We Effect was founded in 1958 by the Swedish cooperative movement to support the development of democratic organisations and societies that can articulate the rights and needs of their members in respect of work, influence, services, incomes, and livelihoods. We Effect is a decentralised organisation. Outside Sweden, operations are managed by regional offices. We Effect works in more than 20 countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa through our regional offices in partnership with local CSOs including farmer organisations, cooperatives, federations and other democratic member-based organisations (MOs). This position is based in the Regional Office of Eastern Africa (ROEA) based at Nairobi, Kenya. The regional office oversees implementation of programmes covering three countries namely, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Sectors of focus

We Effect broadly focuses on two main thematic sectors namely;

• Sustainable rural development:Entails support to farmers’ owned organisations, cooperatives and federations mostly in the agricultural sector. Support is focused on organisational and business/ value chains development, advocacy, technical advice, sustainable farming and food production training, adaptation/ resilience building to climate change, enhanced gender equality in the agricultural sector more so among the targeted member-based organisations.
• Access to adequate housing:This involves supporting communities living in vulnerable conditions to improve their abilities to access decent housing mainly through promoting the cooperative housing model. Attention is paid to organisational capacity strengthening, technical capacity enhancement on appropriate building technologies, advocacy among other areas.

In implementing the two programmes various cross cutting issues are mainstreamed including gender equality, environment and climate change mitigation, financial inclusion and the Rights Based Approach is always applied in programmes delivery.

Innovative Finance for improved livelihood project

We Effect has received a grant to implement a 5-year pilot project entitled “Innovative finance for improved livelihoods project”. The project will focus on addressing capacity weaknesses and potentials of Farmer-based organisations (FBOs). In addition, the project will serve as a demonstration and inspiration to financial institutions so that they can take higher risks in supporting FBOs. The project combines a Loan Guarantee Facility with Capacity Building Initiatives in a unique way. The intention of the pilot project is to address the lack of access to financial services through a set of interventions, involving different types of actors bringing together different funding modalities, development agencies, technical assistance providers and investors. The target group in the project is a mix of FBOs that fulfil a set of established criteria and that have not had access to commercial type of loans previously, but that have the potential of reaching sufficient maturity to access a loan over the project period. In order to address the reluctance of financial institutions to extend lending to the agriculture sector and Farmer Based Organisations the pilot will serve as a demonstration and an inspiration to other financial providers. The new knowledge gained in the pilot will also serve to influence policy makers in East Africa so that there is potential for increased lending to FBOs.

The Position

The Programme Officer has the main responsibility of coordinating the roll out and implementation of the Innovative Finance for Improved Livelihoods in Kenya and Uganda (IFIL) Project. While this is the main responsibility, the officer is expected to perform other broad programmes management functions in the regional office to support integration of financial inclusion in programmes. The program officer will work closely with the financial services thematic experts, Program Coordinators, the Programs Development Officer, Financial Controller,  Communication Officer and the Programs Director to ensure smooth coordination of operations.

The PO reports directly to the Programs Director.

The overall expectation of this position is for the program officer to coordinate the IFIL project  implementation, monitoring, evaluating and ensuring that relevant partner organisations within Kenya and Uganda are fully engaged. The programme officer will also be expected to facilitate synergies within the programmes and projects.

The responsibilities of the Programme Officer include:

•  Overall responsibility of coordinating the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the project
• Identification of member-based organisations (MBOs) that satisfy the criteria for participating in the project
• Undertaking organizational capacity assessment, developing capacity building action plan based on assessment findings and coordinating capacity building for participating MBOs.
• Coordinating quarterly review and other steering meetings with implementing partners
• Coordinate knowledge generation, learning and sharing findings in relation to financing farmer-based organisations backed by guarantee
• Support the development of strategic alliances and represent We Effect in relevant stakeholder or networking forums
• Organize conferences/ knowledge sharing forums among involved stakeholder in country and at regional levels
• Support mainstreaming of financial services into regional and country programmes / projects
• Participate in regional partnership management processes as part of the regional team
• Represent We Effect in local and international forums in relation to financial services.
• Evaluate and systematically document the experiences and lessons learnt in the IFIL project and other programmes.

Academic qualifications,

• Bachelor’s Degree in development studies; Social Sciences, business management, Rural finance or related field from a recognized University.
• Possession of a master’s degree in a relevant field or additional related programme experience will be an added advantage

Skills and Experience

• At least 5 years’ experience in financial services sector such as banking, microfinance
• Hands on experience in providing financial services (savings and credit) to cooperatives and other member-based organisations. This includes in-depth understanding of credit appraisal and loaning processes.
• Experience in undertaking institutional capacity building with special emphasis to member-based organizations
• Demonstrable ability to manage partnership/ consortium-based programmes
• Demonstrable coordination skills and understanding of project management cycle
• Proven ability to work and deliver within strict deadlines and manage conflicting priorities especially for initiatives implemented in consortium settings
• Proven self-drive and ability to play a leadership role with minimum supervision
• Ability to creatively solve problems
• Good analytical skills in analysing issues as the project leader and taking decisions
• Ability to work effectively as a team member
• Good understanding of financial management and reporting processes
•  Computer literacy and ability to effectively use a variety of softwares particularly Excel, MS Word, MS Outlook, Power Point, and tele communication apps such as zoom and TEAMS among others

Added advantage.

• Experience in data gathering, processing and use of various qualitative and quantitative tools
• Broad understanding of rural development and agribusiness

Application

Apply at the latest 2021-10-03 by sending your CV and a cover letter indicating why you are best candidate for the position.

Please note that this is a national position and if not a national you will need to have a Ugandan work permit to be qualified for this position. Only candidates who are short-listed will be contacted.

The employment is a two-year fixed-term contract at the national level, with the possibility of prolongation. You are expected to be available from early or mid-November 2021

We Effect works actively with diversity and inclusion in the organisation. We welcome applicants regardless of sex, gender identity or expression, race, colour, ethnicity, religious belief, political opinion, national extraction, social origin, HIV/AIDS status, age, disability, family responsibilities, sexual orientation, and/or trade union membership or activities.