Consortium Coordinator

Contract duration: 24 months (preferably 36 months)

Starting date: January 2025

Line Manager: Head of Programmes

Location: Kabul (Afghanistan), with frequent travels to other provinces

PIN in Afghanistan

People in Need (PIN) is a Czech NGO that provides relief and development assistance in over 20 countries around the world. Formed in 1992, PIN has evolved into the biggest organization of its kind in post-communist Europe, providing relief and development aid where it is needed, and empowering civil society at home and abroad. In Afghanistan, PIN has been active since 2001, responding to humanitarian needs where they arise, and through targeted development programmes. Currently, PIN focuses primarily on Emergency Response, Food Security & Livelihoods, Education and Shelter, with support from a variety of donors. By working closely with the communities, PIN has managed to maintain a significant field presence in Afghanistan.

Position Summary

The Consortium Coordinator (CC), in collaboration with the Head of Programmes (HoP) and the Consortium Finance Unit (CFU) is responsible for the overall coordination of a proposed consortium project to be led PIN and implemented in partnership with other international and national partners across 7 Afghanistan’s provinces once awarded. The Consortium Coordinator will be the focal point for all consortium partners and will take leadership in rolling out all aspects of strategy, program implementation, and monitoring, and ensuring harmonization and communication amongst partners. S/he will review the programmatic progress of all Consortium’s Partners, based on their respective plans, setting up and maintaining all the necessary tools to support the implementation, coordination, monitoring, and reporting of the consortium to timely identify challenges, anticipate risks and timely formulate mitigation strategies. The CC will proactively engage with, support the Program Management Unit, and report to the Consortium’s Steering Committee, meeting quarterly to review the consortium's progress and discuss challenges and possible solutions. The CC will be the key facilitator for coordination-specific outputs, including joint research and development of best practices and advocacy, and will provide external leadership of the consortium – representing partners vis-a-vis donors, Clusters, and other partners and key stakeholders. Additionally, s/he is responsible for the timely and high-quality delivery of PIN’s portion of the consortium project and for supporting the development of other PIN initiatives aimed at improving livelihoods of vulnerable people in Afghanistan. This includes contributing to the overall strategy and expansion of PIN’s livelihoods portfolio. 

Reporting Lines

The CC will report directly to the Head of Programmes (in the absence of HoP to CD) and maintain close collaboration with PIN’s MEAL unit, Operations Department and HQ Desk. S/he will supervise PIN’s consortium project team.

Duties and responsibilities

Coordination

·       Lead liaison activities with the consortium partners as the key focal point for strategy, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the consortium project, including monthly coordination forums, monthly progress updates, and formal reporting according to the agreed Donor’s schedule.

·       Facilitate coordination meetings among consortium partners’ programs, finance and M&E teams, consortium’s working groups and relevant advisors, creating a culture of recurrent exchanges.

·       Lead partners in sharing lessons learned and development of best practices relevant to the scope of interventions.

·       Promote and support the development of key knowledge-sharing materials and Best Practice Guidelines across different themes, which will be implemented by the consortium partners, and shared with the wider humanitarian community through cluster forums and workshops.

·       Act as the key focal point (in coordination with CD, HoP, CFU) for routine liaison with donor’s representatives and for daily external actors’ relations and, where necessary, initiate ad-hoc coordination on rapid responses to sudden-onset crises amongst partners.

·       In coordination with CP management, represent PIN and the consortium in relevant clusters and other coordination forums, as necessary.

Program Management

·       Directly supervise PIN’s project teams in two different geographic areas.

·       Oversee the project implementation, quality standards and adherence to SoPs and donor/PIN internal guidelines in PIN’s target areas.

·       Provide strategic and operational guidance to consortium partners and lead the consortium in the direction of achieving the project objective.

·       Supervise, in cooperation with relevant PMs and consortium partners, all program progress, outputs, and challenges across all sectors within the consortium project, creating and updating relevant work plans.

·       Ensure that rigorous monitoring & control mechanisms are in place to ensure compliance with donor and PIN’s requirements (procurement, approvals, and accountability and anti-fraud mechanisms).

·       In coordination with the HoP interact with PIN HQ Desk, advisors from Knowledge and Learning Department (KLD) and other departments as needed.

Program Development / Reporting

·       Coordinate the reporting schedule and requirements for the consortium’s project: request, review, and compile inputs from partners and develop quality reporting based on partners' and PIN’s inputs to meet PIN’s and donor’s requirements, within the agreed timelines, and resources allocated.

