State Livelihoods Program Coordinator at Oxfam Nigeria - 2 Positions

Oxfam is a confederation of 17 AffilIates committed to creating a just world without poverty. In Nigeria Oxfam works in the areas of Economic Justice/Sustainable Livelihoods, Humanitarian programming to save lives, Advancing Gender Justice and Good governance, adopting a rights based approach.

Christian Rural and Urban Development Association of Nigeria (CRUDAN) is a Christian, not-for- profit, Non-Governmental Organization, working to ensure that Nigerian communities experience sustained food security, improved household nutrition, economic justice, natural resources management. disaster risks reduction, conflict transformation and humanitarian aid without bias to faith, gender or ethnicity.

Development Exchange Centre (DEC) is a non-government, not-for profit organization with a mandate to support rural and urban women to improve living conditions. This is pursued through the provision of social and micro finance services for socio-economic empowerment.

Oxfam, CRUDAN and DEC seek to employ qualified candidate to fill the position below for the anticipated four year EU-funded pro resilience action (PRO-ACT) aiming at building food security and resilience in Northern Nigeria:

Job Title: State Livelihoods Program Coordinator

Locations: Adamawa and Kebbi
Job Family: Program
Level: C2
Duration: 4 years
Reporting to: The Livelihoods and Private Sector Program Manager, Oxfam Nigeria
Slot: 2

Oxfam Purpose
To work with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering

Team Purpose
To deliver Oxfam's strategic and operational Resilient Food security and Livelihood priorities in Nigeria and ensure innovative and quality programme which is shared within Nigeria, the West Africa Region and beyond.

Job Purpose

• This position will assume direct management responsibility of the EU project activities in the state. This includes supervising state based project teams, coordinating the local partners on the technical and other matters which are directly related to the state level operation and implementation, responsibility for all documentation and reporting; and supervising of the grant management aspect of the project in conjunction with the M&E officer.
• The State Livelihoods Program Coordinator will be the main liaison person for the EU project between Oxfam, relevant stakeholders and Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) involved in the Food Security and Livelihoods programs at the project state.
• S/he will ensure that the notion of "women's rights at the heart of our work&" is present in all work s/he takes forward.

Key Responsibilities
The State Livelihoods Program Manager 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 plans and budgets and provide necessary guidance to ensure these are compliant with the EU project implementation procedures and quality standards;
• Together with Abuja and field-based staff, monitor and track 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 Livelihoods and Private Sector 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 EU project and Oxfam GB 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 Livelihoods and Private Sector Manager;
• Direct line management of the EU 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 Appraisals according to Oxfam GB policies and procedures.
• Ensuring that direct reports have clear roles and responsibilities under the EU project, and a strong understanding of all of Oxfam GB's regulations and policies.
• Direct management and coordination of all project activities at state level, in line with the project proposal and implementation plan.
• Ensure regular two-way communication and consultation between the field staff and the Oxfam GB Abuja based program management team.
• Provide continuous orientation and guidance for the project field staff and partners to promote the EU Project methodology in the target communities as well as neighbouring LGAs and communities.
• Work in close collaboration with the CSO Partners to conduct periodic monitoring/reviews of all small scale farmers components, identifying successes, and using lessons learned to make improvements as feasible.
• Develop 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
• Strengthen 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.
• Serve as the main focal point for organizational relationships with the partners in that state; help the M&E and Security Procurement/Logistics /Admin Officer to ensure security and Logistic plans are implemented, monitored, and completed.
• Work 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.
• Develop and maintain 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 Livelihoods & Private Sector Manager
• Work on value chain actors and their service providers (Private BDS providers)
• Work on disaster risk reduction, farmer field schools, asset transfer and revolving fund management, community based saving and lending groups

Skills, Requirements and Competence
D = Desirable E = Essential

• Excellent analytical and critical thinking ability, with a Master's 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 with donors such as EU, ECHO, OFDA, and DFID. (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 to 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 team building.(E)
• Experience in overseeing field-level financial systems, spending, monitoring, documentation, and reporting, in line with Oxfam GB's requirements. (E)
• Involvement in small scale farmers especially women 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, asset transfer and revolving fund management, community based saving and lending groups
• 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 at least one local language predominant in that state. (D)
• Level of IT Expertise: Excellent (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) (E)

Staff reporting to this post:

• 4 Staff including Security Procurement/Logistics /Admin Officer, M&E Officer

Budget Responsibility:

• None although this might change.

Remuneration
Remuneration is Based on the National Salary Scale of Nigeria Country Office

Application Closing Date
6th July, 2015.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send application letter and curriculum vitae in English to: [email protected]

For enquiries contact: [email protected] for Oxfam, [email protected] , for DEC-Bauchi and [email protected] for CRUDAN

Note: Applications sent to the enquiry email will be disqualified.