Project Officer - Cash

Founded in 1994, Acted is a non-governmental organization with headquarters in Paris, France. Independent, private and not-for-profit, Acted respects principles of strict neutrality and impartiality in its decisions, and operates according to non-discrimination and transparency principles. Acted endeavours to respond to humanitarian crises and build resilience; promote inclusive and sustainable growth; construct effective governance and support the building of civil society worldwide by investing in people and their potential. With a budget of 236 million EUR in 2017, Acted is active in almost 37 countries and implements more than 500 projects a year reaching over 14 million beneficiaries with 300 internal staff and 4,300 national staff worldwide.

In Pakistan, Acted has been active since 1993 and has provided assistance across all provinces to an estimated 6.9 million people. The assistance has included emergency response to meet the immediate and live-saving needs of natural disaster and complex emergency affected households, as well as recovery and development support in the form of education and livelihoods promotion and assistance.

JOB PURPOSE

The Project Officer - CASH, under operational guidance of the Project Manager/Deputy Project Manager and technical guidance of the Head of Programs and Projects Coordinator, is responsible for ensuring proper implementation of ACTED’s project in Sanghar & Jacobabad District. 

The Project Officer - CASH oversees field operations and ensures effective and timely completion of CASH activities, delivery of quality outputs and achievement of outcomes with maximum impact for beneficiaries.

OBJECTIVE

To ensure the project is implemented in a timely and professional manner, according to objectives, goals and indicators, in line with donor requirements and based on beneficiary needs.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Project Officer - Cash shall be responsible for:

• Lead and guide ACTED’s Cash Programme in the base. Ensure that planned activities are successfully implemented;
• In collaboration with the programme team and coordination, determine the strategic direction of the programme in the short and medium term and map out activities.
• Collaborate effectively with other line managers and the coordination team. 
• Collaborate with the Monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) to assess need, monitor activities, and evaluate cash progress. Ensure that lessons learned in the course of implementation are integrated into the programme to ensure that it remains responsive and relevant.
• Provide input and regularly review all FLAT Follow-Up for ongoing programmes together with the relevant department manager and Programme Coordinator;
• Be alert to opportunities arising for learning, collaboration and partnership that may enhance programme quality and responsiveness.
• Identify and interact with existing cash initiatives in the base, including UN, GO’s and NGO’s, and community initiatives.
• Develop and implement an exit strategy in collaboration with his/her team,MEALunit and the Programme Co-ordinator.
• Report regularly (as requested) to the Deputy/Project Manager.
• Translate in local language relevant documents or information during coordination visits/ IEC materials.
• Develop team capacity at both the individual and group level by organising/ facilitating trainings internally or through specialist agencies / individuals.  
• Work proactively to ensure that the projects are responsive and relevant to community needs.
• Accountability to Communities and Beneficiaries
• The staff member is responsible for ensuring that all relations with the communities we work are conducted in a respectful and consultative manner.  Due attention must be paid to ensuring that communities are adequately consulted and informed about ACTED programme objectives, activities, beneficiary selection criteria, and methodologies.  This is the responsibility of every ACTED staff member.

Programme Management

Implementation of Project Cycle Management Framework

The Project Officer - Cash will ensure that project cycle management tools, including the PMF and Log frame are developed together with Field Officers for all projects undertaken. He/she will ensure that project implementation is conducted within the parameters of the PMF and that this reflects the proposal objectives.

The Project Officer - Cash shall undertake regular field coordination visits to ensure that:

• Activities are correctly completed across the village tracts of intervention and that expected standards are met;
• Challenges to implementation are identified and addressed in a manner that takes into account beneficiary needs and expectations;
• Community / beneficiary feedback is collected and shared in programme and coordination meetings;
• Targeted indicators as stated in the Project Management Framework (PMF) and/or Log frame are met in a satisfactory manner;

Management of Project Staff

The Project Officer - Cash shall be responsible for the management of CFW staff and for ensuring that all CFW teams are comprehensively briefed on the objective, expected output and overall implementation strategy of any given activity. The CFW co-ordinator shall ensure that CFW staff are given training and complete all the necessary documentation in line with programme requirements.

