Program Officer– Parliamentary capacity Development Open Society foundation

Revenue Watch Institute, based in London
Program Officer– Parliamentary capacity Development
December 2011

The Revenue Watch Institute (RWI) is a non-profit policy institute and grant-making organization that promotes the transparent, accountable and effective management of oil, gas, and mineral resources for the public good. RWI provides expertise, capacity building and funding to help countries maximize the long-term economic benefit of their natural riches.

Revenue Watch is the only organization exclusively dedicated to helping oil, gas, and mineral-producing countries harness extractive revenues for development. We take a comprehensive approach to improving governance and development along the resource value chain—from the decision to extract, through the organization of production, revenue generation and management, to the expenditure processes. Revenue Watch Institute works in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and Caucasus and Asia/Pacific. Please visit our website for more information: www.revenuewatch.org

Purpose and context of the position:

RWI’s parliamentary capacity development brings our and our partners’ work on oversight of extractive industries to legislators. We build successful partnerships between lawmakers, civil society and media to combat poverty, mainly by focusing on the maximization, collection and use of revenues from the oil, gas and mining sectors.

RWI currently leads projects in Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda. Our projects focus on enhancing parliamentary oversight and law-making in relation to the management of oil, natural gas and mining activities. We seek to inform parliaments, civil society and media as they review policies and legislation governing extraction – and to promote their effective collaboration.

The Parliamentary Capacity Development Program Officer (PO) will support RWI regional offices to expand and systematise our approaches to building the capacity of parliaments. It is anticipated that the Program Officer will travel frequently to countries of interventions, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa, to ensure work is tailored to the specific needs of our target audiences. The Parliamentary Program Officer will also work extensively with the rest of the capacity development team.

Responsibilities:

The PO will be generally responsible to support the establishment and management of existing and new parliamentary capacity development projects, including the design and delivery of courses and other knowledge services to parliaments. The PO will also lead the progressive documentation and dissemination of lessons, impacts and toolkits to practitioners and legislators interested in responsible management of extractive industries.


Update and develop RWI parliamentary capacity development strategy with a focus on helping parliaments address major challenges associated with resource revenues governance;

Supportregional coordinators and partners in establishing interventions targeting parliaments;

Developtraining modules, curricula, manuals and courses to meet the different needs of legislators, parliamentary staff, civil society activists and media interested in working with parliaments;

Streamline parliamentary capacity development in the portfolio of RWI-supported knowledge hubs (in tandem with the PO for Knowledge Hubs);

Lead monitoring and evaluation of impact, including the updating and refinement of RWI M&E framework for parliamentary interventions and the adaptation and application of the framework to new projects;

Distill lessons learnt, sharelearning within the organization and with the broader network of RWI stakeholders;

Identify opportunities to scale up RWI parliamentary strengthening work through coordination and fundraising;

Represent RWI with external audiences on issues related to parliamentary roles.

Qualifications:

At least five years’ experience in running and managing capacity building projects in an international development & advocacy environment – including support of local partners at a distance, monitoring and evaluation, financial management;

Experience in parliamentary and civil society capacity development and network building in low income countries;

Experience conducting project impact monitoring and evaluation;

Knowledge of parliamentary processes and roles in the design, adoption and monitoring of government policy and legislation;

Knowledge of the budget cycle and parliamentary role in budget formulation, approval, execution and oversight;

Knowledge of extractive industries’ governance is desirable;

Willingness to travel – approximately 1 week per month;


Post-graduate degree in a relevant field (public administration, political science, economics, international affairs);

Fluency in at least one additional language to English (especially Arabic, French and Bahasa, however, other languages would also be an asset such as Russian, Portuguese, Spanish etc.);

Experience in adult learning and teaching/teacher training is highly desirable;

Effective communicator & proficiency in writing skills;

Demonstrated project management skills and ability to manage several simultaneous projects in a fast-paced environment;

Strong attention to detail;

Problem-solving capacity and analytical skills;

Demonstrated ability to learn quickly and to work independently;

Proficiency with Microsoft Office Package;

Integrity and professional discretion.

Location: London, UK

Start date: ASAP

Compensation: Salary Range £42,000 to £48,000 per annum commensurate with qualifications and experience. Excellent benefits package.

To apply: Please send a cover letter and CV; with ref: PARLPO/RWI in the subject line to: recruitment-RWI@osf-eu.org by 13 January 2012

Please note:
The job holder will be seconded to RWI with the host employer being the Open Society Foundation, London.

No phone calls, please. The Open Society Foundation/RWI is an Equal Opportunity Employer.