Internal Job Grade: C2- national
Contract type: 1 Year Fixed Term
Job Family: Program
Reporting to: The PROSELL Project Manager
Staff reporting to this post: 5 staff including Supply and Logistics Officer, M&E Officer, Finance Officer, Program Assistant and Security Officer.
Locations: Taraba State, Nigeria
BACKGROUND:
Oxfam is a confederation of 19 Affiliates committed to creating a just world without poverty. In Nigeria Oxfam works on Humanitarian Response saving lives, Sustainable livelihoods, Women’s Rights and Active Citizenship adopting a right based approach.
Oxfam seeks the position of State Coordinator - TARABA for its EU-funded PROSELL project which aims at building food security and resilience in Taraba State. The project will build resilience of small-scale farmers, fishermen and livestock owners (women, youth, and vulnerable households) in commodity value chain and rural enterprise in 6 LGAs in Taraba State. PROSELL will (i) increase income of small scale farmers by enhancing their agricultural productivity, market access, and job creation along crop, fish and livestock value chains; (ii) enhance adaptive capacities and resilience of small-scale farming households to climate change; (iii) Promote cooperation and mutual benefits of farmers, livestock owners, and all value chain actors.
OXFAM PURPOSE: To work with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering
TEAM PURPOSE:
- To contribute to achieving Oxfam’s Country goal in Nigeria on building resilience and sustainable livelihoods which states that “the needs of vulnerable people will be met through sustainable increased incomes for the poorest”.
- To ensure that agriculture is transformed so that food security is assured; resilience and sustainability to climate change and shocks is improved; small-scale producers increase their incomes and the level of youth unemployment is reduced.
JOB PURPOSE:
This position will assume direct management responsibility of the EU funded project known as PROSELL (Produce, Feed and Sell) in Taraba State. This includes:
- Supervising state based project teams,
- Coordinating the local partners on the technical, administrative and security issues that are directly related to the state level operation and implementation.
The PROSELL State Coordinator holds responsibility for all documentation and reporting for PROSELL and provides supervision of the grant managment aspect of the project in conjunction with the M&E Officer.
The PROSELL State Coordinator will be the main liaison person for the PROSELL project between Oxfam, Government Officials, MDAs, Traditional Rulers, Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and relevant stakeholders involved in resilience, food security and sustainable livelihoods project in Taraba State. S/he will ensure that the notion of “gender at the heart of our work” is present in all work s/he takes forward.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
The PROSELL State Coordinator - Taraba will perform the following specific duties:
- Provides technical leadership and support to the field based teams and partners to develop strong work plans and budgets to deliver effective services to farmers;
- Reviews the partners’ annual and quarterly work plans and budgets and provide necessary guidance to ensure these are compliant with the PROSELL project implementation procedures and quality standards;
- Monitors and tracks progress of the partners to ensure conformity with annual and quarter work plans and focus on meeting targets;
- Supports partners and field staff to roll out coordinated activities and ensures farmers receive the agreed project services;
- Provides technical support and guidance for partners and field based staff in the major programming areas and services to ensure programs are implemented in technically sound and culturally appropriate ways;
- Mobilizes additional technical support both internally and externally as may be needed by the field staff and partners.
- Prepares annual and quarterly work plans for state technical support and reports accomplishments to the PROSELL Project Manager on monthly basis;
- Participates and supports state level coordination and review meetings while using these opportunities to provide essential technical updates to field staff and partners and reviewing progress towards achieving project goals;
- Represents the PROSELL project and Oxfam in the various partnership meetings with MDAs, Private Sector Actors and civil society organizations at state level;
- Provides leadership in planning and implementation of new initiatives related to small scale farmers especially women in the state.
- Strengthens and identifies new opportunities for program linkages and partnerships with government and non-government partners at state level.
- Maintains close communication and collaboration with the responsible managers or coordinators at the state level CSOs to ensure that support provided and actions agreed upon are channelled through acceptable project structures;
- Supports the process of documenting promising practices, prepares and submits quarterly reports on progress to the PROSELL Project Manager;
- Line manages directly PROSELL project staff who are based at state level.
- Manages the performance of staff on an on-going basis including guidance, motivation, resolution of problems, training needs identification, regular review meetings, and provision of performance reviews according to Oxfam policies and procedures.
- Ensures that direct reports have clear roles and responsibilities under the PROSELL project, and a strong understanding of all of Oxfam’s regulations and policies.
