Project Coordinator – Improving Equitable Access to Basic Sanitation and Hygiene for People Living in Fragile Contexts

About Self Help Africa
Self Help Africa (SHA) is an international development organisation headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and dedicated to the vision of ‘Sustainable livelihoods and healthy lives for all in a changing climate’. We have almost 50 years of experience working in Africa.

In 2021, Self Help Africa (SHA) merged with United Purpose (UP), doubling our size. The organisation now works in 17 programme countries, 15 of these are in sub-Saharan Africa. Subsidiary organisations, ‘Self Help Brazil’ and ‘Self Help Bangladesh’ have been created for our programmes in the two countries where we are working outside of Africa.

In early 2023, we launched a new five-year organisation strategy, which defines shared mission as the alleviation of hunger, poverty, social inequality and the impact of climate change through community-led, market-based and enterprise-focused approaches, so that people can have access to nutritious food, clean water, decent employment and incomes, while sustaining natural resources.

Our wider organisation also includes social enterprise subsidiaries Partner Africa, which provides ethical auditing and consultancy services, TruTrade, an innovative trading platform in East Africa, and CUMO, Malawi’s largest micro-finance provider.

Our three core values are:
▪ Impact: We are accountable, ambitious and committed to systemic change.
▪ Innovation: We are agile, creative and enterprising in an ever-changing world.
▪ Community: We are inclusive, honest and have integrity in our relationships.

Job Purpose:

The Project Coordinator will lead the execution of a pilot project titled ‘Improving Equitable Access to Basic Sanitation and Hygiene for People Living in Fragile Contexts’ in Benue state.

The 18 months rural sanitation research/learning/implementation project, aim to develop and widely share an adapted approach and ‘toolbox’ of scalable solutions to Area Wide Sanitation (AWS) in fragile and conflict-affected areas in Nigeria.

The approach is based on refinement and evaluation of an approach previously innovated by Self Help Africa/United Purpose (SHA/UP) in Nigeria—the ‘WASH Security Response Plan’—incorporating additional elements such as market-based sanitation (MBS) and wider systems strengthening, aiming to achieve AWS outcomes within LGAs affected by conflict and internally displaced communities.

The approach and scalable solutions will be tested in Benue state and shared widely with sector players within Nigeria and globally, with the expectation that these learnings and adaptations will be adopted and further adapted by different actors to reduce the barriers of AWS efforts in fragile communities.

Specifically, the Project Coordinator will focus on achieving the following objectives:
Objective 1: Learnings from effective approaches to AWS in fragile contexts in Nigeria and beyond are harvested and integrated within action research piloting.
Objective 2: An appropriate, inclusive, and effective approach to AWS (including CLTS and MBS) in fragile contexts is evolved and tested in Benue State, Nigeria
Objective 3: Learnings documented, and guidance developed on AWS in fragile contexts and shared for uptake within Nigeria and beyond.

The Project Coordinator will be responsible for providing overall leadership, technical and strategic management of the project in Nigeria. Reporting to the Head of WASH Programmes, the incumbent will manage staff, partners and resources to ensure that the project meets performance-based targets on time and within budget, as per WASHPaLS/USAID requirements, and ensure that funds are spent efficiently and maximize Value for Money. S/he will be responsible for providing strategic direction for the programme’s technical and administrative components.

Key Responsibilities:

Planning, implementation, and budget management:
Lead the implementation of a pilot WASH programme in conflict affected communities that will involve an adapted CLTS and MBS and related efforts on systems strengthening approach to fragile contexts.

Coordinate with and between all bodies and institutions involved in activities at the LGA level, particularly LGA WASH department/ unit and other community structures to ensure effective implementation of project activities.

Support programme structures at the LGA level towards identifying capacity building needs for effective WASH delivery.

Facilitate capacity building of LGA WASH departments/units, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and work closely with the national market-based sanitation consultant, the LGA WASH unit, market actors and other community partners and stakeholders in rolling out an adopted sanitation marketing approach in fragile context.

