Search for Common Ground (Search) Vacancy for a Project Manager

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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 Title: Project Manager Location: Delta Position Summary

• Search for Common Ground seeks a highly qualified, motivated and innovative Project Manager to lead its program team to implement strategy activities on the USAID supported project in the Niger Delta region. The person will work toward ensuring that the project addresses real needs and contribute to the organization’s team and regional, management strategies.
• The position entails project strategy development, leadership and management; financial, operations, and administration oversight for the project; security management; stakeholders engagement and partnership building across strategic themes.
• The Project Manager will be responsible for managing Search for Common Ground’s project in the project sites in selected local government areas of Delta State, in South South Nigeria. The successful candidate will provide general oversight and guidance to the project team and ensure the effectiveness of the day-to-day implementation of the project including preparation of workplan, budgets forecasts, and activity reports and ensure proper project monitoring and evaluation process. The Project Manager is responsible for drafting donor reports
• He/she will ensure team spirit and cohesion of the team. As a supervisor, s/he will be supervising, guiding and evaluating the team members. S/he will ensure collaboration and coordination with the finance, operations advocacy, security and monitoring and evaluation teams.
• The project manager will also contribute to maintaining a positive reputation of the organization and cordial relationship with relevant stakeholders at the State and LGA level, including government official, traditional and religious leaders, and other CSO partners. The Project Manager will represent Search in coordination and donor meetings when delegated by the Head of Office.
• S/he will ensure the project is executed in compliance with donor and Search for Common Ground’s policies and be an approver to fund requests and retirements of expenses.
• S/he will work under the direct supervision of the Head of Office, Niger Delta, and in close collaboration with the Niger Delta office Media Coordinator, Finance and Logistics unit, DMEL unit.. The position holder will supervise 4 Community engagement Officers, one early warning Coordinator, one DME officer and interns.

About the Project:

• Search for Common Ground with support from USAID is starting a two-years project titled “Sharing the Green Grass: Cultivating a Locally-led Peace Architecture in the Niger Delta”. The Action aims to strengthen local capacities to peacefully manage conflict and prevent violence from escalating within a locally-led peace architecture in the Niger Delta.
• The project pursues two specific objectives: “Farmer and herder communities cultivate the skills and relationships to collaborate on peace and security issues” and “Farmer and herder communities develop effective, sustainable local mechanisms for early warning response, dispute management, and violence mitigation.”
• The project will be implemented in Ethiope East LGA, Isoko North and Ndokwa West and Ughelli North LGA of Delta State. This “Peace Architecture,” will work to cultivate a culture of cohesion for communities to be at peace with themselves and equipped to build upon that foundation. Search and her partners will work with authorities first at the lowest level (local administration, authorities, the judiciary) and other higher levels (State, Federal) where necessary. This approach, as developed has successfully applied, in USAID-funded “Building Bridges Between Herders and Farmers in Plateau, Nasarawa, and Kaduna States” program in the Middle Belt, consists of conflict prevention, dispute resolution, and sustainability beginning from the local level and conflict-affected people themselves.
• The project will support community-based Early Warning and Early Response (EWER) to identify risks and partner with civil society, security or government actions to institutionalize strategies and approaches that will build community capacity and skills for sustainable peace.
• Additionally, the project seeks to ensure conflicts identified through the EWER feed into multi-stakeholder forums for dispute resolution and higher-level policy change and create open and neutral spaces for farmer and pastoralist community members and leaders to identify collective solutions.

Key Responsibilities Project management Planning:

• Provide technical as well as strategic management of Search for Common Ground’s work on the project;
• Ensure proper planning of the project, including developing and updating yearly, quarterly and monthly costed workplans and implementation strategies in line with project design and expected deliverables;
• Ensure adequate and prompt delivery of activities as per the workplan;
• Facilitate project launch, quarterly project review and project close-out workshops;
• Lead and facilitate higher level project activities;
• Play lead roles in creating and sustaining effective peace architecture platforms for project stakeholders such as MACABAN/AFAN/community structures, CSO organizations and other relevant stakeholders

Reporting:

• Ensure activity and other reports and related project deliverables are produced on time by team members;
• Ensure donor reports and donor deliverables are produced on time and are of high quality,

Quality-insurance:

• Ensure quality of activities implemented, identifying external technical support if need be;
• Ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of project activities for planning purposes
• Support fund raising efforts for effective resource leveraging at all levels.
• Oversee team meetings, sharing of information, context analysis, and strategy development
• Ensure close monitoring of the political, social and security environment in project target area and lead project adaptation reflection meetings if need be
• Drive compliance process with donor and Search for Common Ground Nigeria operational policies
• Coordinate research and documentation activities in line with project objectives

