Action Africa Help International (AAH-I) is an African-led, regional organisation, working in East and Southern Africa to improve the quality of life in livelihood challenged communities. AAH-I has country programmes in Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia.It brings over 20 years’ experience working with communities in conflict and post-conflict situations, including refugees, internally displaced people and host communities.
More recently, it has expanded its activities to work with other marginalised communities, including pastoralist communities and communities in urban slums.
With the current growth in AAH-I and to facilitate the implementation of our 2014-2018 strategy, we wish to recruit for the following positions in January 2015:
Job Title: Cooperatives Project Officer
Department / Section: Livelihoods, AAH, Kenya
Reports to: Livelihoods Co-ordinator
Staff reporting to this post: Community Mobilisers
Technical Dotted-Line link to: Agriculture Project Officer
Liaises with: Project Manager, Agriculture Officer, Finance Officer, UNHCR and other Partners on ground
Duty Station: Kakuma Refugee Camp, AAH Kenya
Purpose of the Role: To develop cooperatives, bringing together PoC involved in specific livelihoods activities such as agriculture, tailoring, construction, small scale traders.
Duties & Responsibilities
Mobilize, train and ensure proper institutional structures are put in place to run the Cooperatives effectively and profitably.
Be responsible to ensure that the Cooperatives act as channels for credit and loans for PoC producers as well as markets for goods produced by member PoC.
Liaise with UNHCR in the provision of inputs to PoC to ensure that the processes used support self-reliance among PoC.
Support members of the Cooperatives to institute inclusive leadership and governance structures that not only ensure optimum production but also support inclusiveness and cohesion among PoC.
Assist in supporting the PoC to manage and run the greenhouse under a Cooperative, ensuring that the greenhouse is profitable and sustainably managed.
Assist in ensuring that the livelihoods interventions are effective in terms of creating self-reliance in the PoC mind set and that activities undertaken are profitable and sustainable in the life of PoC.
Keep the Livelihoods Co-ordinator (LC) informed on progress of the various cooperative initiatives, monitoring their progress and ensuring that they remain relevant and appreciated by the beneficiaries.
Be directly involved in the implementation of proposed initiatives.
Ensure proper collection, storage and dissemination of data on PoC cooperative activities, clearly identifying gaps and instituting interventions to fill the gaps in PoC knowledge, attitude and practice in livelihoods and self-reliance.Expected Outcomes
Conceptualization, innovation, planning and management of the livelihood cooperative project as well as the transfer of knowledge and skills.
Guide and supervise Community Mobilisers in identifying training needs and providing on the job training.
Prepare the necessary reports as per UNHCR guidelines and handle reporting requirement in a timely manner.
Work closely with the Livelihoods Co-ordinator and the Agriculture Project officer on material and strategies to support the programme.
Provide information and support to the Community Mobilizers.
Monthly work (action) plans for the program, ensuring objectives and targets are achieved.
Provide technical assistance to the PoC and Program staff regarding Cooperative project management practices, organizational management, financial accountability, Monitoring & Evaluation practices, or thematic topics related to agricultural livelihoods
Support the lively hood team in preparing reporting (weekly, monthly, quarterly & annual) materials
Work in collaboration with Livelihood program team to develop and manage a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan
Perform any other functions deemed necessary or as delegated by the supervisor in order to meet the level of services in the organizationPersonal Specifications
Professional Qualifications Required
University degree preferred in Cooperative Management, Agro-Enterprise, Rural Development, or a closely related field.Relevant Experience Required
Minimum of three years’ work experience in development programs, with a heavy focus on rural, community-based programming and Cooperative set up and Management.
Demonstrated capacities to establish and maintain strong, collaborative working relationships with donors, government officials, local organizations, communities and other stakeholders
Demonstrated strengths in relationship management; able to work with diverse groups of people in multicultural, team-oriented environment;
Skilled in influencing and obtaining cooperation of individuals;Skills and Competence
UNHCR Field experience.
Knowledge and exposure to the social and cultural values of the region concerned.
Proficiency in local language(s).
Strong cross-cultural skills and experience working with people from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds
Proven ability to multi-task and meet deadlines
Proven ability to develop proposals and write reports meeting donor requirementsAdditional Skills & Competences
Communicational skills (written and spoken) Organisational and managerial skills
ICT speciality (email, Spread-sheets, MS-word, Databases, job-related software, etc.)
Team-work and participation
Level of self-supervision and ability to take initiative
Degree of accuracy and attention to detail
Technical side of the job (numeracy, report-writing, critical thinking, leadership, etc.)
INGO experience and understanding of humanitarian sector
Commitment to and understanding of AAH-I’s vision, mission, and values.Application Instructions
Interested candidates should email application letters and CVs (with 3 referees) addressed to recruitke@actionafricahelp.org to be received by Monday, 5th January, 2015 at 5:00 pm.
The email Subject Line must show the job title of the position applied for.
AAH-I is an equal-opportunity employer.
Only those selected for the interviews will be contacted.
