Consortium Coordinator for Afghanistan

Consortium Coordinator for Afghanistan

Location: Kabul (Afghanistan), with frequent travels to other provinces

Contract length: 24 months with a possible extension

Starting date: ASAP

Position Summary

The Consortium Coordinator (CC), in collaboration with the Deputy Country Director for Programs (DCD-P), is responsible for the overall coordination of a proposed consortium project led PIN and implemented in partnership with other international and national partners across 6 Afghanistan’s provinces. The Consortium Coordinator is the focal point for all consortium partners and takes leadership in rolling out all aspects of strategy, program implementation, and monitoring, and ensuring harmonization and communication amongst partners. S/he reviews the programmatic progress of all Consortium’s Partners, based on their respective plans, sets up and maintains all the necessary tools to support the implementation, coordination, monitoring, and reporting of the Consortium to identify challenges, anticipate risks, and formulate mitigation strategies. The CC proactively engages with, supports the Program Management Unit, and reports to the Consortium’s Steering Committee, meeting quarterly to review the consortium's progress and discuss challenges and possible solutions. The CC is the key facilitator for coordination-specific outputs, including joint research and development of best practices and advocacy, and provides external leadership of the Consortium – representing partners vis-a-vis donors, Clusters, and other partners and key stakeholders. Additionally, s/he is responsible for the timely and high-quality delivery of PIN’s portion of the consortium project and for supporting the development of other PIN initiatives aimed at improving livelihoods of vulnerable people in Afghanistan. This includes contributing to the overall strategy and expansion of PIN’s livelihoods portfolio. 

Reporting Lines:

The CC reports directly to the DCD-P (in his absence to the Country Director) and maintains close collaboration with PIN’s Project team, PIN’s MEAL unit, Operations Department, and HQ Desk. S/he directly supervises the Consortium Finance Coordinator.

Duties and responsibilities:

Coordination

  • Lead liaison activities with the consortium partners as the key focal point for strategy, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the consortium project, including monthly coordination forums, monthly progress updates, and formal reporting according to the agreed Donor’s schedule.
  • Facilitate coordination meetings among consortium partners’ programs, finance and M&E teams, consortium’s working groups, and relevant advisors, creating a culture of recurrent exchanges.
  • Lead partners in sharing lessons learned and development of best practices relevant to the scope of interventions.
  • Promote and support the development of key knowledge-sharing materials and Best Practice Guidelines across different themes, which will be implemented by the Consortium partners, and shared with the wider humanitarian community through cluster forums and workshops.
  • Act as the key focal point (in coordination with CD, DCD-P, CFC) for routine liaison with donor’s representatives and for daily external actors’ relations and, where necessary, initiate ad-hoc coordination on rapid responses to sudden-onset crises amongst partners.
  • In coordination with CP management, represent PIN and the consortium in relevant clusters and other coordination forums, as necessary.

Program Management

  • In coordination with DCD-P, oversee the project implementation, quality standards and adherence to SoPs and donor/PIN internal guidelines in PIN’s target areas.
  • Provide strategic and operational guidance to consortium partners and lead the consortium in the direction of achieving the project objective.
  • Supervise, in cooperation with relevant PMs and consortium partners, all program progress, outputs, and challenges across all sectors within the consortium project, creating and updating relevant work plans.
  • Ensure that rigorous monitoring & control mechanisms are in place to ensure compliance with donor and PIN’s requirements (procurement, approvals, and accountability and anti-fraud mechanisms).
  • In coordination with the DCD-P interact with PIN HQ Desk, advisors from Program, Strategy and Impact Department (PSI) and other departments as needed.

Program Development / Reporting

  • Coordinate the reporting schedule and requirements for the consortium’s project: request, review, and compile inputs from partners and develop quality reporting based on partners' and PIN’s inputs to meet PIN’s and donor’s requirements, within the agreed timelines, and resources allocated.
  • In coordination with the DCD-P ensure timely and precise communication with the donor regarding any grant modification request.
  • Provide key support to the Country Program in program design and proposal development in the Livelihoods sector.
  • In coordination with the DCD-P & CD liaise with current and potential donors on ongoing and future grant opportunities in Livelihoods sector; fostering good relationships and maximum transparency and accountability.
  • Ensure that all communication and outputs communicated to the donor, consortium partners, and external stakeholders are relevant, and of high quality and informative value.

Financial Management

  • Support the Consortium Finance Coordinator and the Consortium’s Program Managers to monitor PIN’s and partners' expenditures, and forecasts, ensuring that the latter are fully reasoned within the different consortium’s teams, and in line with the current situation in the implementation locations, and with the teams’ capacity to absorb and spend the planned resources.
  • Contribute to any necessary consortium’s budget (re)formulation and development.
  • Ensure that the Consortium Finance Coordinator and relevant partner’s colleagues constantly ensure and monitor that the needed and compliant finance control mechanisms are in place and respected.
  • Promptly report to PIN SMT and to the attention of the consortium’s SC any financial, programmatic, and reputational risk factor, while suggesting potential mitigation or correction measures.

General Accountability

  • Ensure compliance of project activities with donor, PIN, and government regulations and standards.
  • Cooperate with HQ Compliance dept. as necessary.
  • Prevent and report to the CP SMT any suspected or confirmed conflict of interest, internal financial issue, or non-principled programmatic actions within the project.
  • Support PIN’s and the other consortium partners’ MEAL teams to elaborate and action their monitoring plans, and to promote AAP/CFRM systems within their own share of operations.
  • Ensure that the project has a functioning CFRM system and that it truly mainstreams protection, SG, GESI, and environmental considerations into its operations with coordination from the corresponding experts/advisors.

Qualifications and Requirements:

  • Minimum bachelor’s degree in development or related field.
  • Minimum 3 years’ experience in managing and coordinating projects with multiple stakeholders and proven capacity to coordinate consortium partners (from Country Directors to technical leads).
  • Proven expertise in the Livelihoods sector.
  • Experience with climate-resilient Agriculture, and/or Market Systems Development, and/or Disaster Risk Management highly desirable.
  • Good networking, representation, coordination, and negotiation skills with various stakeholders, incl. government authorities.
  • Previous international exposure, and familiarity with NGO working requirements and standard procedures  
  • Familiarity with EC-funded projects and the Afghan context is an asset.
  • Proven understanding of duty of care and safety and security considerations in fragile and conflict affected contexts.
  • Good communication and capacity to work under stress.
  • Good command of MS Office Package (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, SharePoint).
  • Fluent English both spoken and written.

PIN offers:

-      Working environment in a well-established humanitarian organization in a challenging context;
-      Standard work schedule of 40 hours per week from Sunday to Thursday;

Salary & Benefits:
-      Salary based on PIN’s salary scale and HR policies; expected 2750 - 3000 EUR super gross (based on experience).

Additional allowances include:

-      Monthly Subsistence Allowance of 1440 EUR;

-      Monthly Hardship of 400 EUR;

-      Accommodation provided by PIN.

Time off and Rest:

-      25 days of holiday annually;

-      10 sick days;

-      Rest & Recreation (R&R) policy in place.

Travel benefits:

-      Reimbursement of travel expenses with travel to the country of residence once every 6 months of work;

-      Reimbursement of costs of visas and vaccinations; assistance with the visa application procedure;

-      Reimbursement for the medical check-up before and after the deployment;

-      Travel health insurance covering medical care, incl. the repatriation;

Health and Well-being:

-      24/7 Medical Support available online;

-      Free psychological consultations available on-line;

Professional Development:
-      Free access to e-learning platforms and PIN Learning Hub; PIN’s global Induction Training, and tailored capacity-building opportunities.

National candidates are welcome to apply.
Employment terms for national candidates differ and will be shared upon request.

How to Apply:

If you are interested in this position, send us your CV and short cover letter via our application form.

Please note only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Interviews will be conducted on rolling basis and the vacancy will be closed when filled.

Successful candidates who are nationals of the country where the position will be based, will undergo the hiring process applicable in that country.

People in Need is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct and committed to promoting the welfare of children and adults with whom People in Need engages /is in contact with. People in Need expects all staff to perform job duties and responsibilities in accordance with People in Need code of conduct and key policies (available at: https://www.peopleinneed.net/key-policies-4142gp People in Need Staff will undertake the appropriate level of training.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks.

We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organization and encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply.