JACOBS FOUNDATION
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PROGRAM COORDINATOR

À propos de cette entreprise

The Jacobs Foundation is a leading charitable foundation dedicated to facilitating innovations for children and youth. The Foundation is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and was established in 1989 by Klaus J. Jacobs and his family in an effort to benefit future generations by providing young people with better opportunities for development, so that they can become productive and socially responsible members of society.

The Jacobs Foundation promotes productive child and youth development by supporting projects in the areas of research and intervention and is active in Europe as well as in a few selected countries in Latin America and Africa.

With its Livelihoods Program in Africa the Jacobs Foundation aims at creating lasting local competencies and structures that will improve the living conditions of children and youth in agriculturally based communities. The Jacobs Foundation seeks to support projects that take an integrated and participatory approach to child and youth development and contribute to providing access to affordable, relevant and quality education and professional training, to enhancing the awareness of child protection in the community; as well as to developing economic opportunities for youth and families in the local labour market.

The Livelihoods Program started in Uganda and Burkina Faso in 2012. In 2013, the Jacobs Foundation started a second phase project in Ivory Coast with its private sector partner, Barry Callebaut. Building on the experience of the first phase, the Jacobs Foundation decided to reinforce its efforts and develop an integrated program for the period of five years (2012-2016). This program incorporates several components:

• support rural primary schools with the aim of increasing access and quality of primary education;
• support a college built during the first collaboration in strengthening its management and quality of secondary education, including the development of a basic agricultural curriculum;
• enhance community mobilization activities in order to promote involvement in school management (e.g. parents, women and youth associations) and in issues concerning children's rights (protection committees);
• support cocoa farmers in improving agricultural practices and management of their agricultural enterprise to improve productivity and increase their income;
• identify and promote socioeconomic opportunities for youth and families in the local labour market.

The execution of this integrated program requires the contribution of various competent implementing partners. To support the development and implementation of this initiative and foster the coordination of the various partners' activities, we are seeking an experienced project coordinator/country representative.

Descriptif du poste

The project coordinator/country representative will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Coordinate program components to assure integration, organization and facilitation of regular exchange meetings with strategic and implementing partners;
• Monitor and assure follow-up with project partners, review and comment on formal and informal progress reports, activity planning, etc.;
• Provide substantial input in further conceptual development of the Livelihoods Program in Ivory Coast;
• Review and provide feedback/input into development of potential further program components, including development of concept, TOR, log frames and indicators;
• Extract lessons learned of different program components and support feeding them back into all projects and programs of the Foundation;
• Develop informative texts in English and French on the project for publication in relevant publications and/or newsletters;
• Serve as focal point for close coordination with private sector partner(s), specifically Barry Callebaut/SACO;
• Coordinate closely with external evaluations team for the Livelihoods project, comment on reports and coordinate evaluation missions;
• Manage and coach a local community development expert;
• Identify potential strategic and operational partners, such as ministries, other funders, private-sector actors, local or international NGOs, community-based organizations, cooperatives, and key stakeholders;
• Function as the Foundation's representative in Ivory Coast and participate in relevant meetings in the country and potentially abroad, network, liaise and lobby with key stakeholders and decision makers on all level (communities, regional level, national level);
• Assure regular formal and informal reporting to the Foundation's HQ in Zurich;
• Organize HQ missions to Ivory Coast, including logistics.

The project coordinator/country representative will report to the responsible program officer at the Jacobs Foundation's HQ in Zurich, Switzerland.

Compétences et expérience souhaitées

The project coordinator/country representative should dispose of the following qualifications:

Substantive experience in project development and management

• Proven track record of at least 8 years in project development and project management;
• At least 5 years of experience working with NGOs and local communities;
• Solid knowledge of relevant project management tools (results based management, log frames, theory of change, etc.);
• Experience in developing and applying monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tools;
• Proven track record in coordinating teams and stakeholders at various levels without formal hierarchy;
• Experience in liaising with stakeholders at different levels, such as ministries, other donor representatives, private sector partners, local communities, etc.;
• Knowledge of the Ivorian education system and basic understanding of key challenges and opportunities in this field is a plus;
• Understanding of issues pertaining to child protection and the particular situation in Ivory Coast and knowledge of key actors in this field is a plus;
• Understanding of the challenges of rural small holder communities, especially in the cocoa growing region and the functioning of the cocoa industry is a plus.

Education and personal competencies

• Relevant university degree and at least 8 years of practical experience;
• Excellent oral and written French and very good written and spoken English;
• Ability to self-organize and apply entrepreneurial and innovative thinking to social development and to find ways to create effective public- private partnerships;
• Strong interest in the promotion of child and youth development, particularly in the field of rural cocoa growing communities;
• Very strong communication skills and willingness to work on all levels, directly with the community as well as lobby on the ministerial level.

PLEASE DO NOT APPLY IF YOUR EXPERIENCE DOES NOT MATCH THE PROFILE WE SEARCH FOR, FRENCH LANGUAGE IS A PREREQUISITE FOR THIS JOB, AS IS ENGLISH, THERE ARE NO OTHER COUNTRY COORDINATOR POSITIONS AVAILABLE. PLEASE DO ATTACH A MOTIVATION LETTER.

Level of Effort

This position is a consultant position based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, with an average estimated level of effort of 10 days per month for a period of 6 months with the opportunity of extension if both sides agree.

For more information please contact:

Claudia Huber, Claudia.huber@jacobsfoundation.org 

www.jacobsfoundation.org 

Please send your CV and a motivation letter explaining why you are interested in this position to Claudia Huber by March 28, 2014. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted