Programme Officer Great Lakes Nairobi, Kenya

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is looking for a French/English speaking Programme Officer with a background in programme management, M&E, advocacy and civil society development, to contribute to the management of its programme in the Great Lakes region of Africa. The position is based in Nairobi, Kenya.DRC’s Great Lakes Programme currently covers five countries of the Great Lakes region: Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Uganda. Based on an approach combining qualitative research, evidence-based advocacy, bottom-up policy development and civil society capacity-building, the programme seeks to prevent local conflict resulting from and contributing to displacement through participatory processes defined and implemented by local actors at the local level. It also aims to develop or improve national and regional policies on displacement by making them more relevant to locally-identified needs. Finally, it seeks to reinforce and consolidate the capacities of civil society actors in reaching meaningful and sustainable policy change. The work of partner CSOs in the second phase of the programme (2013-2016) is organised around three broad themes of Security, Governance and Justice, examining community perceptions of security, issues of return and reintegration, land management, post-conflict justice and recovery, trauma and identity. In this programme, DRC provides strategic and methodological support to partner CSOs in carrying out professional and participatory analyses into specific displacement dynamics, and translating these into effective advocacy strategies targeting multiple stakeholders from the local to the regional level. It also provides technical and financial support to activities of dialogue, negotiation, protection monitoring, legal aid and capacity-building.Under the supervision of a Programme Manager, the Great Lakes Programme Officer helps manage and lead the strategic development and implementation of DRC’s Great Lakes Civil Society Project, by:· Ensuring that the programme’s administrative and contractual obligations are met and respond to partners’ needs and DRC rules and regulations. For this, the programme officer has specific experience in:· Project management: monitor the implementation of the projects, measuring results against LFA; liaise with the partners to follow-up on progress; field visits· Contract writing : write partners’ contract detailing projects objectives, expected output, budget and parties’ responsibilities· Financial/narrative reporting: review and provide feedback on the programme’s partners financial and narrative reports, making sure they meet all the requirementsDeveloping, in collaboration with the Programme Manager and partner NGOs, programmes of action in Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to achieve programme goals, and providing necessary support for their implementation. Such assistance might include:· Advice and information about regional mechanisms and their relation to national processes;· Research and analysis on refugee/IDP protection issues;· Development of advocacy strategies locally and nationally;· Production of advocacy and communications material;· Planning and elaboration of project-based activities;· Compilation of narrative reporting.· Maintaining relationships with NGO partners in Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, DRCongo and CAR, providing strategic and technical (including financial) guidance to them in collaboration with the programme team and conducting field visits to discuss the project objectives and outputs.· Developing a M&E and knowledge management system:· Centralised and systematised M&E generated data on basis of learning objectives;· Regular context/institutional analyses;· Documentation of programme processes and strategies.· Maintaining positive relationships with collaborators and other stakeholders at the local, national and regional level:· Participating in national and regional information-sharing and advocacy initiatives;· Documenting DRC’s work and producing briefing notes to be shared with collaborators;· Updating the project’s Yahoo Group and encouraging input from partners on a regular basis.· Informing him/herself of regular context analyses to ensure optimal relevance and impact in the countries of operation :· Producing briefing notes/contextual analyses to inform programme documentation;· Producing a quarterly Newsletter for the Project presenting DRC and partners’ activities, contextual updates, lessons learned and best practices.· Contributing to DRC’s accountability to the programme’s donor(s) by reaching the objectives set out in the programme documents and inputting into the provision of timely narrative and financial reports.· Masters’ degree in International Law, International Politics, Conflict Studies, Forced Migrations or related field;· At least 3 years’ professional experience with an international NGO working on conflict and displacement, preferably from a civil society/capacity-building perspective;· Solid programme management experience, including strategic planning, programme design, implementation and evaluation, and financial management;· Previous experience in advocacy is desirable;· Proven track record in M&E and knowledge management;· Outstanding communication skills (both written and spoken) in English and French;· Experience in at least one country of the Great Lakes region;· Willingness to travel regularly to countries within the region.Interested candidates who meet the required qualifications and experience are invited to submit updated CV and cover letter explaining their motivation and why they are suited for the post. Only motivated applications that address the stipulated duties and meet the required qualifications will be considered.Please forward the application and CV to drcjobs@drchoa.org, in English and marked “Programme Officer” by14 June, 2014.This position is open to Kenyan Nationals only