Country Programme Coordinator

The Country Programme Coordinator is responsible for programme and project coordination, including office administration, financial and material resource management, and capacity building activities. The role involves enhancing technical quality of IFAD country activities, partnership building, policy development, and knowledge management to support sustainable government strategies and rural poverty reduction.

Responsibilities

• Accountable for day-to-day office administration and reporting in stand-alone IFAD Country Offices led by CPCs, including financial and material resource management and contract management.
• Enhance the technical quality of IFAD country activities through programme and project design, supervision, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, reporting and completion activities.
• Provide substantive contributions toward the development of advice and technical guidance in support of sustainable government strategies, policies and programmes in agricultural development and rural poverty reduction.
• Accountable for capacity building activities including identifying, analyzing, documenting, harmonizing and disseminating national and local issues, best practices and lessons learned among partner development agencies.
• Coordinate meetings, workshops and seminars with project management teams, government, partners and other stakeholders.
• Enhance relationships and collaborations with in-country counterparts and propose coordinated strategies with multilateral/bilateral donors and civil-society organizations.
• Establish and maintain counterpart contacts to promote programme and project collaboration and harmonization and identify financing opportunities with other donors.
• Participate in relevant policy meetings and events to develop an enabling environment for sustainable, pro-poor development.
• Provide programme/project continuity in the country and substantive national cultural, political and economic or other development knowledge.
• Contribute to strengthening the enabling environment for policy dialogue on programme priorities.
• Maintain close contacts with counterparts in the region for networking and knowledge exchange.
• Accountable for integrity, transparency, and equity in the management of IFAD resources.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree in rural development, agriculture, economics, rural finance, development policy or other job-related fields from an accredited institution.
• In absence of an advanced degree, additional two (2) years of professional experience is required.
• At least five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in programme design, supervision and loan/grant administration with International financial institutions, development cooperation agencies, etc.
• Required languages: English and French (4 - Excellent).
• Desirable languages: Spanish, or Arabic.
• Know-how in budget administration and accounting, resource allocation and planning at divisional level.
• Know-how in advocacy to maintain and promote constructive dialogue around IFAD's vision to external actors.
• Knowledge of IFAD's partners' functioning and mandate, including public sector, non-state actors and private sector actors.
• Outstanding ability to analyse and synthesize qualitative and/or quantitative information from a variety of sources and filter out key insights and recommendations.
• Identification and assessment of potential liabilities and risks in IFAD's activities, particularly vis-à-vis third parties; ability to handle risks via contingency and mitigation strategies.
• Strong alignment capabilities and consultation skills, building on effective interactions and relationships with different stakeholders and ability to build and maintain a strong network.
• Adherence to deadlines under time constraints and pressure; ability to coordinate and manage complex workflows and in-house and external teams.
• Adaptability and flexibility when facing new or unexpected situations, and to specific constraints and circumstances and managing complex processes.
• High sense of proactive initiative-taking and good judgement (including on security matters).
• Ability to deal patiently and tactfully with others, including senior individuals.
• Ability to conduct sound political analysis and understand complex environments, providing options and advice.
• Clear, succinct and convincing verbal communication; highly professional, balanced and diplomatic language.
• Clear, succinct and convincing written communication in the language needed for specific role; highly professional, balanced and diplomatic language.
• Expertise relevant to programme management for agricultural development.
• Know-how in project design and evaluation.

Skills

• Programme Design
• Programme Supervision
• Loan Administration
• Grant Administration
• Budget Administration
• Accounting
• Resource Allocation
• Advocacy
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Qualitative Analysis
• Quantitative Analysis
• Risk Assessment
• Risk Mitigation
• Consultancy Skills
• Network Building
• Workflow coordination
• Team Management
• Political Analysis
• Verbal Communication
• Written Communication
• Agricultural Development
• Project Evaluation
• Capacity Building

Languages

English, French