Project Officer

II. Summary

Welthungerhilfe (WHH),

Welthungerhilfe (WHH), founded in 1962 under the auspices of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), is one of the first global initiatives aimed at eliminating hunger and today one of the biggest aid agencies in Germany.

WHH has initially established as a support office for Afghanistan during 1997 in Peshawar, Welthungerhilfe initiated its programme in Pakistan in response to the 2005 earthquake to provide support to the effected districts in Khyber Pakhtun Khwa (KP) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). WHH wound up its office in March 2010, only to resume its programming in August 2010 in response to the 2010 Mega floods that hit Pakistan. Between March and August 2010, WHH continued its interventions in Pakistan through its Alliance 2015 partners. In 2012, WHH implementation methodology, saw a paradigm shift, from self-implementation to implementing all projects with local partners. Today Welthungerhilfe Pakistan is working with national partners in KPK, Punjab and Sindh as well in cooperation with international partners e.g. Alliance2015.  Welthungerhilfe is largely supported by the German public, but also through institutional donors such as the European Union, the German Foreign Office, Department for International Development (DFID) and others. Welthungerhilfe Pakistan aims to support the most vulnerable and marginalized population of Pakistan affected by natural and man-made disasters by building resilience at household and community level.

Background of the project:

WHH Pakistan is implementing the SEWOH project through National/Local partner in district Sanghar and district Sajawal, aims to Strengthening food and nutrition security and WASH services to mitigate the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for particularly vulnerable people in Sindh, Punjab and KP. The project will focus on most vulnerable groups of rural and peri-urban communities with respect to food & nutrition security. These are the people most affected by socio-economic effects of COVID-19 but also the fact that most were already at risk and threatened in terms of poverty, insecure food and nutrition situation, in certain parts to other shocks such as locust infestation and drought.

Overview of the Post: As a project officer she/he will support 60% of the implementation of food and nutrition and to support 40% of water, sanitation and hygiene in the context of COVID response. Project officer required to provide technical oversight and support implementation partner for smooth project implementation in district Sanghar and Sajawal of Sindh province Pakistan. She/he shall be responsible for ensure the compliances of the project and report it to program Manager and country office. She/he expect to conduct required assessments, quality assurance of project, monitoring field visits to target areas, random verification in field and capacity building of the implementation partner in Sindh.

III. OBJECTIVE & RESPONSIBILITIES

Objective:

Support implementing partners in smooth implementation, with certain engagement of other stakeholders in the province, technical assistance to the partners in food and nutrition security with additional knowledge of WASH recent approach in emergency and development projects.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1.    Planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the project activities

·         Prepare annual, quarterly and monthly plans for the effective execution of project activities related to food and nutrition security project, WASH and other multisectoral projects. with better capacity include but are not limited to skills, practices and capacities, to manage resources and skills particularly of the poor and vulnerable, and institutional strengthening in FNS-WASH.

·         Manage and mobilize the available resources within the available time limit for maximum results by allocating and distributing them properly across the all project activities in line with the project documents.

·         Assist the Program Manager, other provincial office staff and implementing partners to break-down and elaborate the interventions strategies when necessary to integrate emergency response with development in targeted areas with vulnerable communities.

·         Ensure the effective and timely implementation of the planned and approved activities and strategies for the target communities

·         Assist program manager Sindh, other provincial office team and implementing partners in development of detailed implementation plans, help IPs for meeting the activities deadlines and support them to carry out project activities aligned with financial and programmatic standards of WHH.

·         Assist program manager and WHH MEAL team for finalization of monitoring plans and to roll out regular monitoring visits on sites and partners offices to review technical and financial standards and efficiency of activities to produce expected results.

·         Assist and join the Program Manager to manage and mobilize human, financial and material resources and assess the resource needs for the activities.

·         Organize and mobilize external resources such as skills, material and cash contributions from communities and other stakeholders to best achieve the project objectives.

2.    Coordination and Communication

·         Assist the program manager and IPs to establish close coordination and cooperation with district line agencies and authorities, and between local project partners, communities, project beneficiaries and other stakeholders for the effective delivery of project activities and policy influence at local level

·         Communicate relevant information regularly to the Program Manager, project staff, consortium members, partners and other relevant stakeholders in Sindh.

·         Mobilize partner organizations, stakeholders and target communities as per the agreement reached with the consortium to fulfil the objectives of the project.

·         Maintain good relations with project beneficiaries, partners and stakeholders and monitor the agreements reached with them where necessary

·         Assist the Program Manager to follow up on terms and conditions and any agreements signed or agreed with other third parties including communities, local authorities, service providers, or material suppliers, to achieve the project objectives timely and with the desired quality.

