KE - Senior Project Assistant - Social Transformation at Church World Service

Primary Purpose

• This position is responsible for supporting the implementation of the Early Recovery and livelihoods enhancement project (Matumaini) in Marsabit, Kenya under the auspices of the Church World Service (CWS) Early Recovery and Resilience Project.
• The project includes mobilizing and educating farmers to undertake livelihood and resilience activities including crop production, pasture management, farmer managed natural regeneration, beekeeping, village savings and loans associations (VSLA) water and soil conservation and beadworks in Laisamis Sub County.
• The project seeks to provide comprehensive training to the selected farmers in groups to effectively undertake the enterprises to realize diversified livelihood options, increased, income and resilience. The selected candidate will work closely with the contracted service providers, group as well as Department of Social services.
• The Project Assistant will play a key role in the mobilization of participants into groups, provides group dynamics and leadership training, training of participants village savings and loans associations.

Key Relationships

Internal to CWS

• CWS Employees
• Other team members in program units

External

• CWS Partners

Work Environment

• Office environment, Periodic travel to other field locations as may be required

Responsibilities

Program Administration (60%)

• Support the implementation of the Early Recovery and livelihoods enhancement project (Matumaini) in Marsabit
• Identify, profile and organize farmers into farmer groups.
• Organize and train farmers on group dynamics and leadership.
• Organize and train groups on Village Savings and Loans Associations.
• Conduct regular monitoring to ensure that community-driven projects implemented by groups/ CBOs achieve expected outputs, outcomes, and results.
• Explains process variances to farmers, outlines options and corresponding actions that affect the delivery of project processes
• Support the monitoring and evaluation exercises including baselines, annual and endline surveys.
• Relays information and requirements to project participants for processing of transactions; explains rules and processes
• Provide regular project updates to the Project Officer.
• Adapt and use training materials and ensure existing training materials are up to date.
• Prepare weekly, monthly, and quarterly project reports both quantitative and qualitative, aspects of the project.
• Maintain up to date project documents/file.
• Other duties as assigned by the Project Officer .

Compliance (20%)

• Ensure compliance with organizational policies, donor regulations, and international humanitarian standards
• Achieve and maintain a high performance standard based on a thorough knowledge of, and adherence to, established CWS policies and procedures
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting of suspected fraud, malfeasance, and data breaches and report any identified areas of significant compliance risk for the CWS program.
• Conduct regular process reviews for assigned processing stage to compare requirements vs. current processing and outputs and implement process changes based on the outcome of the process reviews.

Data Management and Analysis (15%)

• Prepare comprehensive reports for internal use,
• Contribute to reports and filters development for quality control checks to ensure they are accurate and used efficiently.

Additional Responsibilities (5%)

• Any other duties as assigned.

Experience

Qualifications

• A minimum four (4) years of experience is required.
• Experience in Social Transformation or related field working with communities is required
• Experience writing reports and proposals are required.
• Previous experience conducting community trainings or presentations preferred.

Skills

• Knowledge of the Community Development.
• Knowledge of VSLA community financial inclusion.
• Excellent writing skills
• Excellent organizational and time management skills
• Fluency in English, Swahili and local languages (Samburu and/or Rendille) preferred
• Excellent computer skills, in particular Microsoft Office

Education & Certifications

• A minimum of Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Community Development, or Development Studies (or 4 years of work experience in lieu of a bachelor’s degree) is required

Abilities

• Communicate effectively both verbally and in writing;
• Follow instructions with a positive and receptive attitude;
• Deal effectively and courteously with collaborators, government agencies, and members of the general public;
• Conduct oneself in a professional and courteous manner to represent the best interests of CWS Africa;
• Maintain a high performance standard with attention to detail;
• Carry out all of the duties of the position efficiently and effectively with minimal supervision;
• Take initiative in the development and completion of projects within the specified timeframe;
• Maintain strict confidentiality with CWS and operational information;
• Manage a large and diverse workload under pressure with competing priorities;
• Work well as a team in a multi-cultural environment while maintaining a high level of motivation.
• Effectively manage CWS resources; and

Important Requirements

• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment required.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and willingness to support CWS’ Platform on Racial Justice as a CWS employee required.

Special Requirements

• COVID Vaccination is required for all successful candidates.
• The candidate should be in good health, willing and able to travel extensively in often difficult conditions, and have a high degree of flexibility. Must have proof of Yellow Fever vaccination before traveling for CWS Africa.
• This position is based in Marsabit Kenya.
• This position requires use of laptops at all time, competence in Microsoft office packages is required.
• This position may require travel in sub-Saharan Africa on short notice and under sometimes difficult conditions to meet demands of a dynamic operational program.
• Background check which includes references, and an educational and criminal check is required before the start of employment.
• A valid passport and the ability to maintain a valid passport throughout the entire appointment is required, which includes having enough passport pages for travel. .
• Environmental: Incumbents in this position will be exposed to excessive noise, marked changes in temperature and/or humidity, dust and infectious diseases, harsh weather climates, long work hours, bumpy roads, extended travel, excessive sun exposure, and non-ventilated spaces.
• The US Embassy rates Kenya rates as security level 1; incumbents should exercise normal security precaution.
• Full time
• All employees should be prepared to work from the CWS office within their location of hire. Remote work arrangements may vary depending on location and the governing rulings regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.