Adviser (m/f/d) for the UCA of the Sahel Alliance

The Sahel Alliance was set up in 2017 to provide concrete, collective responses to the multiple challenges of the Sahel region (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger). Today, it has become a unique platform for coordinating development support to the Sahel, federating the action of 27 bilateral and multilateral partners. The Sahel Alliance aims to increase the effectiveness and impact of the funded projects in order to achieve sustainable improvements to living conditions for populations, particularly the most vulnerable. (https://www.alliance-sahel.org/en/).

The Coordination Unit (UCA) of the Sahel Alliance is managed by GIZ as part of the BMZ commissioned regional project “Strengthening cooperation in the Sahel region”, financed jointly by BMZ, Canada, EU, Italy, Luxemburg, Spain and West African Development Bank, with an in kind-contribution by France. The UCA is based in Brussels.

The Coordination Unit comprises 7 staff members in Brussels (UCA-Coordinator, governance adviser, membership coordination officer, communication officer, 2 monitoring and evaluation experts, office manager), the future field coordination officer will be based in the Sahel region leading the team of 5 liaison experts based in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

For the office in Brussels we are looking for an ADVISER (m/w/d).

As an Adviser, you will directly support the head of the Sahel Alliance Coordination Unit in advising the Chair of the General Assembly (GA) – on the definition of the Sahel Alliance strategy and, in liaison with the Chair of the Operational Steering Committee (CPO), on its implementation. This includes proposals for the changes of the Sahel Alliance governance architecture as well as UCA given the current political context in the region in view of maintaining Sahel Alliance the relevant coordination platform for the region and setting up a new dialogue with Sahelian partners.

Your tasks

You will be responsible for supporting the management of the UCA in:

• Developing consensus-based decision-making to help achieve the Alliance’s objectives.
• Planning, steering and monitoring UCA workplan, including their budgetary implications and the monitoring of contracts, in conjunction with the Field Coordination Officer.
• Monitoring members’ financial contributions to the UCA and preparing the necessary documentation in close link with the Membership coordination officer.
• Coordinating with other bodies working on the Sahel (Sahel Coalition, Sahel Special Envoys, UNISS) and participating in joint exercises and events.

Under the supervision of the UCA Coordinator, you will be responsible for:

• Preparing and organising meetings of the Alliance’s governance bodies (GA, CPO) or other high-level meetings in coordination with the rest of the team: liaising with the chairs of the governance bodies, defining expectations/deliverables, the agenda and the preparatory work to be organised; leading and facilitating the preparatory work; organising logistics; drawing up joint declarations/recommendations/decision notes/conclusions; drafting minutes of SA’s governance meetings .
• Contributing to Sahel Alliance working groups, when needed.
• Carrying out quality control work on the various outputs of the UCA, drawing up internal and external presentation or decision documents.
• Coordinate the preparation of UCA annual reports in accordance with the Coordination Unit’s contractual obligations.
• Support the monitoring and evaluation team in the finalisation of Sahel Alliance portfolio reports.
• Participate in UCA knowledge management.  

Your profile

• Master’s degree in economics, politics or development
• Qualification in the fields of project management e.g. planning, monitoring and reporting
• 5 years’ experience in the field of development cooperation, especially with other institutions and donors
• Proactive, Rigorous, good communicational, analytical and organizational skills
• Excellent writing and synthesis skills
• Good understanding of the region and its socio-political developments – professional experience of the Sahel-Region or Africa would be an asset. Fluent in English and French; German language skills will be an asset.

Contract

We offer you a temporary contract with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Brussels under Belgian law. The position will be remunerated according to the level of experience. In addition to the legal holidays, you will receive 5 extra days of holiday per calendar year, as well as lunch checks, health insurance for hospitalization and the reimbursement of a monthly ticket for Brussels public transport and a home-office allowance.

Period of assignment

09/2024 till 08/2026.

Location

Bruxelles, business journeys to Eschborn and into the G5 Sahel countries might occur.

Application

A valid work permit for Belgium is required. Interested candidates are asked to submit their complete application including motivation letter, CV and gross salary expectation (year basis) to [email protected] until  27.08.2024.

Do not forget to mention that you found this job ad on the Euractiv Jobsite!