Programme Coordinator, Governance & Stability Team

About ASI

Adam Smith International is a global advisory company that works locally to transform lives by making economies stronger, societies more stable, and governments more effective. Our clients are governments, international organisations, companies, and foundations. They come to us to develop strategies and to design, deliver and evaluate programmes that address the big challenges facing the world.

As a company with experience of delivering lasting results, including in fragile states and where there is conflict, we are prepared to manage a high level of risk to achieve our purpose.

Our core team of staff and technical experts, in multiple offices around the world, ensures the quality of delivery and high ethical standards that we and our clients require.

We are committed to corporate integrity and a triple bottom line of social, environmental, and financial performance. This commitment was formally recognised when we became a certified B Corp. The certification indicates we balance profit and purpose through the highest standards of transparency and accountability as well as social and environmental performance. We are also a participant in the UN Global Compact, which certifies our respect for standards of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption.

About the role

The purpose of this role is to support effective management and delivery of the Aid Fund for Northern Syria (AFNS).

The Aid Fund for Northern Syria (AFNS) is a Humanitarian multi-donor Pooled Fund established in October 2022 to meet priority needs in the north of Syria with a primary focus on the northwest of the country, where 4.1 million people are in urgent need of assistance. The Fund works with aid actors including communities, civil society organisations, the cluster coordination mechanism, and the United Nations to understand where needs and opportunities are greatest and where it can add most value. Under the leadership of the Fund’s Steering Board and its independent Chair, the aim of the Fund is to provide complementary, predictable, timely, and consistent resources to partners thereby expanding the delivery of humanitarian assistance to support life-saving and early recovery activities, focusing on the most urgent needs and filling critical gaps left by other response instruments.

Please note that grade of this role within ASI corporate staffing grades will be Manager. Within the context of the Syrian humanitarian response the role is approximately equivalent in experience and responsibilities to a Coordinator, anticipating 2-3 years of project management experience.

Key Tasks

1*.* Support the Senior Manager in ensuring that ASI is responsive to AFNS clients particularly the FCDO with regards to delivery of the programme.

2. Gather and develop inputs from the AFNS team for quarterly and annual reports for FCDO, ensuring they reflect client priorities, and accurately and comprehensively present programme results.

3. Support the timely development and submission of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in each reporting period.

4. Manage the AFNS budget, so that the programme delivers VfM for FCDO and its donors, achieves ASI’s commercial imperatives, and meets both ASI and FCDO requirements for accurate invoicing and financial forecasting and reporting. Support any amendment to the main client contract and budget proforma.

5. Quality assure technical and other deliverables as and when required.

6. Monitor AFNS progress through the workplan, M&E and VfM frameworks, to support the programme to remain focused on results and identify underperforming activities for course corrections.

7. Develop, update and implement business processes and management mechanisms in coordination with the Senior Manager to ensure that the programme team is working as efficiently as possible, with clear role descriptions and a shared set of values.

8. Support recruitment processes for AFNS staff and advisers to ensure the programme team is optimally structured and staffed with high quality advisers on time to deliver results at pace (e.g., draft TORs, oversee recruitment process, create short list, participate in interviews, negotiate with preferred candidates)

9. Faciliate relations between advisers and their counterparts to ensure that those counterparts remain engaged with, and fully supportive of the programme and its objectives.

10. Manage relationships with key consortium partners; ensure that contracts and subcontractor agreements are up to date.

11. Ensure that the programme’s identification, analysis and management of risks is proactive, comprehensive and controlled. The PM must actively manage risks; developing mitigation strategies with the programme team and ensure that these mitigation strategies are communicated to stakeholders and implemented.

12. Ensure that AFNS staff and advisers understand ASI’s Duty of Care policies and procedures and comply with them by liaising with ASI Turkiye’s Security and Operations staff.

13. Support internal and external audits of the programme and implementation of recommendations

Key Accountabilities

1. Donor client satisfaction

2. Timely, accurate and high-quality programme reporting

3. Timely, accurate financial forecasting, invoicing, and reporting

4. Maintain a stable and competent programme team

5. Effective coordination with ASI Turkiye Finance & Operations in Gaziantep.

Job requirements

Qualifications:

• Desirable – Masters in a relevant subject.
• Undergraduate degree in a relevant subject.

Experience Required:

• Project management experience in a high-pressure professional environment, preferably in an international development context
• Budget management and forecasting
• Work experience in MENA would be an advantage.

Competencies:

• Planning and delivering results
• Managing complexity
• Innovation and change management
• Communication and knowledge management
• Leadership and direction
• Collaboration and teamwork
• Personal impact and effectiveness

Knowledge:

• Some political, social and cultural understanding of the contexts they work in.
• A good understanding of their client(s)
• Understanding of how to design an accurate budget and manage it/ monitor burn rate.
• Knowledge of how to do financial forecasting, coordination and risk management.
• Some understanding of how to balance operational needs with budgets.
• Some understanding of monitoring and evaluation.
• Knowledge of our duty of care responsibility as it relates to their project.
• Ability to research and put together information needed for proposals.

Skills:

• Ability to write clear, concise, comprehensive and persuasive proposals and reports in English
• Budget, finance and forecasting skills.
• Ability to build effective, credible client relationships and networks.
• Desirable – Arabic language skills

Attitude:

• High level of emotional intelligence in the following areas: self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship management.
• Excellent relationship building skills.
• Proactive, self-starter, resourceful.
• Open-minded, flexible approach to problem-solving.
• Resilient to changing circumstances and challenges.
• Achievement oriented.
• Determination to complete work.
• Trustworthy, reliable, professional, and accountable.