Job Description

Title: Project Coordinator- BGD 1051-23 Project, FIVDB

Company Name: Friends in Village Development Bangladesh (FIVDB)

Vacancy: 1

Job Location: Sirajganj, Sirajganj (Sirajganj Sadar)

Employment Status: Full-time

Educational Requirements:
∎ Master’s in Agriculture/Social Science/MBA from reputed national or international universities.
∎ At least seven years of professional experiences in agriculture, economic development, Rural service provision, livelihood, market & entrepreneurs/value chain development, Climate change adaptation & mitigation, Community organization development, behavior change communications.

Experience Requirements:
∎ At least 7 year(s)

Job Context:
∎ Friends in Village Development Bangladesh (FIVDB) is going to implement the “Strengthening Rural Advisory Services to Support the Economic Situation of Women in the Char Region of Bangladesh / Rural Advisory Services for Women Empowerment (RASWE).” project funded by the Welthungerhilfe (WHH).
∎ The project aims to improve income and employment opportunities for poor women by promoting rural advisory services, agricultural entrepreneurship and strengthened civil society to bring about gender-transformative change and sustainably empower women as self-determined agents of change who shape positive change in society.
∎ Public extension services remain the backbone of the Rural Advisory Services (RAS) system in Bangladesh, while the private sector and civil society complement existing public services. Despite having multiple or permanent bases on the ground, the effectiveness of government agricultural extension organisations or agencies is hampered by a lack of resources, and an often top-down approach as well as the extension services tend to cater mainly for the needs of large farmers who can adopt new technologies comparatively easier than their small-scale farmers. Moreover, it has been reviled that access to extension services remains limited particularly for farmers living in the remote areas of Bangladesh, such as the Char regions of the country. In such places, farmers particularly women, face difficulties in accessing appropriate RAS infrastructure. As a result of such limitations in accessing adequate information, agricultural product outlets or comprehensive financial services the ability of farmers to increase their productivity becomes significantly constrained. On the other hand , the private sector is usually not very active in the fields of agricultural advisory and extension services delivery. Their model of reaching out to farmers tends to be through agro-dealers, who are often static service points usually located in Upazila headquarters and permanent markets. Such places are typically inaccessible to most women and often provide a limited range of products to farmers. Furthermore, the non-governmental and civil society organisations in Bangladesh, have a strong presence on the ground and offer microcredit services together with microfinance institutions, where the majority of the beneficiaries are women. And a large proportion of the loans made available to communities are utilized mainly for consumptive rather than productive purposes. Also, the non-governmental organisations services mainly Donor depended on which is not sustainable for the long run. The overall objective of this project is to improve the socio-economic situation of economically vulnerable and politically marginalised women in the rural district of Sirajganj in the Char region.
∎ With the partnership of FIVDB, the project will focus in Sirajganj Sadar Upazila under Sirajganj district. The duration of the project is 3 years, and the job is contractual for the project period. The position will be recruited for implementing the project based at the Project Office at Sirajgonj district with substantial field activities.

