Project Coordinator (Координатор_ка проекту)

Location: Kyiv, Ukraine, with travels to partner offices and project locations in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Moldova

Period:    1 year  

ABOUT DKH

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH) is a German non-government organization that renders humanitarian aid in 31 countries across the world. DKH supports people who are affected by natural disasters, war, and displacement and who are not able to cope on their own in the emergency situation they find themselves in. The work is guided by the Humanitarian Principles and the Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS). DKH focuses on locally-led responses by working through a global network of partner organizations. Fostering localized humanitarian action and an equal partnership approach lies at the very core of our work.

As DKH is not directly implementing humanitarian projects in Ukraine, it is committed to equitable and long-term partnerships, which strengthen local partner organizations’ administrative and technical capacities.

DKH is part of the Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V. (EWDE), an umbrella organization with a nationwide established Social Service Agency, one of the biggest welfare institutions in Germany.

WORK CONTEXT

DKH is opening its representation in Ukraine to work with government agencies, national partner organizations, and the wider humanitarian community to provide emergency response and resilience-building initiatives across the country.

DKH is implementing humanitarian projects with selected civil society organizations in Ukraine. It is operating from its office in Kyiv.

Considering the elevated risks resulting from hostilities in certain regions of Ukraine and the volatile security situation in the country, staff must comply with all DKH safety/security and safeguarding policies and procedures.

PROJECT

Project name: “Integrated humanitarian response for conflict-affected Ukrainians and third-country nationals in Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, and Romania”

The objective of the proposed response is to ensure the safety, dignified living conditions, protection, and self-reliance of the most vulnerable persons affected by the war in Ukraine. To achieve the overall objective of the response, shelter and basic needs of target populations will be covered, protection and child protection concerns will be addressed (incl. GBV and MHPSS) and livelihood and social inclusion support will be provided. Additionally, both local service providers and NGO partners will be provided with technical support for capacity strengthening. Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe seeks to foster localized humanitarian action that builds on an equal partnership approach.

Under the coordination of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH), who is the contractual partner of the donor (German Federal Foreign Office, abbreviated AA), the project is implemented by 6 local partners and one international partner – 2 local partners and one international partner in Ukraine, 2 local partners in Poland and 1 local partner each in Romania and Moldova. The overall project is coordinated, supported, and supervised by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe Ukraine. The DKH regional team supports the implementation of local partners in neighbouring countries.

The donor of the Project is the German Federal Foreign Office (AA)

PURPOSE OF ASSIGNMENT

The Project Coordinator manages the regional project with an emphasis on ensuring the timely and high-quality achievement of the project outcomes by the respective implementing partners and full compliance with donor and DKH standards and regulations.

The Project Coordinator functions as the focal point for the project and brings together the partner reports for consolidation and joint reporting to the Head Office for onward submission of the reports to the donor. He/she is responsible for monitoring the project progress in close collaboration with the Project MEAL Expert. He/she supervises the Project MEAL Expert as well as the Project Finance Officer who are, likewise the Project Coordinator, part of the Project coordination structure, and reports to the Head of Mission. The project initially runs from 01.07.2023 to 30.06.2024 with a high likelihood of extension. The position is project based.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Reporting:       The Project Coordinator reports directly to the Head of Mission

Responsibilities: The following tasks shall be fulfilled. 

Project Coordination and reporting

• Ensure proper and timely implementation of the project according to the approved proposal and log frame and agreed policies and donor requirements.

• Monitor the overall project progress against the master log frame and proposal and ensure, together with the Project Finance Officer and the DKH Finance Manager, compliance with donor and DKH regulations and standards.
• Generate high quality interim narrative and financial reports on half-yearly basis and submit both timely to the Head Office in Berlin for extension to the donor.
• Produce monthly-consolidated reports by using the partner/country narrative reports to generate a combined monthly report and disseminate these consolidated reports to the country offices.
• Promote harmonization of approaches and methodologies across countries by implementing common tools, as well as creating opportunities for experience sharing and learning (e.g. in CVA programming).
• Coordinate with other relevant DKH projects such as the AA-funded ToGether consortium and others for synergies and complementarity.

• Stay informed about the localization agenda and initiatives in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Moldova and identify ways of creating linkages/synergies.
• Keep the Head of Mission updated on the overall project progress, challenges, and planned mitigation measures in addition to the monthly reports.