3.    Influencing Policies

·         Liaise with different organisations, programmes and projects, and organise actions to influence policy at district and provincial level.

·         Engage with taluka or district relevant networks and alliances for influencing and scaling up best practices learnt from the projects, particularly on technical issues such as follow COVID-19 policies and SOPs.

·         Support implementing partners in the development of beneficiary selection criteria, beneficiary verification tracking sheets, support to follow core humanitarian standards, WHH code of conduct.

·         Support program manager and country office CRM lead to ensure complain response mechanism is properly followed in project areas.

4.    Management of Project Activities

·         Support partners to reach out most vulnerable community and households for accomplishment of project objectives and make possibilities for maximum results in food and nutrition security.

·         Activities design with partners to ensure COVID-19 SOPs are followed and reduce the risks for human lives.

·         Lead technical working groups and maintain its regular meetings with partners for trouble shooting in activities planning and design.

·         Support partners for identification and reasonable and recognized vendors in procurement and purchase of agriculture inputs.

·         Development of seasonal calendar in assistance of partners field staff for identification and reduction of risks of disasters along with avoid delays in cultivation of lands specifically for beneficiaries in agriculture intervention.

·         To support in preparation of weekly/biweekly updates, monthly and quarterly, bi annual and annual report and submit on timely manner before submission.

·         Actively maintains record of correspondence with the government line agencies.

·         To ensure that Annual Progress Reports are properly generated as due.   

·         Work closely with MEAL team to ensure regular and timely monitoring and reporting of food security and nutrition data.

·         To ensure that program related data is archived by Partners in most efficient way as per the standards defined by compliance/MEAL department.

·         Ensure financial burn rate with partners and timely communication in case, where partner is unable to utilize funds timely so it could be efficiently planned for consumption in remaining period.

·         Conduct field visits at partners field offices and areas for monitoring of activities and measure its results timely and arrange feedback meetings with partner management.

·         To support the roll out of health and nutrition programs at field level though participation in training of partners and government departments.

·         To support in the development of concept notes on FNS, WASH and emergency response with partners contextual knowledge and in close coordination of district administration.

·         Carry out regular communication with Nutrition Cell, Food and Nutrition Task Force, Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Accelerated Action Plan task force and sectors Project Directors.

·         Ensure synergy in project of WHH in Sindh at district and provincial level.

5.    Other responsibilities

·         Project officer may be assigned other tasks and responsibilities of projects on the need of program manager Sindh.

Qualification and Skills/Compentencies required:

·         Excellent professional track record with at least 3-5 years of experience in the NGO sector working in FNS, WASH programming/implementation in Pakistan Context.

·         Preferable a Masters’ degree in Rural Development, Agriculture, Food Security, Enterprise Management, Business Development or any other related field with contextual knowledge of food security and nutrition Any certification related to managing epidemic/pandemic disease would be an advantage

·         Strong coordination skills with the ability to manage information (report writing and presentations).

·         Substantive experience in developing and promoting collaborative partnerships

·         Excellent demonstrated communication and negotiation skills Excellent writing skills (assessments, reports.) Ability to convene stakeholders and facilitate a policy process among stakeholders

·         Problem-solving and organizational skills in day to day and crisis situations Flexibility, and able to adjust to changing context and situations

Desirable:

·         Proficiency and experience in the planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of projects, including as a part of multi-stakeholder partnerships and collaborations

·         Ability to speak Sindhi

·         Sensitive and responsive to gender, ethnicity, disability and other social issues and other core values of WHH.

·         Have a participatory and team-centred approach to work and behaviour

·         Proactive in liaising and problem solving

·         Excellent computer skills including navigating email, internet and MS WORD and PowerPoint

·         Ability to transfer/multiply lessons learned

·         Experience in mentoring and coaching partners

·         Proficient knowledge of Core Humanitarian Standard

·         Excellent proficiency in English, Urdu and in other local working languages however, proficiency in German language would be an asset

Key Working Relationships: Project team, Program Managers, Implementing partners, MEAL department, Consortium members, Logistic Department, WHH Emergency Response Team

The position holder should work in a client and team-oriented manner and adhere to standards as described in the “Welthungerhilfe Code of Conduct”. Only motivated applications that address the stipulated duties and meet the required qualifications sent together with a CV will be considered. Please provide references, but do not attach any written recommendations.

WHH is an equal opportunity employer. WHH decides the employment on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need. However; WHH strongly encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply who are meeting the minimum criteria for the position.