Senior Programme Officer Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods (Madagascar)

About the Organisation

SEED Madagascar is a British Charity working in partnership with communities in the southeast of Madagascar. We integrate high-quality community health, sustainable livelihoods, education infrastructure and conservation programmes to support long term, sustainable change while adding to International best practice through research and publication.

Position Overview

This is a superb opportunity for a development professional to be part of a team of national and international staff supporting the development, reporting and evaluation of SEED’s Sustainable livelihoods and Conservation programmes.

Our Sustainable Livelihoods programme concentrates on rural livelihood development and support, including fishery management, beekeeping, traditional reed weaving and embroidery. Our Conservation programme works with communities bordering pristine littoral forests on reforestation, biodiversity research and conservation action. We use community-led, participatory approaches, working with local communities to identify and implement projects that meet their needs and priorities.

This is an exciting position for someone who has some in-field experience to work alongside national and international staff, supporting the development, funding, reporting and evaluation of our programmes. You will be responsible for generating funds across the programmes to maximise impact. This post will partner our national implementation teams, managing donor compliance, ensuring proposals and reports are to a high standard and budgets are appropriately managed.

It is essential that the post holder has grant writing experience and is able to work in English to a high standard. Candidates who do not meet these criteria will not be considered. Knowledge of French is an asset.

*Title:*SeniorProgramme Officer
Location: Fort Dauphin, Anosy Region, Madagascar
*Timeframe:*18 months extendable
Contract Type: Basic local stipend of 1,500,000 Ar a month, contribution to flights of £1,000, contribution to insurance of £600
Reporting to: Head of Programmes

Duties and Responsibilities

Provision of advice and support in the development of projects including: preparation and editing of funding proposals; preparation and editing of reports for external stakeholders; monitoring and evaluation of current projects; developing and updating guidelines and templates for external-facing materials; liaison with the London project development team and local staff; and support and mentoring of Interns and Officers.

Core Duties

• Support Programme Officers and interns in compiling funding proposals based on past evaluation, team discussion and international best practice in an engaging and professional manner.
• Support Programme Officers and interns in writing project reports that clearly demonstrate the successes and challenges of the projects, learning from the project and providing clear budgetary information.
• Provide first-stage editing of all proposals and reports across the Department to a high standard and provide detailed, constructive feedback to interns and Officers.
• Support in the management of donor compliance across several projects, working with the Head of Programmes and the implementation team to ensure that project milestones are being met.
• Work alongside the Head of Programmes and Head of Department in problem-solving and providing additional support in line with emerging issues from project implementation.
• Manage pieces of long-term project work that require a higher level of expertise and experience across the Department.
• Support in the recruitment of new staff and provide support, management, review and professional development to your team of Project Development Interns, Officers and specialists.
• Foster essential cross-cultural collaboration, providing support to both the national and international teams to bridge gaps in understanding and priorities for project development and implementation.
• Provide pastoral care, guidance and act as a role model, both professionally and personally, for a team of early career professionals living in country.
• Work alongside the Head of Department, Head of Programmes and Head of Finance in developing and managing the budgets relating to projects.
• Develop and update resources to support project development processes, including proposal and budget templates and style guidelines.
• Assist departmental MEL specialists in developing MEL tools and analysing data, including the writing of MEL reports when needed.
• Support the development of project development procedures, guidelines, and trainings and provide project-specific information to inform policy development across the organisation.
• Work with the Programme Officers and interns to ensure that statistics, research, funding trackers, photo database and handovers relating to the projects are accurate.
• Oversee the project-specific website and social media content.
• Work with the national team and external partners in increasing their skills and capacity, providing mentoring or training where appropriate.
• Take an active role in project management meetings, leading discussions and standing in for the Head of Programmes where appropriate.
• Ensure all of SEED’s policies and procedures are evident throughout the work of the department, including those for safeguarding, whistleblowing and anti-corruption, and undertake continual training to ensure these are promoted at all times.
• Form part of the team representing projects or SEED when required.
• Liaise closely with the UK team in London ensuring clear communication at all times.
• Complete any other tasks required by the Head of Programmes or Director of Operations and Heads of Departments commensurate with this role.

Person specification

• Degree-level qualification or equivalent experience in conservation or sustainable livelihoods.
• At least two years’ experience with similar programmes.
• Minimum of 2 years’ professional experience of securing funding, project management, donor compliance and donor reporting.
• Familiarity with the use of project management tools including Logical Frameworks, Theory of Change models, Budgets, Activity Plans and Monitoring & Evaluation frameworks.
• Fluency in written and spoken English with excellent written communication skills, to the level of editing English documents for publication to a very high standard.
• Excellent proposal and report writing and editing skills, with previous experience compiling project proposals and reports and the ability to tailor written information to various audiences.
• Demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to SEED’s ethos and approach and be a good ambassador for the organisation at all times.
• Have passion, curiosity and motivation for the job and the ability to enthuse others.
• Experience of living and working in a developing country with the ability and desire to work with teams from different economic and cultural backgrounds and across multiple language barriers.
• Demonstrate proven ability to recognise and appropriately deal with challenging situations and problem solve.
• Demonstrate an awareness of and comfort with increased social and professional responsibility, working at all times with cultural sensitivity and respect.
• Demonstrate the ability, social skills and confidence to give clear guidance and support to other members of the team in respect of the philosophy and procedures of SEED in order to protect both their safety and the reputation of the NGO.
• Be able to work to and advocate for all of SEED’s policies and procedures, safeguarding those that SEED works with and reporting any concerns appropriately.
• Be punctual and be able to work to tight deadlines in an organised manner and to a high standard.
• Be able to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent listening and verbal communication skills and a flexible and patient attitude.
• Ability and desire to develop and support a team of volunteers and staff and to support the Project Development internship programme.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Practicalities

The successful candidate will need to have their own laptop computer (non-tablet).

Application procedure

Interested applicants should send a CV and covering letter in English outlining how their skills and experience match the requirements in the job description criteria to the Head of Programmes of the Conservation and Sustainable Livelihood department, Annelin Verkade, by email on annelin.verkade@seedmadagascar.org

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Long-listed applicants will have an initial informal skype chat with Madagascar-based staff and those short-listed will then be offered an interview.

Application Deadline: Friday 24th February 2023 at 23:59 GMT

SEED Madagascar actively encourages equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace and aims to create a working environment free of bullying, harassment, victimisation, and unlawful discrimination, where individual differences and the contributions of all staff are recognised and valued.