POSITION: Project Manager - Women’s Financial & Economic Empowerment Initiative

DEPARTMENT: International Development Foundation, ILCU

REPORTING TO: International Development Programme Manager

The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) International Department seeks to recruit a project manager on an interim basis, based in Dublin with substantial travel.

Job Description

We are hiring an interim Project Manager to join our team. The individual’s main responsibility will be to lead the Women’s Financial & Economic Empowerment (WFEE) project in Ethiopia, particularly the first phase termed the “Challenges & Opportunity Mapping” phase. The individual will also be responsible for advance planning and stakeholder engagement for the equivalent “Challenges & Opportunity Mapping” phases for Rwanda and Tanzania.

The Ethiopian project runs as a companion project to IFAD’s RUFIP III (Rural Financial Intermediation Programme III (ifad.org). The initial phase of the WFEE project entails the project management of the country-specific studies to understand the main challenges faced by women and girls in accessing rural finance, as well as the challenges faced by the APEX bodies and local RuSACCOs in supporting them. More details on the research included in the Addendum below.

Job Type

Interim position, duration 6 month contract (May-October 2024)

Background

The mission of the International Department Foundation of the Irish League of Credit Unions (Foundation) is to alleviate poverty in developing countries by supporting credit unions and their representative bodies through the provision of financial and technical assistance. We are delivering credit union projects with funding from Irish Aid, IFAD and a number of other donor agencies, in line with best international practice.

Main duties include:

Project Management:

• Manage all aspects of the project ensuring that all key elements are delivered on time, within scope and budget. This includes aspects such as general coordination, quality control, consultant management, planning, resourcing, financial reporting, identification and management of issues, risks, dependencies, linking with IFAD Project Management Units.
• Develop Terms of Reference for the main research studies to be conducted in Ethiopia. These terms of reference will need to be reviewed by the key stakeholders for review and feedback.
• Issue tenders for the Terms of Reference, following IFAD’s procurement guidelines.
• Lead the evaluation of the bidders, including development of an evaluation scorecard and record the evaluation results.
• Maintain and file the required procurement documentation.
• Maintain and develop stakeholder relationships as well as maintaining the stakeholder mapping document.
• Establish the required project governance.
• Develop and maintain the project plan, resourcing charts and the main action log.
• Prepare for and conduct the key governance meetings, including development and issuing of the meeting materials and minutes on a timely basis.
• Work with and develop a team of highly experienced credit union experts on a consultant or contractual basis to support project objectives.
• Develop detailed, actionable plans for implementation, through active collaboration with the IFAD RUFIP III programme.
• Provide weekly project updates to the International Development Programme Manager and highlight any issues promptly.
• Extensive direct engagement with partners and stakeholders involving travel for up to 4 weeks during the assignment.
• Coach and develop the Foundation’s programme support officer over the course of the assignment.

Grant and Contract Management Support:

• Manage donor reporting and liaison requirements to a high standard, including ensuring that an effective monitoring and evaluation system is in place.
• Liaise with and support partners on a regular basis, facilitating the flow of accurate and timely information, including the completion of reporting templates, between country partners and Foundation HQ.
• Support the monitoring of project expenditure on a monthly basis, using information from the country partners and Finance & Compliance Officer to monitor spend, and review cost forecasts.
• Supporting colleagues in ensuring that partners are delivering in compliance with contractual terms and conditions (e.g., procurements, movements across budget lines etc.; and also delivering in compliance with policies (e.g., safeguarding, fraud etc.).
• Ensure all expenditure by country partners is pre-approved and fully accounted for with the necessary documentation, based on guidance from the International Development Programme Manager, Finance & Compliance Officer and as per the Foundation’s policies and procedures.
• Ensure all project documentation is recorded and filed, with individual Donor files (including proposal applications, contracts, submitted reports and donor email communications) maintained for grant funded projects.
• Develop a calendar of key dates (e.g., report due dates etc.) and share this with the country partners and the Foundation team, this will include ‘lead-in’ times for report development.

Administration:

• Ensure adherence with ILCUF policies, processes and systems.
• Specify and manage contracts for consultants as required.
• Represent ILCUF at external meetings as required.
• Undertake other routine tasks related to the ILCUF’s activities as required.

Person Specification

Essential:

• A third level qualification in a relevant discipline such as Business, Development Studies, Law, Sociology, Business Administration, Economics or Engineering.
• Proven project management experience.
• Experience in stakeholder management and development.
• A focus on continuous learning & development, creating insights from one phase to inform successor phases.
• Enthusiastic and flexible work attitude; an ability to work productively in a multi-cultural team and independently; prepared to work outside normal working hours if needed.

Desirable:

• Significant experience with an international development organisation, ideally overseas.
• Research experience with a demonstrated ability to turn research findings into actionable project components.
• Experience in proposal development, report writing and grant management.
• Past experience working in international microfinance/credit union development.
• Commitment to and familiarity with the principles and ethos of the credit union movement.

Addendum

The role will involve stakeholder engagement and management across a diverse range of stakeholders. Four studies are anticipated at the Macro, Meso and Micro levels. Each study will deliver a set of findings and prioritised recommendations, supported by a costed implementation and resource plan. The studies are:

1. RuFIP III Portfolio Analysis:

Purpose: Increase transparency of IfAD portfolio disbursement to RuSACCOs including as it relates to gender and other development indicators. Examine the extent to which women, including young women, access the available financial services and utilize them for productive purposes that enhance their livelihoods and build their resilience against shocks.

2. Gender Analysis at Macro Level / Policy Environment:

Purpose: Inform Policy Advocacy Strategy for Women’s Financial & Economic Empowerment.

3. Gender Analysis at Meso level / Capacity assessment of the apex organisations:

Purpose: The primary purpose of this gender analysis at the meso level (the unions and the regional federations) in Ethiopia is to understand the gender-related barriers and inequalities that impede the promotion of financial inclusion especially for women, in the context of services provided by apex organisations and how this can be improved.

4. Gender Analysis at Micro level:

Purpose: Assess available financial products and services tailored to women, including young women, and assess utilization of the financial resources by these groups.

The findings from the studies will be used to identify barriers to women in accessing rural finance. The studies will also identify gaps in existing financial inclusion policies and regulatory protocols in order to inform supportive policies for women’s financial inclusion. These studies will also help the APEX bodies, local RuSACCOs, IFAD and other development partners to have a better understanding of the context and where to direct future investments and capacity building initiatives.

The research will be desk-based to the extent possible but will be supplemented by first-hand interviews, surveys and in certain cases, focus groups. The work will take advantage of close relationships with the IFAD PMUs to share these findings with Government to maximise their policy influence. The project manager will be required to work with the research leads to develop an overall integrated implementation plan for the subsequent phase, including the scope of the main initiatives, costs, resourcing required and the main internal and external dependencies together with an appropriate governance and risk management framework.

Applications to:

Rebecca Brunton, ILCU HR Manager
Email address: rbrunton@creditunion.ie

Closing Date: 14th May 2024