GRANTS – Project Officer

Organization Overview

Tostan is a US 501(c)(3) organization that was founded in Senegal in 1991 in order to educate and empower Africans who have had little or no access to formal schooling. Tostan’s community-led program, the Community Empowerment Program (CEP), has achieved results including: declared abandonment of the practices of female genital cutting and child/forced marriage by thousands of villages; increased enrollment in formal education for children; increased use of problem solving and literacy skills to generate income and further develop local economies; and increased access to healthcare.

Roles & Responsibilities

Reporting to the Senior Grants Manager, the Project Officer is responsible for coordinating, supporting and tracking the progress of all projects falling under his/her portfolio with a particular focus on the Gates project ‘Transforming Tostan’s Monitoring Systems to Drive Quality and Effectiveness at Scale’ that aims to transform its monitoring systems for improved data collection, analysis, and organization-wide use. The Project Officer will also support the development and writing of new proposals, write/edit project reports, review financial reports and ensure consistent communication with all projects’ key stakeholders. He/she will ensure deadlines are met and proactively identify any delays or challenge to be addressed.

Summary

Key liaison on the project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ensures the coordination and information sharing between the various stakeholders, both internally and externally, reporting to donor, coordinating project revision (Action Plan and Budget) when needed, and supporting the project implementation when possible.

The following specific tasks will fall under the BMGF project portfolio:

• Monthly Communication with The Foundation

• Monitoring pilot preparation and rollout

• Is involved in project implementation and is aware of and flags challenges

• Other projects managed by the Grants Department will fall into the portfolio of the Project officer.

• Track project budgeting, action plans and reporting and proactively flag any deviation and follow up on the appropriate corrective actions.

• Lead the proposal development process for all assigned proposals and ensure an effective and timely contribution from the field offices and various internal stakeholders.

• Ensure that the field staff has the relevant materials, financial information and support needed to launch new projects and stay on track.

• Overall responsibility for writing/editing project reports.

• Collaborate with field staff, volunteers and/or the senior management team to develop content for reports and proposals.

• Ensure that relevant staff members of all departments are informed of donor requirements; work closely with all departments to ensure compliance. Provide technical support to assess donor eligibility of planned expenditures and identify related compliance requirements.

• Support donors visit on projects falling under his/her portfolio, and conduct visits to implementation sites when possible.

• Maintain and comply with the grant information management, tracking, filing and retrieval system to ensure that it provides easy and immediate access to information on these grants.

Key Relationships:

• Direct supervisor: Senior Grants Manager

• Direct colleagues: 1 Project Manager, 1 Project Officer and 1 volunteer

• Works closely with MERL Director and other stakeholders involved in the BMGF project

• National Coordinators and senior management in field offices

Location:

Tostan International in Dakar, Senegal

Key Qualifications and Selection Criteria:

Education:

• Masters in International Development, Human Rights, International Education or another relevant Social Science discipline.

Language Proficiency:

• Fluent in French or English with excellent command of the other language  required.

Knowledge & Experience:

• At least 2 years of project management and report writing experience in a non-profit or development sector.

Characteristics

• Highly self-motivated and detail oriented, this individual is an asset to the team and is depended upon to track and communicate all project deadlines and to manage the delivery of accurate, high-quality reports and proposals.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to communicate with key donors.

• Ability to build strong working relationships, both in-person and virtually.

• Team player, comfortable in working with multiple deadlines, under pressure and in a multicultural environment.

• Believes strongly in Tostan’s mission to empower African communities to bring about sustainable development and positive social transformation based on respect for human rights.

Reports to:                         Senior Grants Manager

Starting date:                     01 October 2017

Contract type:                   Fixed Term Contract 1 year

How to Apply:

Send your CV and a Cover Letter via email to hr@tostan.org. Please send with “GRANTS – Project Officer” as the email subject.  We are accepting applications until August 25, 2017. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Tostan is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate all applicants without unlawful considerations of race, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.