Programme Officer at Oxfam Rwanda: (Deadline 30 November 2021)

Programme Officer at Oxfam Rwanda: (Deadline 30 November 2021)

Oxfam is a global movement of people working together to end the injustice of poverty.

Oxfam is a global community that believes poverty isn’t inevitable. It’s an injustice that can be overcome. We are shop volunteers, women’s rights activists, marathon runners, aid workers, coffee farmers, street fundraisers, goat herders, policy experts, campaigners, water engineers, and more. And we won’t stop until everyone can live life without poverty for good.

Oxfam GB is a member of the international confederation of 21 organizations working together with partners and local communities in the areas of humanitarian, development, and campaigning, in more than 90 countries. 

 Oxfam in Rwanda was physically established in the 1980s, although prior to that in the 1960s, Oxfam was engaged in delivering humanitarian response, water and sanitation, conflict management, and sustainable livelihoods by funding project work of partner organizations in the country. Oxfam overall vision is a just Rwanda without poverty.

 Oxfam in Rwanda developed a Five-Year Strategic Plan (2015-2020) based on comprehensive analysis of the Rwandan context and the power constellations that identify some of the critical barriers to inclusive development in the country and opportunities for change. Therefore, the strategy is centered on interventions that are in line with its mission – to ensure that poor women, men, and youth enjoy equal rights and benefit from fair and inclusive development. Oxfam invest where it can add value as the country implements the National Strategy for Transformation and now moving from Vision 2020 to Vision 2050. Oxfam Country Strategy is implemented under four key program pillars, namely: – Sustainable Livelihood, Participatory Governance, Gender Justice, and Humanitarian Preparedness and Resilience Strengthening.

We are currently recruiting for experienced Rwandan national for the following position:

Programme Officer

Location: The job holder shall be based at the Country Office currently in Kigali but should be flexible to work with Support Implementing Partners in all Oxfam’s operating areas

Salary:  Competitive

Duration: One year ( Non-renewable)

Availability: Immediately

Level: National D1

The Programme Officer will be responsible for supporting the implementation of the last year of the Rwanda Market Oriented Programme (PGII) five-year program’s activities by providing needed support in the programme management, programme quality and managing linkages with sustainable livelihoods programme, especially Horticulture Value Chain Programme.  The position also will provide thought leadership in the activities aiming to promote women’s economic empowerment and leadership, as well as the contribution of the PGII program’s experience to Oxfam’s legacy influencing strategy in the country.

The Programme Officer will contribute to keeping close collaboration with various key stakeholders including smallholder farmers’ cooperatives, private enterprises, micro-finance institutions, government institutions, and civil society organisations. The Job holder will also support programme quality and documentation, knowledge generation, and capacity building of programme stakeholders in a bid to ensure increased visibility and sustainability of the work done during last year of the programme in Rwanda. The Job holder will ensure that the PGII Programme phasing out priorities comply with the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) checklist, including facilitating districts and national closing events for smooth handover of the programme, and preparation of programme closing. 

 key Responsibilities

Programme Management                                                                                 50%

• Take the lead in the day-to-day implementation of PGII programme and create synergy with other Oxfam legacy programmes, especially the Horticulture Value Chain Programme.
• Analyse the gaps and opportunities in the Rwanda Market Oriented Programme for smallholder farmers, especially women from different perspectives, and develop agreed interventions.
• Take the lead in the facilitation, coordination with other key stakeholders involved in agriculture value chain, including technical experts, private sector actors including business facilitators, financial institutions, International NGOs, Government institutions, etc and coordinate smallholder farmers’ engagement in agriculture value chain.
• Work closely with Oxfam partners to supervise the implementation of activities and support the reporting.
• Represent the Programme in the national level agriculture value chain networks for experience sharing, learning, and key awareness raising and evidence-based advocacy events within PGII activities.
• Take the lead in handling Oxfam programme management system and engage with internal stakeholders in meeting quality standards.
• Leverage funds for the program interventions and support partners’ fundraising efforts.
• Track and monitor financial transactions of the programme and related documents to maintain an overview of the financial status, especially providing technical support and assistance in analysing the projects’ financial information (e.g. income statements, financial projections, BVAs).
• Produce and analyse information to support influencing activities in collaboration with country leadership and communications team.
• Take the lead in implement the Oxfam gender, diversity, and equal opportunity policy in the programme and in mainstreaming cross-cutting issues (including gender equality and women’s rights, disability, HIV&AIDS, Climate change, etc) in the programme.
• Support the Legacy Programme to implement the program annual work plan and phase out plan.

