Senior Program Officer - Norwegian Refugee Council

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Somalia/Kenya is a two Country Program with four field offices in Dadaab (Kenya), Hargeisa (Somaliland), Bossaso (Puntland) and Mogadishu (South Central).

NRC has been present in Somaliland since early 2004 and expanded to Puntland in 2006, Mogadishu and Dadaab in 2007. In a short time NRC established Education, Shelter/Sanitation, Distribution and Camp Management projects for IDPs, refugees and local population in Somalia and Kenya.

NRC also has a coordination office in Nairobi, Kenya that was established in 2006.

Position Vacant: Senior Program Officer

Reporting to: Program Development Manager

Duty Station: Nairobi, with frequent travel to the field offices in Somalia and Kenya

Duration of Contract: ASAP to 31st December 2011 (with possible extension)

Main Responsibilities include:

• Contribute to the development of country program strategies, concept papers and situation analysis, etc
• Assist the PDM in preparation of proposals and budgets as per the donor requirements
• Assist the PDM to ensure that the proposals, budgets and reports are quality controlled and in line with NRC policies and strategies
• Overall day to day planning and progress monitoring of the implementation of the core activities
• Preparation and quality control of required reports to the Program Director, NRC HQ and donor agencies/partners (incl. monthly, quarterly and annual program reports)
• Planning of programme/project assessments and evaluations in discussion with the PDM
• Ensuring protection analysis is part of the activities being undertaken and contributing to the development of NRC analysis on prioritized protection issues.
• In discussion with PDM ensure the promotion of internal coordination of the activities, in order to benefit from synergies and improve impact
• Ensuring a conscious program approach in line with the “do no harm” principles
• Developing and monitoring the annual calendar of deadlines for reporting on projects/submission of project proposals, covering the country program and communicating these to field staff.
• Regular project follow-ups through field trips to advise to the PDM on the progress of projects through the preparation of field reports and recommendations.
• Keeping the PDM and Program Team informed about all programmatic issues of relevance to the overall management and coordination of the country program.
• Ensure that the advocacy issues and initiatives are identified within the country programs supporting the PDM and AM in their advocacy work
• Ensuring protection analysis is a part of the activities that are being undertaken and facilitate the mainstreaming of protection issues within program activities
• Strengthen the monitoring systems within the NRC mission and ensure monitoring reports are being prepared on a monthly basis to track progress on implementation and quality of implementation of activities within the mission.
• Ensure capacity building of staff on program and project cycle management, protection/advocacy, proposal preparation, reporting and monitoring systems.
• Attend coordination and cluster meetings as advised by the PDM and prepare the minutes to be shared with field teams for improved communication.
• Assist in preparation of meetings, workshops and seminars as required and directed by the PDM.
• Be responsible for developing and maintaining program related filing systems to update and store program documents for the mission.
• Be responsible for ensuring information management and preparing media briefs and success stories
• Assist the project team in documenting case studies and lessons learnt for the NRC websites
• Write design and edit project publications/brochures/factsheets/newsletter etc.
• In discussion with the Program team promote team work and team spirit within the mission and plan adequate training of staff.
• Assist with any other duties assigned by the Program Director, as and when required.

Required skills and qualifications:

• Relevant university degree or higher education, preferably in international relations and/or development, social sciences or equivalent work experience
• At least 3 years of humanitarian program experience (implementation, supervision and/or management) preferably with refugees/IDPs.
• Documented skills in formulation of programme/project proposals, budgets and reports
• Understanding of various donors requirements
• Ability to use Logical Framework Approach as a tool in project/programme design and follow-up
• Significant understanding of complex emergencies and crisis contexts
• Significant political and cultural awareness and experience of working in setting where insecurity is a major issue
• Awareness of gender and protection issues
• Proven communication, interpersonal and negotiation skills
• Fluency in English, both oral and written
• Above average computer literacy

Desired Skills:

• Knowledge of the political situation in Somalia and Kenya.
• Experience working with statistical software packages.

This position will be based in Nairobi, Kenya with frequent travel to the field offices in Somalia and Dadaab; Applicants should hold valid travel documents.

Deadline for Applications: 10th March 2011

Applications should be submitted to:

Norwegian Refugee Council,
P O Box 21211-00100
Nairobi, Kenya

Email Address: recruitment_nb@som.nrc.no

Or

Norwegian Refugee Council, Dadaab Field Office
P O Box 05, Dadaab

Only the short listed candidates will be contacted.

The Norwegian Refugee Council is an equal opportunity employer, with no discrimination in terms of sex, age, religion, ethnic origin or political affiliation.