Job Responsibilities:
∎ The Project Coordinator will be overall responsible for the project and its effective management including planning, supervision, monitoring, evaluation, strategic discussions and issue-based decision making. The project coordinator will manage the overall project implementation and meets the donors’ compliance. He/she will supervise all the staff at the partner level and ensure timely completion of all the project activities within the framework of the project. He/She will also be responsible for finance and programme planning, liaison with Government, Non-govt and private sectors, conduct monthly, quarterly review meetings and joint field visits including reporting, documentation and case story writing. He/she will be responsible for coordinating the project at Upazila and District level. The project coordinator will coordinate and provide regular reports to Welthungerhilfe as per the requirements.
∎ A. Program Management and Coordination:
∎ Ensure overall coordination and communication between Welthungerhilfe and FIVDB, local authority as well as Local Administration
∎ Overall Responsible for smooth and effective implementation of the Project within the set objectives and given framework in the Project working area.
∎ Ensure overall collaboration, coordination and networking with different Govt organisations and Private sector organisations such as DAE, DLS, DoF, and women-led civil society organisations/ networks
∎ Achievement of the project’s outputs as measured by the log frame indicators.
∎ Responsible for the management of project inputs including staff, financial resources, equipment and other logistics, transportation and communication.
∎ Be responsible for development of all key government approval documents at field level regarding Gov processes
∎ Field visits and monitoring the operations of the project team and observe the program application and its benefits to the target groups.
∎ Prepare project activities and Monitoring Plan and reporting to Respective donor representative and FIVDB management on monthly, quarterly, annually as required.
∎ Ensure required technical assistance to field staff (Technical Experts & Field Officer) and community resource persons as and when needed for successful implementation of the program.
∎ Conduct monthly staff coordination meeting to coordinate upcoming activities and schedules and identify and resolve problems.
∎ Ensure appropriate Financial and Administrative Management at Upazila/District level in compliance with organizational rules/guideline.
∎ Act as a custodian for the project work plan and monitor progress in respect to specific deliverables and time frame.
∎ Arrange, organize and conduct workshops, trainings, coordination meetings and advocacy meetings as spelled out in the operational module of the Project.
∎ Coordinate with Donor’s team.
∎ B. Human Resources Management:
∎ Build and nurture effective teamwork in the Upazila and District level and ensure best relationship with GoB staff, private sector entrepreneurs and CSOs for the effective project implementation.
∎ Capacity building of project staff and communities to achieve the project outputs. Provide on job training, coaching and mentoring of the staff.
∎ Assist recruitment of staffs.
∎ Supervise effective functioning of staffs and conduct annual staff appraisal.
∎ Identify and effectively resolves staff issues to ensure there is minimum negative impact on program, GoB and Private sector Partners and beneficiaries.
∎ Initiate appropriate disciplinary measures to the concerned staff as and when required, in consultation with organizational Focal Person.
∎ Assess needs and provides staff with skill development opportunities for ensuring maximum contribution toward achieving program & organizational goals
∎ C. Finance and Administration:
∎ Monitor all expenditures at field level and take action where variances exist.
∎ Take leading part preparing the budget in consultation with focal point and donor.
∎ Ensure that all expenditure incurred in accordance with budget line and budget limit.
∎ Prepare procurement plan, ensure to arrange procurement as per FIVDB and Donor’s rule/ policy of regular items and other day to day usable materials for Project offices.
∎ Ensure the Security and Logistics of the Office.
∎ Assist Finance & Admin Officer to prepare financial report as per organizational policy.
∎ Take leading part to conduct internal & external audit
∎ D. Representation, Communication & Reporting:
∎ Attend meetings with GoB, other NGO’s and Donor at City, Division, District as well as Upazila level.
∎ Represent the organization and project in different meeting/forum/platform for wider visibility
∎ Coordinate development of team action plans.
∎ Conduct meetings with District and Upazila staff as spelled out in the operational plan.
∎ Arrange visit for internal and external visitors.
∎ Prepare reports both Programmatic and Financial and ensure its timely onward transmission.
∎ Capture learnings, innovations and best practices including writing case stories and dissemination.
∎ E. Others Activities
∎ Conduct / perform any other responsibility when asked by the reportable person for the interest of the Program.

Additional Requirements:
∎ Age 25 to 56 years
∎ Minimum 5 years practical experiences in managing agriculture and market development project/ program
∎ Knowledge and experiences on Rural Advisory Services (RAS) promotion
∎ Experience on women economic empowerment through promoting women agro entrepreneurship.
∎ Knowledge and experience in working both public sector and Private sector organisations
∎ Ability to work in a team and with good networking and interpersonal skills
∎ Ability to generate new ideas/innovation and ways of working to continuously improve existing work processes, practices, and concepts.
∎ Practical knowledge and experiences on IEC/BCC materials development.
∎ Excellent communication skills, with good written and spoken English
∎ Skill in Computer software as MS-Office, MS Excel and MS Power Point.
∎ Considerable understanding of rural markets, value chain approaches and rural service provision.
∎ Good reporting and documentation skills
∎ Ability to drive motorcycle with having valid driving license.
∎ Ability to work under stressful situations and meet deadlines.

Salary:
∎ Tk. 80000 - 110000 (Monthly)
∎ Deduction of Tax at Source

Compensation & Other Benefits:
∎ Weekly 2 holidays, Mobile bill
∎ Salary Review: Yearly
∎ Festival Bonus: 1
∎ As per the project policy of FIVDB and the budgeted provision of this project.

Job Source: Bdjobs.com Online Job Posting.

Application Deadline: 20 Sep 2023

Company Information:
∎ 16 Sep 2023
∎ Friends in Village Development Bangladesh (FIVDB)
∎ Address : FIVDB, Khadimnagar, Sylhet-3103
∎ Business : FIVDB is a development organization, established in 1979. Its major operation cover 7 major districts and concentrates round in the north-east of Bangladesh. It mission is to give disadvantage women, men and children greater voice, reduce their vulnerability, increase use of citizenship rights and help them enhance their quality of life.

Category: NGO/Development

: FIVDB affirms the 'ZERO' tolerance approach against sexual exploitation and abuse. And is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work including sexual harassment, lack of integrity, and financial misconduct, and expects staff to promote the welfare of children and adults at all times. FIVDB expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our Code of Conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate this commitment are recruited to work with us.FIVDB is an equal-opportunity organization and any kind of persuasion will be construed as automatic disqualification.Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview.Join us on our Facebook page for more updates: www.facebook.com/fivdbngo