Partnership Management and Networking                                                                     30%

• Take the lead in assessing the partners’ needs, conducting safeguarding reviews, and develop capacity development plans, including specific milestones per organisation that are monitored regularly, including via frequent visits.
• Maintain effective coordination with Oxfam programme team, programme quality, influencing and communication teams, and other programs in Rwanda as well as partners and regional platform as relevant.
• Establishing links with research and technical institutes like universities, organizations, and networks to explore areas of engagement and explore joint work opportunity.
• Guide partners to support smallholder farmers and community-based organisations involved in agriculture value chain.
• Provide leadership in facilitation and communicating with PGII key stakeholders.
• Engage with Oxfam and external professional peers in and outside the country to share knowledge and to identify best practice in other countries/agencies relevant to the programme which can contribute to our own understanding and development of MEAL.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning                                                   20%

• Ensure that MEAL efforts at Oxfam, partners and target groups are coordinated with other programs to avoid duplication and maximize impact.
• Conduct regular programme monitoring visits and share updates with the Country Programme team.
• Closely monitor the performance of programme and collect Key Performance Indicators to feed into M&E plan of PGII and for reporting purposes.
• Support the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) activities of the programme and contribute to improve PGII MEAL framework.
• Take the lead in the PGII programme quarterly reviews and planning meetings.
• Ensure that community and citizen voice, particularly those of women, are at the heart of the Rwanda program communication work.
• Lead on the close monitoring of a program feedback and complaint mechanisms in line with Oxfam standards and in coordination with other programs.
• Ensure that accountability mechanisms and a feedback system are effectively utilized at PGII level.
• Ensure minimum standards of accountability within the PGII Programme correspond to Oxfam standards and oversee quality assurance of accountability mechanisms.
• Assist in programme planning and reporting for Oxfam in Rwanda’s annual registration at the Rwanda Governance Board.Complete data quality assessment and produce high-quality report

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

 Skills

• University degree in Agriculture value chain, Agribusiness, Business Administration, Economics or related field.
• Excellent interpersonal and team-work skills
• Ability and willingness to work towards deadlines, in a planned and inclusive way.
• Demonstrable communication, facilitation, and representation skills (in English and Kinyarwanda preferably).
• Strong planning, organization, and problem-solving skills with ability to work hands-on, independently, and within a team
• Excellent and demonstrated written and verbal communication skills in English
• Basic photography and video skills

Knowledge

• Project Cycle Management.
• Working knowledge of and fluency in agriculture value chain, successful and live business plan development.
• Knowledge and experience of gender, participatory governance, climate change, risk reduction programming for smallholder and women producers
• Having knowledge on partnership development and management, building the relationship with different enterprise development actors
• Ability to acknowledge cultural and political issues within the locality and usage of wisdom and tact to avoid expression of conflicting stand.

Experience

• At least 5 years work experience with at least 3-year experience in programme management role, markets-based or value chain development and value chain finance projects; or similar private sector positions.
• Clear understanding of market analysis, role of private sectors in poverty eradication, and value chain
• 5 years working experience in successful and live business plan
• Demonstrated use of system skills and ability to learn and manipulate online system.
• Demonstrated English writing skills
• Experience of 5 years in partnership development, nurturing and management, and alliance building and maintenance across actors and
• Proven experience and ability to work with partners, community-based groups, and other key stakeholders.
• Experience working with private sector actors.

Key Attributes

• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and gender issues, as well as the commitment to equal opportunities
• Ability to demonstrate an openness and willingness to learn about the application of gender/gender mainstreaming, women’s rights, and diversity for all aspects of development work
• Commitment to undertake Oxfam’s safeguarding training and adherence of relevant policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible

Our values and commitment to safeguarding

Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity, and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults, and beneficiaries with whom Oxfam GB engages. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organization. 

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. Oxfam GB also participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.  In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.

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

 Note to candidates: Shortlisted candidates will be assessed on our organisational values and attributes at the interview stage. The successful candidate(s) will be expected to adhere to our code of conduct. We encourage candidates to read and understand our code of conduct here.

All our work is led by three core values: Empowerment, Accountability, Inclusiveness.

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

About Oxfam

A simple, inescapable truth underlines everything we do at Oxfam. There’s enough wealth in this world to go around. It’s not unfortunate that people live in poverty. It’s unjustifiable. It’s not just their problem. It’s ours too. And with the right support, we can beat poverty and injustice. Thousands of people already commit their time and talents to our campaigning, humanitarian and long-term development projects. Now we’re looking for yours.

 HOW TO APPLY

 As part of your online application, please upload your up to date CV and a covering letter explaining your suitability against the essential criteria in the job profile with contact details (phone and email address) of your most recent line manager as part of your referees to: https://bit.ly/3DCky9q

The closing date for this vacancy is 30^th November 2021

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE AND APPLY