Prepare and implement activity plans keeping coherent link with the approved implementation framework and budgeted financial resources.Maintain progress tracking of field level activities and review project progress regularly and update implementation plan in accordance with learnings, stakeholder input and consultation with project team.

Ensure consistency between budgetary and operational planning, aligning budgetary compliance with grant agreement and SHA financial policies and procedures.

Control the quality of the overall administrative and financial monitoring of the project and regularly reviewing the commitments, disbursements and budget forecasts.

Networking and coordination:
Work strategically to build and maintain cohesive coordination with WASH actors at national, state and local government authorities and line departments, private sector stakeholders, and community partners.

Identify sphere of influence to promote collaboration and alliances with strategic partners and stakeholders of SHA and other WASH sector /development actors as required to achieve the goals of the project.

Conduct in-person outreach with project stakeholders, community leaders, and other actors representing the organisation and the project.

Coordinate with national/global WASH colleagues, local partners and international partners including TetraTech team and Sanitation Learning Hub.

Knowledge management, monitoring, reporting and documentation
Work closely with the global MEL consultant and the country MEL team to design the MEL framework of the project.

Work closely with the global MEL consultant, a national consultant and the country MEL team to design and conduct a baseline studies and formative research to refine on MEAL aspects at inception phase.

Undertake the country scoping of learning (desk reviews and field visits) on AWS work in fragile context to feed into the pilot design and the learning products.

With the support of the global MEL consultant, lead on the compilation of learning from the pilot, the national and global scoping capsulating them into learning briefs and ultimately into a toolbox of approaches for AWS in fragile context.

Provide support and work with the country MEL team in tracking of activity progress, timely collection of quantitative and qualitative data from the field through coordination with field teams, and other counterparts, when required.

Work with the M&E team to document the project’s achievements, results, learnings and impacts.

Prepare and submit periodic reports along with case studies and other learning documents.

Conduct periodic planning and review processes to include capturing, managing, and disseminating the information needed to effectively deliver WASH in fragile contexts.

Team management and safeguarding:
Supervise and guide project team (Officers & Field Facilitators), ensuring coordination and teamwork and cohesive team spirit amongst the team members.

Manage the performance of line-managed staff through objective setting, regular performance reviews, managing feedback and regular monitoring of performance development plans.

Support the continual growth and professional development of all line-managed staff, ensuring that appropriate support and development mechanisms are in place.

Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular performance reviews.

Manage any interpersonal conflicts that may arise between different team members.

Demonstrable experience in and commitment to safeguarding, protection, gender mainstreaming and inclusion of Vulnerable populations including people with disabilities.

Key Relationships:

Internal: Head of WASH Programmes, Global WASH, Programme, MEAL, Operations, Finance & Compliance and Security teams.

External: TetraTech, Ministry of Water Resources & Sanitation, Rural Water and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), LGA WASH Unit, Global MEL Consultant, National MBS Consultant.

Knowledge, Experience and Other Requirements

Education and other qualifications:
Strong academic background, preferably with a Master’s degree in Engineering, public health or related field.

Demonstrable work experience in the development sector with experience managing complex programmes in the WASH sector.

ICT operation, and proficiency in MS Office.

Experience
At least 7 years of working experience with INGO/NGO in the WASH sector or equivalent position.

Experience implementing and managing rural sanitation work in Nigeria.

Experience in facilitating area-wide sanitation in Nigeria using different approaches like community–led and behaviour change approaches, and market-based approaches.

Experience undertaking quantitative and qualitative action research is a plus.

Strong experience and proficiency in quality donor reporting and development of concept notes

Experience in the development of high-standard advocacy/learning briefs and Strategic Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) materials.

Experience in delivering programmes in a fragile context is an added advantage.

Experience in working with culturally diverse teams.

Skills:
Project management and implementation

Monitoring, evaluation and learning

Communication, networking, facilitation and mobilisation.

Leadership, problem-solving and decision-making.

Effective communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills.

Respect for cultural diversity and gender sensitivity.

Team leadership and organisational development.

Reporting and documentation.

Language Requirements:
Written and oral proficiency in English language is required and relevant local language is an added advantage.