Compliance

• Ensure, by supervising the Project Finance Officer, overall budget monitoring, financial management, and expense control for the project in line with donor rules and guidelines
• In collaboration with Project Finance Officer, train partner staff on the detailed AA financial guidelines and requirements in order to implement activities and execute budgets accordingly with full compliance.
• Oversee preparation for external audits.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Framework (MEAL)

• By working closely with the Project MEAL Expert and each implementing partner, ensure the development of monitoring tools for implementing partners which include cross-cutting outputs.
• Ensure that appropriate and coherent monitoring tools are developed and adopted by all implementing partners, including those that measure cross-cutting outputs.
• Monitor master work plan in order to ensure timely implementation of project activities
• In coordination with MEAL Expert and DKH regional team, and organize learning, review, and training events under outcome 4, identify and engage facilitators (where needed and in line with the budget), and ensure smooth implementation of the events and that results inform project implementation.
• Help foster a culture of mutual learning across all project partners by ensuring that lessons learned and challenges overcome are documented.

Project Quality Assurance

• Enhance the quality of programming throughout the project cycle through project review meetings, program quality initiatives (such as gender analysis, stakeholder mapping exercise, etc.), close-out meetings, and program quality checks.
• Ensure the implementation of accountability mechanisms (participation and effective communication of beneficiaries at all stages of the project cycle)
• Quality checks and monitoring in line with the commonly agreed MEAL framework (standards and designs, monitoring tools, beneficiary selection criteria): review all project-related documents prepared by the implementing partners e.g. ToRs, MoU’s among other project documents.
• Validate the content of reports submitted by implementing partners, and ensure the quality of field reports.
• Advise implementing project partners on the implementation process and work on standardization of project-related processes and development of SOPs
• Together with the Project Finance Officer, review and identify discrepancies between financial and program progress and provide mitigation measures to implementing partners. 

Communication 

• Utilize the resources of the offices to deliver various communication products on the project, such as technical papers and presentations outlining the approaches and technical setups to be implemented e.g.  these may include clusters in the respective countries and communication with donors in the region
• Ensure regular and open/transparent communication between the DKH office and local partners for the purpose of sharing best practices and learnings.
• Creating joint working spaces and mechanisms to facilitate the communication and harmonization

Other Functions

• To attend meetings related to his/her areas of responsibility.

QUALIFICATION, EXPERTISE, AND SKILLS

Minimum Qualifications and Competencies

Education

• BA Degree in political or social science, or a related field
• Post-graduate qualification in project management or experience in the management of large-scale programmes

Working experience

• Minimum 5 years field experience in Project coordination/management positions in INGOs managing complex humanitarian projects
• Significant exposure and experience of successfully managing and leading consortia or multi-sectoral, complex projects with several partners
• Relevant working experience in the project sectors such as shelter, Protection, Food/Livelihood through CVA, highly desirable  
• Knowledge of cash transfer programming including practical experiences in the implementation or management of CVA activities is a strong advantage
• Broad working knowledge and experience working with German donors (AA, BMZ)

Skills and Abilities

• Proven ability to prioritize tasks, meet deadlines, and work with limited supervision and under pressure.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to establish effective working relations at all levels
• Demonstrated skills in ensuring donor compliance.
• Fluent in written and spoken English and Ukrainian.
• Willingness to travel to insecure areas within the constraints of DKH security policy
• Computer literate with significant experience in Microsoft Office and proficiency in MS Excel and ideally in project management/monitoring software

• Experience in capacity strengthening is an added advantage.
• Previous work experience in a hostile environment and certified attendance of a personal security course (HEIST, HEAT, etc.) is an advantage
• Ability to work in a team-based environment and achieve common goals.

The remuneration follows nationally accepted standards. 

ACCOUNTABILITY TO BENEFICIARIES

DKH team members are expected to support all efforts for increased accountability towards the beneficiaries while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of projects.

APPLICATION

Kindly apply by sending your motivation letter and CV without any further attachments by email to the HR Officer at Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe in the Berlin office: [email protected], using the reference “Position/title Name_Surname”, in the subject of your e-mail. Further questions regarding the role kindly address to [email protected].

Closing date:  31.05.2023. Only candidates residing in the country will be considered and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Diversity is important to us. We welcome applications from people regardless of their ethnic, national, or social background, gender, disability, age, or sexual identity.