Senior Regional Programme Officer - West Africa at International Alert

International Alert is one of the world's leading peacebuilding  organisations, with over 30 years of experience supporting communities,  advising governments, organisations and companies on how to build  peace. Alert works with people in conflict-affected and threatened areas  to make a positive difference for peace; to improve the substance and  implementation of international policies relevant to peacebuilding; and to  strengthen the peacebuilding sector.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior Regional Programme Officer - West Africa

Location: Abuja
Reports to: Head of Programme Development, Africa
Contract Duration: Contract duration depends on location

Job Purpose

• The purpose of this position is to support the West Africa country programmes and Africa programme Regional Director to secure and deliver high quality,peacebuilding programmes.
• The postholder is in in regular contact with Country Directors in Mali, Niger and Nigeria and other senior in-country staff, supporting them to design, secure and implement projects.
• They play a coordinating role, facilitating effective input from HQ teams, to help ensure that projects are legally and financially compliant, are delivered safely and are in line with Alert and donor standards and approaches.
• The Senior Regional Programme Officer helps to sustain and grow our country programmes through supporting country teams to develop and fundraise for new projects, as well as developing relationships with donors and potential partners.
• When requested by the Regional Director, s/he provides support during the project cycle and supports regional strategy development.  

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide support to country teams to design, secure and deliver high quality peacebuilding programmes, in line with Head of Programme Developmentor Regional Director’s guidance and regional strategic priorities.
• Facilitate and ensure strong coordination between country teams and support teams in HQ (Advocacy, Comms, HR, Peacebuilding Advisory Unit, Resource Development), whenever necessary in the project cycle.
• Support country teams with any aspects of the project cycle (programme development, fundraising, project start up, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, project closure), as requested by the Regional Director.
• Provide strategic support to country-led fundraising, including mapping, research,identifying and engaging directly with donors, writing proposals and designing appropriatebudgets.
• Play a leading role in identifying and developing regional strategic partnerships.
• Proactively seek information on potential donor opportunities for the region’s programmes, and help colleagues adapt their programming ideas to suit particular donor interests.
• In collaboration with country teams, write project proposals or oversee the project proposal process, and where necessary coordinate submission to the donor.
• Support country teams to ensure that all programme costs, including country staffing and central costs, are adequately budgeted and funded.
• Provide country teams with support and advice on monitoring and evaluation, including logframe and theory of change development, monitoring systems and standard evaluation design, securing evaluation consultants, when requested by the Regional Director. Facilitate engagement between country team and Impact (M&E) and Learning teams for specific technical support if needed and requested.
• Proactively facilitate connections between staff in the country offices in the region.
• Support country teams’ annual and strategic planning, including support to bi-annual reflection sessions, when requested.
• Undertake stand-alone occasional regional projects or consultancies, if requested by the Regional Director.
• Contribute to the vision and strategy of the Africa region and support the Regional Director instrategic planning and problem solving.
• When requested by the Regional Director, support the Regional Director or Country Directors with project delivery.
• Represent the regional team internally and externally to donors and other interested parties.
• Contribute to cross-organisational learning, communications and knowledge management.
• Undertake any other tasks commensurate with the role, as required by the Head of Programme Development or Regional Director.
• Travel requirements
• The postholder usually travels to Alert countries in the region two to four times per year, for one to two weeks at a time. Travel to Alert offices in the UK and/or the Netherlands maybe requested.

Person Specification
Essential Requirements:

• Candidates should possess relevant qualifications and work experience.
• Understanding of conflict transformation and peacebuilding, and experience working in this or related field.
• Understanding of the conflict dynamics in the West Africa region
• Graduate or post-graduate degree in peacebuilding, conflict studies, gender, development studies, international relations or related field or equivalent relevant experience
• Strong experience securing new funding for peacebuilding or development programmes, including developing project concepts and donor relationships; writing proposals and budgets, and negotiating contracts.
• Experience of working with a range of donors (institutional, multilateral, trusts and foundations), understanding of diverse donor requirements, and experience of identify funding opportunities and tracking donor trends.
• Good understanding of project design, including developing theories of change, clear and realistic objectives and effective monitoring and evaluation plans.
• Experience managing projects, including project start up, implementation management and project closure.
• Financial management experience, including budgeting and overseeing spend.
• Experience facilitating workshops and ideas development, including remotely and with people with diverse first languages.
• Fluent written and spoken English and French; excellent analytic and report writing skills and persuasive oral communicate.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to engage with a wide spectrum of actors, including community members, civil society and donors.
• IT literate, including experience using Excel for budgeting, and using databases.
• A collaborative team player as well as a self-starter with initiative and the ability to work alone.
• An eye for detail and accuracy and an ability to balance competing demands.
• Existing right to work in the country in which you intend to work amongst those listed in this JD.

Salary
Competitive salary package.

Application Closing Date
9th June, 2023.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online