Cash and Livelihoods Project Manager Iraq Ninevah

About NRC in Iraq:

Since the Government of Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State Group (IS) in December 2017, large-scale military operations ended. However, as the country emerges from nearly four years of conflict, the situation remains fragile with extensive recovery needs and high rates of unemployment and poverty. As of 31 December 2020, over 4.84 million internally displaced Iraqis have returned to their areas of origin, while 1.22 million people remain internally displaced and in need of humanitarian assistance. Insecurity, lack of social cohesion, and destroyed or damaged housing hampers people’s ability to return home in safety and dignity. Furthermore, the lack of sustainable employment opportunities in areas of origin presents an ongoing barrier to return as it hinders people’s access to basic services, such as food, health, and education.

The 2021 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) for Iraq identified 4.1 million people in need (PiN), of which 2.4 million people have acute humanitarian needs. While the number of people in need remained similar to the previous year, the severity of those needs increased, largely due to the impact of COVID-19 on top of an existing humanitarian crisis, leading to a 35 per cent increase in the number of people in acute need. As outlined in the HNO, the main drivers of this increase were the impact of COVID-19 and the partially related economic crisis, leading to large-scale loss of livelihoods.

Since 2010, NRC Iraq has been assisting internally displaced Iraqis, Syrian refugees, returnees, and host communities in Ninewa, Dohuk, Erbil, Kirkuk, Basra, Salahdeen and Anbar Governorates. We focus on assisting the newly displaced, those experiencing protracted displacement in camps, people moving to new areas of Iraq and resettling, and people returning to and living in hard-to-reach places by improving their chance of obtaining a durable solution. NRC runs integrated programmes across Iraq to respond to people in need through our shelter and settlements, education, camp management, legal assistance, livelihoods, cash activities, and partnerships.

Despite the end of the armed conflict with ISIS in end 2017, large numbers of Iraqi’s impacted by the conflict are trying to rebuild their lives. Many still face danger or are stuck in a protracted displacement situation. A large proportion of the displaced have returned to their area of origin. NRC Iraq works with all the populations in need including IDPs in and out of camps, returnees and host communities. In addition, NRC supports Syrian refugees in Iraq as well as populations impacted by climate-change induced displacement.

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organisation’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity and accountability. These attitudes and believes shall guide our actions and relationships.

Duties and responsibilities

The purpose of the Project Manager’s position is to plan, implement and manage NRC cash and livelihoods portfolio in Ninewa governorate, manage project staff, representing NRC at coordination fora, as delegated by the Area Program Manager.

Generic responsibilities:

• Line management for Cash and Livelihoods project field staff.
• Contribute to the development of Country and Area strategies, initiate and participate in the development of proposal/project development, in line with needs-profile and in collaboration with Core Competency (CC) Specialists.
• Manage cash and livelihoods project implementation using key project cycle management tools (work plan, procurement plan, spending plan) in line with the project proposal, CC strategies, NRC policies/procedures and donor requirements.
• Implement agreed technical direction and ensure high technical quality of projects, including compliance.
• Provide regular progress reports to the Area Program Manager
• Adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures.
• Ensure that projects target beneficiaries in Agriculture potential areas and most in need of assistance, explore and assess new and better ways to assist.
• Manage area office project budget and conduct regular budge monitoring.
• Ensure capacity building of project staff and transfer key organizational and technical skills.
• Liaise and collaborate with relevant local authorities and other key stakeholders.
• Represent NRC in relevant forums/clusters/working groups.

Specific responsibilities:

