LGA Coordinator at DAI

Background

• The purpose of the five-year (2020-2025) “State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness” (“State2State”) Activity is to increase the accountability, transparency and effectiveness of selected state and local governments (LGAs) in Nigeria.
• This will be achieved by: strengthening governance systems (with a focus on public financial management [PFM] and procurement, as well as monitoring and evaluation) related to the delivery of services in key sectors (basic education, primary health care, and water, sanitation and hygiene [WASH]); increasing government responsiveness to citizen needs and priorities; and improving government and civil society capacity to manage conflict (through work on prevention, mitigation and reconciliation with the same sectoral partners, not stand-alone assistance to the police or judiciary).
• State2State will achieve this purpose by facilitating the strengthening of subnational governance systems in a sustainable manner, supporting the efforts of local reformers and building on locally-derived solutions including, to the extent possible, reforms already working in other parts of Nigeria.

Position Objectives

• The LGA Coordinators will support the implementation of all aspects of State2State at the LGA Level. They will individually provide support to their respective LGA Managers activities and ensure relevant LGA interventions within the state.

Responsibilities

• The LGA Coordinators will work with partner LGAs using our State-LGA Interface Assessment Tool to identify formal and informal relationships governing subnational governance—and help select LGAs, considering those with the strongest IGR performance potential and the capacity for sustained service improvements.
• The LGA Coordinators will apply the Local Government Performance Index (LGPI) as a baseline for LGA capacity and to identify State2State interventions; support in strengthening LGA budgeting and planning procedures and procurement processes while adapting existing citizen guides to the budget and co-create CSO grants to raise budget literacy; will work with local partners to mitigate conflict by using grants to forge partnerships between state, LGA institutions and CSOs to support participatory mechanisms for dialogue on budget priorities.
• The incumbents will provide training and mentoring to LGA finance and administration staff on developing systems for more rigorous controls on LGA expenditures; will support the development of a medium-term revenue strategy and a comprehensive review and update of state fee structures.
• S/he will support the projects service delivery by working with the M&E team to establish KPIs that flow down to the LGA level on health, education, and WASH facilities; track improvements at the LGA levels in all areas of governance including auditing, budgeting and planning, and procurement processes; while the State teams harness reforms within the states, the LGA Coordinators will extend the push for reforms to the local level and will spend at least a day to a week in their state offices, traveling to LGAs to work out of LGA offices.

Reporting:

• The LGA Coordinators will report to the LGA Managers in their respective States.

Minimum Requirements

• A relevant Degree or HND in Social Sciences, Development Studies, etc.
• At least five (5) years of demonstrated experience in local government work in a successful implementation of international development activities, with preference given to governance activities under a USG instrument, related to technical area of the position.
• An ability to manage relationships and a sound understanding of institutional change in complex environments
• Ability to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences including LGA staff, and community leaders;
• An excellent understanding of financial and technical delivery, monitoring and evaluation of program impact and reporting against results;
• Demonstrates excellent project management skills to agreed timescales (timelines, targets, donor requirements)
• A broad range of experience including logistics, training and capacity building ability
• An understanding of, and commitment to, equal opportunity service delivery.
• Flexible, ability to work both as an individual and as a team member and under stress in what can be a harsh environment
• Good planning, organizational and negotiation skills
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills
• A logical approach to solving problems
• Basic computer skills particularly Microsoft Office
• Fluency in English, Hausa and/or other local languages is required.