Programme Officer – Pakistan (2 year fixed term contract)

International Programme Department

CAFOD MISSION: to promote human development and social justice in witness to Christian Faith and gospel values.

CAFOD, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development is the official agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. CAFOD raises funds from the Catholic community, the UK government and the general public to promote long-term development, respond to emergencies, identify the causes of poverty, promote social awareness, campaign in favour of poor communities, and promote human development and social justice in accordance with Christian faith and values.

Background: In response to the devastating floods in Pakistan, which started in July 2010, CAFOD has created the post of Programme Officer - Pakistan to work within the South Asia programme team. CAFOD is working with members of Caritas Internationalis (CI) to respond to the floods. A CAFOD appeal has been launched and CAFOD has received funding from the DEC for the Pakistan response.

Job description

Job purpose: To coordinate and monitor CAFOD’s response to the Pakistan floods. The Programme Officer (PO) will play a key role in guiding CAFOD’s humanitarian response and recovery programmes alongside CAFOD’s partners in Pakistan. The PO will develop proposals, monitor partners’ programmes and will capture learning from this work and feed this learning back into the wider organisation. The PO will fulfil Programme Cycle Management (PCM) procedures and be responsible for reporting on the response within CAFOD and to donors. He/she will provide support to partners in disaster risk reduction and build partner capacity as per agreed needs. The PO will represent CAFOD’s work in the response both in Pakistan and London to other organisations and the media. The position will work in close coordination with the CAFOD Programme Officer for Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan, also based in London.

Accountability: The post holder will report to the Programme Manager – South Asia and will work closely with the Humanitarian Department.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Emergency response and recovery

·  Coordinate the planning and implementation of the humanitarian programme in Pakistan

·  Provide expertise and capacity to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Pakistan.

·  Provide technical support and guidance to CAFOD programme staff and partner organisations in Pakistan on the delivery of high quality assistance in the relief, rehabilitation and recovery phases of the humanitarian response, as well as in disaster risk reduction.

·  In liaison with CAFOD programme departments, monitor the Pakistan humanitarian response, support corporate decision making through visits to Pakistan and supporting the development and design of further programme responses.

·  When required, provide field level operational support, including needs assessment.

·  Prepare and monitor budgets relating to both CAFOD and partner led expenditure.

·  Monitor the progress of partners’ responses, using the learning from this to inform future CAFOD humanitarian work.

·  Support the work of the Programme and Funding Teams in the development of proposals for institutional funding and reporting to donors.

·  Develop programme reports within CAFOD and to CAFOD’s donors, including DEC, in accordance with CAFOD polices and programme cycle management guidelines.

·  Keep up to date with humanitarian and development issues and trends, both within the relevant country/sector and more generally.

Programme quality, systems and standards

·  Appraise project proposals from partner organisations, including assessment of the organisations’ abilities to manage and deliver the proposed project.

·  Support the implementation and maintenance of systems and procedures for ensuring good practice and meeting sectoral standards on accountability and programme quality, including the Red Cross Code of Conduct and the SPHERE standards. Promote partner compliance with Humanitarian Accountability Partnership-International (HAP-I) standards on accountability to beneficiaries, particularly complaints handling.

·  Ensure compliance with CAFOD requirements on accountability, safeguarding children and Supply Chain Management/Procurement

·  Assess partner’s operating and financial systems

Representation and communication

·  Represent CAFOD at interagency fora for the purposes of coordination of response and sectoral policy development.

·  Liaise and communicate with other Departments and Sections within CAFOD to ensure that the programmes are well understood, and that information is available for publications, media briefings, development education, etc

·  Develop supporter communications and work with the media, writing and undertaking interviews both on radio and TV if required.

·  Build and strengthen relationships with sister agencies in particular Caritas Pakistan, Trocaire, Cordaid and CRS and other agencies of strategic importance involved in the humanitarian response in Pakistan.

Learning and Development

·  Share learning from the response within the Asia/Middle East team and across CAFOD

International travel and work

·  Be willing to travel to Pakistan for short periods, often at short notice, for up to three months per year.

A commitment to CAFOD’s Vision, Mission and Values is essential for all staff.

Programme Officer – Pakistan
Person Specification / 2- Important / 3- Very Important / 4- Highest Priorities

Organisational Competencies

Behaviours at the heart of our organisation’s success / a- Understands and actively supports CAFOD’s Vision, Mission and Values / X
b- Looks outward; Takes account of other people’s priorities / X
c- Shows an understanding of the Catholic Church and is able to work effectively with it / X
d- Supports a culture of mutual respect, trust & transparency, where partnerships flourish / X
e- Willing and able to contribute to the long development of CAFOD / X

Professional Competencies

Behaviours which are important in all organisations / Self Management / f- Manages time and resources efficiently / X
g- Manages own personal growth and development continually / X
h- Manages emotions and stresses positively / X
Thinking and Understanding / i- Analyses and diagnoses problems with depth and insight / x
j- Displays sound judgement and decision making / X
k- Provides creativity and innovation; take risks within context of overall strategy / X
Working
with others / l- Helps others to achieve goals / X
m- Resolves conflict successfully / X
n- Builds rapport and communicates effectively / X
Achieving / o- Shows drive and initiative / X
p- Willingly takes ownership; is openly accountable / X
q- Adapts easily to change / X
Programme Officer – Pakistan
Job Specific Competencies / 2- Important / 3- Very Important / 4- Highest Priorities

