Job Description

Job Description/Requirements

Contract Duration: 01.04.2022 - 31.12.2024

The Swiss Government supported Regional Programme Horn of Africa (RPHoA) focuses on Somalia and the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) of South-Eastern Ethiopia and North-Eastern Kenya. In the frame of its Cooperation Programme 2022-2025, the programme supports projects in the four sectors, namely: food security, health, governance and migration/protection. The overall aim of the programme is to contribute to the realization of a stable and resilient region that supports the wellbeing, inclusion and empowerment of most vulnerable communities and women. The programme is designed as a whole of government approach, in which different departments of the Swiss Government are closely collaborating.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), through the International Cooperation Division of the Swiss Embassies in Nairobi and Addis Ababa, is in charge of the RPHoA supported development and humanitarian projects. These projects are implemented through a variety of partners (e.g. IGAD, UN agencies, international and national NGOs, government institutions), using different instruments (humanitarian aid, development cooperation, policy dialogue) and intervention modalities (bilateral and multilateral mandates or contributions, pooled funds, deployment of experts etc.). Policy dialogue at national and regional level, donor coordination, aid effectiveness principles in fragile and conflict affected contexts (New Deal and OECD principles on engagement in fragile contexts), as well as humanitarian principles and protection of civilians, are systematically promoted.

The Horn of Africa, especially Somalia, has been among the most fragile contexts in the world for the past 30 years. The presence of non-state actors and frequent inter-clan conflicts severely limit first-hand monitoring and lead to over-reliance on implementing partners’ reporting. This is exacerbated by high fiduciary risks in a region considered among the most corrupt in the world and a history of massive fund diversion. Remote monitoring is one of the few approaches to mitigate some of the risks.

Localization of humanitarian aid and development cooperation compounds not only bigger risks for Switzerland, but also contracting local partners which generally still have limited capacity to fully respond to donor requirements.

A root cause for the fragility of the Somali context is the systemic marginalization of minority clans and intersectional discrimination linked to gender and people with disabilities. Accountability to the most left-behind groups is therefore important. Community feedback mechanism are therefore a key tool to broaden the evidence-base for targeted programming.

In order to address these challenges, SDC set up a Framework for Risk Governance and Adaptive Programming (FRAP) that should strengthen Switzerland’s fitness to operate remotely in Somalia through an innovative monitoring, accountability and capacity building tool (Kulmis), digital dashboards enabling adaptive programming, and a strengthened statistical system to improve data gathering and monitor the implementation of the National Development Plan and the Agenda 2030.

For the management and steering of FRAP – which currently entails seven partial actions with contracts of different stakeholders including two tendered mandates – the Embassy of Switzerland in Nairobi is looking for a Project Officer initially for roughly three years (April 2022 – December 2024) until the end of Phase I of FRAP with a possibility for a further prolongation of four years for Phase II of FRAP (2025-2028). At the same time, the Project Officer should assist the Senior Programme Officer Governance/Migration in steering the portfolio on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced People in Somalia.

Main Tasks:
•    Responsible, together with the Programme Officer & Senior Finance Controller, for the Project-Cycle Management (PCM) of FRAP and its different components, including inter alia Switzerland’s support to the Kulmis Support Team (KST), the FRAP Backstopper mandates, the International NGO Safety Organization (INSO), the support to African Voices Foundation, and the support to the Somalia National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS).
•    Support the Regional / Deputy Regional Head of Cooperation on the overall steering of FRAP.
•    Prepare the meetings and serve as secretariat to the FRAP Advisory Board and the FRAP Steering Board.
•    Work with all Programme Officers on the different elements of FRAP.
•    Serve as thematic Focal Point for Minority Inclusion / Leave No One Behind (LNOB) within the International Cooperation Division of the Embassy. Ensure the implementation of the recommendations from the Minority Inclusion Learning Review.
•    Participate in the Technical Working Group on the Census together with other donor representatives.
•    Represent the Embassy in the dialogue with and coordination among international donors, government authorities and other relevant stakeholders in the sectors of monitoring, accountability to affected population, inclusion/LNOB, statistics and durable solutions.
•    Follow the technical discussion and assist the team in implementing the Results Data Management digitalization approach of SDC and seek synergies with the Kulmis Digital Platform (KDP).
•    Organize context-monitoring sessions for the Cooperation Programme Horn of Africa 2022-2025, inter alia the updated political economy analysis, the discussions on the development-relevant changes (MERV), and the monitoring of the Cooperation Programme’s assumptions.
•    Convene, organize and facilitate dialogue, knowledge sharing and joint learning with Swiss supported implementing partners and within the Embassy. For this, a broad network of relevant stakeholders in Somalia needs to be maintained.
•    Support the Senior Programme Officer Governance/Migration in steering the UN Joint Programme Saameynta (UNJPS) on Durable Solutions.
Required Education and Competencies:
•    Master’s degree in a field relevant to development cooperation and/or humanitarian aid.
•    A minimum of 5 years of development cooperation and/or humanitarian aid work experience in the field of monitoring & evaluation and, ideally, in the field of migration in the Horn of Africa (preferably in Somalia), with an international NGO, a UN agency or other similar organizations.
•    Strong background, understanding and interest in Monitoring & Evaluation as well as digitalization.
•    Knowledge and experience in risk governance and adaptive programming including at least 1 year on/with Third Party Monitoring (TPM).
•    Good understanding of the social, economic and political context of Somalia.
•    Experience in the management of migration programmes and a good understanding of the principles, approaches and practices of durable solutions.
•    Experience with project cycle management (operational and financial planning, monitoring and evaluation of projects), CSPM, gender sensitive programming and engagement in fragile states.
•    Interest in adaptive programming and localization.
•    Experience in the collaboration with national/local government authorities, multi- and bilateral agencies, local organizations, donors and other humanitarian and/or development relevant stakeholders.
•    Strong analytical capacity to synthesize and communicate conclusions, recommendations, and ability to credibly represent Swiss positions in the stakeholder and policy dialogue.
•    Ability to establish trusted partnerships with Swiss supported implementing partners and excellent ability to network and to work in a team.
•    Ability to work independently and to deliver quality work on time.
•    Excellent knowledge of English (both spoken and in writing reports).
•    Knowledge of Somali language an asset.

Required skills:
•    Highly motivated, committed and team minded
•    Ability to deal effectively and in a diplomatic manner at all levels
•    Ability to multitask, capable of learning fast, adaptive
•    Ability to work independently, under pressure and with a minimum of supervision
•    Motivated to learn
•    Good diplomatic communication skills and friendly
•    Good writing skills
•    Precise, dynamic, high level of integrity and loyalty
•    Strong service and customer orientation

How to apply
Modalities of employment and application:
•    Duty station is Nairobi with sporadic travels to Somalia (applicant must be in possession of a valid working permit for Kenya).
•    Applicants should include a letter of motivation (maximum 1 page), a CV (maximum 3 pages) and 2 references related to previous work experience.
•    Applications have to be sent to: nairobi.vacancy@eda.admin.ch
•    Application deadline is 1700hrs 16 March 2022.
•    Start date: As soon as possible

Kindly take note of the following;
•    You are highly encouraged to apply only if you meet the minimum requirements;
•    Please be advised that the Embassy of Switzerland does not charge any fees from applicants for any recruitment, nor has it engaged a third party to facilitate this hire;
•    We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. If you do not hear from us by then, please consider your application unsuccessful;
•    All communications to the successful candidates will be done using the official contacts as listed on our website:https://www.eda.admin.ch/nairobi.

Apply Now Email Job