Job Description

Location: Office-based, Aden, Yemen

Reporting to: Deputy Chief of Party

Contract type: 1 year FTC

Hours: Full time

Closing date: 16th July 2024

About ARK

ARK is a social enterprise, empowering local communities through the provision of agile and sustainable interventions to create greater stability, opportunity, and hope for the future. 

We believe that resilient communities are the foundation of local, national, regional and international development and stability – and ultimately a safer, peaceful and more prosperous world. At ARK, we have delivered research and programmatic interventions validating this approach in over twenty countries since 2008. As a social enterprise we work in partnership with communities, our donors, and other implementers to build local capacities, generate opportunity and bring about sustainable change. 

About the Role

The Project Coordinator is responsible for achieving the project’s objectives effectively, efficiently and compliantly, overseeing all aspects of project management through each project phase in accordance with ARK and the USAID’s policies and procedures. The position will work with and report to the Deputy Chief of Party. 

What you'll be doing:

Program Implementation 

• Manage all project activities, ensuring they align seamlessly with the established project objectives. 
• Directly oversee the project management process, including the supervision and coordination of field staff across all phases. Ensure strict compliance with both ARK and client policies throughout the project lifecycle. 
• Actively coordinate with the project and operations teams, including grantees, to foster effective collaboration. Ensure that all parties are aligned and working cohesively toward program plans. 
• Conduct structured weekly meetings to review ongoing activities, assess progress, and plan upcoming deliverables. Use these meetings as a platform for team alignment, problem-solving, and strategic planning. 
• Plan and oversee logistics and procurement for each project phase, ensuring compliance with project needs and realistic timelines. 
• Liaise with the Communications team to develop and implement a strategy to publicize activities, contributing to external debate and promoting the program. 
• Regularly review and update the Project Risk Register and Security Plan.  
• Proactively adjust these plans in response to changes in threat levels or project dynamics.  
• Ensure that all risk mitigation strategies are current, effective, and communicated clearly to all relevant stakeholders. 

Grant Implementation Monitoring 

• Conduct detailed monthly reviews of the financial expenditures of grantees.  
• Manage and oversee budget lines, ensuring that spending is in line with allocated budgets and grant plans.  
• Ensure adherence to donor regulations and financial guidelines, addressing any discrepancies or issues proactively to maintain financial integrity and compliance. 
• Provide ongoing support to grantees to facilitate the successful implementation of their plans. 
• Offer guidance, resources, and technical assistance as needed to ensure their activities are well-aligned with the overarching goals of the program. 
• Regularly assess grantee’s implementation for alignment and make recommendations for adjustments to maintain coherence with program objectives. 

Grantee Capacity Building 

• Develop and implement capacity building plans for each grantee, tailored to their unique needs and technical gaps. 
• Focus on enhancing the grantees' skills and competencies in key areas relevant to the program objectives. 
• Collaborate with grantees to identify skill gaps and design training modules, workshops, and other interventions that effectively address these needs. 
• Oversee the implementation of capacity building plans and monitor technical improvements among grantees, ensuring they are executed effectively and result in measurable improvements. 
• Ss Track the progress of technical improvements among grantees through regular assessments and feedback mechanisms.  
• Adjust the capacity building plans as necessary to maximize their impact and ensure the grantees are advancing toward the desired level of competency and performance. 

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) 

• Actively coordinate and facilitate the provision of essential field support for USAID's third-party monitors.  
• Ensure the field monitors have access to necessary information, and logistical support to effectively monitor program activities.  
• Maintain open lines of communication to address any emerging needs or challenges. 
• Lead in the analysis of project data.  
• Implement a structured approach for data review and interpretation, focusing on deriving actionable learning.  
• Ensure that the MEL findings are effectively used to inform adjustments and enhancements in project implementation.  
• Promote a culture of data-driven decision-making within the project team. 
• Provide support for the implementation of the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) plan, including the  of household surveys and the collection of beneficiary feedback 
• Ensure support to the implementation of the MEL plan, including the household surveys and beneficiary feedback. 

Reporting 

• Lead in preparing weekly and monthly reports.  
• Ensuring these reports align with and contribute effectively to USAID's reporting requirements, including the compilation of data and lessons learned for quarterly and annual reports.  
• Ensure these reports are accurate, insightful, and timely, reflecting the project's progress, challenges, and milestones. 
• Establish and maintain a systematic process for documenting lessons learned and best practices throughout the project lifecycle. 
• Ensure regular collection and analysis of lessons from various project activities, team reflections, and stakeholder feedback. 
• Ensure these insights are organized and stored in an accessible format for future reference, contributing to the continuous improvement of the project and informing future interventions. 

Requirements

Essential 

• At least 7 years of professional experience in a project management role in Yemen, with a focus on community reconciliation, conflict prevention and resolution, peacebuilding, social cohesion and/or community-led initiatives involving different demographic groups. 
• Bachelors degree in a relevant field such as international development, international relations, area studies, political science, sociology, public administration, communications and media studies. Masters degree preferred.  
• Excellent team management skills. 
• Ability to work under pressure, be a self-starter, team builder, innovative and demonstrate the capacity for maintaining high professional standards. 
• Full professional fluency in Arabic and English. 
• Proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite. 

Desirable  

• Postgraduate degree in a relevant field such as international development, international relations, areas studies, political science, sociology, public administration, communications and media studies. 
• Experience of MEAL systems and processes in a development project environment. 
• Familiarity with donor compliance and regulations. 

Benefits

What Makes Us Different 

We pride ourselves on being the first people able to access and operate in challenging fragile and conflict-affected environments. We are expeditionary by design and our systems and structures enable flexible and agile responses while ensuring safe, effective and compliant delivery.  

Working with and through teams drawn from the communities in which we operate enables us to deliver impactful interventions built on intimate local understanding. In collaboration with our global network of international and local experts, we integrate nuanced understanding of the challenges we aim to solve with best practice and field-leading innovation to deliver programming that meets short-term stabilisation objectives and builds the evidence base and knowledge needed to lay the groundwork for long-term peacebuilding and development programming.   

What We Do 

We enjoy sectoral experience in civil society development, good governance, protection and human rights, refugees and migration, stabilisation, gender, security and justice, as well as cross-cutting experience in programme design and learning, organisational development and management, research and analysis, needs assessments, monitoring and evaluation, communications and capacity building.   

Our People  

Today, our team covers a diverse range of professional backgrounds; from diplomacy, humanitarian, development and the military, to the UN, civil society groups, multilateral organisations, journalism and the private sector.  

They bring sectoral expertise in civil society development, good governance, protection and human rights, refugees and migration, gender and security and justice, as well as practical experience in programme design and learning, organisational development and management, research and analysis, needs assessments, monitoring and evaluation, communications and capacity building. The multi-disciplinary and multi-national nature of our team means the research we undertake and the programmes we deliver are grounded in empirical need and deliver measurable and sustainable impact.  

ARK Group is an equal opportunity employer. We actively seek a diverse applicant pool and encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply. ARK Group does not discriminate on the basis of ability, age, gender identity and expression, national origin, race and ethnicity, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. We welcome all kinds of diversity. ARK Group places human dignity at the centre of its development and stabilisation work and is thus committed to the protection from sexual exploitation and abuse of children and adults. All ARK Group employees and related-personnel are expected to share this commitment, and only those who also uphold these values will be recruited as part of our team. This vacancy is therefore subject to a range of due diligence checks.