• Lead on the overall planning, implementation and management of MPCA, MSME development/ youth entrepreneurship, skills development (TVET, apprenticeship), and agriculture value chain projects in Ninewa governorate;
• Support design of market assessments (supply and labour)/ Value chain analysis and needs assessments in Ninewa governorate in coordination with the cash and livelihoods specialist;
• Budget management: manage project budget and submit regular spending plans; develop work plans for the field teams and follow up with progress on a daily basis; develop procurement plans and ensure all procurements are done in time; contribute to budget development;
• Donor compliance: ensure donor rules and regulations are followed and all necessary documentation is in place and backed up in NRC SSD as needed;
• Responsible for the quality of the program: quality of data collection and distributions are according to SoPs with correct accountability measures in place;
• M&E: with support from the CC Specialist and M&E, ensure that the following activities are implemented according to the work plan: market assessments/value chain assessments; infrastructural assessments, beneficiary assessments and verification; PDM surveys; and end line surveys. Ensures reporting tools are in place for daily tracking of activities/trainings/distributions;
• Program development: contribute to the development of cash and livelihoods projects by proactively conducting assessments, providing project ideas
• Lead on the facilitation of value chain alliance (Action for Alliance) between producers (supplying farmers) and buyers (wholesalers, retailers, processors) and other relevant value chain actors
• Conduct private sector/downstream and upstream value chain actor mapping including financial institutions, incubators, accelerators and explore opportunities for partnerships/cooperation
• Lead on the recruitment of project staff and building their capacity
• Overall coordination of beneficiary selection process; ensures there is a communication strategy with beneficiaries in place; ensures there is a functioning complaints mechanism;
• Support in identification and procurement of service providers to support in the implementation of specific components of the project including assessments and trainings while putting in place systems to ensure quality;
• Coordinate with the Logistics, Finance and Security departments to organize activities;
• Coordinate with relevant external partners and represent NRC in external meetings as needed, primarily with MoA/DOA, MoLSA, chamber of commerce, universities/research institutions, clusters and working groups, UN agencies (FAO, UNDP, IOM) and any governorate level coordination mechanisms on Agriculture/Livelihoods;
• Cooperate closely with counterparts from NRC core competencies to identify opportunities for integration/synergy of NRC services alongside livelihoods/infrastructure;
• Ensure realistic monitoring plans are prepared and followed.

Critical interfaces

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Project planning: APM, CC Specialist,
• Area operations: AM, Support staff (Logistics, Finance/Administration, HR), Security
• Staff capacity building: APM, CC Specialists
• Implementation: Project staff, AO support teams.

Scale and scope of position

• Staff – 1 Project Coordinators, 3 Project Officers and 7 Assistants
• Stakeholders – NGO’s, UN Agencies, Government Directorates
• Budgets – Annual budget of approx. USD 1.5 million
• Information – NRC online tools, GORS, Agresso, Sharefile, Onedrive
• Legal/Compliance – Must adhere to NRC internal and donor compliance requirements

Competencies

Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following two categories:

Required Professional Competencies:

• University degree or higher education relevant to the assignment (Agriculture, Agriculture economics, Agricultural Engineering);
• Minimum 4 years of experience from a senior level project management position in a humanitarian/recovery context;
• Proven experience in livelihoods programming (including agriculture livelihoods) and able to present working knowledge of the livelihoods and infrastructure elements of agriculture focused programming;
• Experience in market based programming and community development driven (CDD) approach
• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts;
• Experience overseeing multiple activity streams and managing multiple budgets;
• Experience with community engagement principles and approaches;
• Commitment to an evidence and needs based approach;
• Demonstrated experience managing teams and providing capacity building support;
• Experience in integrated programming;
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal; Arabic is a plus.

Additional Skills:

• Knowledge of Market system development (MSD) or M4P
• Previous experience and contextual knowledge within Iraq is an advantage
• Skills in monitoring and evaluation would be beneficial.
• Experience with multi-sectoral and integrated Cash programming
• Experience with early recovery /reconstruction projects is an asset.
• Familiarity with the UN Cluster system and response coordination mechanisms.

Required Behavioural Competencies:

These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies and the following are essential for this position:

• Planning and delivering results.
• Working with people.
• Communicating with impact and respect.
• Coping with change.
• Analyzing.
• Handling insecure environments.

Performance Management

The employee will be accountable for the responsibilities and the competencies, in accordance with the NRC Performance Management Manual. The following documents will be used for performance reviews:

• Job Description
• Work- and Professional Development Plan
• NRC Competency Framework

We Can Offer

• Contract period: 12 months
• Salary/benefits: According to NRC’s salary scale and terms and conditions
• Duty station: Ninevah, Iraq
• Travel: 50%

NRC is an equal opportunities employer and aims to have staffing diversity in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality and physical ability.

***Female candidates are strongly encouraged to join our work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility**: At NRC we think outside the box. We encourage ideas and give responsibility to all employees at all levels, to help solve the complex issues that we face.*