ERD Livelihoods Officer at International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Job Overview/Summary:

The Livelihoods Officer will support the technical implementation of the Urban Livelihoods project, Resilient Futures, by directly overseeing project activity implementation in the selected intervention communities in Yobe State. He/she will supervise Livelihood Assistants and incentive workers to implement the Youth Livelihoods activities including Agribusiness, Entrepreneurship & Employability trainings, Cooperative support (VSLA), Apprenticeship placements, and Stakeholder engagement activities.

Major Responsibilities:

Program Management, Technical Quality, and Strategy

• Plan and implement all Economic Recovery field activities as per the approved proposal, IRC’s policies and procedures and Workplan.
• Coordinate with trainers on the schedule of business training to beneficiaries and ensure that logistics and venue for beneficiary training is organized.
• Work with the Communication Officer to organize stakeholder and community engagement meetings to engage community stakeholders and feedback.
• Responsible for the formation and training of Youth Champions who would serve as business and entrepreneurship mentors among the project beneficiaries.
• Facilitate the dissemination of e-learning materials for Business and entrepreneurship training online.
• Actively engage and support in community sensitization activities on selection criteria and stakeholder feedback process.
• Maintain clear communication with beneficiaries, community stakeholders, trainers, employers in accordance with IRC policies and procedures.
• Contribute to the production of technical support materials and guide team on the delivery of mechanisms that will ensure effective implementation of livelihoods interventions as well as early recovery.
• Provide close supervision and monitoring to the Livelihood Assistants in implementing project related activities in the field
• Adhere to and act in accordance with the IRC Global HR Policies and Procedures and communicate through word and example a high standard of compliance with all applicable policies and regulations.
• Represent the ERD Sector in internal coordination meetings and the IRC in external meetings including FSS, CWG, ERL etc.
• In liaison with the ERD Manager and other relevant field staff, prepare weekly and monthly work plans for efficient and timely implementation of the project activities.
• Maintain up-to-date records of information on all project beneficiaries for follow-ups and reporting.
• Compile timely and regular progress and circumstantial reports and submit them to the ERD Manager when required.
• Supervise assigned program staff to ensure they execute their tasks well.
• Support the ERD Manager in the tracking of expenditures at the field level.
• Drafting monthly progress and donor reports
• Conduct regular field-based data collection activities.

Program Development

• Contribute to the development of proposals through success story capture, and documented feedback from the field
• Staff Performance Management, Learning & Development:
• Required for all positions with supervisory responsibility, if special considerations are needed (e.g. remote management), make this additive to the base language here.
• Hire, supervise, and build the capacity of team members in relevant technical and management competencies.
• Develop and implement remote management capacity-building approaches to build the strengths of the team in Nigeria.
• Coach, train, supervise, and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting annual performance objectives, providing regular and timely positive and constructive performance feedback, and providing documented semi-annual performance reviews.
• Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.
• Approve and manage all time, attendance, and leave requests to ensure adequate departmental coverage; ensure monthly, accurate timesheet submission and carry out probationary reviews.
• Hold high-quality meetings with each direct report on a regular and predictable basis, at least monthly.
• Provide a measurable development plan including on-the-job learning with the aim of strengthening technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team, and providing guidance on career paths.
• As required identify staff performance issues and work with Human Resources to document and address these in accordance with the National Staff Employment Policies.
• Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.
• Promote and monitor staff care and well-being. Model healthy work-life balance practices. Support appropriate interventions in response to identified staff care needs of both national and international staff.
• Look for opportunities to support staff in their career growth, where appropriate. As part of a succession plan and nationalization goals, identify, train, and develop the capability and capacity of national staff to successfully transition roles and responsibilities.

Monitoring & Evaluation and reporting

• Responsible for the registration, selection and verification of beneficiaries in coordination with community committee and authorities and the use of selection criteria Support in conducting community mapping assessments or labour market assessment in the targeted communities
• Supervise the execution of business monitoring and spot checks of project beneficiary.
• Under the supervision of the Project Manager and the ERD MEAL Manager, conduct baseline and end line surveys

Qualifications

Education:

•  A Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Development studies or related field

Work Experience:

•  Minimum of 2 years relevant work experience in the relevant filed.
• Proven practical experience in cash and livelihoods programming. Experience in working early recovery projects,
• Coordination experience with different partners and stakeholders

Language Skills:

•  Good written and spoken English. Ability to communicate in local languages (Hausa and Kanuri) will be an added advantage

Demonstrated Technical Skills:

• Ability to work with budgets and facilitate procurement of program supplies
• Good understanding of CVA programming and Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (MERS)
• Experience in implementing youth enterprise and economic recovery activities is essential.
• Strong facilitation and mentoring skills.
• Good MEAL and reporting skills.
• Good report writing skills.
• Ability to engage with government stakeholders at multiple levels and manage relationships.
• Strong critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills with ability to make sound decisions.
• Demonstrable capacities in teamwork and   cross-sectoral planning and implementation.
•  Strong relationship management skills and the ability to work effectively with culturally diverse groups.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with ability to author reports and make presentations.
• Proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented.
•  Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information management systems.