Senior Project Officer - Partner Capacity Strengthening

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Over the last 65 years, CRS Ethiopia has established a prominent position among development and humanitarian stakeholders with a consistent and high-quality reputation for strong organizational, operational, and multi-sectoral technical expertise. CRS Ethiopia maintains a broad geographic reach, improving woreda, kebele and community level accountability through its network of local partners. CRS is a leader in emergency programming through our flagship Joint Emergency Operation (JEOP). Moving beyond emergency response, CRS’ disaster mitigation and recovery projects in drought? and flood?prone areas have rebuilt individual and community assets through non-food interventions in the form of agriculture, livestock, health, nutrition, and water and sanitation assistance. Nationally, CRS has a reputation as a leader in peacebuilding, particularly as a facilitator of inter-community social cohesion strengthening. 

Position Title: Senior Project Officer - Partner Capacity Strengthening

Job Grade: 8

Duty Station: CRS Ethiopia/Dire Dawa

Department: Partner Capacity Strengthening, Local Leadership and Strategic Linkages for ALL-Right Project

Required Number: 1

Employment term: Definite term (i.e. up to 31st May 2027)

Reports to: Program Manager II, PCS /LL /SL

Application Deadline: July 8, 2024

Job Summary: 

CRS is seeking a highly motivated and experienced Senior Project Officer (SPO) to lead the 3 years ALLRight Capacity Strengthening Activity for the Hararghe Catholic Secretariate (HCS). The SPO will facilitate the achievement of the project objectives through coordinating, ensuring implementation and reporting on all project activities and providing technical guidance and advice to staff and the partner. This role contributes to the growth and sustainability of a local organization while making a significant impact on the communities we serve. The candidate will work closely with the partner Executive Director and ALL-Right Program Manager as well as CRS PCS/ LL Programme Manager to achieve project objectives.

Job Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with and support HCS ALL-Right Manager in the implementation of all assigned ALL-Right activities as outlined in the detailed implementation plan in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practices.

• Actively monitor project activity through regular visits, exchange of information with partner counterpart to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant stakeholders for timely resolution.

• Support efforts with key CRS staff to ensure appropriate level of coordination of partner capacity strengthening activities, including sub-recipient agreement, reporting requirements, monitoring visits, and trainings

• Ensure partnership and capacity strengthening concepts, tools, and approaches are consistently applied during implementation and monitoring.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including finance and business development units to ensure seamless integration of capacity strengthening activities within the organization.

• Support TOR and deliver/facilitate training sessions and workshops to build the capacity of staff members in financial management and resource mobilization areas.

• Collaborate with relevant staff during the assessment of the current partner capacity at different levels and identify areas for improvement

• Conduct regular financial reviews along with activity implementation to identify variances and take appropriate actions to address budgetary issues.

• Monitor the ALLRight project expenditures and track budget utilization to ensure adherence to approved budgets.

• Ensure the effective sharing of the project information, including key decisions, status updates, successes, and challenges, with the appropriate stakeholders within CRS and HCS.

• Work closely with the CRS admin team to secure the visa and arrange overall logistics for TDYers and other visitors.

• Identify and apply effective communication methods (meetings, bulletins, presentations, reports, etc.) to ensure regular and effective communication is maintained throughout the project implementation period.

• Identify concerns of significance related to partnerships and/or the ALLRight project, and work to address them, ensuring they are brought to attention of the PCS/LL/SL program manager and other senior management as needed.

Typical Background, Experience & Requirements:

• BA/MA in development, project management, business administration, organizational development, or public administration and/or related field; 
• Minimum of three years of experience for MA and five years for BA in project management/related fields, and within I/NGO and Government
• Experience with capacity building, including training and mentoring as well as developing training materials. Experience in Institution Strengthening, including developing and/or improving organizational processes, policies, and procedures.
• Strong capacity to facilitate collaboration between partners and different departments
• Demonstrated experience working successfully in cross-disciplinary teams and facilitating team efforts in the workplace, as well as working independently.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with ability to make sound judgment and decisions and offer innovative solutions
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, representation, and networking skills.
• Good presentation and facilitation skills
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented, and results-oriented 
• Excellent diplomacy skills and a proven ability to establish and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships with colleagues, donors, and local authorities 
• Demonstrated experience organizing resources and establishing priorities.
• Proven ability to use Microsoft WORD, EXCEL, and PowerPoint

Personal Skills:

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with ability to make sound judgment and decisions and offer innovative solutions
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, representation, and networking skills.
• Good presentation and facilitation skills
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented, and results-oriented 
• Excellent diplomacy skills and a proven ability to establish and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships with colleagues, donors, and local authorities 
• Demonstrated experience organizing resources and establishing priorities.
• Proven ability to use Microsoft WORD, EXCEL, and PowerPoint

Required/Desired Foreign Language: English

Travel Required: 20% to CRS Addis office and HCS district sub-offices.

Key Working Relationships: 

Supervisory: N/A 

Internal: CRS CP PCS/LL/SL team, CRS PCS /LL PM II, CRS Finance and Operations staff

External: Consultant, HCS Finance and Program staff and relevant stakeholders 

 Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):  

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.  

• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
• Acts with Integrity - Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission.  Is considered honest.
• Builds and Maintains Trust - Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn –  Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.
• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance. 
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.

Agency Leadership Competencies:

• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance. 
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.

How To Apply

If you are ready to take on this rewarding opportunity and make a difference in the lives of others, you may fill out the application form through this link here  https://form.jotform.com/241792180547562 and attach your up-to-date CV on/before the application deadline July 8, 2024. You will be contacted only if selected for a written exam/interview. Phone solicitations will not be accepted. These job opportunities are open to Ethiopian nationals only.