PROJECT AND PARTNERSHIP SUPPORT OFFICER Full Time

Position

Project and partnership support officer

Starting date

ASAP

Location

Kampala

Typeof contract

Fixed term

About ACTED

Since 1993, as an international non-governmental organization, ACTED has been committed to immediate humanitarian relief to support those in urgent need and protect people’s dignity, while co-creating longer term opportunities for sustainable growth and fulfilling people’s potential. ACTED endeavors to respond to humanitarian crises and build resilience; promote inclusive and sustainable growth;co-construct effective governance and support the building of civil societyworldwide by investing in people and their potential.

We go the last mile: ACTED’smission is to save livesand support peoplein meeting theirneeds in hard-to-reach areas. With a team of 5,900 national staff and 400 international staff, ACTED is active in 38 countries and implements.

more than 500 projects a year reaching over 20 million beneficiaries. More on www.acted.org.

Assignment

In East Africa, IMPACT has country missions in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Mozambique. These missions are hosted by sister-organisation Acted, who provide operational hosting and support. These missions are also supported by an IMPACT Regional Projects and Partnerships Support Manager, based in Kampala. To support this Regional PPS Manager, IMPACT is seeking an experienced candidate with prior experience in proposal development, contracting, donor reporting, and partnerships management in a humanitarian organisation.

OBJECTIVES

Support the identification, development and management of grants across countries in East Africa. The ideal candidate would be eager to work within a dynamic and motivated team and will have a clear focus on tracking project activities as part of the various IMPACT funding streams in the region.

The PPO will work closely with the PPS Manager, who will determine the day-to-day and long-term priorities.

FUNCTIONS

Under the supervision of the IMPACT PPSM, the PPOs tasks will be defined and allocated based on workflows for countries across the region. These tasks might include:

1. SUPPORT TO Positioning and Fundraising

All of the below tasks are in support of the PPSM, and involvement may vary according to the profile, seniority and context.

Strategy development and Fundraising

• Based on the IMPACT strategy, support the identification of regional funding opportunities and donors to ensure funding continuity as well as support the diversification of IMPACT’s donor portfolio through tracking funding opportunities, also potentially engaging with donors and donor working groups.
• Where relevant, in support of the PPSM, identify country specific funding opportunities and donors to ensure funding continuity as well as support the diversification of IMPACT’s donor portfolio through tracking funding opportunities.
• in support of the PPSM, and in line with IMPACT strategy and expertise, contribute to partners mapping, to support identifying potential relevant international and/or local partners (academia, think tanks, national and international NGOs, private sector partners, etc.) both at regional level as well as for country specific cooperation.

External relations

• In coordination with the Country Representatives (CRs) and country dedicated PPSOs, support the overall cooperation with IMPACT’s sister organisation Acted (hosting IMPACT in its field of operations) in relation to project development and grants management across all countries of focus, ensuring communication is regular and timely and synergies are sought and built.
• Support the tracking of fundraising activities in the Funding Tracker (or similar tool), which is updated on a regular basis to log in latest negotiations and proposal possibilities with donors.

2. Grant management

Proposal Development

• With the PPSM, support project proposal conceptualisation (problem statement, logframe), and the development of other fundraising documents (Expressions of Interest, concept notes) in line with IMPACT country and regional strategy and donor requirements and in close collaboration with partners and finance.
• Liaise with the Regional Coordinator (RC), RAS[AR1] , CRs, Research Managers, Operations manager and other relevant departments to ensure proposals are relevant and technically sound, as well as with other internal stakeholders such as Finance for the budget and other budget related documents (e.g. budget narrative)
• Address and coordinate the timely response and submission to all comments by donors on proposals in liaison with relevant staff in country, IMPACT HQ PPSD and Finance teams.
• Provide inputs to ensure the regional PPSM can incorporate elements into the global project database Ninox

Contracting

• Upon guidance from the regional PPSM, review/negotiate proposals and/or contracts with donors, ensuring requirements are clear and understood.
• organise the incorporation of project elements on Ninox database, including project code email, analysis of reporting requirements and related specifics, and required updates in the course of the project lifespan
• Support and contribute to due diligence exercises of funding partners in liaison with HQ.

Project Implementation and Follow up

• Ensure the timely completion of grant related processes such as monitoring and review of Ninox.
• Ensure timely Kick-off meetings are held involving all project components and focal points.
• Ensure the establishment and regular update of project progress, key findings and success stories (including key M&E findings – where relevant).
• Ensure that all contractual obligations are clearly defined and communicated internally in terms of deliverables as well as narrative and financial reporting requirements, in close coordination with HQ PPS Department and (as relevant) with partner’s PD and finance department.
• When any issue is identified in meeting deliverables in the given timeframe and budget, inform relevant staff in country and suggest potential solutions that would meet donor rules.
• Ensure ad hoc requests from donors are addressed in liaison with the CC, Programme and support teams.
• Implement and oversee the project-specific filing system for grant management and ensure it is regularly updated.
• Provide ad-hoc support to project implementation through trouble shooting and eliminating blocking points.

Reporting

• Contribute to the development of quality project narrative and M&E reports (in support of donors’ requests), reflecting the progress and status of projects in a transparent, timely and professional manner, in liaison with the Regional PPSM.
• Liaise with Program teams when preparing reports, and with Finance to ensure coherence and alignment between financial and narrative reports by crosschecking the matching of data in the narrative and financial reports.
• Where relevant, ensure regular coordination with partner’s Project Development, Finance and other FLAT departments at all stages of project development and implementation, including consultations for donor discussions, participation in project kick off and lessons learnt meetings, and drafting of donor reports or amendment requests.

Partnerships

In close liaison with and under the supervision from the regional PPSM:

• Support the formalisation of IMPACT’s hosting partner in the project by following up on the sub Grant agreement requirements, ensuing Ninox database is up to date.
• Contribute to due diligence and vetting of partners in close liaison with IMPACT PPSD and partner’s FLAT departments.
• In coordination with HQ PPSD, facilitate or take part in discussions with implementing partners, including in relation to formalizing contractual modalities (due diligence and outline of contracts)
• Where relevant, review partner reporting regularly and flag any issues in a timely manner to MCR, and partner focal points, and suggest potential solutions.
• Where relevant, act as field point of contact for all formal/informal implementing partner communication.

3. Monitoring and Evaluation

• Ensure a clear M&E framework for each ongoing project is developed based on project proposals, implementation plans, and donor reporting requirements (including contractual monitoring and evaluation indicators to be tracked as part of activities).
• Ensure M&E policies and procedures are implemented, maintained and tracked for reporting purposes.
• Ensure that M&E findings are reflected and their recommendations are incorporated in future concept notes, proposals, donor reports and implementation plans.

Required qualifications and technical competencies

• Excellent academic qualifications, with bachelors degree in a relevant discipline (International Relations, Political Sciences, Social Research, Economics, Development Studies, or similar), required;
• At least 3years of relevant working experience, in a Project Development related role in the humanitarian sectors;
• Familiarity with the humanitarian coordination system, and understanding of donor and governmental requirements, required;
• Excellent communication and drafting skills for effective reporting required;
• Proven knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite, to include Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, Office 365 and the Adobe package required;
• Ability to work independently;
• A sense of curiosity, the drive to improve the humanitarian sector, and ability to see the big picture.
• Fluency in English required.

Tagged as: Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, Uganda