Project Lead

JOB DESCRIPTION

POSITION: Project Lead

LOCATION: Delhi-NCR (+Haryana, UP)

REPORTS TO: Programmatic Head (HQ)

LEVEL/GRADE: Sr. Manager

About ACCESS:

ACCESS Development Services is a national livelihoods promotion organization with a focus on incubating innovations and developing sustainable models for livelihoods promotion of the poor. To this end, ACCESS is structured uniquely to work at all levels of the value chain – implementing programmes on the ground (Tier I), working with Civil Society Organizations, Government Departments, Corporate sector, and Multilateral / Bilateral Agencies (Tier II) as also undertaking national initiatives to influence and support policy initiatives and strengthening the enabling environment (Tier III). ACCESS, with its head office in New Delhi has a pan-India presence having state offices in 9 states and 26 project offices. More at www.accessdev.org

Project Summary:
AWE Project is a new initiative of ACCESS, to promote women's enterprise and help them realise their potential for socio-economic empowerment and sustainable business growth through capacity building, business improvement and peer learning. Under the project, 6000 women micro-entrepreneurs in urban and peri-urban areas of Delhi and selected districts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (near to Delhi) will be identified and engaged for building their business skills and to help them upscale their enterprises. Training and capacity building will be undertaken using a set of innovative training resources. The specific objectives of the project are to: advance access to financial services and entitlements among women micro-entrepreneurs through financial literacy, enhance women entrepreneurs’ business efficiency and competitiveness for improving revenue and profit and enhance women’s decision making, mobility, and negotiation skills.

Implementation Districts: Delhi: All districts; Haryana: Faridabad, Gurugram, Sonipat, Jhajjar, Nuh, Rewari, Palwal; Uttar Pradesh: Ghaziabad, GautamBuddha Nagar, Baghpat, Hapur

Position Summary:
In this context, ACCESS is inviting applications from self-driven professionals who are interested to take on the role of Project Lead and delivering against the objectives of the project. The Project Lead will be responsible for timely and high-quality implementation of the project in designated areas, reaching out to total 6,000 women entrepreneurs as per the objectives and deliverables of the project.

Responsibilities:

• Lead project planning, management and implementation and monitoring of field team towards efficient and effective project delivery reaching out to 6,000 women enterprises.
• Develop project implementation plan with weekly and monthly targets aligned to deliver against project timelines.
• Formulate detailed budget and expenditure plans within the ambit of the approved project budgets. Track and ensure financial propriety in project expenses on ground activities as per approved budget.
• Coordinate with HR and Programme Head on the hiring of Project Coordinators, Master Trainers and Cluster Coordinators and any other technical consultants (as required).
• Manage, support and build capacities of a team of Project Coordinators, Master Trainers and Cluster Coordinators to deliver project activities on the ground.
• Conduct monthly review and planning meetings with team to review progress on activities and outcomes, identify any implementation gaps and challenges and develop appropriate strategies for addressing the same and trouble-shooting.
• Ensure the onboarding of women entrepreneurs to the project to meet project onboarding targets.
• Develop and implement strategies for effectively mobilising women entrepreneurs to participate in training programmes and promote adoption of the good business practices and access of business support services.
• Along with Project Coordinators, form implementation clusters and allocate cluster and sub-cluster-wise mobilisation and implementation responsibilities and targets to team of Master Trainers and Cluster Coordinators.
• Anchor, in coordination with HQ team, the customisation of project training and knowledge resources as required as per local context and development any new training and IEC resources, and coordinate with any vendors/consultants engaged for such tasks and signoff on all final outputs after quality verification.
• Conduct training of trainers (ToT) on training curriculum developed for the project and oversee quality of training delivery and mentor trainers and build professional capabilities of field teams.
• Anchor the customisation of project MIS as per project requirements in coordination with HQ support team and the service provider agency and guide field team on proper data collection and submission towards ensuring accuracy.
• Visit implementation clusters and women entrepreneurs periodically to assess quality of implementation, take feedback and identify areas of improvement in project delivery.
• Engage with relevant local stakeholders such distributors, wholesalers, retailers’ associations, banks, government officials, etc., to ensure smooth functioning of project, connect beneficiaries to business support services, and explore and act upon potential convergence opportunities.
• Prepare progress updates for client reporting and share the same during periodic check-in meetings with the Client (donor agency).
• Conduct quality documentation of project activities, outcomes and learnings through progress reports, learning documents etc.
• Support HQ team in dissemination of project learnings to external stakeholders and networks through social media and other knowledge sharing channels and platforms.
• Engage and coordinate regularly with Programmatic Head on project strategy and delivery, partnerships and client communication and reporting.
• Provide support in setting up project office in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, along with all associated infrastructure as required for efficient project delivery and administrative management of office infrastructure and services.
• Work as per the guidelines of project and organization and implement any other tasks as may be assigned by Programmatic Lead OR Head Office as per requirement.

Education & Experience:

• Master’s degree from any recognized university, preferably in Social Work, Entrepreneurship Development or Development Studies.
• Atleast 5-7 years of relevant experience of implementing community development projects related to enterprise development and livelihood promotion and training.
• Atleast 3 years of experience of managing large field implementation teams.
• Experience of working in urban context

Skills and Competencies:
• Project & Team Management
• Networking & Liaison with Stakeholders
• Communication, Reporting & Documentation, Knowledge Consolidation

Language Proficiency:
• Excellent command over English language (read, speak, understand and write)
• Good command over Hindi language (read, speak and understand)

Travel Requirement:
Willingness to travel across project locations (Delhi, Haryana, UP) as required for implementing the project effectively.

COMPENSATION:
The salary range for this position is commensurate to industry standards and will be determined based upon experience set of the candidate and the HR policies of the organization.

ACCESS is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. ACCESS values diversity and inclusion, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, marital status, age and disability.

Interested candidates should send an up-to-date CV and cover letter addressing the above requirements to hr@accessdev.org. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. The deadline is 30th November 2023.