Unlocking Opportunities Project Officer, Kenya Full Time

Responsible to: – Unlocking OpportunitiesProject Manager

Number of Open Positions: Five (5) Positions

THE ORGANIZATION

“Outraged by the injustice faced by people with disabilities and vulnerable populations, we aspire to a world of solidarity and inclusion, enriched by our differences, where everyone can live in dignity”

Handicap International Federation, operating under the name Humanity & Inclusion (HI), is an independent and impartial aid and development organisation with no religious or political affiliations operating in situations of poverty, exclusion, conflict and disaster. We work alongside people with disabilities and vulnerable people to help meet their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights. Currently, the organisation is working in 59 countries.

For further information about the association: www.hi.org.

JOB CONTEXT:

The Unlocking Opportunities project is a three-year project that aims to advance inclusive economic empowerment for youth with disabilities, with a strong focus on young women. Through a twin-track approach, personalised support and systemic inclusion, the program equips youth with skills, resources, and opportunities to engage meaningfully in the economy as entrepreneurs and employees. It further promotes innovation in areas such as assistive technology and digital accessibility, while working with both public and private sector actors to mainstream disability inclusion across key sectors, including agriculture, digital economy, and the creative industry.

The Project Officer reports to the Project Manager and plays a frontline role in the direct implementation of the Unlocking Opportunity Project with participants. She/He is responsible for supporting the coherence between project strategy and day-to-day execution at the field level, ensuring that planned activities are implemented effectively, inclusively, and in line with approved workplans. The Project Officer contributes to the quality and impact of the project by coordinating activities within assigned hubs, supporting partner organisations during implementation, and applying agreed monitoring and control mechanisms. She/He supports the coordination of project activities with partner organisations, contributing to joint planning, routine progress tracking, data collection, and compliance with HI and donor requirements. The Project Officer plays a key role in maintaining strong working relationships with partners and stakeholders at the local level, following up on activity implementation, timelines, and deliverables. The role includes day-to-day supervision of activities within assigned locations, supporting field teams and partner staff, consolidating activity-level reports and data for submission to the Project Manager, identifying and escalating risks or implementation challenges, and promoting collaboration and learning across hubs. The Project Officer represents the project at operational-level meetings and forums as delegated, and ensures that project activities effectively reach young people with disabilities, particularly girls and women, in line with the project’s objectives.

YOUR MISSION:

Mission 1: Operational Implementation

Responsibility 1: Contribute to project planning and implementation in line with the existing frameworks

• Contributing to planning and preparing activities, tools and the associated resources, and implementing the action plan in conjunction with the support services and the technical unit.
• Ensuring that activities are implemented and that resources are correctly allocated as authorised by the Project Manager
• Ensuring regular reporting of activities, and contributing to the internal and external reporting as requested by the Project Manager.
• Contributing to identifying areas of the project in which adjustments are required and putting forward adaptations to the Project Manager.

Responsibility 2: Contribute to project monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning

• Contributing to project monitoring, specifically activity progress indicators and the expected outcomes.
• Contributing to project evaluations at the request of the project manager, and ensuring that project evaluation recommendations are followed.
• Contributing to project learning

Responsibility 3: Ensure project data management

• Ensuring that the appropriate data collection and management tools are in place and are used correctly on the project, in line with global standards.
• Collecting and compiling project-related data in the relevant database.

Responsibility 4: Contribute to the coordination of project teams

• As authorised by the Project Manager, facilitate coordination meetings between the project teams and the support services located in the area when necessary.

Responsibility 5: Contribute to external project communication

• Contribute to HI’s external influence by taking part in networks, when required.

Mission 2: Emergency Preparedness and Response

• Contribute to the programme’s emergency preparedness initiatives, and in an emergency situation, adapt his/her working arrangements to contribute to an effective humanitarian

YOUR PROFILE :

Educational background and experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in a Social Science, Community Development, Sociology or any related discipline or a Diploma with at least 5 years of working experience.
• Knowledge and practical skills on the project management cycle, economic development, business development, and services will be an added advantage
• At least 4 years’ experience working in community development with a background in livelihood/economic development in a humanitarian context.
• Experience working with persons with disabilities is an added advantage
• Experience in Government stakeholder engagement
• TOT certificate will be an added advantage.

Specific Frameworks

• Knowledge on UNCRPD Article 27 (Work and employment promote opportunities for self-employment, entrepreneurship, the development of cooperatives and starting one’s own business)
• Sustainable development goals, SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth).

Computer Skills

• Solid knowledge of MS Office suite.

Language skills

• English and Kiswahili

Tagged as: Handicap International - Humanity & Inclusion, Kenya