COOPI is looking for a Project Manager in The Gambia

COOPI has started its experience in The Gambia in 2017 with several feasibility missions to assess migration patterns and youth vulnerabilities, their causes and devise possible solutions which led to the opening of its offices in December 2018, both by Banjul and North Bank and Central River Regions. Since then, COOPI has been working on two main pillars: 1) tackling the root causes of irregular migration through psychosocial support of returnees, sensitization campaigns about the risks and integrated assistance to unaccompanied minors in mobility across the borders with Senegal 2) supporting livelihoods to young Gambians with a particular focus on agriculture and productive infrastructures.

COOPI is launching a new project of food security in North Bank and Central River funded by Italian Governement. The intervention has the general objective of contributing to the improvement of the living conditions of vulnerable groups (peasant women and young people) in regions affected by migratory flows. This improvement will have two dimensions: one is based on the creation of employment opportunities for young people in these rural areas through a cash for work programme. The second dimension will be focused on women farmers and support to support their work in community gardens. The direct beneficiaries of the project will be 200 young people involved in the improvement of production infrastructures and 880 women farmers involved in the cultivation of community gardens.

Description of the role

The Project Manager is responsible for the overall activities’ planning, execution and reporting of the project, and for the implementation of effective project tracking, review and troubleshooting mechanisms. He/she also is directly assigned to, and responsible of the supervision of all logistics, HR, financial and overall functioning aspects for his projects.

Main responsibilities

Country Strategy, planning and program development in The Gambia

• Support to identify needs and opportunities for expanding COOPI’s interventions in the country through field missions, needs assessments, and data analysis;
• Together with the regional team, develop COOPI’s intervention strategy for the country;
• Support COOPI’s positioning with key stakeholders in the country.

Program management

• Provide overall managerial oversight over the team assigned to the project in the portfolio;
• Supervise the accurate design of project planning tools in line with the project guidelines and description, guaranteeing the smooth implementation of all activities;
• In collaboration with the MEAL Regional department, supervise the implementation of the MEAL plan and regularly review data;
• Plan and monitor the activities’ progress, in compliance with donor regulations and contracts, as well as COOPI’s procedures;
• In collaboration with the Administrative and the Logistics team, plan and monitor the expenditures in line with the project’s implementation needs;
• Manage the goods purchased for the project; for all goods purchased by the project, support updates of the inventory and guarantee the respect of the policies and guidelines, in cooperation with the Logistics Office;
• Finalize the data provided by his/her team, support the preparation of narrative and financial reports expected by the donor;
• In collaboration with the regional Team, prepare all the formal communication and contract modification requests (ex. budget modification) of the project;
• Execute any other task necessary to good and timely completion of the projects;
• Ensure the transversal application of protection, environment, and disability considerations, do no harm principles, and conflict sensitivity.

Human resources

• Support in hiring of new staff directly related to the project;
• Ensure adequate induction for newly hired staff, including orientation about COOPI’s Code of Conduct and PSEA policy;
• Follow and enforce all COOPI codes of conduct and policies (globally and in-country);
• Coach and orient project staff by maintaining a two-way feedback channel and conducting staff appraisals at key milestones and advise senior management on actions to be taken;
• Support the Coordination in maintaining a good understanding of the HR needs in the basis and across projects.

Administration

• Ensure the proper implementation of purchasing and service procedures;
• Ensure the correct management of the safes and the project’s bank accounts, by directly managing or by regularly controlling the project accountant, if available;
• Ensure the correct project accountancy and all accountancy documents filing, by monitoring the accountants or by directly performing the accountancy, in case there was no accountant;
• Verify the correct administrative management of the projects in compliance with COOPI and the donor’s procedures;
• Ensure the correct filing of all project’s administrative documents;
• Monitor expenses in accordance with the budget, and provide the accountancy data to the PM so as to allow him to monitor and plan the expenditures and to request funds;
• Support the elaboration of eventual contract modifications, and the preparation of all necessary projects documents;
• Contribute to the development of the project’s financial planning;
• Prepare the intermediate and final financial reports for the projects under his responsibility.

Others

• Execute any other task necessary to good and timely completion of the projects;
• Work closely with communication team.

Requirements

Essentials

• Master's Degree in Humanitarian / Development Studies / Social Sciences or any related field;
• At least 3 years of field working experience in/with INGO on Project Management;
• Proven interest & commitment to humanitarian and development principles and a demonstrable understanding of conflict/post-conflict development contexts;
• Expertise in sustainable livelihoods, safety nets programs, in particular;
• Data collection, analysis, and report writing including post-distribution monitoring (PDM);
• Excellent written and spoken English;
• Knowledge of the Italian language is mandatory;
• Demonstrated success in community resilient programs and technically sound in Cash transfers and Cash for work, capacity building and other social protection components;
• Proven commitment to accountability practices;
• Previous experience with projects funded by 8x1000 of the Italian government;
• Excellent Microsoft Office applications skills;
• Experience in administrative and financial supervision;
• Knowledge of and adherence to Code of Conduct, understands other international development guidelines;
• Ability to function effectively under stressful conditions such as heavy workloads, and deadlines;
• Excellent communication skills, calm, with a good sense of working in inter-cultural environments;
• Ability to plan, organize work, communicate and reports effectively (both in writing and verbally);
• Proven ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines.

Plus

• Experience in managing agriculture and livelihood development activities;
• Previous work experience in The Gambia.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the application closing date, once a sufficient number of applications have been received.
Please note that only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Interviews will be conducted on rolling basis and the vacancy will be closed when filled, thanks for understanding.

COOPI Cooperazione Internazionale is an Italian secular and independent humanitarian organisation fighting against all forms of poverty to improve the world. Founded in 1965, today COOPI is present in 33 countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East, with both emergency and development projects carried out by expatriate staff – an average of over 270 people per year – and national staff. The main institutional funders are the European Union – ECHO and INTPA – USAID, UN agencies, the Italian Government, local authorities and other European Governments.