Program Officer, Lobby Advocacy and Communications at Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW)

Location: Kwale County

Reporting to: Program Manager

Contract: One year, with possibility of renewal

Purpose: This position provides an opportunity to assist in addressing gender based violence through lobby and advocacy on child marriage, child trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation and their linkage to economic empowerment in Kwale County.

Duties and responsibilities include:

• Work in conjunction with Program Manager to lead the integrated implementation of projects in Kwale County
• Lead the planning and implementation of project activities at community, county and national level
• Identify, support and work with all project beneficiaries and stakeholders in to meet the intended priority outcomes among the rights holders and duty bearers
• Lead the engagement with communities to enhance their appreciation of GBV and their role in transforming practice of GBV and in protecting the most vulnerable girls
• Lead and coordinate the engagement with civil society organisations to enhance their capacity to conduct coordinated lobby and advocacy
• Lead the engagement with county government on their role in addressing GBV and economic empowerment, with a focus on legislation and policies and existing gaps.
• Identify private sector players and engage them on their role in addressing GBV and economic empowerment and protecting vulnerable girls and young women from violations
• Identify and develop linkages and networks at community, county and national level with a view to strengthening the effectiveness of local actors.
• Design and conduct community, national , mainstream and social media campaigns towards achieving project goals
• Design and produce content for use in training materials, information packs, information, education and communication materials to support lobby and advocacy activities
• Support research to generate knowledge on the project focus areas.
• Identify knowledge and capacity gaps among project beneficiaries and support capacity building initiatives to address these gaps through dialogue, training, round tables and other innovative approaches.
• Develop and implement project work plans and monitoring tools to guide accurate implementation of project objectives and organisational strategic goals
• Maintain up to date documentation of all project activities and expenditures
• Prepare accurate and timely reports of all program activities and of all financial expenditures reports in accordance with donor requirements and COVAW policy.
• Manage project budgets in adherence to donor and COVAW rules and policies
• Provide line management to program staff in the program
• Represent COVAW in meetings and forums with partners and other stakeholders
• Demonstrate a strong commitment to COVAW's values and principles
• Flexibility and willingness to travel, work long and irregular hours, including on weekends and holidays
• Undertake full operational responsibility over COVAW's assets in use.
• Performance standards
• Adherence to human rights and feminist principles and organisational policies , in particular child protection
• Adherence to organisational and project timelines and deadlines
• Outputs and outcomes of the projects achieved and accurately documented
• Activities implemented as planned and within allocated resources
• Accurate, timely and comprehensive documentation of daily activities and periodic reports
• Project funds utilized in cost effective manner that demonstrates value for money and fully accounted for in line with donor rules and organisational policies
• Display innovativeness and creativity in implementation of program
• Enhancing team work and mutual respect between colleagues, project partners and beneficiaries

Required qualifications and competencies

• Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, Community Development, law or related social science
• Five years work experience in managing a project, in community engagement and mobilization
• Experience in managing project budgets and finances
• Experience in managing a team
• Ability to work with diverse people and cultures
• Ability to work independently but able to consult effectively, to prioritize and handle multiple tasks simultaneously; to work in the field, under pressure and to tight deadlines.
• Computer Literacy (including excel skills).

The successful candidate must also demonstrate COVAW values as follows:Integrity, Dignity, Courage, Commitment and Solidarity.