Program Support Officer ( Administration, Grants And Communications)- (IRC)

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is one of the largest humanitarian agencies in the world, providing relief, rehabilitation and post-conflict reconstruction support to victims of oppression and violent conflict. IRC has worked for over seven decades and today is involved in over 42 countries worldwide. We address both the immediate, lifesaving needs of conflict affected people in an emergency and the reconstruction needs in post conflict societies. IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and detailed accountability to those we serve.

The International Rescue Committee began programming in Zimbabwe in 2008 to support the cholera emergency response and has since been a key player in health, WASH, markets development, disaster risk reduction and capacity building. Through its WASH interventions, the IRC ensures that affected communities are protected from water, sanitation, and hygiene-related diseases, and works to increase access to safe water and sanitation facilities. The IRC has implemented WASH interventions in Nyanga, Mutare, Chipinge, Chiredzi, Mutare and Chimanimani districts for over 12 years. In 2019, the IRC provided emergency WASH and protection (GBV) support to Cyclone Idai affected communities in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts. Furthermore, the IRC is implementing a multi-year resilience building program “Program for Growth and Resilience (PROGRESS) in Nyanga and Beitbridge Districts, in partnership with four other organizations. PROGRESS seeks to increase household income while diversifying and strengthening livelihoods opportunities; introduce climate smart agricultural practices; develop balanced irrigation technology for small holder farmers; improve disaster risk management at grassroots levels; and develop crop and livestock value chains with potential to link farmers to markets and financial institutions. In March 2020, the IRC adapted its programming and infused COVID – 19 containment activities in the existing IRC programming in Beitbridge, Chimanimani, Chipinge and Nyanga Districts to support the efforts of the Government of Zimbabwe in containing the spread of the pandemic.

The IRC is currently implementing a fifteen-month Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project in Beitbridge District supported by the Bureau for Humanitarian Affairs (BHA). The project seeks to support food insecure communities, especially vulnerable men, women, girls, and boys, recovering from multiple crises in the districts of Chimanimani, Chipinge, and Beitbridge through the provision of productive assets; income generation streams; Water, Sanitation, and Health (WASH) services; and protection from Gender Based Violence (GBV).

Scope of work

The Program Support Officer (Administration, Grants and Communications) will coordinate the collection, compilation, consolidation, and analysis of data on all program purchases, material deliveries and warehouse requests to track progress made by the program and grants on the ground versus the expenditures on the BVAs. S/he will also conduct development research. S/he is responsible for establishing and ensuring better record management systems for the country program in relation to expenditures and procurements and maintains an up-to-date record of all procurement requests at all the various stages. S/he will maintain an up-to-date record of leave accruals and utilization for all program staff. The incumbent will closely work with program staff across all the IRC field offices in Zimbabwe and will work in provide a link between the program staff and all the IRC support departments and reports to the Deputy Director of Programs (DDP).

Specific duties and responsibilities

Grant Management: Track reporting deadlines on all grants and ensure that relevant people make contributions on the deliverables on time; Provide a link for the country team with the regional awards management team; Ensure all requisite program documentation are kept up to date on OTIS and in country filling system; Coordinate and facilitate Project Cycle Meetings (PCM) on a quarterly basis; Assist in developing weekly, monthly, quarterly, half year and annual reports on program purchases, expenditure and implementation by grant and by site; Develop and share tracking reports for purchase requests, purchase orders, warehouse deliveries and warehouse requests by field office and by grant with program staff.

Communication: Ensure communication products including fliers and banners are crafted and approved in line with donor visibility guidelines; Lead in crafting media content for the country program activities in consultation with the CD and DDP; Review program reports and ensure they are of the encouraged quality before they are submitted to the regional office and the donors; Regularly update the brand folder for the country program on the IRC website.

Administration: Provide an effective link between the program staff with support departments including Finance, Security, HR and Supply Chain; Record all purchase requests and supervise their progress through the procurement process and provide weekly summaries by grant and location; Ensure that program expenditure is in line with project budgets, spending plans and procurement. Reconcile program expenditure by grant and specific expenditure lines with actual project implementation ensuring that any changes and deviations are noted, detailed and authorized; Record all deliveries and track the utilization of materials from the IRC warehouse to the project sites ensuring that materials are used for the grants and activities relevant to them; Record, track and summarize leave accruals, requests and utilization for all program staff; Create and maintain a paper trail for all program activities, purchases and expenditures by grant and project site; Provide administration support to the Deputy Director Programs and the Country Director.

Contribution to Efficiency of the Program: Work collaboratively with different programs for strengthening integration and cross-learning in programs Proactively volunteer for various team activities; Show an eagerness to tackle any other tasks assigned by the line manager.

Skills and experience

Relevant BSc in communications, development studies, social sciences or any relevant degree with experience of reviewing assessing, reviewing and supervising expenditures; Very good command of spreadsheets; Command of written English to produce documents and reports in good standard; Ability to maintain good working relationship with colleagues and partners; Experience in collecting and collating qualitative and quantitative data; Ability to work with data collection and analysis software; Accuracy and paying attention to details, in order to produce high quality documents and maintain good records; Dedication to IRC values and principles; Knowledge of the local languages will be an added advantage.