmatic meetings related to the development of future projects with the Country Director.
• Carry out an analysis of the main donors and regularly update the “mapping” to be provided to the Country Director.
• Collaborate with the Regional Office and the Program Officer at the level of the International Office on major programming challenges.
• Produce concept notes and proposals, including budgets, for new projects in collaboration with the Country Director and the field team.

With the authorization of the Country Director,

• Participate to the negotiation of new funding contracts.
• Act as a point of contact with JRS Tanzania funding partners.
• Maintain good relationship with JRS partners and other stakeholders (UNHCR, donors, church organizations).

Project Evaluation and Reporting

• Conduct regular evaluation of ongoing projects either within the framework of contractual requirements or based on specific needs or events.
• Guide the work of the field teams through detailed reports with a special focus on monthly report for activities.
• Support and validate the orientation of budget preparation, review of project expenditures, in close collaboration with the Assistant Finance Officer and Human Resources team.
• Support and validate the quality of narrative reports and, in collaboration with the Assistant Finance Officer, financial reporting according to contractual conditions.
• Support and validate the quality of the narrative reports and budget follow-ups produced by the Project Director (who is responsible for their preparation) according to the contractual conditions, in particular with regard to the requirements of the donors, format and deadlines.

Program Monitoring

• Support the Project Director in his function in technical related matters to ensure compliance with donors, under supervision of the Program Officer.
• Regularly train the field team in project management and coordinate with filed staff to promote quality of MoVs according to proposal.
• Ensure the follow-up of project activities and strict respect of chronogram.
• Coordinate and validate the monthly activity plan and monthly report, in line with current projects.
• Monitor cash flow for projects, in collaboration with the Assistant Finance Officer, and ensure that they comply with donor regulations.
• Ensure expenditure is correctly allocated to the different donors and budget categories or lines.
• Ensure salary mapping and operational costs mapping are respectively respected.
• In collaboration with the Assistant Finance Officer, coordinate preparations of monthly budget previsions and monthly financial reports.
• Advise and guide the work of the Project Director in technical issues regarding implementation, such as strictly respecting approved chronograms.
• Monitor the logistic operations and its adherence to the JRS logistics policy, participating in tender attribution committees and reviewing logistic documents.

Quality Assurance

• Analyze and strengthen the capacities of the Project Director and the staff in the projects.
• Formalize capacity building avenues for field teams based on identified skills gaps.
• Review quality of ToRs and adherence to narrative and financial proposals of projects, proposing innovative actions and ensuring activities will be well monitored and evaluated.
• In consultation with the Program Officer, approval of ToRs for activities.
• Liaise with the Regional Office, in particular with the finance and compliance department.
• Conduct regular field visits to ensure implementation is done according to the activities´ ToR.
• Participate in the recruitment process of program and project staff ensuring quality throughout the process and adherence to JRS policies and procedures.
• Ensure the logistic procedures are respected and contribute to the quality and timely implementation of activities.

Supervision:

The Assistant Program Officer is under the supervision of the Country Program Officer and provides him with a report.

PROFILE SOUGHT

Training:

• Have a minimum university degree of BAC+4 in the chosen field of intervention (Sociology, Management and Project Management or other field of social sciences…).
• Masters related to project management, monitoring and evaluation or other related fields will be an asset.

Knowledge & Experience:

• Practical experience in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of emergency or development programs/projects.
• A minimum of three (3) years of professional experience in program management and/or operational research in a recognized humanitarian NGO or UN agency.
• Experience in project monitoring and evaluation, proposal preparation and budgeting and narrative and financial reporting.
• Very good knowledge of common application of Word, Excel, Pack Office, Outlook, MS Project.

Core Competencies

• Results-based program development and management

He/she contributes to the achievement of results through basic research, analysis and effective monitoring of project implementation. His analytical skills allow him/her to identify opportunities for project promotion and to participate in their formulation by ensuring that the rigor required by JRS in this area has been respected/observed.

• Innovation and promotion of new approaches

He/she improves the implementation strategies of existing projects, documents and analyzes innovative strategies, best practices and new approaches on exit strategies.

He/she must be able to adapt quickly to changes that may occur during the execution of projects.

Languages

• English (reading, writing and speaking required).
• Spanish reading, writing and speaking is required
• French (reading, writing and speaking) is an added value
• Swahili will be an asset.

Qualities

• Adhere to the values of JRS and mission, respect the JRS Code of Conduct and Rules of procedures and it’s PSAEH policy ;
• Leadership, strong analytical mind and ability to make decisions;
• Organization, rigor and respect for deadlines;
• Resistance to stress in general and in situations of insecurity in particular;
• Ability to take initiative and bring innovative ideas to the table;
• Sense of discretion and responsibility;
• Great ability to adapt to working conditions and tasks that may change with the reality on the ground;
• Strong listening and negotiation skills;
• Good interpersonal skills and good communication;
• Excellent writing quality;
• Knowledge of project management;
• Team management;
• Solid knowledge of donors (UNHCR, ECHO, EU, etc.)
• High mobility and flexibility

PROPOSED CONDITIONS

Duration: 1 year.

Trial period: 3 months.

Type of contract: Fixed-term contract

Base: Kibondo

Start of the mission: as soon as possible

Remuneration: organization’s salary scale

Associated benefits:

Paid annual leave plan: 28 working days over the period of one year. Annual leave may be taken in proportion to the number of months actually worked.

Rest and Recovery (R&R): A recuperation rest is scheduled every four (4) months. The Assistant program Officer will be entitled to a 5-day leave for rest and recovery every 4 months, in addition to the annual leave, and $350 will be given for each of the 3 Rest and Recovery periods throughout the year.

International insurance: medical coverage, 24-hour assistance, repatriation

Other costs covered by JRS: Round-trip ticket from the place of recruitment to the duty station at the beginning and end of the mission and visa costs covered. As well, travel costs will be covered when sent on mission as well as full coverage of communication fees associated to the job.