Islamic Relief Kenya – Women Empowerment Project Officer.

Established in 1984 in the UK, Islamic Relief is an international NGO seeking to promote sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities through relief and development activities.

IR started operations in Kenya in 1993 on orphan sponsorship programme through a local CBO in Mandera District, Northern Kenya. It opened its fully fledged office in March in 2006 at the height of drought in the Horn of Africa. Since then, IR has been providing humanitarian and development assistance to vulnerable communities. Over these years it has implemented various development and relief activities in Mandera. This has remarkably changed the lives of the vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. In January 2010, IRK extended its operation to Wajir County, neighbouring Mandera, in January 2012 expanded to Garrissa and Dadaab, and in October 2017 opened programme office in Kilifi County.

IR aim to help the needy regardless of race, religion or gender and implement our work within the following themes: Disaster & Humanitarian Response; Sustainable Community Empowerment; and Education, Child Protection and Development Integrated sustainable development is one of the broad global goals adopted by Islamic Relief in its institutional strategic plan that contribute to Empowering move out of vulnerability and realize their God given potentials

Islamic Relief Kenya in pursuit to support and strengthen its operations, seeks to employ motivated, hardworking and pro-active individuals to fill in the following position

Job Title: Women Empowerment Project Officer
Reporting To: Programme Manager
Base Location: Wajir County, Kenya 100%

Scope of the Role:
The Women Empowerment officer will take the overall responsibility for the implementation of the Women Empowerment Through Socio-Economic Approaches (WETSA) in Wajir County working in close collaboration with the respective technical team at the country office to enhance the quality of implementation of program initiatives undertaken by IRK and local partners.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:
The responsibilities of the Women empowerment officer include but are not limited to the following:

Project design and development
•    Support in identification of projects needs in Wajir County
•    Support in development of projects concepts and proposals
•    Support in identification of better project implementation strategies

Program Implementation
•    Take full responsibility in planning and implementation of the Women Empowerment project in Wajir County project.
•    Support the identification and formation of women and youth groups in different field sites in Wajir West, Eldas and Wajir North sub-counties and linking them to financial service providers
•    Organize for training for women and youth group members on usiness and life skills.
•    Carry out project beneficiary identification through a consultative community process.
•    Organize and facilitate dialogue meetings, workshops and forums with government representatives, civil society, and communities in efforts strengthen gender equality in the county.
•    Mainstream cross-cutting issues, among them, gender and youth and child protection in the project.
•    Responsible for accurate narrative reporting against agreed objectives and results frameworks.
•    Participate in and contribute to quarterly and other scheduled Programme performance review meetings.
•    Participate in the research survey by IRK or partners by collecting, analyzing, and submitting relevant data and reports.
•    Ensure project beneficiaries are aware of IRK complaint and response mechanisms.
•    Management of project budget and expenditure to avoid over or under expenditure.

Monitoring, Documentation, Communications, and reporting
•    Ensure that the project target achievement is in line with the implementation plan, log frame milestones and the budget burn rate are up to date with the planned cash flow.
•    Work with the communication staff to design appropriate mobilization and sensitization messages for the target population.
•    Contribute to development of project implementation tools including implementation manual, Detailed Implementation Plans (DIPs), M&E Plans, Procurement Plans, Communication plan, weekly/monthly work plans as may be necessary.
•    Document community and stakeholders’ feedback and share with relevant stakeholders for appropriate action.
•    Ensure timely submission of project reports as per IR and Donor requirements.
•    Conduct timely documentation of project progress through case studies, stories, photos, videos, lessons learnt among others.
•    Support in regular monitoring of project implementation at local level.
•    Contribute to the implementation of an effective programme and project monitoring and evaluation system.
•    Ensure compliance with the requirements of the IRK’s M&E System, Core humanitarian Standard (CHS) and other relevant policies.

Coordination, Relationship building and Advocacy
•    Develop relationships with local community members, local organizations and relevant government departments to ensure the smooth implementation of project.
•    Together with the team and local partners, assess gaps in women empowerment activities, make recommendations/suggestions for improvements to the management and develop strategies to address the gaps.
•    Participate in GBV related assessments; including any inter agency assessments where necessary.
•    Maintain positive coordination and relationships with partner and Contribute to a positive team spirit among all IRK staff.
•    Represent the IRK in community and government meetings as required and maintain positive relationship with Community leaders, Local community structures and relevant government department.

Qualifications
•    Bachelor’s degree in gender studies, development studies, international relations, project management or related fields
•    Minimum of at least for three years’ experience in working on women empowerment projects, peace building project, governance issues with civil society.
•    Experience in projects planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and learning.
•    Knowledge of the key issues and trends in women empowerment and gender equality
•    Past work experience with the similar geographical context is desirable.
•    Ability to work independently as a part of a team to implement the project.
•    Proven analytical skills and ability to think strategically.
•    Fluency in English – written and verbal.
•    Experience in field data analysis packages e.g excel.
•    Effective IT Skills (Microsoft Office).
•    Planning, narrative, and financial reporting skills.
•    Communication, tact, and negotiation skills.

Desirable
•    Knowledge of local language & Kiswahili.

How to apply
Please send us your cover letter and detailed CV, including your qualifications, experience, names and addresses of three referees, a working e-mail address and daytime telephone contacts. The forwarding e-mail and cover letter must clearly indicate the position title on the subject line. Send your application to Recruitment.irk@islamic-relief.or.ke by Monday 10th May 2021.