Project Manager – Food Security / Livelihood at Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI)

Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) is an Italian humanitarian non-governmental organization founded in Milan in 1965. COOPI aims to help the world’s poorest to improve their access to healthcare, food, and financial security, and to overcome their special vulnerability to wars, civil conflicts and natural disasters. For 50 years of long-term support and constant presence in the field, COOPI has been engaged in breaking the cycle of poverty and responding to specific emergencies in numerous sectors, including Food Security, Humanitarian Aid, Health, Socio-Economical Services, Water and Sanitation, Human Rights, Education and Training, Migrations and Sustainable Energy.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Project Manager – Food Security / Livelihood

Location: Damaturu, Yobe with field trips to Gashua
Donor: WFP
Duration: 6 months (renewable)
Starting Date: December 2020

Background

• COOPI started its operations in North-East Nigeria in July 2014 to carry out a rapid evaluation of the most relevant constraints suffered by the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) displaced by the food crisis and the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin.
• COOPI’s aim is to support the most basic and pressing needs of communities affected by the conflict. COOPI is providing a multi-sectoral emergency response to the IDPs, returnees and host population focused on food security, nutrition, protection and education. COOPI main area of intervention is Yobe State but we are also present in Borno state.

Description of the Project

• Title: Yobe Food Security and Livelihood improvement for Resilience Building Project
• The project has two objectives:
  • Early Recovery and Livelihood Sector: to improve access to infrastructure and basic social services through rehabilitation and reconstruction of public service facilities;
  • Support livelihood stabilization.
• Overall project Goal: to contribute resilience building and to reduce undernutrition through livelihoods activities with vulnerable IDPs, returnees and host communities affected by the crisis in Yobe State.

Scope of the Vacancy
The Project Manager is:

• Responsible for the overall activities’ planning, execution and reporting of Livelihoods projects ;
• Directly assigned to, and responsible of the supervision of all logistics, HR, financial and overall functioning aspects for his projects.

Reports to:

• Head of Mission / Program Manager

Responsibilities
Project management:

• Under the direct supervision of the Head of Mission and in link with the Program Manager, s / he provides overall managerial oversight to livelihood project and support livelihood project implementation team;
• S / he ensures cross-departmental coordination with WFP food security and livelihood component;
• S / he works with donor and program team to maintain and update livelihoods implementation plan;
• In cooperation and synergy with the project staff, s / he plans and monitors the livelihood activities’ progress, in compliance with the donor regulations with donor’s and COOPI’s procedures, and with the specific Project Structure and Reporting Lines definition, making use of the financial instruments provided by the organization;
• In collaboration with the Program Manager and Head of Base, prepares all the formal communication and contract modification requests (ex. budget modification) of the project;
• He / she monitors the accuracy and efficiency of activities;
• S / he puts in place and follows in accountability beneficiaries feedback’s mechanism.

Admin / Finance and Logistics Aspects:

• In collaboration with the Administrative and the Logistics team, plans and monitors the expenditures in line with the project’s implementation needs;
• S / he ensures compliance with the fund** and timely fulfilment of project’s reporting requirements;
• In cooperation with the Program Manager, s/he finalizes the data provided by his / her team and supports the preparation, in compliance with the deadlines, of the narrative reports expected by the donors and by the partners;
• Liaise with logistics / procurement team to ensure the goods purchased for the project, support updates of the inventory and guarantee the respect of the policies and guidelines.

Institutional Relations:

• S / he represents COOPI** with the local / State authorities and partners;
• In collaboration with the Program Manager and in synergy with the specific reporting lines of the projects, promotes and manages relations with the local government institutions, NGOs, and other local partners available in the area.

Human Resources:

• In coordination with the Administrative team, supports in hiring of new staff directly related to the project and conducts staff appraisals Upholds COOPI’s mission and Charter of Values;
• S / he supervises the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the staff.

Others:

• Performs any other duties as requested by the supervisor;
• Executes any other task necessary to good and timely completion of the projects, identified in mutual agreement;
• Supports the Program Manager to explore livelihood program expansion and fundraising;
• Follows and enforces all COOPI codes of conduct and policies (globally and in-country).

Requirements
Essentials:

• Master’s degree in Humanitarian / Development Studies / Social Sciences or any related field;
• At least 3 years of working experience in / with INGO on Livelihoods / FSL area of intervention;
• Experience in managing enterprise and livelihood development activities as a+;
• Proven interest & commitment to humanitarian and development principles and a demonstrable understanding of conflict / post-conflict development contexts;
• Expertise in sustainable livelihoods, on-farm and off-farm livelihoods, in particular: data collection, analysis, and report writing including post-distribution monitoring (PDM);
• Excellent in written and spoken English;
• Proven commitment to accountability practices;
• Excellent Microsoft Office applications skills (Excel, Word, Power point, Emails, Skype, Web researchers);
• Knowledge of and adherence to COOPI Code of Conduct, understands other international development guidelines.

Soft Skills:

• Proven ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines;
• Ability to plan, organize work, communicate and reports effectively (both in writing and verbally);
• Team player, effective communicator, successful negotiator, creative and analytical thinker, active learner, able to work in a multicultural environment;
• Excellent communication skills, calm, with a good sense of working in inter-cultural environment;
• Ability to function effectively under stressful conditions such as heavy workloads, and deadlines.

Application Closing Date
14th December, 2020.