Consortium Coordinator

Assignment

ACTED in partnership with three international NGOs will intervene through a 12 month integrated humanitarian response in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, supporting Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) and vulnerable households from host communities (HCs). The objective of this action is to contribute to increased resilience of at least 5,443 targeted TDP and HC households and to ensure they can meet their basic food and non-food needs through targeted cash assistance and nutrition related support, while at the same time supporting their access to improved WASH conditions.

Under the supervision of the “DCD Programs”, this role demands leadership, diplomatic and programmatic management skills. The Consortium Coordinator is a leader, a facilitator and a program manager. The style of leadership is critical to the success of this role as the coordinator must harness the programme strengths and experiences across all agencies. 

Functions

•  The coordinator will be responsible for managing all aspects of the project, including achieving the objectives of the project while providing overall technical management to achieve the results defined in the grant agreement, in particular:
• Providing overall leadership to the Consortium Management Unit (CMU) and ensure effective functioning of the unit to deliver the project in line with stated objectives, results and deliverables;
• Convening and assisting the Consortium Steering Committee (CSC) consisting of Country Directors of consortium members to facilitate decision making on key issues;
• Creating consortium Technical Working Groups (TWG) consisting of one technical focal point from each consortium members and consortium members focal points to harmonise various processes related to programme implementation, financial management and operations issue;
• Ensuring compliance of the project with the donor rules and guidelines.
• Monitoring the progress of the project closely to ensure project targets are being met and any challenges are identified and mitigated.

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Inception phase planning

• Participate to the recruitment of staff for the CMU
• Organise planning workshop with staff to discuss proposal, logframe and expected deliverables, including a kick-off meeting, within ACTED, as well as a joint meeting with consortium partners and IPs at field and country levels.
• Lead the process for development of monthly and quarterly work plans for the programme
• Establish TWGs comprised of programme, finance and AMEU staff of each consortium member to standardise the technical and operational strategies and approaches between agencies to be employed during the implementation of the project.
• Establish regular mechanism for conducting follow up meetings between partners
• Work with the ACTED AMEU manager and other  M&E staff to support the establishment of various M&E systems relevant to the project, while also ensuring the M&E plan is streamlined across all consortium partners
• Work with ACTED Database manager to devise and plan for the project data gathering & output tracking systems (electronic and manual) making sure that these systems are synchronised between consortium members and locations
• Work with the consortium members to share the programme details with various line ministries and concerned provincial administrations in Pakistan
• Work with consortium members to prepare various procurement and operation plans for materials to be procured in bulk (if applicable)

Project Management and Planning:

• Ensure preparation of project workplans for all consortium agencies and collate these into overall work plans;
• Convene, facilitate, and document regular meetings between consortium partners and other stakeholders to oversee and discuss project progress, identify and resolve project-related problems and propose corrective measures;
• Ensure that the program outputs are effectively coordinated amongst all the member agencies.
• Assist in capacity building of all member partners’ agencies through individual and multi-agency trainings and collaboration.
• Ensure the consortium achieves the objectives and deliverables defined in the grant agreement. Identify gaps, under-performance and work with member agencies for improvement and course correction
• Ensure the Consortium Members share knowledge and experiences on operational matters over the course of the program and learn by producing regular reports on the process of collaboration

Finance/ Grant Management/ Reporting

• Oversee periodic reporting formats to record progress toward achievement of planned targets;
• Work with Program, Project Development (PDD) and Finance teams of each consortium member:
• To track project expenditure against budgets and forecasts submitted to the donor
• To coordinate and prepare agency wise budget forecasts;
• To monitor expenditure of partner budgets against planned activities and project progress
• To prepare financial reports for the donor
• To address budget problems in over or under spending, communicate them to all concerned and prepare budget amendments when necessary.
• Flag up any key issues and recommend revisions (if necessary) to planned project activities and budgets to the Steering Committee in consultation with the consortium members staff
• Organise periodic review meetings member agencies to track progress and make adjustments
• Build capacity of all partners so that they are able to produce uniform, high quality reports;
• Report progress to the Steering Committee, partners and other relevant parties as scheduled or required
• Produce and submit to ACTED Project Development team high quality donor reports, ensuring accuracy, completeness, quality and timely submission
• Ensure maintenance of project documentation at the agency and Consortium level.
• Prepare different communication materials for consortium members and other relevant stakeholders
• Develop best practice documentation and other communication materials arising from the experience of the project with the consortium members, local leaders and other stakeholders

Monitoring & Evaluation

• Monitor program activities through periodic field visits
• Work with all consortium member agencies and M&E team to ensure quantitative and qualitative monitoring systems are in place and are effective, relevant, and accurate
• Facilitate the implementation baseline, endline and other post implementation surveys
• Identify progress against targets and highlight deviations
• Facilitate the collaboration with the external research partner to ensure that the outcome and impact level results as well as key learning issues themes planned within the project are measured and learnt
• In agreement with the Steering Committee, organize periodic workshops within the consortium members, donors and other stakeholders to discuss and disseminate learning from the programme implementation

Representation & Communication

• Ensure the learning from the programme is communicated within the humanitarian community in Pakistan.
• Represent the project with the donor, different line ministries & provincial government authorities as well as other international organizations in Pakistan
• Facilitate visits to the project site by stakeholders including the donors;
• Ensure adequate coordination of various project activities with other organizations by ensuring close cooperation with them and regular interactions
• Liaise with identified project staff of the consortium members in smooth implementation of the project activities
• Identify key advocacy issues and develop comprehensive consortium advocacy implementation plan

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Master’s Degree in related field of study with minimum 7 years of working experience in humanitarian and development sector;
• Minimum of 5 years of progressively work experience in managing and implementing  multi-sector program, with a demonstrable track record of innovation and leadership where at least five years of progressively responsible supervisory work experience including direct supervision of professional and support staff;
• Proven understanding of working in a complex emergency in an evolving context
• Proven understanding of humanitarian early recovery work in rural environments with a particular focus on rural livelihoods, community restoration/infrastructure rehabilitation, nutrition and agricultural economy;
• Good understanding of the project cycle, including project monitoring and design of project frameworks;
• Proven ability in promoting and collaborating closely with multi-level stakeholders;
• Proven ability in analysing and solving complex problems and in strategic planning.
• A strong team leader with excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills
• Demonstrated skills in leadership and supervision over large projects;
• Requires the ability to analyse and communicate complex information to a wide audience;
• Comfortable with challenges, ability to work in a high-profile fast-paced environment, flexibility to adapt to constantly changing dynamics
• Ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks and work to tight deadlines
• Prior knowledge of disaster hit/ conflict affected areas of Pakistan, including customs and languages.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills