Team Lead (Internal) at Albarka Healthspring Foundation

Background

• Albarka Health Spring Foundation (AHSF) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization founded in 2012 by a group of young researchers and incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC/IT/91613) in 2016.
• AHSF is committed to improving the quality of life of children, women, older persons and other vulnerable and marginalized groups through human development interventions and community strengthening.
• With funding from the Supporting Sustainable and Innovative Social Protection Programmes (SEPIN-SUSI) programme, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), AHSF is supporting efforts to reduce poverty and hunger and strengthen social protection systems in Borno and Adamawa States.
• The programme focuses on strengthening government social protection systems, building resilience and promoting the economic and social participation of vulnerable households, particularly women and girls, IDPs, returnees and host communities.
• As part of this intervention, AHSF will undertake independent third-party monitoring to provide impartial oversight of the expansion and updating of the Social Register, as well as the implementation of the graduation approach and shock-responsive cash transfers in Borno State. The monitoring will promote accountability, transparency and quality service delivery while generating evidence and real-time feedback to support adaptive programme management.

Project

• The project includes system strengthening, capacity development for government agencies, and direct support to vulnerable beneficiaries through an innovative social protection programme. Independent monitoring provides impartial oversight to reinforce institutional accountability, ensuring resources are utilized efficiently and activities strictly adhere to established standards and timelines. 
• By validating program activities through transparent reporting, the process fosters public trust and stakeholder confidence, which are essential for sustaining long-term community engagement. 
• Systematic data collection and real-time feedback loops generate actionable evidence, enabling adaptive management to address emerging risks and improve the overall effectiveness of social interventions. 
• Crucially, this oversight safeguards vulnerable populations by identifying exclusion errors and monitoring graduation benchmarks, ensuring that the expansion of the Social Register achieves its intended impact. 

Strategic Project Objective

• To implement a community-based and participatory third-party monitoring approach for the expansion and updating of the Social Register and, in collaboration with relevant state agencies, monitor the delivery of the graduation approach and shock-responsive cash transfers to promote responsive, accountable and responsible social protection services in Borno State.

Job Description / Key Responsibilities
Specific Tasks:

• Overall Coordination through overseeing the successful implementation of the consultancy assignment, ensuring that all tasks and activities are properly executed and that the assignment stays on track.
• Coordinate with the GIZ SEPIN SUSI responsible staff, support facilitators and ad hoc staff, to ensure smooth implementation of the engagement.
• Conduct stakeholder engagement and communication with the key stakeholders, support facilitators, and consultants to ensure that all stakeholders are informed and aligned with the assignment objectives and progress.
• Develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, including state and local government officials, community leaders, and other relevant parties.
• Oversee the quality of the assignment outputs, ensuring that they meet the required standards and expectations.
•  Conduct regular quality control checks to identify and address any issues or defects.
• Ensure documentation and reporting of all assignment documentation, including activity reports, minutes, and other relevant materials, are properly maintained and up to date.
•  Prepare final comprehensive reports, including lessons learned, recommendations, and sustainability strategies.

Recommended Qualifications

• Minimum: Bachelor’s Degree in Development Studies, Social Sciences, Economics, Public Administration, Political Science, Sociology, Agriculture, Project Management, or another relevant field.
• Advantage: Master’s degree in Development Studies, International Development, Public Policy, Social Protection, Project Management, Economics, or a related discipline.
• Experience: At least 7 years of relevant professional experience in development/humanitarian programmes, preferably with experience managing donor-funded projects.
• Strong experience in project management, coordination, implementation, monitoring and reporting.
• Demonstrated experience working with government MDAs, LGAs, CSOs, traditional institutions and development partners.
• Good understanding of social protection, livelihoods/economic resilience, community participation, governance and/or resilience programming.
• Experience working in Borno State/Northeast Nigeria would be highly desirable. A recent GIZ-related Borno technical-adviser profile specifically required familiarity with Borno's political/administrative structures and relationships with state and local government stakeholders. 
• Strong leadership, communication, stakeholder-management and team-supervision skills.
• Experience with EU/GIZ, BMZ, UN or other international donor-funded projects would be an advantage.
• Ability to prepare quality narrative and technical reports, workplans, budgets and programme documentation.
• Knowledge of conflict-sensitive programming, gender equality, social inclusion and accountability is particularly relevant because these are central themes of SEPIN-SUSI.
• Understanding of local language is mandatory (Hausa).