Iraq – Education Project Manager

COOPI is looking for an Education Project Manager in Iraq

COOPI is officially registered in Kurdish Region of Iraq and in Federal Iraq and has been active in Iraq since end of 2016 when started implementing a series projects in Education sector in Mosul district with funding from AICS and private donors. In 2019, COOPI started with WASH programming and emergency cash interventions in Salah ad Dihn governorate. In 2022 COOPI will bring WASH, education, child protection, and livelihoods programming in Iraq, to provide a holistic response to the needs of the most vulnerable returnees and IDPs, especially those living in informal settlements. This project represents the continuation of COOPI’s programme in country in the Education sector, which is planned to be creating link between humanitarian programming and durable solutions for the returnee population by promoting the socio-economic re-integration of vulnerable returnees and IDPs in the communities of origin. The project has a duration of 18 months and is located in Al-Shirqat district of Salah Al Din Governorate and in districts of Said Sadiq and Sulaymaniyah of Sulaymaniyah Governorate. The objective of the project is to contribute to ensure safe access to quality and inclusive educational services for the highly vulnerable displaced, refugee and returnee population.

Description of the role

Education Project manager is assigned with the responsibility to guarantee the effective implementation of the Education project activities and is responsible for the Education and CP activities’ execution, in technical, economic/financial terms, in terms of resources management on field, and in terms of internal and external reporting in compliance with COOPI and the donor’s procedures. He/she ensures the expected results attainment in budget management. He/she ensures the delivery of the project activities on-time, on-quality, on-budget.

Main responsibilities

Activity planning and management

• plan and monitor the activities’ progress, in compliance with the contract signed with the donor and with COOPI and the donor’s procedures;
• cooperate in full harmony and efficiency with the partners of the consortium to guarantee the Education activities implementation;
• prepare monthly reports to the head of mission and regularly organize project review meetings to identify issues and discuss solutions with relevant heads of department;
• collaborate with the MEAL team to ensure adequate project monitoring, including through the implementation of the AAP mechanism, and the prompt integration of any findings and recommendations into the project implementation;
• contribute at analyzing possible opportunities of project designing/funding;
• elaborate, write and prepare all necessary documents to present new projects, in accordance with the organization’s processes and procedures, with particular reference to AICS;
• cooperate with the Communication and Fund-Raising office for all communication, awareness and fund raising activities implemented in and for the country, also supporting the donor’s visibility;
• regularly meeting with the local partner to organize joint programmatic activities;
• monitor partners’ activities to ensure the upholding of the highest quality standards;
• review partners technical and financial reports, in collaboration with the project administrator;
• plan and organize capacity building activities for the local partner.

Finance and administration

• plan all expenditures, in collaboration with the Project Administrator/Administrative Coordinator;
• regular monitoring all incurred expenditures on the activities’ budget;
• supervise accounting and the project cash safe/bank account management and, where there was no dedicated staff, directly manage the accounting and the project cash safe/bank accounts, using the instruments made available by the organization;

Logistics

• prepare the Purchases Plan, in cooperation with the Project Administrator and with the Regional Administrative Coordinator;
• ensure the organization and donor’s procedures when purchasing goods and services;
• to be responsible of the correct management of all goods purchased for the project, both directly and purchased by other offices/field offices;
• contribute to strengthen the security assessment and ad hoc procedures, specifically applying the general country procedures to the specific context of the project.

Human resources

• In coordination with the Head of Mission and in compliance with the country’s rules/laws and with the COOPI’s regulation in the country, select the local staff to be employed in projects, and manages any other project’s expatriate staff;
• coordinate and supervise the work done by all the project staff, in compliance with the organization’s security procedures;
• evaluate the local staff employed for projects and participate to the evaluation of his/her own project, upon request by his/her direct supervisor;
• to be responsible for the initial and continuous training of the local staff under his/her responsibility.

Reporting

• in coordination with the Head of Mission and with the Country Admininistrator, ensure the preparation of all financial and narrative reports – interim and final – expected by the project;
• to be responsible for the preparation of all formal communication and contract modifications requests (ex. budget modification) of the project to the donor.

Istitutional relations

• In relation to the project of his/her competence, communicate with the donors’ officers, the local authorities which are competent in the aspects related to the project, the projects’ partners and beneficiaries;
• to be a focal point, in coordination with the Head of Mission
• represent COOPI in all relevant clusters and working groups, contributing to raise the organization’s profile and keeping the organization abreast on the latest technical guidance and recommendations;
• report on COOPI activities on Activity info and participate in the HNO/HRP process as necessary.

Requirements

Essentials

• Advanced degree in Business/Economics, International Development, or a related field or equivalent work.
• Minimum 3 years experience in the humanitarian field and in a similar position, with a track record of success and results achieved, including at least 2 years implementing Education programming.
• Experience of working in project management on one or more among the main donors, with priority to AICS;
• Experience of working within an insecure environment with responsibility for security planning, monitoring and management;
• Professional experience in the region is an asset.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English and Italian.
• Computer literacy, with high proficiency in the use of standard office software applications (e.g. Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint).
• Ability in project management in a comprehensive way (logistics, programme, reporting, staff management); and to use properly the standard project management tools.
• Ability to conduct sectorial analysis and to understand and transform into possible proposal the policies and strategies of the donors.
• Ability to organize and supervise a complex team.
• Ability to organize work efficiently and deliver assignments in a timely manner often under time constraints.
• Strong analytical and practical problem-solving skills.
• Institutional relations management and cultural context understanding.
• Very good inter-personal and writing communication skills.

Plus

• Knowledge of Arabic will be an asset.
• Previous experience with an international humanitarian NGO in a similar context will be an asset.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the application closing date, once a sufficient number of applications have been received. Please note that only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Interviews will be conducted on rolling basis and the vacancy will be closed when filled, thanks for understanding.

Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) is an Italian humanitarian non-governmental organization founded in Milan in 1965. For more than 50 years of long-term support and constant presence in the field, COOPI has been engaged in breaking the cycle of poverty and responding to specific emergencies in numerous sectors, including Food Security, Humanitarian Aid, Health, Socio-Economical Services, Water and Sanitation, Human Rights, Education and Training, Migrations and Sustainable Energy.