Background

Plan International is an independent child rights and humanitarian organisation committed to children living a life free of poverty, violence and injustice.

We actively unite children, communities and other people who share our mission to make positive lasting changes in children’s and young people’s lives. We support children to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to claim their rights to a fulfilling life, today and in the future. We place a specific focus on girls and women, who are most often left behind.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for more than 75 years and are now active in more than 70 countries.

This role will manage at field level in Gambella & Assosa the implementation of ECHO funded project in titled “Provision of integrated protection and education services delivery to conflict prone South Sudanese refugees in the Gure Shambola refugee camp in Benishangul-Gumuz” as part of the strategy to address Protection needs of refugees; girls, boys and adolescent communities residing in Gambella Assosa regions. 

The project manager (PM) will manage the project implementation of ‘Provision of integrated protection and education services delivery to conflict prone South Sudanese refugees in the Gure Shambola refugee camp in Benishangul-Gumuz’ stationed at Gambella level making traveling to Assosa. The project will be implemented in partnership the UNHCR, ARRA and other implementing and service providing agencies working in the targeted refugee camps.

Dimensions of the Role

This position is responsible for technical aspects the ECHO grant focusing on CPiE, EiE and adolescent programs in Gambella and Assosa refugee camps. It is responsible for physical activity and budget planning, timely implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting of the ECHO project within the Plan International Gambella emergency response program.

S/he is expected to closely work with Plan International CpiE and EIE team in Gambella and Assosa, strengthen the capacities of co-ordinate with other sectors as well as PIE management to ensure timely and quality implementation, and reporting of the project. The project manager will be responsible for the overall physical implementation and budget utilization of the grant through a meaningful support of the field team

Accountabilities

The ECHO Project Manager will have the below detailed roles and responsibilities;

Quality and timely project management

• Be responsible for overall project management at Gambella & Assosa level, including planning (monthly, quarterly and annual work plan and budget), budget management, donor reporting, and coordination with & relations with partners and other stakeholders, and monitoring of the project.
• Understand in-depth the Child Protection in Emergency (CPiE) and Education in Emergency (EiE) strategies and working modalities of Plan and contribute to apply both to project activities.
• Contribute to establish strong relationships with stakeholders’ networks operating in Education and Child Protection at local level.
• Serve as a resource person for the organization and represent the issues of girls and children during programmatic and strategic meetings in the project areas.
• Oversee all project level administration, financial management of the project at Gambella & Assosa level.
• Be accountable for working with the project teams to produce and submit progress reports as per requirements

Planning and implementation management

• Review project documents and develop the Detailed Implementation Plans (DIP) of the projects as guided by project document.
• Provide technical input to project team/partners for timely implementation and strategies.
• Ensure the quality of the project implementation using Girls and Child Centred refugee response approach.
• Track program spending, analyze deviations and suggest and take corrective action as needed.
• Monitor and update the project activities in Plan’s internal corporate system (SAP) and ensure management are regularly informed of the project spending status and any deviation.

High quality donor reporting

• Ensure all Donor and other reporting is submitted on time and to high quality.
• Write monthly, quarterly and end of terminal narrative project reports for Plan’s internal purpose, for donor and local authorities, and validate the reports against attached financial reports and other documentations required as per Plan’s, local authorities and donor guidelines.
• Prepare project case studies related to the activities implemented to be submitted each quarter with the reports and/or whenever requested

Coordination and program collaboration

•  Build and maintain working relationship with the implementing project teams, other Plan’s teams, and other implementing partners, for achieving the project goals and creating proper synergies with other Plan’s activities.
• Liaise closely with the Education and Child Protection teams in Gambella, Program Specialists in Addis Ababa.
• Ensure activities remain on track and any learning generated from the project is documented and shared with colleagues.
• When requested, contribute in developing new activities related to EiE and CPiE

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (in cooperation with the MEAL Coordinator and Plan’s MEAL Department)

• Develop project level monitoring plan and monitor implementations of project activities.
• Establish and update regularly database of project activities’ achievements.
• Conduct monitoring of the project activities to feed into the M&E plan.
• Ensure using SAAD (age, sex, Disability) principles for collection for all monitoring, reviews, reporting and documentation.
• Ensure documentation of the lessons learnt and good practices from project experience for sharing and learning with other PIE teams and for recording of the organization.
• Organize and attend periodic review and reflection workshops/meetings to review project plan and strategies and document learning and evidence.
• Attend workshops/meetings organized by Plan and/or other stakeholders relevant for the goals of the project

