Business Support Officer II (Programme Support Officer) at icipe - International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology

Overall Purpose of the Job

• The Programme Support Officer will provide essential program management and administrative support to the Insects for Food, Feed and Other Uses (INSEFF) Program, with a strong emphasis on stakeholder engagement, budget coordination, financial and technical reporting, and program administrative support. This role is critical to ensuring effective project delivery through streamlined processes, timely reporting, and consistent engagement with development partners and other internal and external stakeholders.

Specific duties

Programme Management

• Support the various Principal Investigators (PIs) within the INSEFF Program in monitoring project outputs and deliverables to ensure alignment with agreed milestones, timelines, and donor requirements, while assisting in identifying and addressing any implementation delays or risks.
• Follow up with project teams and partners to ensure timely submission of inputs required for high- quality technical reports, workplans, and other project deliverables, emphasizing completeness and alignment with project objectives.
• Facilitate the consistent and effective flow of project-related information among all stakeholders by coordinating communication, preparing and disseminating project updates, maintaining project documentation, and ensuring timely follow-up on action points and decisions.
• Track and enforce reporting timelines to guarantee the timely submission of both financial and technical reports by partners.
• In liaison with the Project Accountant, monitor budgets and spending on different line items, follow up to ensure the timely preparation and delivery of financial reports to the grants team for onward submission to the donor.
• Follow up on partners’ due diligence processes to ensure their timely and thorough finalization, preventing delays that could impact project implementation.

Budget Coordination

• Coordinate the preparation, review, allocation, and realignment of the project budget in collaboration with the PIs and Finance Office, ensuring all changes are accurately updated in accordance with donor guidelines and reflect in the ERP system.
• Monitor budget expenditures against planned allocations, track financial transactions, and support timely budget revisions where necessary.
• Responsible for informing supporting units and platforms about their budget allocations in consultation with the PIs.

Programme Reporting and Closure

• Support the annual financial and technical reporting process through collating inputs from implementing teams to develop initial drafts.
• Support annual financial and technical reporting by consolidating inputs from implementing teams and developing an initial report draft.

Programme Administration and Coordination

• Maintain effective communication and ensure timely follow-up on the flow of documents and information between project teams and Corporate Services units, including Legal, Finance, and

Communication.

• Liaise with partners to support the timely development of coherent workplans and budgets aligned with project goals.
• Coordinate the development, processing, and management of partner sub-agreements and consultancy contracts, ensuring timely contract approvals and payment processing.
• Facilitate the preparation of the project procurement plan by collating inputs and ensuring timely execution.
• Initiate procurement requests and proactively follow up to ensure the timely delivery of goods and services in alignment with project timelines and requirements.
• Provide comprehensive day-to-day administrative support to project teams by managing travel schedules, coordinating logistics, processing travel advances, and ensuring timely liquidation of advances through submission and verification of receipts and supporting documentation.
• Organize and facilitate project meetings, events, and partner engagements.

Requirements/ qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration or its equivalent from a recognized University.
• Project Management training.
• At least 4-5 years’ project/programme management experience.
• Proven experience in coordinating projects with partners and stakeholders.
• Experience in the development and implementation of projects.
• Experience working in an international organization.
• Excellent people management skills in a multicultural setting.

Core competencies

• Stakeholder engagement skills
• Effective negotiation skills
• Problem-solving skills.
• Ability to plan effectively and manage risks.