Programme Coordinator (Project Coordinator - Agricultural Systems Resilience Enhancement Project) at Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited

Duties and Responsibilities
The incumbent Program Coordinator’s responsibilities are outlined below:

Leadership & Project Oversight: 

• Provide overall leadership and strategic direction for the entire project ensuring an integrated vision among different stakeholders, and a focus on achieving the project’s objectives and expected outcomes. 
• Ensure compliance with laws, regulations, Sahel’s internal policies, and donor guidelines.

Relationship Building & Management: 

• Build and manage high-level relations with the funder, project partner and key stakeholders to ensure ongoing alignment, and commitment to deliver on the project’s objectives. 
• Represent the project at the highest-levels vis a vis the Government of Nigeria, funder and other relevant stakeholders. 
• Manage complex relationships with government MDAs and the private sector especially those engaged in climate information services.

Financial Oversight: 

• Oversee fiscal management to ensure that financial activities including budgeting, reporting, and auditing align and are compliant with Sahel’s internal policies, and donor guidelines. 
• Ensure that project is operating within the approved budget, ensure maximum resource utilization, and maintenance of the project in a positive financial position.

Project Implementation: 

• Lead annual assessment of project partner to establish existing technical gaps and provide insights for appropriate planning of project activities. 
• Coordinate the development of strategic plans, annual and quarterly work plans, and the overall management of the project. 
• Oversee project administration, operations, and implementation. 
• Ensure effective monitoring and reporting of project activities and timely submission of high-quality reports, work plans, and other project deliverables. 
• Identify and effectively manage all key risks related to the project, including compliance with Sahel’s policies and donor transparency and due diligence requirements.

Team Building & Management: 

• Work closely with the Human Resource team to support hiring, onboarding, training and retention of top talent. 
• Create an environment and culture that promotes great performance and positive morale. 
• Lead and inspire project staff to deliver on project objectives. 
• Oversee performance assessment of project staff to ensure alignment with project needs and identify opportunities for improvement to effectively support project objectives.

Branding & Communications: 

• Oversee the development and implementation of the project’s branding and communication strategy to ensure effective communication with government and private sector partners, donor and other relevant stakeholders.

Minimum Required Skills & Experience

Professional Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in International Development, Business Administration, Economics, or related field of study
• Minimum of seven (7) years of work experience in senior management position with demonstrated results focus, skills and a track record of delivering beyond expectations.
• An MBA qualification with experience in climate information systems and leading strategic advisory initiatives is highly preferred.

Operational Expertise:

• Strong organizational abilities including planning, delegating, project development and task facilitation.
• Experience in supply chain management and in leading implementation in a complex, international organization and/or in large multifaceted projects.
• Good financial management skills including cash flow management and budgeting.
• A familiarity with and commitment to addressing gender equality is also required.

Leadership Skills:

• Ability to shape a vision and strategy.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and managing alliances with the private sector; ability to build consensus and relationships among executives, partners, and the workforce; adept at aligning stakeholders with differing agendas.
• Able to attract, inspire, retain, and lead a diverse team of highly talented professionals.

Communication & Interpersonal Skills:

• Superior interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills.
• Strong negotiation and diplomatic skills to support effective work through implementing partners.
• Fluency in the English language, and excellent writing and presentation skills.
• Ability to inspire confidence and create trust.

Personal Characteristics and Other Requirements:

• Excellent judgement. Ability to understand new issues quickly and make wise decisions.
• Ability to work under pressure, plan personal workload effectively and delegate.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Preference is for candidates who have worked as a Senior Project Lead in a top consulting firm.