Senior Project Officer

Job Description

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the behest of Albert Einstein, IRC provides lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee war or disaster. Present today in more than 40 countries, we are restoring safety, dignity and hope for millions of crises affected people who struggle to survive. IRC's mission is to help people whose lives and livelihoods are disrupted by conflict or disaster to survive, recover, and take charge of their future.

IRC began operations in Cameroon in 2016 to meet some of the growing needs of people affected by Boko Haram-related violence in the country's Far North. Assistance to displaced populations extends across the Far North, notably Mayo Sava, Mayo Tsanaga and Logone & Chari, by providing assistance to increase access to water and improve hygiene practices in the displaced communities and vulnerable hosts, cash support programs to enable poor families to meet basic needs and improve food security, and protection programs, particularly by meeting the specific needs of women and girls. The coordination office is in Yaoundé with field bases in Maroua and Kousseri.

Following the growing crisis in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, IRC expanded its operations to the Southwest region in August 2018 and the Northwest region in December 2019. IRC provides vital humanitarian assistance to internally displaced populations, with a field base in Buea, Kumba Ekondo Titi and Bamenda. IRC Cameroon is committed as expressed in its strategic action plan 2020, to continue providing essential humanitarian services, emphasizing on the need for secured communities and ensuring that affected populations can meet their basic needs, while re-enforcing beneficiaries’ resilience, especially women and girls. IRC Cameroon is funded by European and American donors. IRC is recruiting Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) Officer who is a member of the Protection Mobile Team, operating in the Southwest and North West Regions. The role of the GBV Case Management Officer will be to ensure quality implementation of emergency GBV prevention and response activities and COVID-19 preventive measures in order to facilitate access to services. The WPE Officer will work under the supervision of the WPE Manager and collaborate closely with other IRC sectors such as health, PRoL, ERD and WASH.

Roles and Responsibilities Under the supervision of the ES210 project manager based in Buea, the Senior Project Officer oversees and monitors the quality implementation of the SIDA project in Bamenda. The primary responsibility of the Senior Project Officer's position is the day-to-day supervision in the implementation of program activities and the management of implementation teams including officers, assistants and community mobilizers who work with the field community and beneficiaries in Bamenda. The UNHCR Senior Project Officer is responsible for planning, monitoring and coordinating activities, and supervising the technical teams of the project implemented in the field in Bamenda. He/she represents the Project Manager at Bamenda level.

Program Implementation and Quality Assurance Assist the project manager in the monitoring of the timely implementation, financial management and reporting quality of projects managed in SIDA Assist the project manager in developing and monitoring of project work plans on a monthly and weekly basis Provide guidance and weekly monitoring of activities developed by the team in the field. Identify and quickly recommend solutions to technical, programmatic, expenditure and procurement problems for Bamenda activities. Ensure that all interventions are consistent with IRC's program strategy, national policies and protection standards. Conduct regular monitoring field visits to assess progress and identify technical quality and/or other implementation issues, provide solutions and implement modifications as necessary. Organize daily/weekly debriefing and conduct regular monthly staff meetings to discuss implementation of project activities, operational context and provide support as needed.

Budget Management Assist the project manager in developing and monitoring project expenditure and procurement plans and update them monthly. Assist the project manager in ensuring that program budget lines are spent in accordance with the spending plans. Assist the project manager in ensuring that purchase requisitions are made on time and in line with the spending and purchasing plans. Assist the project manager in ensuring that the IRC purchasing, and expense management system is up to date and cleaned on a weekly basis

Staff Management and Development Maintain open and professional relationships with team members, promote team spirit, and provide supervision and guidance to enable staff to perform their duties effectively. Coach, train and mentor staff to build technical capacity, share knowledge within the team and provide professional development guidance.

Monitoring and Evaluation, Report Tracking and PCM Assist the drafting of M&E reports based on data collected and analyzed by M&E colleagues Assist the drafting of IRC and donor reports according to established schedules (monthly, quarterly and annual) on activities, indicators and grant results, and as requested by the project manager. Participate in all meetings related to the SIDA projects according to the IRC Project cycle meetings internal process and send information to prepare for these meetings within the deadlines and instructions communicated by the grant colleagues. Follow up on action items discussed

Coordination, representation and advocacy Develop and maintain effective working relationships with local partners, NGOs and administrative authorities. Participate regularly in meetings of sector groups and sub-groups relevant to the sector, including protection cluster, GBV AOR and UNHCR coordination meetings at Bamenda level. Transmit data related to IRC projects for the UNHCR project in Bamenda Ensure coordination of activities with other partners to avoid duplication and strengthen complementarities.

Any other task assigned by the supervisor to improve IRC's SIDA partnership.

Line Management

Directly supervised by the SIDA Project Manager.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Arts or Science in Social Science, psychology, Public Health, Humanities or other related fields desirable.

Skills and abilities

At least two years of working in humanitarian intervention, specifically in protection.

At least two years of project implementation or extensive knowledge of the project cycle.

Good master of M&E framework.

Clear understanding of gender, human rights, and issues surrounding violence against women and girls.

Demonstrated understanding of and ability to maintain confidentiality and respect for clients;

Experience facilitating trainings and workshops and mentoring others;

Positive and professional attitude, including ability to lead and work well in a team setting;

Strong ability to organize work, meet deadlines, maintain composure, prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks and maintain attention to detail;

Computer literate, including Microsoft Word and Excel;

Fluency in English and local languages of the job location required

To be of Cameroonian nationality

Applications will be considered on rolling basis.

Female candidates are encouraged to apply