Chef.fe de Projet Adjoint.e/ Responsable Administratif et Financier - Deputy Director/ Administrat

Mission description

Description of the assignment

Under the hierarchical responsibility of the Project Leader based in Jordan and under the functional responsibility of the Project Manager based in Paris, the Deputy Project Manager / Administrative and Financial Manager (DPM/RAF) will have three main tasks:

He/she will collaborate with the Project Manager to supervise the "Gender Equality and Social Inclusion through better access to social services" project, including planning of activities, organisation and supervision of the project team, representation and engagement with the national counterpart and other stakeholders, reporting to Expertise France headquarters and relation to AFD.
He/she will be accountable for the financial management of the "Gender Equality and Social Inclusion through better access to social services" project, including the supervision of the proper application of administrative, financial and procurement procedures
As MEAL (monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning) focal point, he/she will be responsible for the coordination of the MEAL strategy, ensuring the smooth follow-up of indicators by the field monitors and the proper engagement of the MEAL expert (MEAL)

He/she works in close collaboration with the Project Manager in Paris and the Administrative and Financial Project Manager at Expertise France headquarters.

He/she supervises the administrative and financial team composed of an administrative and financial assistant and a CSO’s financial assistant based in Amman.

He/she assures that the three deputy field monitors are well trained and receive adequate support on financial and administrative issues

He/she supervises the proper development of the MEAL strategy in coordination with the CHDS Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Coordinator

The main tasks entrusted to the DPM/RAF are as follows:

Management of the Project

In complementarity with the Project Manager and in case of leave of the PM

- Define and maintain the planning of activities,

- organise and supervise the project team work,

- represent the Project and engage with national counterparts and other stakeholders (including DP),

- report to Expertise France headquarters and represent EF toward the AFD in Amman in the scope of the Project

Relationship with the partner bank

- Ensure the opening of the bank account based in Jordan;

- Maintain regular relations with the partner bank and transmit the information necessary for the follow-up of our activities.

Financial and budgetary management

- Ensure the financial monitoring of the project according to the formats established by Expertise France (financial execution, discrepancies, analysis, etc.) and proposes budgetary adjustments if necessary;

- Prepare and participate in monthly and annual budget planning exercises (landing forecast, indicative budgets) in close collaboration with the Project Manager;

- Ensure the preparation of monthly financial reports (RPP);

- Ensure the preparation of financial reports for the AFD;

- Prepare and support audits or controls

- Ensure the controls necessary to make the project's financial data reliable

- Ensures the consistency of financial data with technical reports as well as data related to the monitoring and evaluation of the project

- Participates in the improvement of administrative and financial procedures, rules and tools

- Participates in the drafting of a project procedures manual in compliance with Expertise France and donor rules

- Coordinates financial audits

- Follows and implements the recommendations made by the auditors

Management of the accounts

- Ensure that payment procedures are in place and that good accounting practices are followed;

- Verify the bank and cash journals, including the implementation of unannounced controls;

- Supervise the control of accounting documents;

- Prepare the necessary financial documents in conjunction with the Jordan EF office;

- Verify the accounting (wording, accounting codes, analytical codes, lettering, exchange rates....) in the available tools: ERP, SAGE and Excel files;

Cash management

Plans expenses and establishes the cash flow forecast in collaboration with the teams
Transmits fund transfer requests to the head office
Organizes cash flow according to the realities of the field
Ensures the availability of cash and the security of cash storage facilities
Supports by providing the necessary elements for the opening and closing of bank and cash accounts

Team management

- Participates in the recruitment of administrative and financial team members

- Integrate new employees, collect training needs and ensure that they are trained (including agency procedures)

- Support and train the accounting and administrative team;

- Supervise the accounting and administrative team

- Organise the administrative team's schedules to cover any absences

- Assures the necessary tools and trainings for the deputy field monitors

- Actively contributes to the construction of an efficient working team for the well-being of the members, participating on the creation of effective communication lines, the election of proper communication/participatory tools.

Management and administrative monitoring

- Supervise and control the implementation of administrative, financial and human resources rules and procedures

- Propose and participate in the drafting or improvement of administrative or financial procedures

- Keeping an eye on changes in national laws and policies

- Prepare declarations and ensure payment of taxes if necessary

- Establish and maintain relations with administrative authorities at national level

Logistics management

Supports the organization of missions and events
Oversees the management of the car and computer fleet and furniture
Oversees the management of office supplies and project equipment inventory
Ensures the availability of equipment and access to employees
Ensures proper application of asset management and coordinates inventory work

Grants and micro-financing management

Ensures that grants and financial support lines are correctly awarded (through a third party – methodology to be confirmed)
Participates in the evaluation of grant recipients (compliance and administrative audit)
Supports the preparation of contracts and formalization of internal tracking documents
Supports the training of grantees in management procedures
Coordinates the monitoring of the proper execution of funded contracts (control and validation of reports and documents, updating of monitoring tables, audit management, etc.)