·       In coordination with the HoP ensure timely and precise communication with the donor regarding any grant modification request.

·       Provide key support to the Country Program in program design and proposal development in Livelihoods sector, for donors/proposals selected by the SMT.

·       In coordination with the HoP & CD liaise with current and potential donors on ongoing and future grant opportunities in Livelihoods sector; fostering good relationships and maximum transparency and accountability.

·       Ensure that all communication and outputs communicated to the donor, consortium partners, and external stakeholders are relevant, and of high quality and informative value.

Financial Management

·       Support the Consortium Finance Unit and Program Manager to monitor PIN’s and partners' expenditures, and forecasts, ensuring that the latter are fully reasoned within the different consortium’s teams, and in line with the current situation in the implementation locations, and with the teams’ capacity to absorb and spend the planned resources.

·       Contribute to any necessary consortium’s budget (re)formulation and development.

·       Ensure that the Consortium Finance Manager and relevant partner’s colleagues constantly ensure and monitor that the needed and compliant finance control mechanisms are in place and respected.

·       Promptly report to PIN SMT and to the attention of the consortium’s SC any financial, programmatic, and reputational risk factor, while suggesting potential mitigation or correction measures.

General Accountability

·       Ensure compliance of project activities with donor, PIN, and government regulations and standards.

·       Cooperate with HQ Compliance dept. on as necessary.

·       Prevent and report to the CP SMT any suspected or confirmed conflict of interest, internal financial issue, or non-principled programmatic actions within the project.

·       Support PIN’s and the other consortium partners’ MEAL teams to elaborate and action their monitoring plans, and to promote AAP/CFRM systems within their own share of operations.

·       Ensure that the project has a functioning CFRM system and that it truly mainstreams protection, SG, GESI, and environmental considerations into its operations with coordination from the corresponding experts/advisors.

Qualifications and Requirements

·       Minimum bachelor’s degree in development or related field

·       Minimum 3 years’ experience in managing and coordinating projects with multiple stakeholders and proven capacity to coordinate consortium partners (from Country Directors to technical leads)

·       Proven expertise in Livelihoods sector

·       Experience with climate-resilient Agriculture, and/or Market Systems Development, and/or Disaster Risk Management highly desirable

·       Good networking, representation, coordination, and negotiation skills with various stakeholders incl. government authorities

·       Familiarity with NGO working environments and standard procedures

·       Familiarity with EC-funded projects and Afghan context is an asset

·       Proven understanding of duty of care and safety and security considerations in fragile and conflict affected contexts

·       Good communication and capacity to work under stress

·       Good command of MS Office Package (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, SharePoint)

·       Fluent English both spoken and written

PIN Offers:

·       Flexible and challenging working environment with room for personal growth;

·       Possibility of remote work;

·       Robust and thorough induction training (2 weeks);

·       HEAT training (unless the candidate participated in one recently);

·       Salary as per PIN salary scale, between 2, 750 – 3, 000 EUR gross depending on previous experience, plus 1350 EUR subsistance allowance and 400 EUR hardship allowance

·       Reimbursement of flight tickets to the country of residence once every 6 months of work, PIN also provides 1200 USD allowance per flight for R&R trips (total of max two R&R flights per year, as the R&R is intended to be taken between the 6-month flights to the country of residence);

·       Reimbursement of costs of visas and vaccinations; assistance with visa application procedure;

·       Comprehensive travel insurance;

·       Medical helpdesk and psychological consultation available online;

·       25 days of paid leave annually and 12 additional days of R&R leave per year;

·       Accommodation in PIN compound.

How to apply:

If you are interested in this position, send us your CV and short cover letter via our application form.

Please note only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Interviews will be conducted on rolling basis and the vacancy will be closed when filled.

People in Need staff are expected to perform job duties and responsibilities in accordance with People in Need Code of conduct and key policies (available at: https://www.peopleinneed.net/key-policies-4142gp).

People in Need is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct and committed to promoting the welfare of children and adults with whom People in Need involves. People in Need expects all staff to perform job duties and responsibilities in accordance with People in Need code of conduct and key policies (available at: https://www.peopleinneed.net/key-policies-4142gp). People in Need Staff will undertake the appropriate level of training.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks.

We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organisation and encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply.