REACH Project Development Assistant

Background on ACTED

ACTED is a French humanitarian NGO, founded in 1993, which supports vulnerable populations, affected by humanitarian crises worldwide. ACTED provides continued support to vulnerable communities by ensuring the sustainability of post-crisis interventions and engaging long-term challenges facing our target populations, in order to break the poverty cycle, foster development and reduce vulnerability to disasters. Their interventions seek to cover the multiple aspects of humanitarian and development crises through a multidisciplinary approach which is both global and local, and adapted to each context.

ACTED is looking for professionally confident, self-motivated, experienced and committed team player to fill the REACH Project Development Assistant Position in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Position Profile:

Under the line management of the REACH Country Coordinator and Senior Research Manager in Addis Ababa, the Logistic Assistant (LA) contributes to the implementation of the ACTED procedures to conduct REACH field activities (data collections). He/she ensures that all REACH activities are carried out in compliance with ACTED manuals. 

OBJECTIVES 

·       Contribute to the funding of REACHs programming strategy; 

·       Ensure good donor relations through proper, qualitative and timely grant management; 

·       Facilitate internal coordination and communication and mentor junior staff as required 

·       Raise REACH’s profile and credibility with external stakeholders by communicating a positive image of REACH activities and engagements in the country. 

Duties and Responsibilities Include:

1.     Fundraising 

·       Context Analysis 

·       External relations 

·       Fundraising and proposal development 

·       Contracting 

·       Contribute to addressing in a timely manner all comments by donors on proposals in liaison with relevant staff in country and REACH HQ Grant Management Unit (GMU) and Finance; 

·       Read thoroughly all contracts before signature, seeking REACH HQ GMU and finance advice when required. 

2.     Grant Management 

Contract follow-up 

·       Ensure that contractual obligations (including visibility requirements) and reporting deadlines are known and met by REACH Assessment, Data, Field and Support teams as well as ACTED FLATS+PD as necessary; 

·       When any issue is identified in meeting deliverables in the given timeframe and budget, inform relevant staff in country and seek REACH HQ Program Department advice on potential solutions that would meet donor rules. 

Reporting 

·       Participate in and take minutes of kick-off and close out meetings for each project 

·       Write quality narrative reports, reflecting the progress and status of projects in a transparent, timely and professional manner, in liaison with REACH HQ GMU and finance, which will contribute ultimately to steady cash inflow; 

·       Work in close relation with Assessment teams to incorporate key data in reports as necessary. 

·       Liaise with FLATS teams when preparing reports, especially with finance to ensure greater coherence between financial and narrative reports by crosschecking the matching of data in the narrative and financial reports; 

·       Contribute to the monthly update of the Reporting Follow Up (RFU) and ensure smooth and regular communication with REACH HQ GMU. 

·       Ensure ad hoc requests from donors are addressed in liaison with the CD, assessment, field, data and support teams; 

Partner Follow-up 

·       Liaise with partners when required to develop relevant grant agreements in close coordination with REACH HQ GMU and finance; 

·       Ensure partners report to REACH as necessary and in a timely and qualitative manner as per the requirements of the grant agreement. 

3.     Management and Internal Coordination 

Internal Coordination and Communication 

·       Facilitate interdepartmental communication and information in REACH Ethiopia and take minutes of the various coordination meetings as required 

·       Ensure these meeting minutes are sent monthly to Coordination and HQ; 

·       Keep REACH HQ GMU and Finance updated on latest developments, opportunities and challenges so that GMU can best advice on the way forward. 

Filing 

·       File properly contractual project documents both in hard and soft copies; 

·       Update regularly the Resource Centre at the office with appropriate and relevant external and internal resources. 

4.     External Communication 

·       Contribute to REACH external communication strategy by feeding regularly REACH HQ Communication Department with informal updates on projects, a flash news, pictures, articles on projects progress and/or specific events for communication tools, including, but not limited to, Newsletters, websites and Annual Reporting; 

·       Ensure the update and design of in country communication and visibility tools and publications, their dissemination and availability to all teams, as well as the capitalization of media and pictures of the mission; 

DATA CONFIDENTIALITY AND PROTECTION 

·       The PDA will maintain the strictest confidentiality on all data collected and related processes, ensuring full compliance with REACH data protection policy and SOPs. He/she will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of any information and data belonging to REACH and its partners, or collected during his/her assignment. 

Technical Skills 

·       Human qualities 

·       Organizational value alignment 

·       Thinking outside of the box 

·       Adaptation to different work situations 

·       Dedication and self-commitment 

·       Autonomy and self-direction 

Management skills 

·       Leadership – inspire and encourage others within the team; 

·       Decision making and problem solving 

·       Achieving results 

·       Teamwork and team leadership 

Process skills 

·       Transparency and Accountability; 

·       Planning and organizing; 

·       Operationalizing - concrete actions with measurable outputs 

·       Effective communication 

Academic Excellent academic qualifications, preferably including a Master degree in relevant discipline; 

Software skills Proven knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite, to include Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Experience with InDesign an asset. 

Years of work experience At least 2 years of relevant working experience; 

Experience in humanitarian settings familiarity with the aid sector and experience working in the humanitarian sector an asset 

Management skills Ability to manage his/her own time effectively with minimum guidance; 

Communication/reporting skills Excellent communication and drafting skills for effective proposal writing and reporting; 

Multi-tasking skills Ability to multitask with tight deadlines, on numerous projects 

Level of independence Proven ability to work with minimal guidance and gaining quickly independence; 

Cross-cultural work environment Ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment requiring flexibility; 

Language skills Fluency in English required