Coordinating the MEAL (monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning) activities

- Supervise the MEAL short and long-term expert/s in charge of revising the theory of change and logical framework, developing and updating the MEAL plan (outlining clear roles and responsibilities for Expertise France, CSOs and LCDCs staff, with activities tailored to the project’s monitoring needs), ensuring the timely collection and analysis of data and the update of the project dashboard indicators, conducting qualitative review exercises during the implementation phase (project review, mid-term evaluation, final evaluation), and supporting project evaluation and learning exercises to promote continuous quality improvement on the project.

- In coordination with the CHDS MEAL Coordinator, and according to the needs identified by the project manager, the pole manager and the department manager, the DA/RAF will be mobilized when needed for internal procedures such as THEMA and COM indicators data collection.

- Supervise the Field Monitors, Social Protection and CSO expert and the Gender expert on the collection of pre-defined indicators that will nourish the MEAL system.

Project or context description

Recruitment context

According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Jordan is the 3rd largest host country for Syrian refugees, after Turkey and Lebanon. Of the 760,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered by UNHCR in Jordan, approximately 660,000 are from Syria. With an unemployment rate of 23% in Jordan, many refugees, despite having a work permit, face difficulties in finding a job and supporting their families. The incidence of poverty is higher among all refugee populations but is above 75% for Syrians. These difficulties are accentuated for women, who constitute more than half of the refugee population and who suffer gender-based discrimination and violence.

Despite the fact that non-nationals are not officially included in the national social protection strategy (implemented by the Jordanian Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), a pragmatic approach of the local administration prevails in providing non-nationals with social services. In fact, the Local Community Development Centres (LCDCs), under the supervision of the local directorates of the MoSD, adopt an approach based on the needs of all local populations ("nationals" and "non-nationals"), without discrimination in access to their services.

In this context, Expertise France, with the support of the French Development Agency, are willing to support the Ministry of Social Development in reducing inequalities in access to social services between women and men through the pilot and the implementation of social services for vulnerable populations (both national and non-national), relying on Local Community Development Centres (LCDC) in the governorates of Karak and Jarash and in East Amman.

The main objective of the proposed project would be to improve gender equality and social inclusion of women and men, national and non-national, through the strengthening of the MoSD at the central and the local level, working with the Local Community Development Centers (LCDC). It is proposed for the project to focus on Karak, Jarash and East Amman.

More specifically, the current project aims at:

(1) Developing sustainable, inclusive and adapted social services in the LCDCs, in collaboration with local Civil Society Organisations, in order to strengthen social cohesion and gender equality;

(2) Strengthening the network of LCDCs by ensuring that their premises are functional and sufficiently equipped to meet the social service delivery needs and that their teams have the appropriate skills and tools to carry out inclusive activities; and

(3) Supporting the MoSD at the central level in its role of stewardship, coordination and monitoring/evaluation of the LCDCs, notably with indicators to strengthen social justice and equality between women and men.

Some activities the project will be developing are:

for the first component: promoting women participation and leadership through capacity building and the creation of intersectional and multisectoral Steering Committees at the LCDCs; mapping of the local social services; grant and capacity building for CSOs; gender analysis and GBV prevention and response planning at the LCDC; protocol for responding to GBV first-line support/disclosure; support plan on sexual and reproductive rights; trainings for preventing over-indebtedness and special loan lines for women in vulnerable situations and non-nationals; entrepreneurship support paths for loan beneficiaries; guaranteeing care services at all LCDCs; campaign awareness and advocacy on the redistributions of care tasks; creation of local caregivers network
for the second component: strengthening the capacities of the LCDCs on gender and multiculturality; creating a one-stop-shop system; creation of “social mediators”; mobile units; infrastructure renovation (after a safely-audit); improving accessibility and mobility for users: car and bike (pilot LCDC) driver lessons for women
for the third component: creation of a national network of LCDCs; strengthening capacities of the MoSD on MEAL and coordination; improving data collection; coordinating the participation of the LCDCs for policy participation; drafting of protocols for GVB (for standardization)

Over the past five years, EF has operated the project named "Stronger Together", one of the three components of the European Union funded program to strengthen Social Protection in Jordan. This engagement is to come to an end in March 2023 and it is useful source of inspiration for the new project in development.

Required profile

Target profile

Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business or Public Administration, Economics, or related field.
At least 4 years of professional experience in similar functions;
Professional experience in AFD funded projects is mandatory;
Professional experience related to the implementation of MEAL strategies is mandatory;
Mastering financial software;
Mastering Microsoft Office software (MS Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Experience or strong knowledge of Jordan public administration would be a definite asset.
Experience on international development and gender equality projects would be a definite asset.
Proven ability to work as part of a team and to coordinate with teammates;
Strong work capacity, rigor and organization;
Excellent analytical and report writing skills;
Excellent written and oral expression in English and French, Arabic would be a definite asset
Ability and flexibility to travel to the governorates of Jordan;

Additional information

Applications

All applications must include the following:

CV
A covering letter

Evaluation Grid

All profiles will be assessed under the same evaluation criteria

Skills

40

Professional experience

40

Communication and Foreign languages

20

Deadline for application: 2023/07/07.