Program Officer-Community Development and Livelihoods, North Rift - Kenya at Practical Action Kenya

OUR AIMS

We help people find solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems, made worse by catastrophic

climate change and persistent gender inequality. Our aims are to:

• Make agriculture work better for smallholder farmers, many of them women, so they can adapt to climate change and achieve a good standard of living
• Help more people harness the transformational effects of clean affordable energy and reduce avoidable deaths caused by smoke from indoor stoves and fires.
• Make cities in poorer countries cleaner, healthier places to live and work.
• Build disaster resilience into the lives of people threatened by hazards – reducing the risk of hazards and minimizing their impact on lives and livelihoods.PRACTICAL ACTION IN EAST AFRICA
  In East Africa, Practical Action has a long history of addressing systemic barriers that prevent people from accessing energy that transforms their lives, helping communities and government make cities healthier and safer, making agriculture and markets work better for small holder farmers and supporting communities and government to become more resilient.

We use a mix of programming with communities and consultancy services with shapers of policy and practice to achieve our aims in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.

Our field office in the in the North Rift of Kenya is situated in Lodwar.

ABOUT THE ROLE
As part of its climate resilience strategy, Practical Action supports vulnerable communities in partnership with stakeholders to implement adaptation interventions in Turkana County. In this regard, Practical Action seeks to recruit a capable and focused Program Officer within its Program to be based in Lodwar, Kenya.

Under the overall supervision of the Project Manager/ Area Coordinator, the incumbent will be responsible for the technical expertise on approaches and methods for organizing broad scale community engagement and support for the EWASSA project. Through his/her work the Community Development and Livelihoods Officer will seek to increase community (local authorities and beneficiaries) involvement through working with all institutional arrangements agreed upon in the project. The selected candidate will also provide inputs to the development of training materials relevant to community mobilization.

S/he will be expected to directly support the development of community resilience and work with technical experts within the organization.

ACCOUNTABILITIES
The Community Development and Livelihoods Officer will be a member of the Program Delivery

Team at the field level and she/he will be responsible for:

Project Implementation, Reporting and Learning

• Directly implement the project interventions and ensure the active and meaningful participation of men, women and youth in resilience interventions
• Support community led initiatives and ensure timely, quality delivery of program activities as designed
• Identify and profile potential candidate communities for climate change adaptation work through climate change vulnerability, capacity and risk assessments
• Directly capacity build, mentor, train and empower communities in the project location areas ensuring that support to the communities is timely and as per project expectation.
• Directly carry out community adaptation planning, monitoring of plans including reviews and appraisals
• Support in identifying, assessing and appraising alternative resilient livelihoods interventions within vulnerable communities with clear demonstration of gender and youth outcomes
• Support the Identification and analysis of trends, threats and risks in the area of climate resilience with respect to community development and livelihoods, while building this into research and learning from the project
• Support the production of clear and quality reports that demonstrate good accountability.
• Work effectively with the Area Coordinator and other teams to ensure that the on-going project is implemented according to contract (in terms of budget, activities and time frame) and that any amendments are cleared in a timely manner.
• Support the project’s effective and systematic monitoring and evaluation and that findings are recorded and escalated to guide the continued successful implementation of other projects and inform the development of other new initiatives.
• Ensure sharing between team members, colleagues and peers – both internally and externally -thus ensuring that the project is contributing access to relevant knowledge and lessons learning.
• Any other duty assigned by Area Coordinator – North Rift

Building partnerships with Project stakeholders and partners

• Lead the work to expand cooperation between communities and the local authorities for the implementation of the project and to ensure local needs, priorities and initiatives are integrated into the planning of the local authorities
• Ensure close coordination with the activities of other development actors within the project area
• Ensure awareness about project priorities, strategies and approaches
• Analyze ongoing experience for lessons learned, best practices, and shares with project management for use in knowledge sharing and planning future strategies
• Proactively contribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice
• Develop informal networks to assist in the planning and review of work as appropriate.

Achieving Change Ambitions

• Play a role in contributing to Practical Action’s change ambitions and the Strategic Business Plans.
• Apply a community focused lens to analyze the nature, causes and scale of the problem we want to address, using a systems approach.

MEASURABLE OUTPUTS OF THE WORK ASSIGNMENT

• Monthly/quarterly/annual/ad hoc reports, risks assessments are prepared and updated
• Programme activities implemented in keeping with personal work plan
• Community workshops, focus group discussions and other meetings organized and supported
• All programme activities implemented in keeping with project mobilization and communications strategies and using the community based methodology
• All assignments performed in a quality and timely manner.

PERSON PROFILE

To be successful in the role, the ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate:

Experience & Knowledge

• First degree in Community development/disaster risk reduction/Climate change/Development studies or any other relevant qualification from a reputable university or institution. A diploma in these will be considered with work experience.
• A minimum of 3- 5 years working experience in NGOs on community mobilization and livelihoods sector.
• Ability and passion to work with local communities towards a shared vision
• Proficient in communicating with different stakeholders i.e. rural communities, youth, government representatives, civil society etc.
• Good knowledge of principles of rural development
• Knowledge of climate change and its impacts on local communities
• Good communication, facilitation and representation skills

Essential

• Ability to work with, support and influence others
• Ability to innovate, initiate and accept challenge.
• Fluent in both English and Kiswahili (oral and in writing)

Desirable

• Experience working with multi-faceted teams both directly and remotely providing timely support when required.
• Good understanding of the local language (spoken & written) will be an added advantage
• Coordination with government, donors, partners and multilateral agencies coupled with excellent networking and communications skills.