Uganda: Base Manager – Kampala

Fixed term | 12 months | ASAP

ACTED

Since 1993, as an international non-governmental organization, ACTED has been committed to immediate humanitarian relief to support those in urgent need and protect people’s dignity, while co-creating longer term opportunities for sustainable growth and fulfilling people’s potential.

ACTED endeavors to respond to humanitarian crises and build resilience; promote inclusive and sustainable growth; co-construct effective governance and support the building of civil society worldwide by investing in people and their potential.

We go the last mile: ACTED’s mission is to save lives and support people in meeting their needs in hard to reach areas. With a team of 4,600 national staff 400 international staff, ACTED is active in 37 countries and implements more than 500 projects a year reaching over 14 million beneficiaries.

ACTED Uganda

ACTED in Uganda is committed to supporting the development of climate-sensitive livelihood activities, with a primary focus on agricultural activities throughout the Karamoja region and Northern Uganda. ACTED Uganda’s actions aim to enhance resilience through climate sensing and community engagement and to support agricultural livelihoods. In 2017, ACTED opened its operations in the West Nile region to meet the needs of the refugee populations in the region.

You will be in charge of

1. Positioning and Fundraising

Context Analysis

• Analyse the country’s socio-economic situation, (donor) trends, needs and gaps
• Regularly conduct stakeholder analysis, in particular who does what and where (3W)
• Alert the Country Director of gaps and emerging needs in order to trigger assessments in a timely manner

Strategy development

• Support in the identification of new opportunities and new sectors of intervention;
• Assist in consolidating and stabilizing programming;
• Review the geographic and thematic footprint;
• Ensure activities are relevant and meeting sub-area/beneficiary needs;
• Identify ACTED added-value;
• Ensure humanitarian principals are adhered to;

External relations

• Maintain active and regular working relationships with donors and act as point of contact for all donor communication, including the coordination of donor visits in the field
• Maintain active and regular working relationships with other NGOs, UN agencies, clusters, working groups, Alliance2015, consortia and academia
• Ensure the establishment and regular update of a directory of donors, international and local NGOs, other partners and stakeholders
• Lead the reporting to national and local authorities as required by ACTED registration/legal status in country
• In the absence of Technical Coordinators, represent ACTED in key clusters, working groups, HCT and (I)NGO coordination bodies

Fundraising and proposal development

• Identify funding opportunities;
• Identify new donors for diversifying ACTED donors’ portfolio including private companies and private foundations
• Contribute to the identification of potential relevant international and/or local partners (private sector partners, national and international NGOs, think tanks, academia, etc.) to be included in proposals
• Update on a monthly basis the Donor Follow Up (DFU) which documents latest negotiations and proposal possibilities with donor
• Liaise with AMEU to contribute to the ToRs of assessments to be conducted for proposal development and ensure their input in the logframe development (in particular the formulation of SMART indicators);
• Oversee the development of fundraising documents (Expression of Interests, concept notes, proposals) in line with ACTED country strategy and donor requirements and in close collaboration with ACTED HQ GMU (Grant Management Unit) and finance
• Liaise with Area Coordinators, Project Managers and Technical Coordinators to ensure that proposals are relevant and technically sound
• Ensure that learning from previous projects (e.g. lessons learnt and best practices) is incorporated into new proposals
• Ensure the involvement of FLATS teams in the development of fundraising documents, particularly finance for the budget and logistics in case of specific donor procurement rules

Contracting

• Support the Country Director in negotiating proposals and/or contracts with donors
• Address in a timely manner all comments by donors on proposals in liaison with relevant staff in country and ACTED HQ GMU and finance
• Read thoroughly all contracts before signature, seeking ACTED HQ GMU and finance advice when required

2. Grant Management

Contract follow-up

• Ensure that contractual obligations (including visibility requirements) and reporting
• When any issue is identified in meeting deliverables in the given timeframe and budget, inform relevant staff in country and seek ACTED HQ Program Department advice on potential solutions that would meet donor rules

Reporting

• Ensure project kick-off and close out meetings are conducted for each project
• Oversee the development of quality narrative reports, reflecting the progress and status of projects in a transparent, timely and professional manner, in liaison with ACTED HQ GMU and finance, which will contribute ultimately to steady cash inflow
• Liaise with FLATS teams when preparing reports, esp. with finance to ensure greater coherence between financial and narrative reports by crosschecking the matching of data in the narrative and financial reports;
• Work in close relation with AMEU to incorporate AME data (incl. data on input, process, output, outcome and impact indicators, lessons learnt and best practices) in reports and review M&E reports from AMEU
• Update monthly the Reporting Follow Up (RFU) and ensure smooth and regular communication with ACTED HQ GMU
• Ensure ad hoc requests from donors are addressed in liaison with the CD, Programme and support teams

Partner Follow-up

• Liaise with partners to develop and sign relevant grant agreements in close coordination with ACTED HQ GMU and finance;
• Ensure all potential partners have a clear understanding of what is expected in terms of reporting so as to comply with ACTED and donor requirements and regulations;
• Ensure partners report to ACTED in a timely and qualitative manner as per the requirements of the grant agreement.

