Programme Coordinator at the Nigerian Women's Trust Fund (NWTF)

The Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund (NWTF) was created in 2011 through a coalition of government, the private sector, development partners and civil society organizations to address the gender imbalance in elective and appointive positions and drive strategies to increase the representation of women in governance at all levels.

Research indicates that Nigeria currently falls short of the National Gender Policy benchmark of 35% minimum gender representation and other global and regional benchmarks to which the country is signatory. For instance, with the return to democratic governance in 1999, the number of women elected in Nigeria steadily increased but since 2007 it has remained stagnant between 7-9% representation in the National Assembly. This is less than the average rate of female parliamentarians globally and in Sub-Saharan Africa which is 19% and 20% respectively.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Programme Coordinator

Location: Abuja
Contract type Full Time: Fixed term contract for service Contract length April 2018 – April 2019 (renewable)

The Programme
NWTF is looking to recruit an experienced Programme Coordinator to lead and implement a newly established EU funded programme, #OurVoteCountsNG in Nigeria.

This intervention has been designed with the overall objectives of increasing participation of women, youth and other marginalised groups in the electoral process in Nigeria. To contribute to this long-term aim, the project will work towards increasing awareness of citizens from marginalised groups, specifically, women and youth, by enhancing their capacity to engage in Nigeria’s electoral process. This increased awareness will contribute to the informed participation of women and youth voters in the 2019 elections. The programme will support the realization of the EU specific objective of improving the quality of electoral administration and citizens’ participation in the electoral process in Nigeria. Ultimately, implementation will contribute towards the reinforcement of democracy in Nigeria.

This programme will be implemented by Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), in partnership with the Nigeria Women Trust Fund (NWTF).

Main purpose of the Role

• One of the Programme Coordinator’s key tasks will be to realise the successful implementation of the activities of the programme. The Programme Coordinator will work closely with responsible officials of partner organisations and beneficiaries of the project, including: Federal Ministry of Budget and Planning, European Union, WFD, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) partners, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), at the National and State levels.
• The role will be responsible for leading, driving and coordinating the day to day delivery of programme activities and managing administrative and logistical requirement in planning, budgeting, implementation and reporting of the programme. The role will also require preparing and disseminating project documentation, leading the preparation of the narrative and financial reports, designing and managing the collection of monitoring and evaluation data and communicating project successes and achievements.
• The Programme Coordinator will have the responsibility for coordinating NWTF’s implementation of the programme in Abuja, Imo, Osun and Benue State; whilst working closely with WFD Coordinator to ensure synergy and effective realisation of the programme work plan. The post holder will ensure that planning and implementation is in accordance with work plan and budget, while making certain that monitoring and evaluation is on track.

Management and key relationships:

• Reports to Chief Executive Officer

Key Relationships:

• NWTF – CEO, and Coordinator Nigeria: WFD Country Representative; WFD PAFA; WFD Africa Programme Team, London, Programme Partners and Beneficiaries

Main Duties
Programme Set-up:

• Familiarisation of partners with overall objectives, monitoring requirements and EU expectations;
• Coordinate planning and harmonisation meetings between NWTF, partner organisations and beneficiaries of the Action;
• Play key role in setting-up and effective take off, of the programme

Programme Implementation:

• Consultation and harmonisation meetings with INEC and NYSC at the National and State levels, at commences and during implementation;
• Preparation for activities undertaken by NWTF in implementing the programme, including: administrative support, logistics, contracting suppliers, procurement, briefings, monitoring, etc.
• Coordination of activities to ensure a high-quality delivery including: relations with experts and suppliers, solving issues as they arise, expenditure tracking, etc.
• Follow-up on activities to ensure delivery of expected results (outputs) including: monitoring key indicators to identify changes, finalizing financial matters, reporting, gathering recommendations from experts, formulating recommendations to inform future activities and planning, etc.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Work with the M&E team to conduct a baseline survey to ensure programme activities are fully aligned;
• Monitoring and evaluation of programme activities to capture lessons learned and inform future activities; contribute to research and analysis of new opportunities;
• Assessing the external environment (including engagement with key stakeholders) to track progress towards outcomes and inform NWTF through the Chief Executive Officer of political, economic and social developments which may impact on the programme. Based on this monitoring, produce suggestion to achieve objectives (outcomes).

Reporting:

• Reporting to the CEO-NWTF on progress both in implementation (developing activity reports and other reports EU reporting requirements);
• Working with the NWTF and WFD PAFA on finances (provision of accurate monthly forecasts of activity expenditure).

Programme stakeholder management:

• Professionally represent NWTF and participate at Project Technical Committee meetings;
• Maintain the programme’s presence in States of intervention and establish trust with INEC, NYSC and the WFD;
• Develop and maintain stakeholder beneficiaries’ network and mapping;
• Consult and work with the programme’s beneficiaries and partners, at national and state level, to ensure buy-in for the programme in its implementation;
• Establish and maintain key State level contacts;

Risk Management:

• Appraise the risk and circumstances that may have changed between the period of proposal submission and commencement of implementation;
• To properly apply EU requirements and, where applicable, NWTF’s risk management policy and procedures in their areas of responsibility and to assess and manage risk appropriately, particularly where NWTF operates outside its stated ‘risk appetite;
• To ensure that consultants and staff are informed of responsibilities in relation to risk management and have an awareness and understanding of NWTF’s risk management policy and procedure.
• To ensure that an appropriate system of risk management is maintained and to escalate matters of ‘high risk’ to relevant peers and the Accounting Officer

Job Requirements
Educational Qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s or Post-Graduate Degree in the Social Sciences including Law, Political Science, Communications, Economics, Gender and Development
• A Master’s Degree in development or a related field is an added advantage.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7-10 years of experience in the field or in a related area, broad familiarity with standard concepts, practices, and procedures in Civil Society Organizations and Not-for-Profits; relies on limited experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals.

Other Key Requirements:

• The programme coordinator must possess a certain degree of creativity, innovation and latitude including a good understanding and knowledge of the Nigerian democratic and political environment and its interplay with civil society.
• Must be female and familiar with development partners, government and civil society organizations with demonstrated knowledge of the Nigerian political environment
• Critical thinking, problem solving, organization, attention to detail, leadership, clear spoken and written communication, active listening, and can perform a variety of tasks.

Core skills:

• Good command of written and spoken English.
• A good overview of women’s political participation issues, and an active interest in the workings of civil society;
• Ability to work under pressure;
• Frequent travel in different municipalities to implement programme activities is required.
• Enthusiasm to learn and apply new skills;
• Good interpersonal and team-working skills;

Work Environment
Traditional Office hours of 9am - 5pm weekdays with some travel in and outside Abuja.

Remuneration
Negotiable and competitive within the sector.

Application Closing Date
30th March, 2018.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV’s along with a Cover Letter, outlining relevant experience to: [email protected] and [email protected] Kindly use the title of the position in the subject line.

Note: This application is open to Female candidates only. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.