Cash and Livelihoods Project Manager Iraq Kirkuk-Iraq Nationals Only

Background

The Norwegian Refugee Council in Iraq is looking for an experienced professional to lead the implementation of livelihoods programmes as Cash and Livelihoods Project Manager in Central Area Office. The Kirkuk based role presents an exciting opportunity to shape programming related to emergency response and returns.

The Central Area Office portfolio currently focuses on integrated livelihoods, legal assistance, and education programming. Livelihoods interventions include agriculture and water infrastructure rehabilitation combined with material and capacity support to farmers and business owners, and emergency cash assistance in areas with immediate needs. The legal assistance programme entails information, counselling, and legal assistance to individuals and households on legal civil documentation as well as housing, land and property rights issues. NRC’s education projects entail material support to schools, rehabilitation of key educational infrastructure, and capacity building of teachers, including in addressing children’s psycho-educational needs.

Role and Responsibilities:

This position will be responsible for management and implementation of emergency MPCA assistance, development of new integrated livelihoods projects, and future projects centred on financial inclusion, including business grants and small business development, apprenticeships, vocational and skills trainings, and agricultural financial and material support.

Generic Responsibilities:

• Line management for project staff
• Adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures
• Contribute to the development of Country, Area and Livelihoods strategies, initiate and participate in the development of relevant livelihoods projects
• Coordinate and manage Livelihoods project implementation (activities, budget and project documentation) in line with proposals, strategies and donor requirements
• Implement technical direction and ensure high technical quality of projects
• Provide regular progress reports to the Area Manager and the Cash and Livelihoods Specialist
• Ensure that projects target beneficiaries most in need of protection, explore and assess new and better ways to assist
• Develop and manage project budget and coordinate across core competencies
• Ensure capacity building of project staff and transfer key skills
• Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy

Specific Responsibilities:

• Promote integrated approaches, such as market-based approaches and graduation approaches
• Ensure integration, technical quality, and coherence of all Livelihoods activities across Area Office
• Ensure effective budget management, forecasts, work planning, and regular field monitoring
• Contribute to fundraising, and develop funding proposals, budgets, and forecasts
• Lead on overall planning, implementation and management of MPCA, MSME development/ youth entrepreneurship, skills development (TVET/apprenticeship), and agriculture value chain projects
• Support design of market assessments (supply and labor) as well as value chain analysis and needs assessments in coordination with the Cash and Livelihoods specialist
• Lead on the facilitation of value chain alliance (Action for Alliance) between producers (supplying farmers) and buyers (wholesalers, retailers, processors) and other relevant value chain actors
• Conduct private sector/downstream and upstream value chain actor mapping including financial institutions, incubators, accelerators and explore opportunities for partnerships/cooperation
• Ensure that activities are implemented in line with principles of accountability and compliance
• Support design of market assessments, mapping, beneficiary selection, Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) surveys and end line surveys to inform program design and implementation
• Take actions to ensure appropriate and in-depth Livelihoods context analysis across the Area
• Provide innovative solutions to program challenges and conduct regular field monitoring
• Support cross-cutting interventions including protection, gender, and cash and market programming
• Actively contribute to and support capacity building of all technical staff in the Area
• Represent NRC in external meetings, primarily with Directorate of Agriculture (DoA), Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA), and any governorate level coordination mechanisms on Livelihoods

Critical Interfaces

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Project planning: APM, Specialists, PMs & PCs, Integrated Programming (IP) unit
• Area operations: Support staff (Logistics, Finance/Administration, HR)
• Staff capacity building: APM, IP unit, CO M&E unit, core competency teams
• Implementation: Other Core Competency staff

Scale and Scope of Position:

Staff: All Livelihoods staff – currently three (3) Assistants

Stakeholders: NRC staff, local partners, protection actors, clusters, communities, authorities

Budgets: Shared

Information: NRC online tools, Agresso, SharePoint, OneDrive, Power BI

Legal/compliance: M&E department

Competencies:

Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following two categories:

Professional Competencies:

These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.

Generic professional competencies:

• Minimum 3 years of experience in senior project positions in humanitarian or recovery contexts
• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
• Technical livelihoods expertise
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal

Context/ Specific skills, knowledge and experience:

• Technical Livelihoods expertise in transition/early recovery context, including small businesses
• Experience in implementing cash and voucher assistance (CVA)
• Experience with creative economy income-generation activities
• Experience with financial inclusion
• Versed in market assessment and analysis approaches
• Experience with Natural Resource Management approaches highly desirable
• Experience with business start-ups/entrepreneurial approaches
• Experience with community engagement approaches and principles
• Experience with protection, gender, and coordination in humanitarian work
• Experience with community engagement and development of civil society capacity
• Experience with exploring and developing partnerships with local organizations
• Experience working with vulnerable groups; conflict-sensitivity, compassion, discretion
• Commitment to an evidence- and needs-based approach to project management
• Analytical mindset, critical thinking skills, and contextual analysis capacities
• Demonstrated experience integrating livelihoods work with other sectoral programmes/assessments
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal
• Fluency in Arabic, both written and verbal
• Willingness to travel regularly within Kirkuk and Salah al-Din

Behavioural Competencies:

These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies, and the following are essential for this position:

• Handling insecure environments
• Managing resources to optimize results
• Empowering and building trust
• Managing performance and development
• Planning and delivering results

Performance Management:

The employee will be accountable for the responsibilities and the competencies, in accordance with the NRC Performance Management Manual. The below documents are used for performance reviews:

• The Job Description
• The Work and Development Plan
• The NRC Competency Framework

What we can Offer:

• Contract period: 12 months renewable (subject to funding, need and performance)
• Open to Iraq Nationals Only
• Salary/benefits: According to NRC’s salary scale and terms and conditions
• Duty station: Kirkuk, Iraq
• Travel : possible, up to 50% (Areas of operations in Iraq)