Farm Africa, founded in 1985, is an international non-governmental organization working in Ethiopia since 1988. Farm Africa works to end hunger and bring prosperity to rural Africa. We believe Africa has the power to feed itself and are helping make this happen by establishing and spreading the best farming and forestry techniques so that poor farmers and herders have more food to feed their families and to sell. We help smallholders manage their natural resources sustainably so that they can withstand climate change challenges and shocks and ensure their families have enough food in the future as well as now. Farm Africa works in partnership with communities, government, local and international organizations, and the private sector to innovate, learn and share best practices for maximum impact of our projects.
PURPOSE
The SPMO is responsible for ensuring that Farm Africa projects are of the highest level of quality and meet all donor donor and other stakeholders’ requirements whilst achieving maximum possible impact and delivering value for money.
He/she will lead in project design, planning, review and evaluation within the organization’s strategic framework.. The SPMO identify and build on synergies and complementarities across the project portfolio and will play a significant role in knowledge management.. The post holder is a member of thre country Senior Management Team (SMT)
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Stakeholders
Ensure the highest standard of project donor contract management and full donor compliance with regard to budgeting and financial management and reporting. Planning and quality assurance of timeliness and accuracy against approved formats and donor requirements of reports, reviews, evaluations, baselines, etc with monitoring of the preparation and submission of these and contracting, tasking and supervision of any outside consultants hired, or these and for any other matters.
Ensure the necessary assessments such as due diligence and partner risk analysis are completed, and proper project approval is received (internally and from government).
Manage partnerships and partner consortia, ensuring agreements are respected; identify and resolve all challenges, disagreements and other operational needs as they occur, reporting at organisational level on corrective actions and lessons learned. Build and maintain strong and effective relationships with donors at the local and operational levels.
Represent Farm Africa to government, donors and other NGOs, etc on programme matters.
Operations
Support project teams to ensure that activity plans and associated project milestones match donor requirements, and provide technical and managerial support to Project Coordinators to ensure approved projects are delivered according to the contractual requirements of donors or other stakeholders
In conjunction with finance ensure the timely, realistic and accurate preparation and revision of project budgets; authorising and monitoring expenditure in line with the budget and internal and donor guidelines. This will include mainly analysis of monthly expenditure against budget reports and quarterly variance analysis report. Ensure PC are meeting their budget holder responsibilities at all times.
Support project staff and ensure proper planning for rapid project start-up, including recruitment of high quality project staff with induction, identification and resourcing of office, transport and logistic support, communication and reporting modalities and channels, and (regional/local) project implementation planning workshops with full and realistic project work plans. Similarly plan and supervise project exit/closure to ensure the highest standards of professionalism and administrative efficiency
Ensure that there is effective communications within the programme and with other departments
Monitoring and Evaluation
Plan and lead the quarterly reviews of projects, ensuring rigorous analysis, discussion and testing of progress, situation and plans in respect of activity implementation, budget utilization and finance, resourcing, etc. Ensure decisions are reflected in future plans and activities with appropriate follow-up.
Ensure the preparation of accurate, realistic and effective data collection plans, and implementation of the same. Support and coach field teams to ensure ongoing and quality/impact improvements use of data and related adaptation of projects within agreed project frameworks and contracts, identifying need for and arranging technical support as/when needed
Undertake regular visits to project offices and field activities for support, partner visits, monitoring etc.
Human Resources
Line manage PCs, including clear work plans and objectives, regular consultations (at least weekly), quarterly reviews, and annual appraisals.
Lead and co-ordinate the planning, induction and training for all programme staff, particularly Project Coordinators.
Support PCs in doing monthly, quarterly and annual procurement of goods and services plans and ensure the adaptation and implementation of those.
Ensure adherence at project level to Farm Africa’s organisational policies, procedures and regulations (per the Field Staff Handbook, Procurement and Finance Manuals, Security Policy, Anti-Fraud, Corruption and Conflict of Interest Policy, Communications Protocols, etc).
Membership of the Farm Africa Ethiopia Senior Management Team (SMT)
As requested, deputise for the CD and cover for PCs in their absences
Place of work: Addis Ababa, with travel in the field estimated at 20% of time
Contract period: 3 yrs extendible, 6 months probationary period
Terms of the position: Very competitive salary & benefit package according to Farm Africa policy.
Job Requirement
Education and Qualifications
Postgraduate qualification in a relevant subject, such as project administration, development studies, business administration, etc Programme knowledge and experience in the agricultural, forestry, natural resource management, value chain development, and sustainable livelihoods.
Experience
At least 3 years senior management experience Ideally with a developmental NGO
A minimum of 5 years project management experience in Ethiopia and/ or another African Country, including working with partners Preferably includes experience of consortium leadership
Experience of relationship building and management with major institutional, commercial and private individual donors Including with EU, DfID, other bi-lateral donors
Experience in working with the private sector to achieve development outcomes
Experience in project design, proposal development and project management, including budgets and budget monitoring and review Including multi-million $ and cross-sector projects
Experience of designing and implementing programme monitoring systems Including value for money
Experience of drafting and negotiating project agreements, memoranda of understanding and partnership agreements, and terms of reference for baselines, evaluations, consultancies etc
Experience of staff management and commitment to staff development and team building
Experience of working with participatory approaches to development and capacity building of staff and stakeholders Including at community level, and with local authorities and co-operatives
Experience of organisational and strategic planning processes
Skills & Abilities
Fluent written and spoken English and Amharic
Excellent time management skills, with a proven ability to prioritise between tasks, deliver in a high-paced working environment, and self-manage
High level of analytical and conceptual thinking
Good budgeting and budget management
Computer literacy, including proven experience with word processing and spreadsheets
Strong sense of integrity and personal commitment to the Goals and Values of Farm Africa
Excellent communication and team building skills with the proven ability to coach and mentor staff successfully
Ability to undertake unaccompanied travel and operate away from the work station
Values
Farm Africa seeks to employ those who believe, as we do, that farmers can and will play a key role in achieving long-term rural prosperity in Africa and who seek to deliver on those beliefs by:
being experts in our field, delivering insightful/impactful evidence-based solutions
pushing boundaries, being creative with new and old solutions
acting for the long-term, building relationships and delivering long-lasting change for farmers
working flexibly, taking advantage of the most effective solutions, whether from the communities, private sector or government
sharing knowledge with others, reaching more farmers than we do alone, ensuring effective technologies are widely accessed.