Coordination and Representation:

• Develop and maintain proactive, positive, and professional relationships with implementing partner Initiative for Community Development (ICD): act as main point of contact with ICD, ensure a harmonized approach and vision among Search and ICD team, ensure compliance by ICD of the rules set in place in the subaward agreement, collect reports;
• Maintain regular written and oral reporting to the Head of Office on key country, project, security and staff issues.
• Participate actively in State level forums on issues related to the project, particularly the
• Peace and Security Network, to promote cross-learning and collaboration with other organizations
• Actively coordinate advocacy activities on farmer-herder issues at all levels (local, state and national)
• Develop and maintain proactive, positive, and professional relationships with partner organizations, other NGOS, donors, clients, and key government officials, local authorities, and civil society working on relevant issues to the project.
• Represent the Head of Office Niger Delta on various INGO, Government and stakeholder meetings or platforms whenever assigned to do so.

Team Management and Human Resources:

• Provide leadership, supervision and oversight to program staff and partners charged with implementing the program;
• Hire team members;
• Provide Coaching and Counseling advice to project staff when necessary and lead initiatives to develop staff capacity.
• Supervise work-planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting activities
• Develop technical content/TOR for engagement of consultants for mission critical assignments
• Manage an operational team to supervise project’s activities implementation in the target area in compliance with local laws and organizational policies and procedures, including the management and evaluation of a diverse staff.
• Ensures compliance with Search Operations Manual policies and procedures.

Financial planning, management and compliance:

• Oversees the management of project budgets, ensuring timely grant reporting and compliance with contract and donor guidelines in coordination with Head of Office- Niger Delta, Admin and Procurement Manager and the Director of Finance and Administration.
• Ensure effective budget implementation and compliance with the overall finance policies as  required by grant or contract agreements;
• Ensure that adequate internal control mechanisms are in place and deplored for the specific project
• Plan and forecast grant expenditure, budget versus expenditure analysis, procurement and staffing to ensure compliance with the project contract and budget
• Reviews activity budget, approves fund requests, and reviews and approves expense retirements

Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Coordinate production of project reports –monthly, quarterly and annual
• Ensure that the monitoring and evaluation plan developed by the DMEL team is implemented by the team;
• Coordinate closely with DMEL manager in the management of the DME officer
• Coordinate closely with the DMEL manager in the implementation of the monitoring and evaluation activitivesCoordinate dissemination of project information and materials appropriately and regularly.

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. Required Background Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Peace Building, Conflict, Security Studies, Political or Social Science, International Studies, Public Administration, Development Studies and experience in a related area;

Experience:

• At least 5 - 8 years of work experience in community engagement, with at least 4 years in a management role. Experience with an international NGO is required
• Experience coordinating and managing projects, programmatically and financially;
• Experience leading and managing teams.
• At least 3 years working in the Niger Delta region with strong knowledge of conflict dynamics in Delta state
• Minimum three years of progressively responsible professional experience in peace, conflict transformation, violence prevention, governance, civil society strengthening

Languages:

• Fluency in English language, knowledge of local dialect in Delta state is an added advantage..

Other Relevant Requirements:

• Willingness be based in Warri, Delta State
• Strong knowledge and understanding of conflict dynamics in Delta state;
• Existing contacts and relationships with local stakeholders a strong advantage;
• Experience working on Farmer-Herder dynamics is a strong added advantage;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism and solves problems in collaborative ways.
• Knowledge of and prior exposure to a wide range peace; community peacebulding, prevention of violence; conflict transformation; human rights, governance  and/or development-related issues;
• Analytical capacity, including ability to analyse and articulate peace, violence prevention, human security and conflict issues;
• Ability to identify problems, and to use sound judgment in applying technical expertise to resolve them;
• Ability to manage budgets, review and interpret financial reports, financial projections and procurement documentation;
• Fully proficient computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications; and
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and collaborative working relations.
• An excellent planner, team leader, with capacity to energize and inspire his/her team;
• A peacebuilder of high morality. Sense of humor an added advantage;
• Strong connection to Search for Common Ground’s values: humanity, humility, audacity, empathy
• Willingness to travel regularly to rural locations
• Capacity to adapt to a multi-cultural context, and tolerance and respect to issues related to gender, religion, race and nationality;
• Excellent ability to multi-task and produce time-bound deliverables.
• Expertise in writing reports and success stories; and

    How to Apply Interested and qualified candidates should: Click here to apply Note

• Interested candidates will send the following items to our employment portal:
  • Current Resume
  • Cover Letter (which includes expectations of compensation and projected start date)
• 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

  Application Deadline  15th February, 2019.

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