Program Officer - RWCC

Scope: Kenya

Reports to: Head of Programs

Position: Fulltime

Office: Hub EA, Nairobi, Kenya

Deadline: 9th September 2024

JOB CONTEXT

Implemented in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, the Rural Women Cultivating project aims to shift the cultural attitudes and structures that limit young and adult rural women (particularly women small holder farmers, female heads of households (FHHs) and survivors of Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV)) allowing them to take control of their own lives, advocate for themselves and others and take leadership within communities and beyond. Using gender transformative, participatory agroecological, women leadership approaches and reinforcing interventions aimed at preventing SGBV, the project focuses on the intersection between women’s rights and climate adaptation in order to better support sustainable and equitable resource management, agricultural production and access to markets. It further alleviates poverty through reduced personal and collective vulnerability to social, economic and climate shocks.

The project targets remote rural regions of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania where farming is the primary occupation and principal use of women’s labour, to undertake work at the intersection of women’s rights and climate adaptation. The Project targets a number of areas, including North Wollo Zone of Amhara Region in Ethiopia; Baringo, Nakuru, Laikipia and Kitui counties in Kenya; and Morogoro and Gairo District Councils of Morogoro, Babati and Mbulu District Councils of Manyara and Mwanga and Same District Councils of Kilimanjaro Regions in Tanzania. The Project works in collaboration with women’s rights organizations (WROs) and agricultural-based organizations to support climate adaptation, increase food security, enhance gender equality, reduce sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and improve livelihoods for rural women.

Overview

Hivos East Africa is looking for a Project Officer (PO) who will play a critical role in the implementation of the program in Kenya. The PO should be enthusiastic in gender, agriculture or climate justice and eager to use their skills and talent in amplifying the voices of rural women?

The PO will be responsible for the delivery of a coherent program of activities and stakeholder management within four counties in Kenya in line with the program Theory of Change and overall objectives.

The PO will be responsible for identifying and building collaborative relationships with strategic organizations, relevant government entities, individuals/farmers and initiatives to support in amplifying the voices of the rural women.

The PO coordinates the delivery of comprehensive country level narrative plans and reports, that visualise activities and results of Hivos’ implementation and / or in collaboration with the other Local Implementing Partners (LIPs). These contribute to the overarching RWCC Project plans and reports. In doing so, s/he/they will closely work together with the Hivos financial officer, Junior program officer,   as well as the DMEL officer, amongst others.

S/he/they will be actively engaged in project decision making related to: project design (gender and human rights analysis, Theory of Change (ToC), Logic Model (LM), Performance Measurement Framework (PMF), annual project planning (collaborative work planning and budget determination), project management (monitoring via national steering committees) project reporting (semi-annual and annual financial and narrative reports to SeedChange), and project monitoring and evaluation (implementation of MTR recommendations and end line survey design, data collection and analysis, and final report submission).

In addition, the PO will be an integral member of the National Steering Committee and National Technical Committees. Next to that, the PO will share progress and results of the project to the regional management team as well as Hivos colleagues in the regional Hub. S/he/they is also responsible for the preparation of stories and content for website, media and other channels and the organization of internal and external events. The PO will assist the Design, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (DMEL) officer in outcome harvesting, narrative assessment and other reporting needed. The PO will work as a team with the DMEL officer, the financial officer, the Junior program officer and the communication/linking and learning specialist, amongst others.

Your responsibilities,

Project or subproject design

- Develops detailed annual work plans (results, budget, and risks).

Implementation of work plan

- Realizes successful implementation in accordance with the specific goals, working methods and budgets of the projects, this includes supporting lobby, advocacy and policy-influencing efforts at national and county levels.

Monitoring & control

- Monitors  program data, compile data and reports on results in relation to the results frameworks

- Actively engaged in generating evidence to inform programming. These may lead to development of papers.

Sharing, learning, and quality improvement

- Identifies, analyses and highlights success and good practices, as well as potential risks and problems, contributes to identifying and sharing positive stories. Proposes solutions for identified problems and follows-up on those. Participates in reflection and learning on both the project and institutional level.

Networking, Coordination and collaboration

- Ensures and promotes collaboration and coordination among all actors at the national level and county level and actively participates in coordination at the regional and international level.

Partner management

- Spearhead in identification and engagement of consultants and external facilitators and maintains healthy relationships that enhance their delivery of deliverables.

Engagement of project teams

- Proactively consults and engages other team-members, and contributes and supports teamwork, for example on advocacy or on capacity strengthening.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) in social sciences, Gender, international development or related area
• 5 years Professional experience in program coordination or management of women’s rights, human rights, agriculture or related fields
• Minimum of five years of relevant working experience.
• Work experience in working with civil society, in project design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and working in teams.
• Experience with managing multi-stakeholder initiatives including civil society, government, oversight authorities and private sector.
• Experience in facilitating training, policy and advocacy interventions in Kenya and/ or in the region.
• Clear understanding of gender, human rights, and issues surrounding empowerment of rural women and girls in climate justice and food security (this will be an added advantage).
• A proactive, open-minded team player with a positive attitude, who enjoys working in a dynamic environment.
• Work experience in a consortium environment.
• Ability to think and act creatively and ‘outside the box’ to solve problems
• Full professional proficiency in English and Kiswahili.

Keywords

Program OfficerProject CoordinatorWomen's RightsHuman RightsAgricultureClimate JusticeFood SecurityGender Empowerment