Country: Madagascar
Closing date: 16 Aug 2018
“An incredible opportunity for a development professional looking for an early career management position to lead the project development of a growing charity working in southeast Madagascar.”
About the organisation
SEED Madagascar is a British charity working in partnership with communities in the South East of Madagascar. We integrate high quality community health, sustainable livelihoods, education infrastructure and conservation programmes to support long-term sustainable change and add to international best practice through research and publication across all of our programmatic areas. We are now looking for entry level officers and managers to work alongside national staff and expand our team.
Focus of the role
Working alongside both local and international teams, you will coordinate the development, funding and evaluation of our WASH and Construction programmes on the ground in Madagascar. You will be responsible for generating funds across the department and expanding the output, whilst also playing a central role in editing proposals and reports. In order to achieve this, you will need to work closely with national staff and develop, support and manage a team of Project Development interns, officers and specialists building their capacity to deliver high quality projects.
Location: Fort Dauphin, Anosy Region, Madagascar
Contract minimum duration: 2 years
Probationary period: 3 months
Contract type: Local stipend covering reasonable living expenses; contribution to flight; contribution to insurance; Unaccompanied post.
Reporting to: Director of Programmes & Operations
Duties and Responsibilities
Project Development
Work with national and international staff to design projects that fulfil local needs and align with SEEDs strategic aim taking into account past learning, international best practice, contextual constraints and government objectives.
Oversee rigorous development of project frameworks (e.g LogFrames and Theory of Change), Gantt Charts and proposals to ensure they are representative of the community needs whilst being attractive to donors.
Conduct research into international and national development trends, best practice, and funding opportunities for the WASH and Construction department and support other departments (Community Health, Education, Conservation, Environment and Sustainable Livelihoods) where necessary.
Work alongside the Project Coordinator in London to edit and ensure the high standard of all project documents, proposals, reports and evaluations submitted to donors to secure the ongoing funding of the NGO’s projects – currently at around £500,000 per annum across all active interventions.
Work with the Director of Programmes & Operations, other Heads of Project Development and Heads of Department to develop project and organisational strategy.
Skill share and build capacity of NGO project leaders where necessary and actively promote this throughout the team
Programme Management
Provide timely updates to the PD Coordinator of project activities and support the PD Coordinator to communicate any changes in project activities to donors when necessary
Oversee effective systems for monitoring project progress against activity plans, working with project teams to ensure objectives are met and using learning from ongoing evaluation to inform the development of projects and the personal development of the team
Conduct field work and monitoring visits to project sites when appropriate and ensure observations are fed back into ongoing project design
Use evidence-based advocacy from research and project findings in briefing papers for staff, local and regional stakeholders and government departments to inform regional and national development strategy
People Management
Identify gaps in staffing, leading the selection process and orientation into the team
Support, manage, review and provide professional development to a team of Project Development Interns, Officers and Specialists, delegating to and managing their work programmes to achieve departmental objectives and support organisational ethos and strategy
Foster essential cross-cultural collaboration, providing support to both the national and international teams to bridge gaps in understanding and priorities for project development and implementation
Provision of personal support to the wider international team, including identification of personal problems that are impacting abilities to perform professionally and safely reside in southeast Madagascar
Provide guidance and act as a role model, both professionally and personally, for members of the International team to ensure SEEDs reputation is maintained
Support the Director of Programmes & Operations in overseeing and ensuring day-to-day support of SEED Madagascar staff and volunteers, both professionally and privately, including acting as an intermediary of organisational priorities to the wider team
Budget Management
Oversee the development of budgets including full cost allocation with consideration of the organisational strategy and priorities over the coming years
Monthly overview of financial reports, ensuring project spending is on track and identifying trends in expenditure, and management of exchange rate gains
General
Provide core support to the Director of Programmes & Operations in management and ensuring the security and safety of all international volunteers and personnel, including leading cultural orientations for new international volunteers and staff
Work flexibly, including changing work priorities at short notice and working unsociable hours when necessary to meet a short deadline, for example the submission of project funding documents within the timeframe set by donors
Represent SEED Madagascar in external meetings with other agencies, donors and partners on the ground in Madagascar and in the UK
Act as temporary stand in for the Director of Programmes & Operations and/or other Heads of Project Development when required during period of leave and absences
Required skills & experience
Degree-level qualification or equivalent experience in international development or WASH/community/public/global health
Sound knowledge of international development frameworks and contemporary WASH issues facing least developed countries
Minimum of 2 years’ professional experience related to WASH, community or public Health
Minimum of 2 years’ professional experience in line management and/or project management
Familiarity with the use of project management tools including Logical Frameworks, Theory of Change models, Budgets Activity Plans and Monitoring & Evaluation frameworks
Fluency in English (written and spoken) with excellent written communication skills, to the level of editing English documents for publication
Excellent listening and verbal communication skills, and a flexible and patient attitude
Excellent proposal and report writing and editing skills, with previous experience compiling project proposals and reports and the ability to tailor written information to various audiences
Cross-cultural negotiation skills and a curiosity in effective work practices in a cross-cultural setting. Ability and desire to build capacity both within international and national teams
Ability and desire to develop, support and manage a team of volunteers and staff, and to oversee the Project Development internship programme
Ability to demonstrate and support staff to develop appropriate professional and social attitudes required for living in another country, and to manage these aspects of volunteers’ behaviour when required
Ability to work to and advocate for all of SEED's policies and procedures, safeguarding those that SEED works with and reporting any concerns appropriately
Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Excellent problem solving and analytical skills, with demonstrable ability in gathering and assimilating facts and data from various sources
Experience of living and working in a developing country with the ability and desire to work with teams from different economic and cultural backgrounds and across multiple language barriers
A sound understanding of the importance of MEL and of approaches used to measure outcomes and impact
Knowledge of the contractual obligations and reporting requirements of institutional and other significant donors such as the EU, USAID, DFID and AusAID
Proficiency in written and spoken French would be an advantage
Candidates need to have their own non tablet laptop
How to apply:
Interested applicants should send a CV and covering letter outlining how their skills and experience match the requirements in the job description criteria to SEED Madagascar Director of Programmes and Operations, Lisa Bass by email on lisa@seedmadagascar.org.
Short-listed applicants will have an initial informal skype chat with Madagascar based staff and a face-to-face interview with the London team, including the Managing Director, Mark Jacobs, in person. Two satisfactory references will be required.
Applications deadline: Ongoing until right candidate is found