Senior Project Coordinator

Senior Project Coordinator- Early Start project - (210006ST) 

The Opportunity

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children. We save children’s lives; we fight for their rights; we help them fulfill their potential. We work together, with our partners from civil societies and government, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. We reached approximately two million populations and invests over 40 million US dollars annually to reach more children than ever before, through programs in Health, Nutrition, Education, Protection and Child Rights and Governance, Livelihood, HIV, and AIDS, and Humanitarian Crises.

Early Start project targets all pregnant and lactating women and their partners as well as all caregivers of young children (0-3 years old) in Chamunda Bindrasaini Municipality and Aathbish Municipality of Dailekh district. The project will adopt an integrated approach providing early stimulation and responsive care for children's social, emotional, and cognitive development. It will promote children's early development via stimulating and responsive environments that provide early learning opportunities, offer protection from adversities and violence, and fulfill health and nutritional needs. It will offer specific support to parents/caregivers as the child's first and main reference persons, empower civil society networks, and thereby build on existing government mechanisms to reach out to parents and their youngest children.

The Senior Project Coordinator- is responsible for providing strategic guidance, partnership management, and managerial leadership to successfully implement the Early Start project in Dailekh. The position holder has to manage multiple arrays of networks, internal and external stakeholders in regards to promote and defend the rights of children below the age of three years. S/he needs to build professional working relationships among internal departments i.e. thematic team, MEAL, Finance, Supply Chain, Award, Media communication, and advocacy to achieve a better result for children. S/he has to manage project budget leveraging local resources and capacity to sustain the project outcomes. S/he will have to maintain close strategic relationships among provincial and local governments to scale up the best practices of the project.  S/he needs to ensure that the partner team and civil society organizations have received adequate technical/ capacity building support for quality delivery of project intervention S/he will ensure high quality and results-oriented program plans and innovation including strong monitoring systems are developed and applied at all levels. The position requires ensuring compliance on project management at various stages of implementation as guided by the donor policy and as advised by Save the Children's Newzealand counterpart.

The position holder will be responsible to submit high-quality project progress reports with the agreed timeframe. S/he will be responsible for ensuring that key organizational principles and approaches (such as GESI, child participation, and accountability) are well integrated throughout all stages of this project cycle. S/he will also be responsible for the representation and networking with donors, civil society organizations, and government (local, provincial, and national) to advocate and scaling up the good practices. 

In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

PROJECT PLANNING, BUDGETING, CAPACITY BUILDING (40%)

Lead the planning, budgeting, monitoring and supervision of partner and project interventions in line with project guidelines, SC quality framework, policies and country strategy paper.

• Ensure appropriate fund allocation and monthly expenditure and take corrective measures by revisiting plan and communicating with thematic team, finance and award department. 
• Review the project’s BVAs and report on any glitches identified on the monthly BVA report.
• Lead budget revision during budget forecast and on exchange rate fluctuations as per organizational procedures.
• Work closely with field office departments and coordinate with technical team at field office and country office for technical assistance as required.
• Encourage and motivate around 30 partner staffs and make sure that they have clear understanding on the project’s objectives, results, and Co- relation of outcomes, outputs and interventions.
• Ensure that partner is clear on its roles to implement the project and fully complying SC’s zero tolerance policies.

• Work as the focal point for the project and identify and pull resources from the MFWFO and CO to fulfil capacity gaps and improve the technical quality of the project

Ensure that the allocated phased budget of the project is effectively & efficiently utilized and contributed in achieving the CSP goal. 

• Facilitate Partners in preparing detail implementation plans (DIPs), Project Operating Guideline (POG), annual plan including budget and M & E plan.

Provide implementation guidance to partner organizations to design cost effective and result oriented program. 

PROGRAMME QUALITY, DOCUMENTATION & REPORTING (30% LOE)

• Monitor program progress against both programmatic and budgetary targets, making adjustments to programme design as necessary
• Train/capacity build partner NGO and government staff including local structures to enable them to undertake the project activities related to MNCHN, early stimulation and parenting without violence.
• Undertake field visit, attend the delivery of integrated package (which includes MNCHN, early stimulation and parenting without violence) by local facilitators and the partner NGO to identify capacity gaps and undertake interventions to fulfil those gaps in a regular/continuous manner
• Ensure compliance with quality benchmarks of the project interventions and strive for gradual and continuous improvement of the quality benchmarks to achieve program excellence
• Prepare timely and quality project reports in compliance with internal Save the Children and any relevant external donor requirements.
• Play lead role in the documentation and dessimination of best practices, key learning and successful operation modalities of the project for institutional memory and knowledge management
• Ensure the fidelity of the implementation of the project package, common approaches and identify and suggest improvements based on learning generated during its implementation   

• Ensure that the partner staff are quite familiar with log frame, M & E plan, risk management plan, monitoring tools and working approach.
• Update/and verify OPMIS data as per need and support partner to submit OPMIS report regularly.  
• Coordinate and work closely with the local government to jointly identify interventions that can be sustained through local resources.

PROGRAMME OPERATIONS and MANAGEMENT (20% LOE)

Ensure that the allocated phased budget of the projects are effectively & efficiently utilized and contributed in achieving the Project goal. 

Ensure that partner has fully met donor, audit and SC compliances while implementing the project

• Prepare the POM- program operations manual and its components, understood by relevant staff, and kept in place for monitoring.
• Ensure that the project meets KPIs and /or excels Minimum Operating Standards of key programmatic interventions including safeguarding, Gender and Social Inclusion principles.
• Provide managerial and technical supervision of partner team for quality delivery of project interventions.
• Update the security situation of project area and provide necessary guidance to project team.

COORDINATION, REPRESENTATION AND NETWORKING (10% LOE)

• Mobilization and capacity building of civil society networks and support them to undertake local and provincial level advocacy work.

• Ensure that SCI has effective engagement with provincial and local level government and networks that will enhance our reputation and programming.
• Participate actively in technical coordination meetings to ensure synergies with other agencies in our development work and emergency responses
• Maintain excellent relationships with donors, both in terms of strategic positioning and program delivery.

OTHER

• Other tasks as requested by the supervisor
• Support Save the Children Humanitarian responses where appropriate/if needed, ensuring timely and quality responses in line with international standards and technical best practice.

Qualifications and Experience

• Master’s degree in any discipline (Public Health, Education, Human Rights, Law or any other related Social Sciences)
• At least 5 years (3 years for GSI group) of job experience in child rights-based programming, managing an integrated project and experience of working closely with the government will be an added advantage.

ATTRIBUTES:

• Advanced knowledge on project/grant management.
• Research & survey
• Advocacy & lobbying
• Reliable, trustworthy, and committed

ESSENTIAL:

• Prior experience in working with NGOs/civil society network and government counterparts
• Proven sound strategic thinking and planning skills, including ability to think creatively and be innovative to set priorities, manage work plan and evaluate progress.
• Good report writing skill.
• Good interpersonal skills including verbal and written communication skills.
• Good supportive supervision skills, developing self and others
• Excellent English communication skills, specifically written
• Commitment to the aims and principles of SCI; a good understanding of the SCI mandate and child focus and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support 

Required No.(s): 1 (Nepali Citizens only)

Contract length: Fixed Term

Location: Based in MFWFO Field Office, Dailekh

 The Organisation

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard. 

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children.  We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information

Please apply using a cover letter and up-to-date CV as a single document. Please also include details of your current remuneration and salary expectations.
We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our global anti-harassment policy.

Save the Children does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process.

Location : Nepalgunj

Employee Status: Fixed Term

Closing Date: Sep 24, 2021