Project Coordinator – Tepi

JOB TITLE: Project Coordinator

REPORTS TO: Programme Manager

REPORTING TO POST HOLDER: Woreda-based community development Facilitators, Finance and Admin Officer, including other technical officers

PROJECT: Harnessing forests and ecosystems for a climate-nature-people triple win (HARNESS)

LOCATION: Tepi Field office, Sheka Zone, SWE

DURATION & HOURS: Up to March 31, 2027, with high possibility of extension based on availability of funds and work performance

SALARY: GBP 1270 Per month

ORGANISATIONAL BACKGROUND

Farm Africa, founded in 1985, has been working in Ethiopia since 1988. We drive agricultural and environmental change to improve lives. Our strategy has three pillars: agricultural expertise, management and preservation of ecosystems, and the power of business to drive prosperity. We believe Africa has the power to feed itself and are helping make this happen by establishing and spreading the best farming and forestry techniques so that poor farmers and herders have more food to feed their families and to sell. We help smallholders manage their natural resources sustainably so that they can withstand climate change challenges and shocks and ensure their families have enough food in the future as well as now. Farm Africa works in partnership with communities, government, local and international organisations, and the private sector to innovate, learn and share best practices for the maximum impact of our projects

PROJECT BACKGROUND, PURPOSE & ROLE

Farm Africa has a long-standing experience in implementing development projects in the areas of agriculture, environment, and Business development, as one of the pioneers of this approach in Ethiopia. Farm Africa and its partners (NABU, SOS Sahel Ethiopia and ECFF) developed a project named “Harnessing forests and ecosystems for a climate-nature-people triple win (HARNESS) financed by NICFI and will be implemented in 11 woredas, out of which six woredas of the three Zones of Keffa, Sheka and Bench Sheko of the SWE zone and one woreda in the Ilu Ababor zone, four woreda in the Bale zone of Oromia Regional State.

The proposed project delivers the overall goal of reducing and reversing deforestation and ecosystem degradation, and enhancing climate resilience in Ethiopia.

The project will improve coherence and effectiveness of policies around forest and biodiversity conservation, climate resilience and sustainable land management and inclusive green growth across the landscape, sectors and jurisdictional levels.

The project will also contribute to the greening of the financial system by promoting policy dialogue and analytical inputs that encourage financial institutions and public financing instruments to better integrate climate, biodiversity and deforestation risks into investment and lending decisions, thereby aligning financial flows with sustainable land-use and forest conservation objectives.

In addition, the project will strengthen downward accountability by facilitating public hearings at the Woreda and Zonal levels, providing space for communities to be informed of policies, engage in implementation progress, raise concerns and provide feedback on policies and their implementation, which will further inform policy reforms.

The project implementation requires collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including the Environment Protection Authority (OEPA), the Agricultural office, the cooperative promotion office, the Finance and Economic development office, local communities and others at Federal, Regional, Zonal, Woreda, and kebele levels.

The overall high-level strategic leadership of the project is managed by the Programme Manager based in Addis Ababa, while the zonal and woreda level leadership, execution of operations as per the project design document, strategic direction given by the Programme manager and direct activities implementation on the ground will be led by the project coordinator, who will be based in the Tepi Field office, Sheka zone, SWE. The project coordinator is also responsible for effectively and efficiently managing the project resources at the field office level and directly reporting to the Programme Manager based in Farm Africa Ethiopia Country Office.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The project coordinator (PC), will work closely with the Programme Manager (PM) based in Farm Africa Addis Ababa Country Office, and be responsible for leading and coordinating the overall project implementation in SWE at target woredas supporting project management, planning, implementation, playing a leading role in coordination with field implementation of all partners, assisting the PM in internal and external project reporting, financial management, partner engagement, and monitoring and evaluation of the project activities, outputs and impacts. Responsibilities involve ensuring that the field-level project activities of all partner organisations are integrated effectively and all relevant stakeholders at all levels are fully engaged. The project coordinator will also closely work with the HARNESS project team to harmonize and for the efficient and effective resource utilisation of the Tepi field office.

