Project Coordinator at Danish Refugee Council

Job Description

Project Coordinator at Danish Refugee Council

Overall purpose of the role: 

The post-holder will provide day to day technical leadership, implementation management and support of a 3-year BPRM Economic Inclusion and Social Protection Project in Nairobi County and hopefully in its expansion to Nakuru and Mombasa subject to funding availability and intervention outcomes including lessons learned in its Nairobi implementation in year one. The International Labour Organization (ILO) with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) have come together to work on a project that will seek to promote pathways to economic inclusion and social protection for urban refugees and host communities in Kenya and the Project Coordinator (PC) will be technically responsible to lead DRC’s assigned implementation in the project and will also act as main focal point of contact for DRC’s partners in the project (ILO and UNHCR) in consultation with the DRC Urban Area Manager and the Head of Programmes.

The Project Coordinator shall help to develop and standardize, to the extent possible, systems and procedures and to ensure cross-functional learning among the project members including with other existing DRC urban projects and to provide effective backstopping for DRC project staff. The PC and his/or her team will ensure that all project objectives are met and contribute to strengthened social cohesion between refugees and host communities in DRC’s areas of work. The Project Coordinator will also be expected to contribute to the identification and securing of new sources of funding and technically supervise the project staff in matrix coordination with the DRC Urban Area Manager. The PC will also lead and provide technical expertise in consultation with country/or regional relevant sector technical colleagues and deep insights into economic inclusion and social protection programming to support effective execution of the project.

Responsibilities:
R1: Project Management, Development, Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Ensure the project is implemented in ways responsive to the beneficiary communities, donor compliance procedures and vision/mission of each of the partner organizations. This includes working closely with (private sector where appropriate), project members, local government and community structures to successfully implement and strengthen local capacity.
• Ensure all project interventions are aligned with the Government of Kenya and partners social protection agenda to safeguard sustainability of project activities.
• In close working relationship with the MEAL unit, ensure that the project has appropriate monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning systems established (including impact evaluation), and that the project documentation is comprehensive (electronic and hard copy).
• Ensure project activities are delivered according to the agreed project proposal and implementation plan, and that all activities and deliverables are completed within the agreed timeframe and budget, reports are submitted as per the agreed schedule and formats are fulfilled as specified in signed agreements.
• Ensure work plans are regularly updated in collaboration with the project team, ensure project plans and project tracking tools are used by the project team, and monitor project activity implementation.
• Ensure community participatory planning and targeting in line with project design and needs and following donor compliance procedures.
• Provide on-site support through frequent visits to all project sites.
• Engage with the various technical staff from ILO and UNHCR to facilitate support to the team.
• Serves as the primary contact with respect to project implementation for the donor in consultation with the Urban AM

R2: Economic Inclusion & Social Protection Expertise:

• Provide technical assistance to the implementing teams in areas of economic inclusion and social protection and working alongside project stakeholders, DRC county and regional office technical coordinators and DRC Kenya colleagues
• Support the development and dissemination of advocacy piece for refugees right to work and launch of a campaign to raise awareness of refugees’ rights and ways to access social protection schemes.
• Provide support to conduct a rapid assessment of barriers and opportunities for refugees’ access to ID and sim cards.
• Pilot models of SOPs to inform refugees access to IDs and sim cards – community meetings and ongoing support for refugees.
• Support to conduct/or lead a component of the business assessment of existing BDS and financial service providers and training needs of refugees and vulnerable host communities
• Pilot schemes for more inclusive and accessible social protection schemes/facilitate registration (supporting the Ministry of Social Protection in registration of refugees in National Social Register)
• Pilot schemes to align cash support to urban refugees with national social protection schemes (support the elderly/PSN/refugee child welfare on protection and basic needs). 

R3: Training & Capacity development:

• Support in the identification of training needs of team and explore options for meeting them.
• Contribute to build internal team capacity, especially in economic inclusion and social protection.
• Provide continuous technical support and mentorship for Project Officers, Project Assistant, Community Engagement Facilitators in the project to develop their professional and technical competencies.
• Participate in all relevant training offered by all project partners and/or externally to become technically equipped for project implementation and monitoring.  
• Ensure that minimum standards for project management and accountability are met.

R4: Coordination & Partnership:

• Coordinate the day-to-day implementation of the project and ensure effective integration among the members, with special attention for the specific needs and expectations outlined in the project documents.
• Ensure proper communication mechanisms are in place to guarantee effective and timely communication between project staff and the project members and management.   
• Participate in regular external stakeholder meetings, and maintain external relations with the relevant government agencies, and stakeholders across the project areas.
• Support to ensure there is a system for networking and communication with relevant local government line departments, DRS, ILO, UNHCR, relevant actors, and community representation in the project areas. 
• Promote collaboration and synergy between the project members’ project activities and similar projects and activities in the project areas. 
• Promote a positive profile of the project and good understanding among other actors and communities about the project.
• Assist the AM to develop and maintain strong working relationships with all stakeholders. 
• Represent the project at interagency coordination meetings and other key stakeholder forums related to the sector.

R5: Budget Management:

• The post holder will support BPRM project budget monitoring and control, cash forecasting and BFU reviews, revisions while working closely with DRC AM, ILO and UNHCR. He/or she is expected to oversee the project budget to maintain project expenditure within budget parameters, ensuring adherence to DRC financial procedures and donor requirements.
• Track budget spending and ensure timely reviews of financial transactions and budget utilization every month and bring any issues requiring attention and support to the Area Manager.
• Support team members to utilize financial planning tools, such as spending plans, procurement plans, and work-plans based on activities and budgets.

R6: Technical Supervision of Staff:

• Technically support the AM to lead and supervise Project Officers, Project Assistant and Community Engagement Facilitators.
• Contribute to ensure project staff have clear objectives and receive regular supervision and reviews. Develop a plan and oversee programmatic supervision of all project staff.
• Ensure appropriate staff participation in project management, daily implementation and decision making as per project donor and documents (proposal and budget) expectations and escalating issues to the structures to be set up in the project lifespan to the Area Manager. 
• Ensure project staff members attend and participate in weekly and monthly office management meetings as per schedule.
• Support the AM to ensure timely recruitment of highly competent project staff whenever a need arises.
• Contribute to monitor and provide objective feedback related to staff performance, including objective-setting, probation & performance evaluations to promote growth and development.

Experience and technical competencies: 

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant technical experience working in multi-donor-funded and/or multi-stakeholder projects focusing on providing support in economic inclusion/or livelihoods and social protection programming in an International NGO’ or other relevant agency. 
• Experience working in and deep understanding of government, private sector enterprises and/or implementing livelihoods/ or self-reliance, protection or advocacy interventions within urban refugee and host community context.
• Understanding of IT and ERP tools commonly used in NGOs.
• Experienced project coordinator, demonstrating a good understanding of project cycle management  
• Able to navigate between international bodies workstyles and their agenda’s
• Experience in capacity-building staff and in convening and facilitating trainings and workshops. 
• Strong analytical and excellent spoken and written communication and presentation skills. 
• Very strong planning and organizational skills coupled with conflict management skills 
• Experience with technical supervision of staff including remotely whenever required.
• Possess a sense of cultural awareness, sensitivity and respect for diversity
• Strong organizational, team spirit and teamwork skills
• Knowledge of the key issues and current trends in refugee affairs.

Education: 

• A degree or master’s in international development studies, humanities/social sciences, social policy or related discipline relevant to the requirements of this post.

Languages: 

• English and Kiswahili (fluent, spoken and written)

Project Coordinator at Danish Refugee Council