Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA)

The Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW) and the Economic Justice Programme of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) are hosting a UNDP-supported regional project on ‘Improving Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and UNCCD policy and practice interaction in Sub-Sahara Africa through civil society capacity building’.

The regional project aims to improve the socio-economic development and livelihoods of rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) through sustainable land management with an objective of empowering local grassroots organizations in SSA to participate and influence the implementation of the Ten Year Strategy of the UNCCD, TerrAfrica and other Sustainable Land Management (SLM) processes, programmes and policies.

This regional project is co-financed by Global Environment Facility (GEF) planned to be implemented in 4 Sub Saharan African countries. Under the guidance and direct supervision of OSISA's Economic Justice Programme Manager, the Project Coordinator (PC) will be responsible for the overall coordination of day-to-day management and decision-making of the project. His/her primary responsibility will be to ensure that the project produces quality results within the specified constraints of time and cost.

General duties and responsibilities include:

• Manage the realization of project outputs through planned activities;
• Provide direction and guidance to project teams/responsible parties – Environnement et Dévelopement en Afrique (ENDA) and Equator Initiative (UNOPS);
• Liaise with the Project Board and UNDP Namibia Country Office to assure the overall direction and implementation of the project;
• Identify and obtain any support and advice required for the management, planning and control of the project;
• Plan the activities of the project as per the project document and monitor progress against the initial quality criteria;
• Mobilize goods and services to initiate activities, including drafting TORs and work specifications as applicable;
• Monitor events as determined in the Monitoring & Communication Plan, updating the plan as required; manage requests for the provision of financial resources;
• Monitor financial resources and accounting to ensure accuracy and reliability of financial reports in line with the project documents, annual work plans and quarterly reports;
• Manage and monitor the project risks throughout the project lifecycle Project management, including monitoring, reporting and quality assurance of project implementation and assessing progress;
• Participate in field monitoring visits; monthly and quarterly  project related meetings as applicable;
• Contribute and Review technical and financial reports;
• Capture lessons, and document good practices in projects;
• Preparation of standard progress reports, quarterly progress reports, key targets and annual reports as per UNDP/GEF & OSISA reporting requirements; and
• Coordinate with broad stakeholders including national and regional governments, civil society, local communities, NGOs, CBOs, private sectors, and the general public.

Technical Competencies:

The candidate must be competent in the following areas:

• Knowledge on SLM and UNCCD processes;
• Rights based approaches to development;
• Environment and development policy analysis;
• Multidisciplinary background in environment, development and human rights; and
• Programme management and coordination.

Functional Competencies:

Communication:

• Effective communication skills;
• Comfortable in handling external relations at all levels;
• Excellent presentation skills;
• Writes concisely in English and French;
• Ability to communicate with staff at all levels

Professionalism:

• Capable of working in a highly pressured environment with tight deadlines;
• Ability to multi-task and diligently deliver on tasks;
• Pays great attention to details

Information Technology (IT) Competencies:

• Advanced computer literacy (proficiency in MS Word and PowerPoint and knowledge of Excel is essential; other database software skills are desirable and; desktop publishing know-how is an added advantage);

Partnerships & Teamwork

• Strong interpersonal skills, and capacity to work with partners;
• Ability to write and speak clearly and convincingly, including strong presentation skills;
• Demonstrate commitment to the OSISA and UN core values;
• Respect for individual, gender and cultural differences in dealing with others

Corporate Competencies:

• Operate in a fast-paced environment, demonstrating superior leadership skills
• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s and OSISA values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP and OSISA;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism and with respect;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Master’s degree in environmental sciences, development studies or humanities with a strong emphasis on environment and development;
• Minimum of five years’ experience in project management, implementation and monitoring;
• Experience with UNCCD (Ten Year Strategy); TerrAfrica, and SLM processes, programmes and policies;
• Ability to work in both Franco and Anglophone countries;
• Prior experience in development co-operation (in international agencies, government or NGO sector) and donor-funded programmes/projects in the environment sector;
• Experience in working at a grass root level with communities
• Experience and familiarity with any of the following:  natural resources, SLM (forestry, integrated water management, biodiversity conservation), climate change, land degradation, energy, governance of mineral resources, rights based frameworks, environmental governance and management will serve as an added advantage;
• Good writing, communication and presentation skills;
• Ability to produce quality technical reports in a timely manner;
• Interpersonal skills highly desirable, self-driven, highly motivated;
• Ability to function  independently with minimal supervision;
• Ability to work under pressure, yet producing quality results is essential; and
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment, with different partners

Languages:

• Fluency in spoken and written English is required and French is an added advantage

The post is for an initial one year with possibilities of extension based on satisfactory performance. The position is based in the OSISA office in Johannesburg, South Africa (Duration 01 March 2013 to 01 March 2015).

Both OSISA and UNDP do not discriminate on the basis of gender, sexual orientation or cultural ethnic background. To be in line with the gender sensitivity of the organizations, qualified women candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

To apply kindly send you CV and a cover letter of not more 350 words summarizing how your profile aligns with key requirements to jobs@osisa.org

The deadline for applications is February 15th, 2013