Programme Officer

Diakonia is a Swedish non-profit and non-political organisation for international development cooperation and humanitarian assistance, operating on feminist principles. We are looking to appoint a Programme Officer as part of our Sri Lanka Country Office Team, who will oversee partner organisations. The work implies travelling inside the country and occasionally abroad. The Programme Officer will be part of a dynamic team and will be required to work according to, comply with, and uphold Diakonia’s principles, values, and policies.

Placement                         : Nugegoda, Sri Lanka

Employment Type           : Permanent

Start Date                          : Immediate

Position Reports to         : The Country Director – Sri Lanka

Major Responsibilities

• Participate in contributing to and facilitating implementation of the current country strategy.
• Critically analyse, review, and assess partnerships/ projects/ programmes, and provide input to the programmatic relevance of partner organisations to the country strategy.
• Conduct regular contextual analysis.
• Quality assurance of contractual obligations and compliances of partner organisations; recommend and process payments to partner organisations.
• Monitor, evaluate, and report on partner organisations’ work conducted in accordance with rights-based approaches.
• Identify and analyse partners’ capacity needs; maintain and manage partnerships.
• Develop and design external consultancies and evaluations.
• Coordinate with external consultants and evaluators, as assigned by the Country Director.
• Liaise and build donor relations, and contribute to resource mobilisation efforts of the country programme.
• Frequently required to undertake field visits outside Colombo.
• Maintain communication and manage relations with Diakonia Regional Office and Head Office.

Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum bachelor’s degree or equivalent within any of the areas of Development Studies.
• At least five years’ experience working in Donor Agencies, with experience in managing funding partnerships and programme development, including strong financial management.
• Strong working knowledge and experience of gender justice, democratic principles, resilience and peace building, and civil society strengthening.
• Experience in monitoring results of partner organisations on a rights-based approach.
• Experience in feminist principle based operations is an added value.
• Experience of working with partners, donors, other agencies, and government officials.

Competencies

• Good team player.
• Fast learner.
• Flexibility to adapt to change and work under dynamic conditions.
• Excellent strategic and analytical ability.
• Good interpersonal skills and attention to details.
• Excellent command of English (written and spoken) and fluent in local languages (Sinhalese or Tamil).
• Ability to address official and public gatherings with confidence.
• Excellent computer skills.
• Ability to drive an SUV within Colombo and outstation.

This position is open to Sri Lankan nationals.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview and written examination. Employment will be subject to a probationary period and review.

Diakonia is an equal opportunity employer.

All Diakonia Representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of Child Abuse. In addition, it is Diakonia’s policy to create and proactively maintain an environment that aims to prevent and deter any actions and omissions, whether deliberate or inadvertent, that place children at the risk of any kind of Child Abuse.