Catholic Relief Services Recruitment for Senior Project Officer

Applications are invited from interested and suitably qualified candidates for Catholic Relief Services Recruitment for Senior Project Officer.

In 1943, the Roman Catholic Bishops of the United States established Catholic Relief Services to help war-torn Europe and its refugees recover. During World War II, CRS’ work focused on the resettlement of war refugees in Europe. Today, more than 75 years later, our mission continues to focus on the poor overseas, using the gospel of Jesus Christ as our mandate. We continually seek to help those most in need, providing assistance on the basis of need, without regard to race, creed or nationality.

Job Description

Company: Catholic Relief Services
Location: Ghana
State: Tamale
Job type: Full-Time

Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome staff and partners of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and commitment to serve those in need.

CRS/Ghana Background
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has been working in Ghana since 1958 in Health, Agriculture, Peace Building, Water and Sanitation, Microfinance and Education programs and has long-standing relationships with Church and non-Church partners and communities throughout the country. CRS/Ghana currently has 61 staff with project offices in Tamale and Accra.

Summary
CRS, with funding from Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), has joined a consortium with the Directorate of Agricultural Extension Services of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA DAES), The Hunger Project (THP) and Farmerline to increase productivity and incomes for smallholder farmers in the Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions by supporting them with access to quality extension services, improved technologies and good agronomic practices through the “Ghana Extension Systems Strengthening Project (GESSiP)”. GESSiP will use a two-tiered approach based on AGRA’s Village Based Advisor (VBA) model to strengthen both public and private community-based extension services in Ghana over a 36-month period from December 1, 2018 to November 30, 2021.

As a lead for GESSiP team, the position will facilitate the achievement of project objectives through coordinating and reporting on all project activities and providing technical guidance and advice to staff and implementing partner(s) advancing CRS’ work serving the poor and vulnerable. This position’s coordination and relationship management skills will ensure that GESSiP applies best practices and constantly works towards improving the impact of its benefits to those we serve.

Responsibilities
Provide project management and technical leadership for the implementation of the Ghana Extension Systems Strengthening Project (GESSiP) in 14 districts of the Northern Region of Ghana. Specifically:

Organize and lead the implementation of all assigned project activities as outlined in the detailed implementation plan in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practices.
Ensure learning properly accompanies project activities throughout the project cycle. Support accountability through coordinating project evaluation activities and guiding partners in their efforts to reflect on project experiences. Analyze implementation challenges and report any inconsistencies and/or gaps to inform adjustments to plans and implementation schedules.
Coordinate and oversee working relationships with all local project stakeholders and serve as the liaison between them and the project team to mobilize local actors and promote project activities and impact.
Supervise and perform ad-hoc inspections of various processes and resources at project sites to ensure timely project activities implementation and adherence to established process standards and procedures. Ensure proper tracking of resource use for project activities through periodic budget reviews and follow-up with and assistance to implementing partner.
Support and coordinate capacity building and technical support activities to ensure assigned project activities are implemented per project guidelines and standards.
Coordinate provision of any logistical and administrative support to staff and partners.
Ensure project documentation for assigned activities is complete with all required documents and is filed per agency and AGRA requirements. Assist with preparation of trend analysis reports and documentation of case studies and promising practices

Scope
(Number of employees supervised or revenues responsible for. If appropriate and available, then include them, otherwise state “Not Applicable”) – Not Applicable

Key Working Relationships

Internal: Agriculture Program Manager; Senior Project Officer-Agric.; Finance Manager; International Development Fellow
External: GESSiP consortium implementing partners (The Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Directorate of Agricultural Extension Services; District Departments of Agriculture; The Hunger Project; Farmerline); and other partners

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

Serves with Integrity
Models Stewardship
Cultivates Constructive Relationships
Promotes Learning

Requirement/Experience

Master’s Degree required. Degree in the field of agriculture, agronomy, community-based development or other related field would be a plus.
Minimum of 5 years of work experience in project support, ideally in the field of agricultural or community development work for an NGO.
Proven knowledge of community-based agricultural extension delivery systems; improved farming technologies and good agronomic practices; and savings for access to finance through CRS’ Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) or other Village Savings and Loan Associations approach desired.
Experience working with partners, participatory action planning and community engagement.
Staff supervision and partner engagement experience a plus.
Experience monitoring projects and collecting relevant data.
Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

Personal Skills

Analysis and problem-solving skills with ability to make sound judgment
Good relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with local partners
Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented
Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities

Required/Desired Languages

Proficiency in local languages of target districts in the three northern regions of Ghana.

Travel Required: 50%

Competencies Relevant for the Specific Position (include those that are applicable):

Sets clear goals and works towards achieving them
Collaborates effectively with staff and stakeholders
Manages financial resources with integrity
Applies program quality standards to project design and organizational learning

M.E.A.L (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) Competencies:

Accountability: Improving our accountability to a range of stakeholders through increased participation, transparent communication, responsive feedback mechanisms, and adherence to internal and external quality standards and requirements.
Analysis and Critical Thinking: Engaging with data, challenging biases and assumptions, posing thoughtful questions, pursuing deeper understanding of evidence through reflection and perspective-taking, and making informed programming decisions.
Monitoring: Implementing monitoring activities, including timely collection of quality data, set up and maintenance of databases, facilitation of participatory reflection on monitoring results, and submission of timely progress reports.

How to Apply

Interested and suitably qualified candidates should send CV and letter of interest to [email protected] by 5pm, on 22nd February 2019. The e-mail subject line for all applications and CVs should make reference for the position applied i.e., SPO – GESSiP.