GOAL Ireland Desk Officer

GOAL is an emergency and development NGO established in 1977, currently operational in 13 countries world-wide. GOAL has an annual budget of approximately €60m and is supported by a range of donors including: Irish Government, UK Government, USAID and European Union.

Role: Provide first line of contact between Head Office and designated Country Directors. To facilitate and support the Country Directors in the creation, implementation, monitoring and reporting of Country plans and programmes. Represent GOAL with donors, and to link the Operations with all other depts. In respect of assigned countries

Lateral relationships: liaison and co-operation with designated CDs and overseas personnel and with other members of the Head Office team and GOAL technical team.

General Objectives of the Position:

To support the development of GOAL’s overseas programmes; specifically:

1. Facilitate, support and monitor country programme development.
2. Ensure that accountability for all key stakeholders (donors, public, beneficiaries and partners) is assessed and considered in programme design, monitoring and evaluation.

Key Responsibilities:

Facilitate, support and monitor country programme development 1. Facilitate and collaborate with CDs in the creation of optimal country plans, and support and monitor the implementation of same. 2. Make recommendations to Ops Manager on technical team support to field 3. Contribute to CD appraisals 4. Maintain a high level of knowledge on all aspects of GOAL activities and local operating environments for designated countries and keep Ops Manager fully appraised on a timely basis on all important issues. 5. Maintaining a good working knowledge of the other GOAL countries of operation. 6. Review all programme narrative and financial submissions from the field and make recommendations for action to Ops Manager/PRC 7. In coordination with other members of the technical team, provide the necessary support to help develop GOAL’s integrated programme approach. 8. Ensure that each country programme develops a monitoring and evaluation annual plan that shows how it contributes to country programme objectives and Global objectives for GOAL 9. In coordination with the technical team and Operations department; maintain an overview of global country programming and advise on appropriate interventions which will facilitate more effective and integrated programming. 10. Provide donor knowledge and support to CDs and review all field submissions of reports and proposals to donors for accuracy/completeness/timeliness.
11. Thoroughly review all contracts and letters of agreement from donor agencies and partners, highlight key conditions for field and relevant staff in HQ. 12. Initiate grant opening meetings with Operations, finance and logistics in head office upon the field starting a new grant – record and manage permanent filing of minutes 13. Liaise with, and represent GOAL to, donors in relation to country and project specific matters 14. Review monthly DSRs with finance in the context of rolling country budgets for spend levels/discrepancies/gaps, etc and follow up with field informing senior management where there are concerns. 15. Liaise and coordinate field logistics requirements with HQ Logistics Department. 16. Liaise closely with HR regarding all overseas personnel issues including recruitment, briefings, debriefings, etc 17. Ensure maintenance of accurate hard and soft copy files of all project documentation 18. Ensure maintenance of accurate information on the MIS 19. Liaise with and support Emergency Department as required and assist with sudden onset emergencies 20. Ensure weekly field and desk reports are prepared and submitted on time and to a high standard 21. Prepare specific briefs for senior management, media department, donors, country offices as required. 22. Ensure that GOAL project information for external relations is current and accurate

Organisational and Policy Development; 1. As appropriate represent GOAL in external sectoral networks – facilitate the exchange of technical information and identify opportunities for cooperative work and joint ventures with other agencies.
2. Participate in relevant (internal and external) discussion groups as required in order to assess future policy development. 3. Work with in-country focal points to ensure the effective roll out of organisational policies and work with other members of the technical team in particular nutrition, wat-san, health, livelihoods and HIV to develop integrated programmatic strategies were possible. 4. Support the development of best practice within GOAL monitoring and evaluation.

Training and Development: 1. Provide the relevant support to fields in order to more effectively manage and support country programmes. 2. Stay abreast of current best practice and ensure this informs GOAL’s own organisational development and programming.

Requirements: 1. A Masters level degree (or higher) in Development or related field . 2. Minimum 3 (three) years practical field experience in emergency humanitarian and/or development programs, with a particular focus on programme management. 3. Experience in report writing and proposal generation and familiarity with key donor monitoring and evaluation guidelines. 4. Appreciation of the aims and objectives of GOAL. 5. Adept in use of Word, Excel, PowerPoint 6. Fluent in spoken and written English with strong analytical skills

Candidates must be legally entitled to work in Ireland at the time of application

How to apply:

If you would like to apply for the above position, please send your CV and covering letter to applications@goal.ie, ensuring that the job title and location of the role are clearly stated in the subject line of your email. Thank you.