3. Management and Internal Coordination

Staff Management

• Ensure that staff in the department understands and is able to perform its roles and responsibilities;
• Manage a team of Project Development Officers, Interns and Assistants delineating their responsibilities and follow-up the work plans and day-to-day activities;
• Ensure a positive working environment and good team dynamics;
• Manage interpersonal conflicts between departmental staff members;
• Undertake regular appraisals of staff and follow career management;
• Identify the PDD training needs, discuss plans with the coordination and HR for both internal and external trainings, and implement them according to PDD strategic and operational priorities;
• Coach, train, and mentor the PDD team with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the PDD team and providing professional development guidance.

Internal Coordination and Communication

• Facilitate interdepartmental communication and information sharing from the Base, to the Area, Capital, and even up to the regional and HQ offices by ensuring implementation of ACTED coordination mechanisms (WAM, MCM) and dissemination to relevant staff;
• Ensure these meeting minutes are sent monthly to HQ;
• Ensure regular and clear communication with ACTED HQ GMU and finance to keep it updated about latest development, so that GMU can best advice you ahead of a task.

Filing

• Implement a filing system end ensure the proper filing of contractual project documents both in hard and soft copies;
• Together with AMEU, set up a Resource Centre at the office regularly updated with appropriate and relevant external and internal resources.

4. Project Implementation Follow-up

Project Implementation Tracking

• Support Project Managers in project implementation through trouble shooting and eliminating blocking points
• Monitor output achievement, cash burn rates and ensure a time completion of projects through review of PMFs, BFUs and project reports
• Ensure that relevant project information are up-to-date and available for reporting purposes

Project Quality Control

• Ensure the application of a practical field based M&E system/plan for each project
• Conduct frequent field visits to project sites to assess activities and ensure efficient use of resources
• Ensure beneficiary feedback mechanisms are in place
• Support with the documentation of best practices and lessons learnt for projects implemented in the sub-area/base

Partner Management

• Identify potential local partners in the sub-area/base based on an assessment of complementarity and added value
• Provide support to partners in project implementation and ensure timely and qualitative implementation of projects by partners in line with ACTED and donor requirements

5. FLATS Management

Finance Management

• Control project budgets at base level to avoid under/over spending
• Ensure accurate budget forecasting and efficient cash flow management
• Ensure timely and accurate base finance TITANIC reporting

Logistics & IT Management

• Ensure timely procurement and adherence to rules of origin and nationality at subarea/base level
• Ensure quality supply management at base level
• Ensure proper asset management at base level and enforce asset investment policy
• Ensure proper stock management at base level
• Ensure proper IT systems, data back-up and protection from malware at base level
• Ensure sufficient and reliable means of communication at base level
• Ensure timely and accurate base logistics TITANIC reporting

Administration and HR Management

• Ensure transparent and timely recruitment of national staff
• Proactively adapt the staffing structure at base level to needs and funding
• Ensure regular performance appraisal and career management for staff at base level
• Ensure timely and accurate base HR TITANIC reporting
• Ensure timely exit forms

Transparency/Compliance Management

• Minimize risk of fraud and corruption by ensuring adherence to ACTED FLATS procedures
• Ensure that staff is aware of ACTED’s transparency and whistle blowing policy

Security Management

• Analyse the security context at base level and in close collaboration with the Area Security Manager contribute to defining, analysing and evaluating risks
• Engage with relevant key stakeholders at base level to ensure access and support of interventions
• Address security and safety risks by implementing standard operating procedures defined for the base
• Ensure the offices and houses conform to recommended security, health and safety standards
• Ensure all staff in the base adhere to security procedures
• Ensure security incidents at base level are promptly reported to the area and capital

Expected skills and qualifications

• Postgraduate diploma in International Development and (or) relevant Master’s level degree (anthropology, development studies, humanitarian aid, sociology)
• Strong writing abilities and analytical skills
• Skills in political sciences or international relations
• Ability to work efficiently under pressure
• Previous experience in the humanitarian field, proposals development, and donor relations
• Previous experience in team management
• Previous experience abroad

Conditions

• Salary defined by the ACTED salary grid depending on education level, expertise, security level and experience
• Living allowance of 300 USD
• Lodging and food provided in the ACTED Guesthouse / or housing allowance (depending on the contract lenght and country of assignement)
• Flight tickets in and out + Visa taken in charge by ACTED
• Provision of medical and repatriation insurances

Please send your application to jobs@acted.org, under Ref BM/UGA