JOB DESCRIPTION

Position Title: Food Security and Livelihood/Project Officer
Location: Herat
Grade: NAT 5

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:
Level 3: the post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting the country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:
Save the Children is an international independent non-governmental, non- profit, organisation founded in 1919. We work in over 120 countries worldwide. We are the world’s leading independent organisation for Children. Our vision is a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. Our mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

Save the Children has worked in Afghanistan since 1976. Our way of working close to people and on their own terms has enabled us to deliver lasting change to tens of thousands of children in the country. The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child is the basis of our work.

We are helping children get a better education, we make it possible for more boys and girls to attend school, we help children protect themselves and influence their own conditions. We work with families, communities and health workers in homes, clinics and hospitals to promote basic health in order to save lives of children and mothers.

The FSL Officer, under the direct supervision of the FSL Coordinator, will be responsible for implementing the Livelihood and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) activities under Save the Children’s DRA ACJR returnees response project. Working closely with partner and other project team members, the post holder will engage directly with partner and project beneficiaries and returnees to facilitate MPCA (Multi Purpose Cash) and livelihood aimed at enhancing community resilience and sustainable development.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: FSL Coordinator/Manager
Staff reporting to this post:
Direct: Community mobilizers
Indirect: Partner
Budget Responsibilities: Not applicable
Role Dimensions: The post holder will coordinate with Save the Children”s other departments such as finance staff, admin, and procurement team and project key stakeholders such as implementing partner relevant government departments, UN agencies, other international organizations, and community members.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY :

The main areas of accountability and responsibility of this post is to provide support to SCI implementing partner to implement the MPCA (Multi Purpose Cash) and livelihood components of Save the Children’s DRA grant in designated province (Herat). The role focuses on technical support to partner in MPCA (Multi Purpose Cash), agriculture, community engagement, and coordination with project teams and stakeholders to ensure effective delivery of project activities. Details are below.

 Support capacity building of partner staff and community mobilizers in terms of MPCA (Multi Purpose Cash) through formal training and on the job mentoring.
 Support in development of project monitoring tools and MPCA (Multi Purpose Cash) related training materials.
 In support from other project staff, finalize the project locations and project beneficiaries targeting strategy and criteria.
 Have the ability of villages selection and community mapping to set up village committee/empower the village committee.
 Have the ability and knowledge on cash based intervention for food security and livelihood and winterization programing.
 With support of other project team conducting agriculture training to farmers.
 Take part in community-based mobilization and sensitization meetings and introcude the livelihood component of the project to target communities.
 Take part in the process of beneficiary identification and registration. Based on the skills and knowledge of beneficiaries, recommende feasible income generation activities to beneficiaries.
 Support the Livelihood Project Coordinator in development of project procurement plan and project detailed implementation plan.
 Support Save the Children’s procurement team in procurement of required goods that will be distributed to selected beneficiaries.
 Support market assessment and price monitoring in the project that will take place in the implementation province.
 Support implementation of project baseline, mid-term, and final evaluation.
 Collaborate with Project Coordinator, officers (community mobilizers) and MEAL staff to design community mobilization strategy and project implementation plans – including all technical specifications.
 Develop project weekly and monthly narrative reports and submit them to Livelihood Project Coordinator timely.
 Assist joint monitoring visits with the government officials (Provincial/district relevant authorities) to the project sites.
 Establish positive working relationships with local communities, provincial/district government officials such as line departments, UNHCR, UNOCHA and NGO representatives.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning

 Ensure project activities are supported by MEAL systems, including quality benchmarks and visibility materials (e.g., posters, billboards).Ensure that all projects are equipped with MEAL systems like quality benchmarks, billboards, posters to exhibit MEAL messages for activities
 Collaborate with the MEAL team to develop and implement action plans based on MEAL staff findings from monitoring of the activiteis.Ensure action plans from quality monitoring and accountability systems are generated and implemented in timely manner collaboration with MEAL team
 Contribute to learning processes by participating in lessons-learned workshops and operational research.Contribute to generation of lessons through finalizing issues for Operations Research and participating in lessons learnt workshops and provide report.
 Ensure project reporting aligns with the MEAL plan..Ensure that projects are reported against the M&E Plan

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)
Accountability:
 holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
 holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.
Ambition:
 sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
 widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
 future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:
 builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
 values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
 approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:
 develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
 willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:
 honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS:
University degree in agriculture (Agronomy or related field)

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
Essential
 Relevant experience in livelihood programming
 Manimum Minimum 1-2 years relevant experiences in Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL), DRR, agriculture & livestock field.
 Maturity and confidence in dealing with communities and beneficiaries in the fieldand field level stakeholders.
 Strong Ccommunication skill (both oral and written) in English and local languages
 Excellent interpersonal skills, including conflict resolution, negotiation, and teamwork., people skill for conflict resolution and negotiation;
 Computer literacy, especially related to office software packages (Microsoft Office);

Desirable
 Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture or a related field.
 Experience in cash-based interventions, agricultural training, or market-based livelihood approaches.
 Familiarity with MEAL systems and participatory monitoring tools.
 Knowledge of climate-smart agriculture or sustainable farming practices is an asset.

Additional job responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.
Equal Opportunities
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.
Child Safeguarding:
We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.
Health and Safety
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.