Call for recruitment
Job Title: Project Coordinator, Climate Change Adaptation Specialist
Job Location: CECI Rwanda Kigali Office
Supervisor: Country Director
Duration of the mandate: 1-year contract (possibility of renewal up to 3 years)
Start date: As soon as possible
Deadline to apply : January 14, 2025
CONTEXT
The Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) is a Canadian non-profit organization founded in 1958, headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Since its creation, CECI’s mission has been to combat poverty, exclusion and inequality. To this end, CECI aims to improve the economic and social well-being of the poorest and most marginalized people in Africa, Asia and the Americas through its programs and projects. CECI particularly aims to strengthen the place and leadership of women and young women as agents of change for sustainable and inclusive development. By sharing their skills and expertise, and working closely with local partners, CECI contributes to strengthening the economic power of women and young women and the resilience of communities in the face of climate change.
In Rwanda, CECI supports the strengthening of women’s economic power in green growth and contributes to environmental protection and climate resilience with the integration of the gender transformative approach in all interventions. Although considerable progress has been made for gender equality in Rwanda, particularly at the political level; in general the situation of women within their household is different while the sharing of roles and responsibilities for family care are mainly ensured by women.
Also to achieve its mission, CECI Rwanda works closely with various partners, local institutions and organizations, civil society networks (mostly networks of women’s organizations), the private sector, state services and other technical and financial partners as well as other organizations and actors in the implementation of the following themes: i) Strengthening the economic power of women, ii) gender equality and equity as well as iii) environmental protection, adaptation and resilience to climate change.
In this context, with the financial support of the International Climate Cooperation Program of the Government of Quebec (PCCI), CECI and its key partners ACORD Rwanda, University of Rwanda and Université Laval are preparing to implement a 3-year project entitled “Women engaged in climate resilience in Rwanda (FEREC)”. This project aims to support the adaptation to climate change (CC) of women farmers and their communities in part of the Akagera watershed, more precisely in the Kirehe District, Gahara sector, in the Eastern Province and to reduce the vulnerability of women farmers’ agricultural economic activities to CC and to sustainably strengthen their adaptation and resilience capacities.
NATURE AND SCOPE OF THE POSITION
The Project Coordinator – Manager and Specialist in Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (CP-ACC) reports to the CECI-Rwanda Country Director. She contributes to the strategic and operational management of the project, while ensuring the alignment of all partners’ actions, and ensures the achievement of the expected results. The CP-ACC coordinates all project activities including those entrusted to the partners involved in: adoption of climate-smart regenerative agriculture solutions by members of agricultural organizations as well as their capacity to implement innovative agricultural models based on soil health and agroecology; improving the performance of agricultural organizations (OAs) to develop a green economy by making agricultural value chains profitable with improved conservation and agro-processing processes as well as the leadership and influence of women on OA governance processes and natural resource management and CC adaptation policies.
The CP-ACC ensures that all project activities that target climate change adaptation (CCA) solutions are gender-sensitive and inclusive governance principles. Finally, this person will also contribute to the monitoring-evaluation-learning and accountability of the project.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The project coordinator – Manager and specialist in adaptation to climate change (CP-ACC) ensures both the administrative management of the project as well as the planning, operational relations with partners, implementation and monitoring of all activities implemented.
Ensure effective project implementation
- Manage and coordinate the implementation of project activities to achieve objectives and results effectively and efficiently.
- Coordinate, together with the Director of CECI in Rwanda, the development and signing of collaboration agreements with partners;
- Ensure monitoring of the execution and quality of project activities in accordance with the Performance Measurement Framework and the project’s annual work plans;
- Ensure compliance with the conditions of the Grant Agreement, the agreed clauses and the requirements between the International Climate Cooperation Programme and CECI.
- Lead follow-up meetings with the project team and partners.
- Oversee the production of project planning documents and reports in collaboration with national partners, in accordance with the requirements of the PCCI Convention;
- Participate in the coordination of research activities carried out by the two partner universities and other partner organizations as well as capitalization actions with academic partners, partner organizations, technical services and local authorities to identify best practices and scaling-up opportunities.
- Ensure strict application of the CECI security manual by the project team and all partners.
- Promote synergies with other relevant ongoing activities and projects on similar themes or in the same regions;
- Share information, collect best practices and integrate new modalities, policies and evaluation methods to improve project effectiveness.
- Clarify the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders by involving them in planning and informing them of implementation plans.
- Participate in CECI technical working groups when necessary.
- Maintain strong relationships with key partners to encourage and facilitate their participation in the project.
- Organize meetings, workshops and events, including the launch of the project with all stakeholders (government, technical and financial partners, civil society, private sector, agricultural and women’s organizations, youth, etc.).
- Plan and organize the half-yearly and annual project reviews according to the requirements of the PCCI and CECI
- Coordinate the baseline situation of CMR indicators, and interim and final assessments and gender-sensitive tools.
- Contribute with partners to the development of tools for coordinating and monitoring development actions within communities.
- Perform any other tasks required by the supervisor related to the development of CECI programming in Rwanda.
Establish appropriate mechanisms and procedures for the proper management of project resources
- Effective management and supervision of the financial aspects of the project, ensuring that all CECI Rwanda and PCCI management and procurement rules and procedures are respected;
- Ensure sound management of the project’s human, material and financial resources.
- Authorize project expenditures in accordance with CECI and PCCI standards.
- Develop project execution budgets and share them with relevant stakeholders.
- Monitor budget execution and ensure the quality of monthly financial reports with the support of the accounting manager.
- Plan and forecast expenditures, project activities, purchases and recruitment to ensure compliance with the Convention and the project budget, and avoid any overspending or underspending.
- Provide accurate and timely financial data to finance staff for planning, reporting and auditing.
Relations with partners and communities in the Akagera watershed implementation region (Gahara Sector – Kirehe District)
- Lead the consultation and community participation processes implemented by partners by integrating intersectional gender analysis;
- Design, with the support of implementing partners and communities, the participatory intervention approach and methodology with the objectives pursued for this purpose;
- Ensure that evidence from activities is collected and that a database is available;
- See to the sharing and dissemination of the knowledge and learning generated;
- Carry out any other tasks inherent to the project, agreed with the management of CECI Rwanda.
Required qualifications
- Be of Rwandan nationality
- Have a Master’s degree in environment or climate change mitigation with at least 3 years of experience in the field of environment and community resilience;
- Have very good project management skills;
- A minimum of 6 years of experience in project management and on the themes of agroecology and adaptation to climate change and improving the resilience and performance of agricultural economic activities of communities;
- Proven inclusive leadership and strong ability to coordinate the actions of multiple partners;
- Good understanding of gender equality issues at the community level and skills to act to transform power relations in favour of women and other marginalised groups;
- Proven management and administrative skills, including knowledge of financial and narrative reporting procedures.
- Strong experience in planning, monitoring-learning and project implementation.
- Strong analytical skills and good knowledge of the development issues in the project intervention area.
- Experience working with international development partners (local and international), international non-governmental organizations and donors;
- Experience working with government (central and local), private sector and civil society.
- Experience in implementing Results Based Management (RBM) concepts and principles is required.
- Very good knowledge of spoken and written French. Knowledge of English is an asset. Being able to communicate directly in the local language is an asset;
- Comfortable with computer tools, in particular, word processing, Microsoft 365, spreadsheets, the Internet and online videoconferencing tools.
- Available for regular travel within the project intervention area;
- Have adaptability, flexibility, excellent teamwork skills and cultural sensitivity.
Conditions of employment:
Fixed-term contract which may not exceed the duration of the project.
- The employment conditions will be the subject of a contract with CECI, with a three-month probationary period during the first year.
- The candidate must be free of any commitment to other potential employers.
- Expected start date of employment: February 2025
SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS
Candidates interested in this position who meet the required requirements must send a complete file, by email only , including the following documents:
- Cover letter specifying the title of the position addressed to Madam Country Director of CECI in Rwanda;
- A detailed CV highlighting the candidate’s skills, abilities and experience relevant to the position, including the names and contact details of three reference contacts;
Applications must be sent only by email to the following address: recrutement.cecirwanda@ceci.ca , no later than January 14, 2025.
NB : Only those pre-selected for an interview will be contacted.
CECI is an employer that values diversity and respects employment equity .
