Assistant Manager, Somalia Stability Fund Project(SSF III)

BACKGROUND

Adam Smith International (ASI) is one of the leading providers of professional services in the international development space in Africa. In 2008, ASI established a regional office in Nairobi. For countries in East, Central and the Horn of Africa, it provides the foundation to drive significant business growth in the region through delivering high-quality projects with staff, oversight and offices located near to delivery, increasing effectiveness at developing networks and relationships, gaining political economy understanding, influencing policy & programming, and developing new markets.

ROLE

The Africa team is hiring an Assistant Manager to join the Project Management Unit of the Somalia Stability Fund III (a multi-donor fund active in Somalia since 2013 focused on governance, stability and peacebuilding programming in Somalia). No significant Business Development responsibilities are expected for this role.

KEY TASKS

1. Project Management and Reporting (30%):

   • Support the management of the successful delivery of the project to terms of reference, time, quality, cost and donor and Government satisfaction. This will include managing project finances, operations, risk mitigation, technical analysis, and management of consultants.

   • Lead the project’s events and coordination processes, and day to day financial management of Fund operations. Provide support to financial management, monitoring and evaluation, and risk management units.

   • Work with the Team Lead and other members of the Programme Management Unit (PMU) to ensure optimum consultant inputs and the achievement of the desired results. Regularly update the TL and Senior Manager (SM) on project team and consultant burn rates and performance, escalating immediately where there are issues/risks.

   • Work with ASI’s operational teams to ensure timely organisation of key SSF III events in Nairobi and Mogadishu.

   • Maintain awareness of and conversance with political economy and key topics in the project.

2. Financial Management and Risk Management (40%)

• Oversight of budget drafting and ensuring budgets are reviewed quarterly with all stakeholders

• Accurate financial forecasting and maintain early communication to the client on any changes.

• Ensure any incidents of fraud and corruption are raised with client in a timely manner.

• Review and approve of all project timesheets and invoices, and ensure timely submission to client, and clarify any issues raised.

• Ensure that financial and administrative processes and procedures are fit-for-purpose, effectively implemented and are in line with client and ASI’s internal requirements.

• Act as the coordinator of programmatic risk management within the SSF III team, working with the Head of Finance Risk and Procurement to liaise with the client and partners and update the programme risk matrix by taking input from the key team members

• Work with the Security team to ensure the application of duty of care and security provisions and protocols for the project team, particularly regarding project staff travel to Mogadishu.

• Update FCDO (the client) and the Project Director on key management and financial issues and risks that may affect project delivery.

• Ensure compliance with all ASI corporate policies and procedures and meet all ASI internal reporting requirements – Internal audit, DoC, IT, OS and Operations.

• Provide support on the management of personnel and staffing issues for SSF 3 including onboarding and timely mobilisation of consultants. Monitor any staff changes in line with ASI-Programme procedures.

3. M&E, Learning and VfM (10%): 

• Support the M&E Lead in the implementation of the M&E framework, and to ensure all MEL systems & approaches are applied consistently across the project.

• Support contract management of research and M&E firms contracted for the delivery of M&E services on the project.

• Adapt flexible project management while also capturing and sharing learning and following up on recommendations from project reviews/evaluations.

• As active member of ASI Somalia platform, proactively contribute to learnings and opportunities related to political economy and VfM.

• Working with the M&E Lead and the Finance Risk and Procurement (FRP) Lead to undertake VfM analysis for the quarterly/annual reports.

4. Relationships, Team Performance and Management (20%): 

• Build strong working relationships with the project team.

• Establish and maintain strong collaborative and effective working relations with the client. Act as focal point for client on day-to-day project operations, budget management, forecasting and invoicing.

• Establish and maintain strong relationships with counterparts and implementing partners, to ensure effectiveness in delivery of outputs.

• Manage the sourcing and contracting new team members, including negotiating fee rates and holding their contracts on file and managing their contracts, and those of consortium partners.

• Identify, contract and mobilise expert inputs and equipment/infrastructure based on needs identified by the project team.

• Ensure high quality of team members’ deliverables and professionalism while interacting with colleagues, counterparts and clients. 

• Act as the primary liaison between the project’s core team and key ASI functions – IT, OS, platform operations, DoC, P&T.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Project deliverables completed on time and within budget.

• Accurate expenses and fees forecasts submitted on time.

• All classified risks to project documented, mitigated and escalated if necessary.

• Strong and effective relationships developed with government counterparts, FCDO and other key stakeholders.

• Development and maintenance of a team culture within the project team that reflects ASI values;

• Increased corporate knowledge of industry and political developments within Somalia.

• Ensuring Duty of Care is provided for all staff.

QUALIFICATION:

• A post-graduate degree in Economics, Business Administration, Social Sciences or equivalent.

EXPERIENCE:

• At least 2 years of relevant professional experience.

• Experience in fragile states.

• Experience in Sub-Saharan Africa/horn of Africa.

COMPETENCIES:

• Planning and delivering results.

• Quality and accountability.

• Continuous improvement.

• Managing complexity.

• Innovation and change management.

• Communication and knowledge management.

• Leadership and direction.

• Collaboration and teamwork.

• Personal impact and effectiveness.

• Proven ability to work under pressure.

KNOWLEDGE:

• • Good understanding of our clients and the marketplace, including:

    • Strategy

    • Political trends

    • Awareness of future business opportunities

  • Understanding of the theory and current trends in Somalia.

  • Some understanding of how to balance operational needs with budgets.

SKILLS:

• Good negotiation skills.

• Good complex proposal writing skills.

• Advanced project management skills.

• Good people management skills.

• Good budget, finance and forecasting skills.

• Ability to build effective, credible client relationships and networks.

• Excellent computer skills, especially Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

• Outstanding written English and communication skills.

• Superb attention to detail.

ATTITUDE:

It is crucial for overall project and business performance that all ASI PMs bring an energetic, positive and solution-oriented attitude to co-lead their team:

• A passion for East Africa development.

• Interest and experience in working in developing and conflict-affected environments.

• Enthusiasm, dynamism and flexibility.

• Self-starter, showing great initiative and readiness to take the lead on the key areas of responsibility.

• Proactive communicator, interacting frequently via informal and formal channels with key collaborators, especially TL, DTL, PD, workstream leads and FCDO programme manager.

• Positive, solution-oriented, can-do.