Consortium Coordinator – Central African Republic

Consortium Coordinator – Central African Republic

Position Title: Consortium Coordinator

Base: Bangui, regular travel to field locations of all Consortium partners across the country

Reporting to: MENTOR Country Director and MENTOR HQ Consortium Manager

Background:

The MENTOR Initiative (MENTOR) is a “not for profit”, charitable, non-governmental organization devoted to reducing death and suffering from malaria and other vector borne diseases in humanitarian crises. MENTOR has worked in CAR since 2008, instigating an effective and innovative community healthcare approach.

Overall Job Purpose:

Since October 2016, MENTOR has become the Lead Agency of a FCDO funded consortium of NGOs focused on improving healthcare delivery across four prefectures in CAR.

The Consortium Coordinator will act as the focal point for the Consortium. She/he acts as lead representative for the consortium as a whole and as required at humanitarian coordination meetings and meetings involving relevant Ministries, UN agencies and INGO’s coordination bodies. She/he acts as a liaison for donor and government authorities in country. She/he manages and represents a Consortium Coordination team and is the overall Phase III process manager of the FCDO funded consortium.

This Consortium Team consists of the Consortium Coordinator and the Consortium Finance Coordinator supported by the MENTOR in-country team. At HQ level there is the Consortium Manager as well as the network of support provided by HQ. The Consortium Team supports and collaborates with a Steering Committee comprising of the Country Directors of Consortium partner organizations as well as technical working groups made up of focal points from each partner agency. The Consortium Coordination team is responsible for the overall implementation of the grant and its project cycle, in compliance with donor and government guidelines. The Consortium Coordination team will be responsible for ensuring that the project is implemented according to the approved proposal, adhering with donor and local government guidelines and in an impactful and effective manner.

The main responsibilities of this post include:

A. Consortium Coordination

Consortium Oversight:

• Ensure that all aspects of the project are implemented effectively, according to the donor proposal and taking into account the key needs and wants of all involved stakeholders

• Create an effectively working relationship between the Consortium Coordination Team and the Consortium Steering Committee, ensuring joined up thinking and a harmonized approach to program strategy and delivery of quality healthcare across CAR through regularly meetings (which the Consortium Coordinator will chair), involving the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders where necessary

• Create and distribute realistic and pragmatic work plans, ensuring that consortium partners are on the same page, and support their implementation, in close cooperation with the Consortium Team

• Work to ensure that FCDO principles are used throughout the consortium’s implementation, including but not limited to their Value for Money framework and their Smart Rules

· To work with the consortium partners and Consortium Manager to ensure compliance to the FCDO, organisational and international standards on safeguarding and PSEA working with partners to ensure that a safeguarding culture becomes normalised and beneficiaries are enabled to easily escalate issues and provided with timely and appropriate feedback.

• Support the oversight of the financial aspects of the program, including monitoring the overall budget. Cooperate with the Consortium Finance Coordinator and the HQ based Consortium Finance & Compliance Manager to ensure that the program stays as per designed budget and that partner finance teams understand the consortium’s finance requirements

· Conducts regular field visits (at least one every 2 months) to consortium partner field locations

Consortium Technical Support:

• Monitors high-quality technical inputs throughout the consortium implementation process, including but not limited to program design, program implementation and monitoring & evaluation

• Work to ensure the sharing of knowledge and best practice across the consortium, ensuring that the consortium makes the most out of each partner’s areas of expertise and that synergies are applied as planned in the grant, in close cooperation with the delegate HPC

• Ensure that all internal and external reporting requirements are clear as per the established work-plan, and that they are consistently met in line with required FCDO / MENTOR formats. This includes required input from HQ level within the partner organizations

• With direct support from the in-country and HQ team, encourage capacity building across the consortium, particularly trying to upskill members of national staff

• Develop a program risk register, updating where new risks emerge, and work with the Consortium Coordination Team and the Consortium Steering Committee to ensure that risks are mitigated as much as possible

• Create a framework for the constant monitoring of program progress through regular, harmonized data collection and analysis of key indicators – ensuring that processes and results are properly documented

• Support shared and constant lesson learning processes across the consortium and throughout the consortium project period

Consortium Reporting:

• Coordinate the preparation of the program reporting to the donor, other consortium members and any other stakeholders as required through a viable liaison with relevant focal points from each partner and within the Consortium Coordination Team to produce high-quality reports in English to schedule. This includes but is not limited to Annual, Quarterly narrative reporting and asset and consumables management, and monthly security reporting, third party monitoring an internal project monitoring and evaluation.

o This will involve the building of working relationships with focal points from each partner organization and creating a collaborative atmosphere

• Collate and prepare any documentation required for any program modifications, amendments, extensions etc. for donor or government approval

• Responsible for timely and detailed communication of all security incidents within the operational area of the Consortium to the MENTOR HQ based Consortium Manager

· Responsible for timely and detailed communication of all safeguarding and aid diversion incidents with consortium partners, ensuring that appropriate and timely reports are made to FCDO via the Consortium Manager and advise and support partners on appropriate actions and investigations as necessary.

· Support and as appropriate lead the development of future proposals to enable continuation of the programme.

Job Requirements:

• Relevant experience in programme management

• Highly knowledgeable of logical frameworks, proposal development, M&E and reporting

• Advanced skills in Excel is an asset

• Experience in community-level Healthcare programmes is an asset

• Solid experience with operations in insecure and volatile environments

• Organised, self-starter, able to build and maintain partnerships

• Experience in coordinating projects with multiple stakeholders; proven capacity to coordinate the Consortium Partners (from Country Directors to technical leads)

• Flexible and willing to learn

• Excellent team worker and communications skills

• Practical, hands on approach

• Fluent French and in English (written and oral)

• Familiarity with NGO working environments and standard procedures.

• Familiarity with DFID-funded projects is an asset

The Mentor Initiative applies zero tolerance to the exploitation, sexual abuse and mistreatment of women, children and all others, and, mobilizes all its staff in the implementation of its global policy. The Mentor Initiative will contact previous employers of applicants to determine if they have had a history of violating codes of conduct relating to sexual harassment, exploitation or abuse and fraud.