Coordination

The Project Officer - Cash shall ensure that he/she regularly meets with HR, Finance, and Logistics Departments to ensure that support mechanisms such as the BFU, Procurement plan, and recruitment are completed on time and reflect operational realities/needs. 

Reporting

The Project Officer - Cash is expected to provide regular reports to the Programme Coordinator on the progress of the implementation of activities and on observations made during the mission and collaborate closely with theMEALunit as part of monitoring and evaluation activities.

Programme Development

Under the direction of the Area Coordinator and in coordination with AMEU, the Project Officer - Cash will take the lead in the preparation of, and may be expected to conduct, monitoring or assessment missions to any area as part of the strategic development of ACTED’s operations in the area (i.e. for the development of proposals, for the capitalisation of lessons learned, as part of a wider beneficiary / village selection process, etc.).

Completion of Programme Filing for Completed Projects

The Project Officer - Cash shall ensure all relevant filing is properly organised, up-to-date and complete for all projects. He/she shall, also work closely with the FLAT teams to support project reconciliation / general monthly follow-up exercises.

Commitment to Accountability to Communities

The Project Officer - Cash shall take the lead in the development and implementation of a programme-specific accountability framework to act as a guideline for all programme activities.

Facilitation

The Project Officer - Cash is expected to facilitate trainings or programme coordination meetings by translating and/or leading discussions. Moreover, he/she shall be in a position to present ACTED’s global and programmatic strategies and activities in meetings with Local Authorities/relevant forums.

Requirements:

• Demonstrated skills in carrying out technical designing and evaluation of CASH projects.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and experience in working effectively in an independent capacity and as a member of a team.
• Strong report writing skills.
• Ability to travel for work assignments in targeted union councils.

PSEAH Obligation:

Acted has zero tolerance approach on PSEAH matters and as an Acted employee It is my utmost duty to ensure full compliance of PSEAH policies in Acted and outside Acted as well. I will not engage in any PSEAH violations and will ensure team working under my supervision will also follow the same protocols. I shall not be involved in any sexual exploitation or abuse. I shall ensure to comply with the highest standards of moral and ethical conduct. Any incident of SEA shall be reported to Acted. Any failure by myside to take preventive measures against sexual exploitation or abuse, or to investigate allegations or take corrective action, shall constitute grounds for termination of the Agreement. For the purposes hereof, the following definitions shall be used.

Sexual exploitation means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another.

Sexual abuse means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.

Note: “ACTED is committed to protecting beneficiaries and staff within our programs from sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA). ACTED has a Code of Conduct and organizational policies, which outline the expected behavior of all staff, consultants and other stakeholders and reminds ACTED’s zero-tolerance approach. Any candidate offered a job with ACTED will sign those documents as part of their work contract and is expected to abide by them.” “ACTED is commitment to zero tolerance to all forms of violence against children, beneficiaries and staff. ACTED is equal opportunity employers. Females and minorities are encouraged to apply. Candidates with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Final selection will be based on security clearance of the candidate.”

Skills:

• Pro-active, well organized with sound planning, organizational, prioritization and problem-solving skills as well as effective verbal and written communication.
• Demonstrate attention to detail while keeping a strategic view, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines, and work both independently and cooperatively with team members and local government stakeholders, and will be prepared to spend extensive time with field teams.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and fluent in English, Urdu and other local languages.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• % of milestones completed on time as per the original plan 
• Project completed on time without the need for an NCE
• Project completed within budget flexibility (not requiring a budget amendment for project lines)
• % of contractual performance indicators achieved 
• Project records and documents (beneficiary lists, donation certificates, attendance sheets, payment sheets) available for all project activities
• Positive monitoring and evaluation reports (internal and external)
• Number of complaints received related to the project 
• % ineligible expenses on project budget lines
• % retention rate of project staff throughout project lifetime.