LGA Coordinator at DAI

Locations: Adamawa, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Gombe, Akwa-Ibom and Sokoto

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.