Job Specific Competencies

Specialist, technical and functional expertise
/ Significant experience with complex emergencies and humanitarian programming working in more than one country context, ideally in Pakistan. / X
Experience in the use of assessment, monitoring and evaluation tools to improve existing programmes and develop new ones. / X
Able to work with and build the capacity of local partner organisations/ national NGO’s. / X
Experience of working and liaising with international bodies and consortium (Caritas, DFID, EU, UN and UK NGOs). / X
Able to facilitate and participate effectively in department, cross-organisational teams and learning processes; able to capture, filter and disseminate learning in user-friendly forms. / X
Knowledge and understanding of financial management tools necessary for the implementation of humanitarian programmes (financial controls: budgets, etc). / X
Experience of programme cycle management processes, and compiling narrative and financial reports according to different donor requirements / X
Have a sound understanding or humanitarian policy, best practice and international humanitarian policy debates - such as UN reform. Experience and skills to engage with policy and work with programme staff, HPA and PPU in developing policy and advocacy. / X
Relevant technical or vocational qualifications in a specialist area such as livelihoods, food security, engineering, watsan, shelter or public health. / X
Understanding of gender, HIV/AIDS and diversity issues in humanitarian work. / X
Experience of working with, and/or a commitment to humanitarian standards e.g. Humanitarian Charter, SPHERE, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Code of Conduct and IHL instruments. / X
Understanding of approaches to ensure accountability in humanitarian work towards intended beneficiary communities and commitment to HAP-I. / X
Makes effective use of ICT for communications and management information, particularly for distance communication. / X
Knowledge and/or experience of the region including strong cultural awareness / x
Fluency in written and spoken English. / X
Basic knowledge of Urdu desirable / X

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Contract Full Time Fixed term contract for 2 years

Salary £30,359 - £33,966 (with 5 annual increments of £607) per annum being P Grade.

Hours 35 hours per week. Normal CAFOD office hours are 9.30 to 5.30 with one hour for lunch. This post may require weekend, holiday (in the event of emergencies) and evening work for which time off in lieu may be taken.

Probation The post will be confirmed after successful completion of a 6 month probation period.

Notice Three months either way after completion of the probationary period.

Holidays 20 working days per annum plus statutory holidays plus 6 days determined by CAFOD at Christmas/Easter.

Pensions There is an optional contributory pension scheme (10% employer and 5% employee contribution). Alternatively, CAFOD will make a similar contribution to a Personal Pension Plan.

Other Benefits Life Assurance and Permanent Health Insurance cover.

Disabilities We are committed to making every reasonable adjustment to the workplace so as to accommodate people with disabilities.

Location The post is based in CAFOD’s London office.

CAFOD is an Equal Opportunities Employer

BACKGROUND

CAFOD Mission: to promote human development and social justice in witness to Christian Faith and gospel values.

International Division purpose: in collaboration with our partners, to have a lasting impact on poverty and injustice through development programmes, advocacy, and humanitarian response. The division will promote learning, strengthen and empower communities and people in need regardless of their race, gender, religion or politics, and build links between CAFOD supporters and partners overseas.

Asia/Middle East Region: The Asia/Middle East Regional team is part of the International Programme Department (Asia/Middle East and Latin America and the Caribbean) and is responsible for managing CAFOD’s partnership programmes in the Asia and the Middle East regions. CAFOD’s development and humanitarian programmes in this region are mainly concentrated around long-standing partnerships in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, oPt, Israel, Philippines, Cambodia, Burma, and East Timor, countries where the challenges of poverty, exclusion, human rights and conflict are particularly great.

In common with the rest of CAFOD, the Asia/Middle East team is committed to implementing CAFOD’s new strategic framework. Within this, the priorities of the International Division are to:

Ø  Increase our focus on equality for the poorest and most disadvantaged

Ø  Increase our focus on support to, and equality for, women and girls

Ø  Increase positive social change through our work with the Catholic Church and communities

Ø  Ensure and demonstrate the effective delivery and impact of our core international work

The Asia/Middle East Section at present consists of eighteen full/part-time staff based at CAFOD’s offices in London: the Regional Manager, Regional Administrator, four Programme Managers, four Programme Officers, five Programme Support Officers, three Programme Administrators and one volunteer. There are also four Programme Accompaniers based in Asia.

Pakistan: Between 2005 and early 2010 CAFOD was facilitating partner within the Caritas Network on the multi-million pound response to the Pakistan Earthquake in October 2005. CAFOD has responded to a range of natural and man-made disasters in Pakistan since 2005, including: destruction caused by Cyclone Yemyin in Hyderabad, Karachi and Quetta in 2007, the Ziarat Earthquake in 2008, and the conflict between the military and militants in Swat, Buner and Dir districts in 2009. We have funded a portfolio of projects/programmes with several partners spanning relief, livelihoods, protection, watsan and women’s literacy work.

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