Programme Support Officer

About the role

This is a 12-month volunteer position with unaccompanied terms based in Lilongwe, Malawi with up to 30% of the time scheduled and spent in the program areas, with an annual allowance of 11,970 Euro.

You will report directly to the Program Director and you will liaise with the Country Director, Systems Director, Business Development & Knowledge Coordinator, Program Coordinator, M&E Manager, District Program Managers, Project Managers and the Partnerships Advisor

We would like you to start on 1st of April 2024.

Your purpose:

The PSO is a multi-faceted support role, liaising with different departments at both head office and field level and providing backstopping support for a number of key processes. The PSO will support all aspects of the programme cycle, including but not limited to: supporting field teams with programme design development; drafting of expressions of interest, concept notes, programme proposals, and donor reports; setting up and maintaining knowledge management systems; supporting country-wide Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) functions; developing communication materials, and case-studies, and providing the necessary documentation support to the Senior Management Team (SMT); representing Concern when necessary in the Cluster systems.

Main duties include, though not limited to:

Reporting and Program Development:

• Support overview and maintenance of all grants, donor requirements, rules and regulations, and internal and external deadlines.
• Support the development of donor applications and reports, as well as ensuring donor compliance and quality control.
• Coordinate the development and distribution of internal reports.
• Contribute to the development and revision of funding proposals, budgets, and donor reports.
• Be updated on donor priorities and track and share relevant calls for proposals.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of internal grant management systems.
• Liaise with Program Director and Country Director with regard to queries raised on reports/proposals/documents submitted
• Support the Program Director in preparing high quality and evidence-based reports and ensuring that they are submitted to Head Office (HO) and donors in a timely manner.
• Ensure version control of documents and filing of final HO, donor, and M&E reports and proposals.
• Assist all the program team, in obtaining relevant program information and learning from other actors in Malawi to ensure that Concern Malawi’s work is informed by wider experience; lessons learned and locally adapted best practice.
• Support in emergency responses; including assessments, planning and reporting.

M&E and Program Quality, Accountability and Learning

• Support the Program team in dissemination events to share learning from our research component of the program.
• Support the Program Director and M&E Program Manager in quarterly program reviews.
• Contribute to documenting of learning related to all crosscutting themes of the programs to further encourage the mainstreaming of gender/equality, protection, disaster risk reduction, and climate activities.
• Produce and improve existing program maps and visualizations for the better comprehension of our intervention zones.

Communication and Advocacy

• Support the Country Director in updating and creating communication materials (the Concern brochure, quarterly updates, roll-ups for public events) for local and international communication.
• Produce short documents with informative materials for the better understanding of key Concern policies and documents.
• Produce case studies, take pictures and write blogs for the Concern website, twitter (X).
• Liaise with Dublin Communication teams to contribute to communication campaigns and appeals, sending materials for their use or completed work for their review.
• Assist staff to produce good quality communication materials.
• Organise Concern’s participation in national NGO events (e.g. World Humanitarian Day, Int’l Women’s Day, 16 days of activism etc.)

Other:

• Support the Program Director and Country Director in maintaining a donor database and a database of potential national partners.
• Represent Concern at various fora including Clusters (WASH, Nutrition, Food Security or EOC-Emergency operation center)
• Be aware of, understand and comply with all of Concern’s policies and procedures (Code of Conduct and Associated Policies, Whistleblowing policy, Anti-fraud policy, finance, logistics, HR, security management etc.).
• Undertake other related duties as may reasonably be required by the line manager
• Support Program Director and other key Concern personnel on the elaboration and follow-up of the Plan for Effective Emergency Response (PEER), Core Humanitarian Standards and the Complaints Response Mechanism

Your skills and experience will include:

ESSENTIAL

Education, Qualifications & Experience:

• University Degree in a relevant discipline: i.e. social/political science, economics, humanitarian assistance, international development etc.
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft word, excel, powerpoint etc.
• Experience writing reports and consolidating information from a wide range of sources
• Experience and confidence using social media platforms for professional purposes

Special Skills, Aptitude or Personality Requirements:

• Excellent English writing skills with experience of research, and/or report writing/ ability to write clearly and concisely
• Communications skills: excellent listening skills and empathy
• Must have strong attention to detail
• Self-motivated, proactive, willingness to learn.
• Ability to manage multiple job tasks, organize and prioritize workload
• Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary team.

DESIRABLE

Education, Qualifications & Experience Required:

• An understanding of programme cycle management, monitoring and evaluation, including the design and implementation of M&E plans, databases and tools.
• Experience of working in Sub-Saharan Africa (or elsewhere under similar conditions) would be an advantage.
• Previous experience with an international NGO and with similar responsibilities.
• Knowledge of key donors (e.g. FCDO, Irish Aid, ECHO, EU, UN).
• Understanding or knowledge of equality and accountability initiatives and standards (i.e. CHS, Sphere, etc.…)

Any Other Special Requirements:

• Good team player, flexible and capable of working with a multinational country team, politically and culturally sensitive
• Female candidates are encouraged to apply