Yemen: Consortium Coordinator

Oct 22, 2017 | ACTED
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Since 1993, as an international non-governmental organization, ACTED has been committed to immediate humanitarian relief to support those in urgent need and protect people’s dignity, while co-creating longer term opportunities for sustainable growth and fulfilling people’s potential.
ACTED endeavors to respond to humanitarian crises and build resilience; promote inclusive and sustainable growth; co-construct effective governance and support the building of civil society worldwide by investing in people and their potential.

We go the last kilometer: ACTED’s mission is to save lives and support people in meeting their needs in hard to reach areas. ACTED develops and implements programs that target the most vulnerable amongst populations that have suffered from conflict, natural disaster, or socio-economic hardship. ACTED’s approach looks beyond the immediate emergency towards opportunities for longer term livelihoods reconstruction and sustainable development.

With a budget of 190 million EUR in 2015, ACTED is active in 35 countries and implements more than 495 projects a year reaching over11 million beneficiaries with 400 international staff and 4,300 national staff.

Country profile

Number of projects : 10
Number of areas : 3
Number of national staff : 151
Annual budget (EUR) : 6.61M
Number of offices : 5
Number of international staff : 8

Position context and key challenges

ACTED has been present in Yemen since early 2012, and implements activities in the central-western and central-southern regions. The presence of ACTED in Yemen has been anchored to the governorates of North of Yemen, North of Yemen, Raymah and Ad-Dhalee where, in the last three areas especially, the organisation has been virtually the only international actor directly implementing activities.

ACTED now aims at further expanding its humanitarian assistance by reaching out to additional regions: the north in Saadah and Al-Jawf governorates, and the south around Taiz and Aden. These could notably serve as a base for future assessments and programming focused on malnutrition- and conflict-affected populations in Yemen.

Through its comprehensive programming ACTED has been covering the full continuum of emergency, rehabilitation and development in Yemen. Emergency activities have focused in the sectors of Agriculture & Food Security (e.g. distribution of crop seeds, and livestock), Economic Recovery and Market Systems (e.g. income-generating activities such as cash for work), and WASH (e.g. rehabilitation of water supply facilities, hygiene promotion). ACTED’s food security activities include distribution of food vouchers, which are a key component of ACTED’s interventions in the country. With regard to rehabilitation and development, ACTED recently initiated work on the coffee value chain in Raymah governorate as a way to enhance the food security of local small producers.

Through its active involvement in coordination mechanisms, ACTED has been a lead agency in the provision of humanitarian assistance in the three governorates in which it operates. The organisation is for instance the WASH Cluster focal point for North of Yemen and Raymah governorates, and a key partner of the WASH, Food Security and Agriculture, Nutrition and Early Recovery clusters. In addition, the organisation has been an elected member of the Humanitarian Country Team in early 2013.

ACTED’s donors in Yemen are presently USAID/OFDA, ECHO, the European Commission, WFP, OCHA and UNICEF.

Position profile

1. Representation

a) Protect and promote the vision, mission and interests of consortium partners towards external stakeholders;

b) Represent the consortium toward the donor(s) and government authorities and therefore communicate with the donor(s) and government authorities;

c) Where relevant, expand the donor portfolio of the consortium by tracking funding opportunities

d) Attend government, UN, NGO and donor meetings and present ongoing consortium activities;

e) Ensure the visibility of the consortium amongst humanitarian, donor and government actors throughout the project;

f) Effectively manage coordination with other actors (UN, NGOs) intervening in a similar sector;

g) Ensure the continuum of consortium PR activities, including formal presentations, engaging media for coverage on success stories, updating project-specific and regional fact sheets, and documenting publications featuring the consortium in the media;

h) Oversee the consortium’s communication activities including media visits, photographer’s mission, videos, etc.;

i) Lead the drafting and dissemination of position papers, statements, reports and releases on the consortium’s engagements and humanitarian advocacy.

2. Internal Coordination

a) Effectively manage partnerships between the different parties of the consortium to ensure smooth collaboration;

b) Ensure regular and open/transparent communication between consortium partners;

c) Regularly communicate with consortium Country Directors on project activities;

d) Convene and chair regular (e.g. monthly, quarterly) consortium steering committee meetings to discuss programme and financial issues, disseminate minutes and follow up on action points;

e) Carry out weekly catch ups with consortium key focal points.

f) Support the development and maintenance of a coherent consortium strategy across all partners;

g) Promote harmonization of approaches and methodologies across all consortium partners by developing and

monitoring use of common tools, as well as creating opportunities for experience sharing and learning;

h) Coordinate the development of all technical tools related to the consortium’s project (ToRs for consultants and evaluators, ad hoc reports, capitalization reports…);

3. Project Cycle Management

3.1. Project Planning

a) Define project implementation modalities and methodologies (including, but not limited to technical specifications, identification and registration of beneficiaries, distribution and sensitization);

b) Organize project kick-off and close-out meetings;

c) Together with the Project Managers of consortium partners, plan the various stages of project implementation and set direction by prioritizing and organizing activities and resources to achieve project objectives.

3.2. Project Implementation Follow-up

a) Oversee and monitor the work of consortium and local implementing partners, ensuring that technical quality and standards are considered and respected during project implementation;

b) Support the Project Managers of each partner to implement all aspects of the project;

c) Conduct regular follow-up of work plans, identify and address any delays in a timely and effective manner;

d) Monitor output achievement, cash burn rates and ensure a timely completion of the project.

3.3. Project Quality Control

a) Conduct periodic field visits to validate progress reports, identify problems and issues to address during Consortium Management Team meetings and make recommendations for improvement;

b) Ensure the project progress is effectively monitored through regular data collection, analysis of indicators and activities and documented with proper sources of verification;

c) Advise consortium Project Managers to adapt implementation of the project according to monitoring and evaluation findings;

a) Advise on and assist with project reviews conducted by internal and external monitoring and evaluation team;

b) Coordinate and put in place a program capitalization system in collaboration with each focal point from each consortium partner.

3.4. Grant Management

a) Ensure that contractual obligations are met in terms of project deliverables;

b) Ensure the activities are implemented according to the approved donor and partnership agreement;

c) Ensure that donor rules and procedures are understood and respected by all parties, sharing information and conducting training if required on proposed systems and processes for consortium management;

d) Develop a reporting schedule that is agreed by all consortium members;

e) Ensure external reporting for all the consortium members according to donor and ACTED requirements is

respected by all according to agreed deadlines;

f) Collect and consolidate narrative reports from consortium members for donor reporting;

g) Prepare documentation for any project modifications, including budget revisions, amendments or extensions.

Ensure such changes are made in close consultation with the consortium partners;

h) Together with the Country Finance Manager, manage and negotiate any budget changes in accordance with donor and ACTED HQ criteria.

Qualifications

At least 5 years of experience in project implementation on the field, preferably in an international context;
Being a strong team player;
Familiarity with the aid system, and ability to understand donor and governmental requirement;
Excellent communication and drafting skills;
Ability to coordinate and manage staff and project activities;
Proven ability to work creatively and independently both in the field and in the office;
Ability to organize and plan effectively;
Ability to work with culturally diverse groups of people;
Ability to travel and work in difficult conditions and under pressure;
Fluent English skills required;
Knowledge of local language and/or regional experience is an asset

Conditions