- Provides direct management and coordination of all project activities at state level, in line with the project proposal and implementation plan.
- Ensures regular two-way communication and consultation between the field staff and the Abuja based program management team.
- Provides continuous orientation and guidance for the project field staff and partners to promote the PROSELL project methodology in the target communities as well as neighbouring LGAs and communities.
- Works in close collaboration with the local partners to conduct periodic monitoring/reviews of all small-scale farmers components, identifying successes, and using lessons learned to make improvements as feasible.
- Develops a mechanism to mobilize the private and public sectors to maximize the local response to climate change adaptation. Based on this also strengthen private public partnerships.
- Strengthens coordination of response which includes mobilization of volunters and provision of support for partners to map out service providers and strengthen linkage and referals with inputs and product dealers.
- Serves as the main focal point for organizational relationships with the partners in that state; helps the M&E and Security Procurement/Logistics /Admin Officer to ensure security and Logistic plans are implemented, monitored, and completed.
- Works closely with the Abuja based M&E Officer to ensure that all project reporting and M&E systems are effectively implemented and that required information and reports are submitted accurately and on time.
- Work closely with the CSO Project Manager to implement, monitor expenditure of budget appropriately, ensuring timely disbursement, activities, reporting, and documentation, monitoring variances and troubleshooting as needed.
- Develops and maintains strong external networks with government agencies, partners, other EU implementing partners, and other key stakeholders in the state.
- Assumes other roles and responsibilities relevant to the position that may be assigned by the PROSELL Project Manager.
- Works on value chain actors and their service providers (Private BDS providers).
- Work on disaster risk reduction, farmer field schools, access to market, value chain development, cash transfer and revolving fund management, village, savings and loans association, tree planting, livestock transfer, food loans and grain banks, and policy advocacy.
SKILLS AND COMPETENCE:
- Excellent analytical and critical thinking ability, with a Master degree in agriculture, food security, climate change, resilience building or a related field of study with at least 7 years of field experience in project management. (E)
- Proven ability, and preferably experience in working in areas of chronic poverty and inequality (E). Preferably in Northern Nigeria. (D)
- Proven commitment to working to reduce poverty and suffering. (E)
- Proven ability of understanding and applying issues related to gender and women’s rights in a development context. (E)
- Proven ability, and preferably experience at supporting and influencing others through advisory roles, with multi-cultural teams, and of a variety of levels of seniority. (E)
- Proven ability to develop and manage complex institutional relationships. (E)
- A high degree of self-motivation, an ability to work towards institutional goals, and proven examples of delivery of tasks while operating under pressure. (E)
- Well-connected within a network of professionals working on resilience building, food security, adaptability and development issues. (D)
- Knowledge of current trends in the climate change debate as it relates to poverty. (D)
- Experience in working with and building capacity of civil society groups, including community based or established NGO’s. (E)
- Substantial experience in implementation or management of similar development projects and/or field offices, particularly in the following areas:
- Ability to manage teams across multiple areas of responsibility (program and admin/support/finance); proven experience in motivation and teambuilding.(E)
- Experience in overseeing field-level financial systems, spending, monitoring, documentation, and reporting, in line with Oxfam’s requirements. (E)
- Involvement in small scale farmers especially women’s projects, and/or those involving families or households. (D)
- Work on value chain actors and their service providers (Private BDS providers)
- Work on disaster risk reduction, farmer field schools, access to market, value chain development, cash transfer and revolving fund management, village, savings and loans association, tree planting, livestock transfer, food loans and grain banks, and policy advocacy.
- Involvement in projects utilizing grass-roots approaches and addressing issues of power, diversity, exclusion, participation, and gender. (D)
- Preparing timely and accurate reports and documents. (E)
- Managing projects with multiple partners and stakeholder groups.(D)
- External networking and relationship-building. (D)
- Proven ability to multi-task, engage in long-term planning, meets deadlines, and handles last-minute demands. (E)
- Excellent communication and listening skills. (E)
- Language Requirements: Spoken English-Excellent; Written English-Excellent (E)
- Ability to speak fluent Hausa. (D)
- Level of IT Expertise: Excellent (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) (E)
D = Desirable E = Essential
HOW TO APPLY:
Candidates interested in any of these positions should please email an application letter and Curriculum vitae as one attachment to vacancies-nigeria@oxfamnovib.nl with the position title as the subject of the email. Completed applications should reach us before COB Friday 10th August 2018. Please send your applications in the required format. All candidates will be shortlisted for assessment and interview.