KEY TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Key areas of responsibility are:

Successfully manage the implementation of the project activities in accordance with agreed objectives, work plans and budgets

Planning:

• In collaboration with the Programme Manager and implementing partners, review and prepare the work plan and budget during the annual planning process;
  • Manage monthly, quarterly and annual work plans for project logistics and activities, identifying and responding to the implications of interdependencies between different sub-project work stream activities

Project delivery, implementation and internal reporting:

• • • Ensure that project activities are implemented and outputs achieved as planned and within the agreed budget.
    • Review progress regularly, submitting quarterly internal progress review reports outlining progress, issues and actions being taken in the standard format.
    • Participate in quarterly project progress review sessions, including an in-depth review of financial spend/burn rate; achievement against activity and output plan, and a forward look at whether the project is achieving against its objectives, indicators and beneficiaries.
    • Proactively identify and monitor any risks to delivery and develop action plans to address issues identified;
    • Ensure the timely submission of narrative and financial reports to the donor as per the reporting requirements indicated in the agreement.

Financial management and governance:

• • • Manage the project within the agreed budget and apply value for money in decision-making.
    • Request cash and report expenditures timely as per FA’s financial calendar;
    • Undertake forecasts, where required, to reflect changing financial and operational context (e.g., inflation, exchange rates) and the project’s activity
    • Identify and analyse the causes of spending variances in the budget and take action as needed
    • Implement internal project financial controls, ensuring that financial management in the project field office follows and exceeds the basic standards contained in the Farm Africa finance procedures manual.
    • Review budget monitoring reports and provide timely explanations and corrective actions for any significant variances
    • Ensure that all procurement of goods and services follows the donor’s financial requirements.
    • Ensure compliance of the project with the Charities and Societies Agency’s directives.
    • Work with the PM to monitor financial risks, developing and implementing mitigation actions as needed

Monitoring and evaluation of the project’s outcomes and impact

• • • Working with Farm Africa’s PM, Head of Programmes and other stakeholders, develop and implement a project monitoring and evaluation process that meets the basic internal and donor monitoring and outcome reporting requirements.
    • Work closely with partner organisations to jointly monitor and contribute lessons learned, ensure dissemination and maintain dialogue on key project findings
    • Ensure the project’s log frame and data collection plans are regularly reviewed and refreshed, and that the project is collecting the breadth of indicators required at a frequency and timing in line with reporting purposes
    • Lead the project’s annual self-assessment process, ensuring that necessary evidence is collected and all staff are actively inputting into the process
    • Ensure that the project is regularly (at least quarterly) conducting beneficiary surveys, collecting other data through relevant sources, developing case studies and collating photos
    • Oversee baseline, mid-term, final evaluation and other external evaluations, ensuring that learning and recommendations from those evaluations are explicitly incorporated into the project’s future implementation activity

Line-manage the project staff

• In liaison with partners and the Programme Manager, contribute recommendations to the recruitment of new staff to the project team.
• Hold (at least) monthly joint staff meetings with the partners and send minutes and key action points to the relevant stakeholders
• Provide leadership and motivation to all project staff, building values-based team working and individual staff skills relevant to the project.
• Regularly provide both informal and formal coaching and feedback to all project staff
• Effectively and promptly deal with any poor performance and actively recognise and encourage strong performance
• Actively seek feedback on own performance and effectiveness from both country leadership as well as own project staff.
• Hold in-person supervision sessions with all line-managed staff at least once per quarter (to discuss progress against their personal development objectives and work targets) and carry out in-person annual appraisals with all line-managed staff

Internal and external stakeholder management, local government, as well as donor

• Facilitate regular meetings, set agenda, take minutes, ensure all project stakeholders are up to date and inputs are translated to project implementation;
• Conduct joint progress review sessions with participation in internal Farm Africa learning and review sessions to assess any adjustments needed to the project implementation plans and budget allocations
• Proactively identify and raise with the line manager any delivery risks related to implementation partners, and work with partner staff to implement action plans to resolve identified issues
• Ensure compliance with donor procurement and other contractual requirements
• Provide a formal representation of the project with respect to key signatory government parties, and ensure periodic reports are submitted to them on a timely basis.
• Ensure that the project is represented at relevant woreda, Zonal, Regional and (where relevant) Federal level government meetings and forums
• Act as an ambassador, promoting the project, including hosting visitors, speaking at workshops and conferences, and meeting donors and other officials when required.

