Project Officer (Economic Empowerment) Job in Kenya - Samaritan's Purse Jobs

Samaritan's Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world.

Since 1970, Samaritan's Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God's love through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Job Title: Project Officer - Economic Empowerment

Reports To: Child Reintegration Program Manager

Duty Station: Nairobi

Duration of Contract: January 2012-June 2013

Samaritan’s Purse Kenya is looking for a qualified individual to work as the Project Officer in the Child Reintegration Program based in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Project Officer will give oversight to the Economic Empowerment program component with an aim of improving the livelihoods of the parents/ caregivers from households of children to be reintegrated back into their families and communities.

The Project Officer will collaborate with Charitable Children Institutions in partnership with SP Kenya and beneficiaries to successfully implement the project.

The Project Officer holds responsibility to effectively manage resources and project implementation to achieve the expected outcomes and deliverables.

A crucial aspect is provision of technical assistance to the Charitable Children Institutions project staff and project beneficiaries to enhance livelihoods of families of reintegrated children and creating linkages with other resources in the respective regions of the project beneficiaries.

The key components of this project include entrepreneurial skills development, development of market linkages and microfinance services leading to income generation.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Child Reintegration Program Manager, the incumbent will provide technical support, coordination and monitoring of project activities including but not limited to livelihoods with a special emphasis on technically supervising implementation of projects activities and carrying capacity building activities for staff of partner organizations and project beneficiaries.

Specific Job Responsibilities

• Ensure the successful implementation of the Economic Empowerment Project activities and interventions aimed at improving livelihoods of the parents/caregivers of reintegrated children;
• To coordinate and lead in the implementation of the Economic Empowerment program component of the Child Reintegration Program;
• To provide technical support to staff of partner organizations to ensure quality and timely implementation of all program activities;
• In liaison with the Program Manager identify capacity gaps and opportunities to strengthen the economic empowerment component of the program;
• Preparation of timely weekly, monthly, quarterly and end of year reports for the program;
• Develop work plans and other documents that will result to enhanced strategy in the framework of the program;
• Facilitate the development and preparation of training materials on entrepreneurship as appropriate (hand outs, exercises, presentations etc) and update existing material in line with new recommendations and guidelines and facilitate trainings for project beneficiaries on entrepreneurship;
• Monitoring closely project execution and providing feedback to the program team on the status of the economic empowerment component of the Reintegration program and advising them on action to be taken with regard to project extensions, gaps, budget re-allocations and any other action;
• Undertake frequent field monitoring/project visits to ensure implementation procedures adhere to SP-Kenya guidelines and policies and to improve human and institutional capacity of the CCIs homes;
• Identify and enhance networking and collaboration in the relevant project(s) area with other relevant agencies;
• Represent SP-Kenya at Economic Empowerment and Child Care forums and other stakeholders/partners meetings as required;
• Gather lessons learnt from meetings, project visits and discussions with caregivers and CCI staff and ensure there dissemination at the networking group as well as at other national forums;
• Manage the dissemination and use of Sustainable Livelihoods reference materials and documentation for continued learning and appreciation;
• Work in collaboration with the CCI Centre Managers to ensure effective implementation of project activities and follow up of project beneficiaries;
• Conduct routine field visits to CCIs and business visits for project beneficiaries to offer technical assistance to support implementation and monitor achievement of project outcomes;
• Provide administrative and logistical support in the implementation of the Child Reintegration project activities.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or abilities required.

• Bachelors degree from a recognized institution in a relevant social sciences discipline which include social work, sociology, community development and related development studies.
• At least 5 years work experience implementing economic development projects, 3 of which are in a field management capacity
• Excellent proven project management skills
• Deep knowledge of rural/urban economic development issues in Kenya, particularly gender equity and the impact of poverty on families
• Sound understanding of Alternative Care of children, child protection issues and child rights based programming
• Sound knowledge and experience in mobilizing and building capacity of partners and or the local church
• Proficiency in computer skills required.
• Must have driving experience and a clean driving license.
• A strong Christian

Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours

• Manages through influence; deploys strong persuasive skills and motivates sustained partner enthusiasm to maintain collaboration towards common project goals while identifying with the mission of Samaritan’s Purse.
• Self-starter; takes ownership of deliverables and drives project results while building strong collaboration with and regularly seeking input from partners and other project staff.
• Strong organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills with proven ability to work independently and achieve expected results.
• Strong analytical and report writing skills, excellent presentation and facilitation skills.
• Proven experience in training using participatory adult learning methodologies.
• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary and multicultural environment and with partners at all levels.
• Ability to cultivate constructive relationships.
• A professional with high integrity and good stewardship of resources.
• Excellent spoken and written English and Swahili.
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office Programs and use of Internet.

Interested applicants who fully meet the above requirements may send their C.V only and application letter to hr@spkenya.org

Application deadline: Wednesday, 15th November, 2011.

Only short listed applicants will be contacted.

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