ECCD Project Coordinator for NORAD ECCD Project

Job Title: ECCD Project Coordinator for NORAD ECCD Project (Promotion of Early Childhood Care and Development of Ethnic Minority Children)
Reports to: Education Program Manager (with indirect reporting – dotted line to Health and WASH Program Managers)
Unit/ Department: Program Department
Staff Directly Supervised (position): Project Officers (01 staff)
Working Location: CO
Effective date: July 201

Job purpose

To ensure efficient and effective project coordination of Plan’s NORAD funded ECCD Project, according to the project design agreed by the donor agency and Plan Vietnam and in line with the approaches and activities as outlined in Plan Vietnam’s ECCD programs. The job holder needs to ensure quality support to the project implementation in Plan project areas and deliver and communicate on key results for poor and excluded children in disadvantaged districts. Timely and qualitative reporting needs to be guaranteed related to the conditions provided by the donor as well as internally in Plan as part of the Country Program “ECCD in Ethnic Minority Areas” requirements.  

Job responsibilities

Project Coordination

- Responsible for overall quality project implementation and assure quality standards are met, including progress towards predefined results and milestones;
- Design detailed implementation plans, including monitoring and evaluation frameworks, for the project and develop Plan specific Project Outline (PO) for the Country office execution;
- Provide technical support to PUs in developing their detailed implementation plans and Project Outline (PO) to ensure these plans are in line with the project overall plans;
- Provide technical designs for each activity in line with Plan in Vietnam’s Program approach and develop contextualized supporting instruments (manuals, IEC, guidelines, etc.);
- Lead and manage the project team and support implementing partners through demonstration of expert knowledge, problem solving abilities and timely delivery of technical support;
- Submit project plans and reports in a timely fashion as required by the donor agency and Plan in Vietnam internally;
- Coordinate and liaise with other Plan in Vietnam Departments and units, including Finance, Communications, DOS and other Programs Units (in particular Parenting/community engagement; Quality education; and Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health programs);
- Ensure effective coordination with the line manager and affiliated managers on Plan’s involvement in national initiatives, including the identification and pursuance of key messages for advocacy at all levels.
- Proactively coordinate with Plan Norway, international and national experts to ensure that technical support is in place to maximize quality implementation of the project.

Finance and Human Resource

- Responsible for timely delivery and spending of project outputs and activities, closely monitor spending of the project and propose periodical adjustments to ensure overall achievement of spending targets is met;
- Involvement in recruitment, selection, performance management and capacity building for Plan project staff;
- Lead, manage and coach a team of project staff effectively;
- Identify need for recruitment of external consultants or resources and manage those accordingly.

Networking

- Represent Plan in related national networks, establish partnerships and liaise with key players and organizations;
- Assist the Program Manager and Program Director in their representation of the project to the Embassy of Norway in Vietnam.

Learning and Innovation

- Identify key learning and mainstream innovation in the project from other project experiences in and outside of Vietnam;
- Identify and lead specific researches to further enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the project interventions;
- Lead the documentation of best practices and lessons learnt from the project.
- Assure disability inclusion within the ECCD Country Program as well as facilitate the gradual adoption of disability inclusion in all Plan Vietnam’s Programs.

Donor relationships

- Provide input to the line manager and affiliated managers to respond to possible donor queries;
- Overall responsible for organizing internal and external visits to the project sites;
- Ensure accurate and timely reporting on project progress and results achieved.

Qualifications

- University graduate in related field

Experience

- Minimum of five years experience in project management (including financial management) in the field of early childhood care and development in rural Vietnam, preferably in ethnic minority areas;
- Sound people management skills, preferably with experience in managing teams working in hardship environments;
- Experience in working with Government agencies and other partners at different levels;
- Demonstrated experience in leading project monitoring and evaluation initiatives;
- Experience in coaching, training and facilitation, working with children and communities and managing child-related programs and projects.

Knowledge and skills

- Result-oriented, pro-active, a strong team builder;
- Sensitive to working with stakeholders to get their buy-in and active participation;
- Understanding of using a rights-based approach to development and child rights approaches in particular;
- Basic knowledge and experiences on disability inclusion in programming and implementation
- Knowledge of practical lobbying and advocacy tools;
- Negotiation skills at an advanced level;
- Advanced conceptual and analytical skills;
- Ability to build external relationships and networks at an advanced level;
- Good written and oral communication skills in English.

Interested candidates please send applications to [email protected] before 18th September 2012.