Play an active role as a member of the Farm Africa team

• Contribute to the development and implementation of Farm Africa’s strategy and drive for excellence
• Prepare a PowerPoint presentation of the project progress and submit to the Programme Manager for review and correction
• Identify and explore opportunities to grow and expand the country project pipeline, both in relation to the current project (e.g., potential scale-up opportunities to take existing work to meso- or macro-level, replication in other geographies/regions) or related to new project opportunities
• Participate in country-level or pan-Farm Africa programme meetings with other project coordinators, as requested by the Country Director or PM

Safeguarding & Code of Conduct Responsibilities:

• Comply with and uphold Farm Africa’s Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct, and related policies at all times.
• Treat all individuals and communities with dignity, respect, and fairness, promoting a safe and inclusive working environment.
• Ensure that personal and professional conduct does not put beneficiaries, colleagues, or partners at risk of harm or abuse.
• Recognize and report any safeguarding concerns, suspicions, or incidents in accordance with Farm Africa’s safeguarding and reporting procedures.
• Maintain appropriate professional boundaries with beneficiaries, community members, and colleagues.
• Ensure that communications, images, and information about beneficiaries are used responsibly and with informed consent.
• Support the organization’s commitment to preventing sexual exploitation, abuse, harassment, and any form of discrimination.
• Participate in safeguarding training and awareness activities as required.
• Contribute to creating and maintaining a safe working environment for all staff

These essential functions are not to be interpreted as a complete statement of all duties performed. Employees will be required to perform other job-related duties as required. All work responsibilities are subject to having performance goals and/or targets established.

PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential	Desirable
Technical
MSc qualification or BScin forestry, NRM, rural development, Food Security, Management of Development, Policy, Climate change, Project planning and management, or another relevant field.		Training, experience or skills in Project Cycle Management is a positive addition to the qualification required
First Degree with 8 years’ experience or Master’s Degree with 6 years’ experience and 2 years related managerial experience. Practical work experience in NRM, climate-smart agriculture, Integrated rural development, Livelihoods, Food security, Marketing development, policy analysis and implementation		Practical experience in an environment similar to SWE
Good understanding and firm belief in gender equality and issues in rural communities		Demonstrated professional and personal attitude towards gender equality
Project Management
A progressive and relevant experience as a project manager or project coordinator, evidencing knowledge and understanding of project designing, planning, implementation, monitoring, review and reporting.		Proven experience in Project management and working experience in a similar environment to SWE
Experience in developing, implementing and reviewing participatory planning, monitoring and evaluation processes. Demonstrated ability to incorporate results of these activities into project design and implementation.
Proven ability to work in effective communication, team culture, relationships, trust, respect and positive thinking with staff, partners and community members.
Demonstrated an independent and proactive attitude towards project management
Experience in financial management, including the ability to develop, read and manage budgets; and rapidly spot potential issues and solutions

Stakeholder &Line Management
Demonstrated leadership, line management and team building experience – including appraisal and managing under-performance.	Experience in leading teams in problem-solving, and working experience with a consortium project
Proven experience in stimulating successful delivery of the project by all team members, as well as staff development, creating open and collaborative team environments that encourage the contributions of the whole team	Experience in combining coaching with effective and insightful feedback on strengths, development areas and ways to grow
Proven experience and ability in coordination, management and negotiation within implementing partners and other stakeholders (government and donors)
Ability to build strong relationships with stakeholders based on trust, collaboration, demonstrated commitment and impact, deploying a wide range of influencing techniques as required
Excellent network and excellent relationship with government partners
Other Skills
Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills, with the ability to work with both Government and Private Sector stakeholders
Excellent record of writing, including briefs, project reports, communication and dissemination materials
Fluent in written and spoken Amharic and English	Other local languages, such as Keffa, Sheka, and Bench language is a plus and highly recommended
Ability and willingness to travel widely and frequently to rural areas
Good knowledge of Windows, including Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint

Our Values

Investing in smallholder farming is the number one way to combat poverty in rural Africa. Farm Africa is a leading NGO specialising in growing agriculture, protecting the environment and developing businesses in rural Africa.

• EXPERT: Expertise and insightful evidence-based solutions are at the heart of everything Farm Africa does.
• GROUNDED: Our teams and partners work closely with local communities, engaging them in every level of decision-making.
• IMPACTFUL: We deliver long lasting change for farmers, their families, and the environments they live in.
• BOLD: We model innovative approaches and are not afraid to challenge strategies that are failing.