Effective financial, logistics, administrative and HR management

• Ensure that functional administrative systems are established and maintained according to the PIE systems
• Monitor annual project budget and prepare periodic analysis and actions, and actively contribute to possible revisions of the budget as needed.
• Prepare and update the annual procurement plan.
• Collaborate with logistics and procurement departments for all the necessary logistic and procurement needs of the project.
• Monitor that project teams respect organizational values and culture (Code of Conduct, Child Protection Policy, Anti-fraud Policy, etc.).
• Support PIE HR and administrative departments for whatever related to the project implementation

Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Dealing with Problems:

Complexity of problems handled & the degree of investigation, analysis, & creative thinking required solving them

The role holder is responsible for a grant targeting girls and boys, Adolescents and refugee community with various levels of problems. This entails managing the grant in a way that analyse and understand the nature and depth of the problem to respond to the need of beneficiaries.

The role holder is expected to have the capacity to creatively manage the project implementation, coordinate all the relevant stakeholders to realize quality and timely programing. The role requires preparing sound plans, implementations, conducting M&E, developing tools that measure mid-level impacts, etc.

The role holder is responsible to create conducive working relationships with prime partners, other stakeholders and PIE program team to enable smooth and quality project implementation. Hence, the position require a professional discipline and preparedness to investigate cases, analyse, & thinking creatively in the process of ECHO grant implementation. .

Key relationships

•  The role holder is responsible to have day to day contact and relationship with the CPIE & EIE team, specifically the responsible officers in Gambella and Assosa in the process of planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the project.
• Responsible to create working relationship with prime partners and other stakeholders, more importantly beneficiary community in the target camps.
• The role holder will establish and maintain frequent relationships with program specialists at PIE CO and with the donor whenever required and according to pre-agreed schedule for review and reporting. 

Job Requirements

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

Essential

• Fluent in English with strong writing skills.
• University degree in Social work/ community development/ social science/ development studies (Master level will be an advantage).
• At least, 5 years of project management experience in Donor Funded projects
• Demonstrable experience in activities with communities and/or international development in INGOs working environment.
• Experience in people management.
• Documentation and report writing skills.

Desirable

• Specifically design and management experience with refugee response and Host communities, Education in Emergency, Child protection systems, Social inclusion, Girls’ and Child’s Rights, adolescents and Gender Equality (Previous experience with two or more of these sectors will be an advantage).
• Knowledge of existing policies and technical understanding of Gender Equality approach, Education in Emergency, Child Protection and Social inclusion.
• Familiarity with Monitoring, evaluation and lesson learning systems and tools.
•  Experience in projects involving multiple partners and/or stakeholders

Competencies

• Strong project management skills, including overseeing effective delivery and reporting, financial management, human resource management, leadership and team building skills.
• Strong analytical, coordination and communication skills.
• Ability to inspire, motivate, influence and coach staff and other people for independent action and learning.
• Ability to hold staff accountable for delivery on agreed commitments and to coordinate with different colleagues, partners and stakeholders.  

Level of contact with children

Mid contact: Occasional interaction with children

Plan International’s Values in Practice

We are open and accountable

1. Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
2. Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
3. Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
4. Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
5. Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people

We strive for lasting impact

1. Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
2. Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
3. Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
4.  Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.

We work well together

1. Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
2. Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
3. Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
4.  Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

We are inclusive and empowering

1. Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
2. Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
3. Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
4. Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

Physical Environment

Gambella is an environmentally chilling area to work due to the extensive heat and the volatile security situation. Assosa is a similar working environment in terms of the security. Moreover, due to the short nature of the project implementation period and competing priorities, it could sometimes be challenging to realize timely availability of staff members. The Project manager is also required to work overtime and weekends giving the challenging physical environment.  

How to Apply

The closing date for the application in November 21.2020. Qualified candidates should submit the application form found with this link http://ethiojobs.net/docs/Plan_Int_Application_Form.docx through www.Ethiojobs.net

This position is only open to Ethiopian Nationals, who must be eligible to live and work in Ethiopia. 

More information about Plan International can be found on http://plan-international.org  

References will be taken and background and anti-terrorism checks will be carried out in conformity with Plans Child Protection Policy. Plan operates an equal opportunities policy and actively encourages diversity, welcoming applications from all persons meeting the skills and experience required.

As an international child centered community development organization, Plan International is fully committed to promoting the realization of children's rights including their right to protection from violence and abuse. That means we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we as an organization, do everything we can to keep children safe. We must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

Female applicants are highly encouraged to apply.