Desk Officer at the Foundation for Refugee Economic Empowerment (FREE)

The Foundation for Refugee Economic Empowerment (FREE) is a purpose-driven humanitarian and development non-governmental organization that implements a range of portfolio through purposeful partnerships. FREE builds bridges for improved lives for people affected by calamity. Our mission is to support people affected by natural and man-made disasters, especially those who have suffered displacement to be able to get back their lives and livelihoods in no time.

We work also with underserved communities to ensure that they have basic facilities and services. Over the past 7 years, working closely with government, civil society and private sector partners, FREE has reached more than 1,000,000 beneficiaries across Nigeria with assistance in Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Food and Livelihood Assistance, Health and Nutrition Support, Education in emergency, among others.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Desk Officer

Location: Borno

Role Responsibilities
Officer provides programmatic support to the FREE regional programme portfolios in strategic planning, design, project implementation, reporting, clerical support, and monitoring and evaluating. This includes:

• Supporting drafting internal and public documents
• Supporting drafting progress reports
• Supporting project tracking and reviewing project deliverables
• Managing the documentation of events and projects, including recording developments in FREE’s systems.
• Attend internal and external meetings with partners.
• Taking notes and distributing them to the team, as needed.
• Serving as a connector and representative when other team members are unable to be physically present for the meeting, setting up the systems to allow for remote participation.
• Build relationships and liaise with other departments at FREE as needed to accomplish the above tasks.
• Develops and maintains program-related files, documents, and database records.
• Assists in establishing and maintaining policies and procedures to manage the day-to-day operations of FREE.
• Develops and maintains relationships with vendors and partners.
• Provide program design, implementation, and reporting support to programmes.
• Budget and Contract Management Support
• Supports to administer contracts, track progress toward milestones, receive deliverables and monitor contract end dates.
• Executes the contracting process by supporting the drafting contracts, preparing required contracting information, submitting requisitions, scheduling contract launch meetings,
• processing invoices, monitoring payment processes, and ensuring contract close-out.
• Liaises with the FREE Finance and Procurement teams to track budgets, resolve issues, and review budget and financial reports to help monitor program budgets.
• Ensures quality control by inputting transactions correctly and tracking the budget using financial management software.
• Coordinates the resolution of any problems or delays with the FREE Finance and Procurement staff.
• Generate routine budget reports to help monitor programme budgets.
• Meetings, Events and Logistics Planning
• Makes travel arrangements for staff and contractors.
• Provides substantive and administrative support for meetings
• Arranging for food and refreshments as needed. 
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• A Bachelor's Degree in Public Administration, Management or Business-related field and preferred in Conflict, International Economics or Development, Political Science or a related field is required, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• One (1) or more years related administrative experience, familiar with general personnel practices, accounting and budgeting principles and coordination of major office activities.
• Strong skills in the Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Sharepoint, Teams, MS Word, MS Outlook, and MS Excel.
• Strong time management skills with the ability to prioritize work and meet deadlines.
• Strong interpersonal skills necessary, including working with diverse teams, including across cultures
• Candidate must demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively both in-person and electronically and be able to adapt communication approaches accordingly.
• Knowledge of program management processes, especially project planning, budgets, and monitoring and evaluation.
• Excellent writing skills, including experience with drafting program reports and supporting proposal writing processes.
• Experience organizing public events, roundtables, conferences and meetings preferred.
• Experience making travel arrangements preferred.

Application Closing Date
4 PM: 6th November, 2022.

Interview Date
9th November, 2022.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their recent CV along with a Cover Letter (no more than a page) to: [email protected] using the Job Title as the subject of the email.

Pre-employment Checks
Any employment with FREE could be subject to the following checks:

• Screening clearance
• Criminal records check
• Receipt of satisfactory references.

Note

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.
• Do NOT apply for more than one position. Existing FREE staff are eligible to apply.

Our Values and Commitment to Safeguarding:

• FREE is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults and beneficiaries with whom FREE engages.
• FREE expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.
• The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organisation.
• All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks.
• We may request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.