Project Coordinator Job at Search for Common Ground

Search for Common Ground (Search) is an international non-profit organization that promotes the peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium, Search’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict—away from destructive approaches towards cooperative solutions. With more than 600 staff worldwide, Search implements projects in more than 30 countries across the globe.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Position: Project Coordinator - Consultancy
Job Locations: Kogi, Bayelsa

Position Summary

  • Search for Common Ground seeks a professional and highly motivated Project Coordinator who will be responsible for managing the implementation of the Electoral Empowerment of Civil Society Project (EECSP) project in the project state.
  • S/he is responsibility for ensuring high quality delivery of outputs of the project including organization of workshop, managing state level see grant activities.
  • S/he will work closely with the Early Warning Coordinator in the early warning and conflict prevention component of the project; work with the Media Manager in the implementation of state level media activities and Design, Monitoring and Evaluation (DME) team in monitoring and evaluation of seed grants and other project activities.
  • S/he will oversee project reporting and evaluation by seed granted organizations and coordinate post-election dialogues.  S/he will work under the direct supervision of the Senior Program and Policy Analyst.

Project Summary

  • To respond to the challenges of the 2015 election and promote sustainable long-term CSO engagement in electoral and political processes, the Electoral Empowerment of Civil Society Project (EECSP) Consortium is implementing a five-year initiative to:
    • Improve impartial observation, accurate reporting on, and recording of election vote totals using domestic electoral observers during and after the 2015 election cycle;
    • Improve management within Nigerian partner CSOs; and
    • Increase participation by marginalized groups in Nigerian political processes.
  • The Consortium includes the National Democratic Institute (NDI) as the lead partner, World Learning (WL), the Center for Democratic Development – Ghana (CDD-Ghana) Search for Common Ground (SFCG). In the one-year extension of the project (Year 6) Search’s intervention will also contribute to Objective 3: Increased Participation by Marginalized Groups in Nigerian Political Processes and special focus on Violence Mitigation for 2019 Polls in the Middle Belt (Plateau and Benue) and the Northeast (Borno and Adamawa) regions and Bayelsa and Kogi states in their off-season election later in 2019.
  • The activities of this project would be implemented in two phases. The first phase would focus on the federal and state level elections in Plateau and Benue states in the North Central, and Borno and Adamawa states in the North East, with intensive activities between January and March 2019, with selected activities continuing in the post-election period. The second phase of proposed activities will be for gubernatorial elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states from July to December 2019.

 Roles and Responsibilities

  • Specifically lead the identification, invitation of participants, including logistical arrangements during the conflict prevention and post-election dialogue workshops and facilitate the workshops.
  • Work with relevant government and non-government organizations at the community, LGA and state level to identify and respond to election related conflicts.
  • Work with the early warning coordinator to identify conflict scenarios and prioritize geographic areas and demographics in target states that have a history of electoral conflicts.
  • Oversee the identification, selection, of the activities of election- violence prevention campaign,
  • Oversee the administration of seed grant activities and work closely with the DM&E in evaluating and reporting of seed granted organizations.
  • Support the media coordinator in managing the activities of media partners and networks in the target states.
  • Track state level dynamics of elections in target states before, during and after elections.
  • Engage with key governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders to respond to key recommendations from the post-election dialogue meetings.
  • Work with monitoring and evaluation team to monitor and track project’s progress and capture lesions learned.

Financial Requirements:

  • Ensure that successful management of the budget for project implementation at the state level.
  • Ensure financial request, retirement and reporting of state level activities.

Documentation and Reporting :

  • Develop activity reports and contribute to quarterly reports
  • Contribute to final project reporting.
  • Any other duties as may be assigned by the line manager.

As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.

Terms of Consultancy

  • This consultancy will last for a period from July - December 2019
  • The location is based in Kogi and Bayelsa
  • SFCG will withhold 5% of the consultancy fees and remit the amount to relevant tax authorities as per the provisions of the Nigerian law. Please provide your Tax Identification Number (TIN) to facilitate this process if you are in agreement with our terms of reference. The consultant is not entitled to any fringe benefits from SFCG, including but not limited to sick leave, health or life insurance and pension plan.
  • Payment will be made on a monthly basis on the submission of timesheet, monthly reports and invoice

Required Qualifications and Experience
Educational Background:

  • University degree or equivalent in Social Science, Peacebuilding, Education or related fields. Master’s degree is added advantage.

Required Experience:

  • At least 5 years of professional experience in project management and community mobilization.
  • Substantial experience working in election and/or peacebuilding projects will be an added advantage;
  • Relevant experience working in an NGO or INGO

 Other Relevant Requirements:

  • Familiarity with location (i.e. Kogi or Bayesa) and knowledge of the local languages in the target states will be added advantage.
  • Strong command of English language, with excellent written and oral communication skills and interpersonal communication skills;
  • A demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards and a diverse workplace; and
  • Ability to prioritize, plan and organize workflow to tight timeframes, handle multiple tasks, and be flexible with changing priorities.
  • Attitude for team work and good leadership skill
  • Attention to detail:  The ability to process detailed information effectively and consistently.
  • Collaboration: The ability to work effectively with others in order to achieve a shared goal - even when the object at stake is of no direct personal interest possibilities.
  • Learning Ability: The ability to absorb new information readily and to put it into practice effectively
  • Adaptability: The ability to remain fully functional by adapting to changing circumstances (environment, procedures and people).

Application Process
Candidates should send the following to our career portal:

  • Current resume - including reference list
  • Cover Letter (which includes expectations of compensation and projected start date)
  • A sample of report not more than 5 pages

Note

  • Please compile your writing sample and resume into one document as the system only has the functionality to upload two documents per application. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
  • Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please