Reporting Specialist

Swedish Committee for Afghanistan

Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) has been present in Afghanistan since the beginning of the 1980s. With over 5 000 Afghan employees it is one of the largest organizations in the country. SCA is presently managing development programmes linked to Strategic Objectives within Health, Education, Rural Livelihoods and Community Governance with a total annual budget of roughly USD 40 million.

In Afghanistan close to 70 000 children go to schools run by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA). Over two million people receive medical care each year at clinics and hospitals run by the organization. Nearly 3 000 children and adults with disabilities receive special education.

In recent years, SCA has moved from being a mainly humanitarian organization to more emphasize capacity development for individuals and organizations related to our development programmes, and enhance their capacity to advocate for their rights. SCA provides support to a number of civil society organizations.

Activities are based on a Rights Based Approach – to satisfy hunger and live with dignity is a right, not a gift. SCA emphasizes that women have equal rights and should have the same opportunities as men. Through our programmes we support empowerment of women.

SCA operates in 14 provinces in Afghanistan, and contributes to stability in an unstable country. The programmes are to the vast majority implemented in rural areas. In Sweden SCA has around 20 staff at the office in Stockholm, and about 4 000 members in local chapters all over the country

For more than 35 years SCA have been present among those in Afghanistan with the greatest needs; despite war and conflict. SCA have decided to stay as long as needed.

Planning and Reporting Unit

Planning and Reporting Unit (PRU) is a strategic unit within the organization that has the oversight, coordination and support responsibility for the planning, reporting, grant management and funding processes/functions in SCA overall under direct supervision of the Country Director/Afghanistan and technical guidance of SCA’s Secretary General.

The unit is responsible for the facilitation of strategic, and annual planning, as well as other major organisational planning processes that requires broad coordination. The unit coordinates the required (by internal demands, donors and governmental authorities) SCA reporting processes and requirements, in particular the macro annual report.

PRU is responsible for leading the implementation and follow-up of the funding strategy and annual resource mobilization plan, and to identify institutional government and private donors and funding opportunities in the country.

The unit is also responsible for the grant management of agreements/contracts for donors based in Afghanistan, and where PRU have been assigned a grant management responsibility in close collaboration with the Programme Department at Kabul Management Office and the Aid Coordination Unit at Stockholm Management Office. The unit supports quality proposal development and project design, in particular ensuring compliance with donor requirements, while undertaking regular follow-up with potential donors. 

Scope of Work

Under the guidance and direct supervision of Head of Planning and Reporting, the Reporting Specialist is responsible to manage all internal and external reporting with focus on Result Based Reporting, including annual report and individual donor reports, through systematic tracking of reporting deadlines and requirements according to the contractual agreements with donors and SCA’s internal procedures. Reporting Specialist will initiate, materialize and coordinate a participatory reporting approach to ensure concerned programmes/units, including Regional Management Offices, are fully engaged throughout the process and provide the required qualitative and quantitative inputs. The position holder will work closely with concerned departments/units – including Aid Coordination Unit in Stockholm Management Office – to coordinate the process, and obtain the required input needed for the report. This also includes engaging cross-cutting units such as Human Rights and Gender, Civil Society and Capacity Building, and Advocacy Units, to ensure SCA’s strategic means and thematic areas are properly addressed in the reports. The Reporting specialist will also take active part in compilation and review of the narrative annual work plan, and ensures that the work plan is developed in a way to address individual donor reporting requirements. She/he is also responsible to build the capacity of respective staff in result based reporting, development of relevant tools, and compliance to donor requirements.

Responsibilities

• Develops and communicates annual reporting directives and templates across the organization, in consultation with Head of PRU, contract holders, and senior management.
• Responsible for coordination, compilation, and edit of Macro Annual Report, and to ensure it is reviewed by relevant units/programmes, and senior management.
• Ensures that the reports are systemized, meet donor requirements, and consistent with the results framework.
• Improves the Macro Reporting system to ensure individual donor reports are easily extracted.
• Responsible to initiate, coordinate, and compile individual donor reports in line with the deadlines and donor requirements in close coordination with concerned units, especially the contract holder.
• Disseminates draft reports for review and feedback to implementing department/unit, and relevant technical units both in Kabul and Stockholm prior to finalization and submission.
• Maintains close relation with Aid Coordination Unit in Stockholm to coordinate Sweden based donor reports
• Works closely with Monitoring and Evaluation Unit to incorporate M&E data in the reports, including progress towards Strategic Objective/Outcome indicators.
• Works closely with Finance Department to ensure the financial reports are prepared in line with contracts, and submitted along with the narrative reports.
• Ensures that SCA’s strategic means and thematic areas are addressed in the reports by engaging relevant crosscutting unit (s) during the reporting process, including reviewing the drafts.
• Compilation and editing of the narrative part of Annual Work Plan, and ensures that the work plan corresponds to the individual donor reporting requirements.
• Build capacity of team members, and respective programme/unit staff in results-based and donor reporting.
• Attends/leads/support meetings and workshops and undertakes other related duties as/when assigned by Head of Planning and Reporting.
• To capture the lessons learned and identify areas for improvement at the end of each reporting cycle, and improve the reporting process accordingly.

Entry Requirements

Qualifications

• Master Degree, or equivalent, in Business Administration, Development Studies, Social Sciences, or relevant professional fields.
• At least 3 years of relevant work experience at the national/international level involving multi-stakeholder and multi-sectorial projects, and partnership development.

Essential competence

• Excellent command of English, written and spoken (preferably English native speaker).
• Ability to provide clear messages on complex information.
• Ability to seek and synthesise information from a variety of sources and draw solid conclusion based on in depth analysis.
• Strong knowledge of donor rules and regulations related to reporting and compliance.
• Proven ability to prioritise, handle multiple tasks, and meet deadlines.
• Accuracy and attention to detail.
• Skilled in results based reporting and planning.
• Good communication skills, including the ability to write high quality donor and organisational reports and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style. Writing samples will be required from short listed candidates.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, teamwork and adaptation at working with people of diverse cultural and social backgrounds.
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and travel as required to project field sites.
• Staff competence development ability in the areas of result based and donor reporting.

Desired competence

• Knowledge in design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects.
• Familiarity with application of Right Based Approach in developmental context.
• Previous experience in Afghanistan or a similar environment.
• HEAT-training.

• Application information
• Contract period: 2 years with an initial 6 months probationary period
• Conditions: Non family posting. SCA offers a competitive salary, free housing, insurances and other benefits.
• Duties to begin: May 2018
• Last date for application: 7 February 2018
• Apply from sak.se (Lediga jobb) or www.swedishcommittee.org (Vacancies)
• Download a 1-page letter explaining why you are interested in and suited for this position and your CV (no more than 2 pages) in English.