The Graça Machel Trust was established in 2010 as a Pan-African advocacy organisation focused on child health and nutrition, education, women’s economic and financial empowerment, leadership and good governance.The Graca Machel Trust seeks to appoint a Women Economic & Social Advancement Programme Officer to be based in Sandton, Johannesburg.
Purpose of position is to provide secretariat, coordination and technical support to the Women’s Economic and Social Advancement (WESA) Programme, including project management and administrative support to the unit.
Responsibilities:
- Programme Coordination and implementation support
- Provide programme support on Workplan Development, budget preparation, and annual as well as quarterly target and milestone setting;
- Coordinate implementation of WESA Programme activities in line with approved Workplans, budgets and set objectives and targets;
- Provide technical support to GMT’s Pan-African Women’s Networks, ensuring ongoing engagement and alignment of plans between the WESA Secretariat function and the work of the Networks;
- Facilitate capacity building and interventions to strengthen the effectiveness of GMT’s Pan-African Women’s Networks and related catalytic projects in line with programmatic objectives.
- Coordinate the unit’s key partner activities in relation to sub-grants;
- Ensure alignment of the implementation of WESA’s mandate to promote the work of the Trust in advancing the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDG’s) as relevant to WESA’s mandate.
- Networking Building and technical support
- Support the setting up of and coordination of the ongoing activities of the GMT Women’s Networks at incubation, establishment and advanced stages in line with the Network Growth Path.
- Facilitate cross-network synergies for the various GMT Networks (Women in Finance, Agriculture, Business, Media, Scholars; Women in Energy, Extractives and Infrastructure, Technology and Trade to ‘Multiplying Faces, Amplifying Voices’ of women under the WESA programme.
- Facilitate Quarterly check-ins with Network Country Chapters, including monitoring of action plans implementation; provision of programme updates and targeted technical support;
- Facilitate implementation of Network Growth Path including conducting periodic network progress assessments; development of targeted technical support plans and support through thought partnership to Country Chapter to ensure continued progression of Networks’ growth.
- Annually disseminate and workshop Network Building toolkits for utilization across the GMT Networks.
- Periodically identify strategic partners and facilitate linkages with relevant Networks to advance the work of WESA.
- Knowledge management and programme performance monitoring
- Facilitate the development and maintenance of Networks database required to further the work of the Trust.
- Draft monthly and quarterly programme reports and track budget expenditure in line with WESA Workplans and Budgets, in liaison with the Programme Manager.
- Develop and maintain a contacts database for the WESA programme including building a repository of accessible and update to date reports, reference materials and programme communications and project materials
- Compile monthly programme data reports (including completion of data collection tools), collating Country Networks and overall Programme data to maintain an up-to-date programme M&E record in liaison with the M&E Officer.
- Conduct periodic research, compile fact sheets, information and policy briefs for use in development of project models/approaches, to inform Advocacy activities;
- Provide support for development of key WESA documentation including presentations, programme briefs and funding proposals;
- Compile project briefs, profiles of catalytic projects and success stories of WESA’s initiatives and disseminate to Networks and through periodic Brown bags/learning session
- Stakeholder management and Communication
- Liaise with GMT’s Communications Unit for profiling of WESA’s work and amplification of advocacy messages as well as success stories from the Networks;
- Provide support for coordination of stakeholder communication and related activities with partners and stakeholders for the WESA programme;
- Set up WESA key contacts mailing list and assist in maintaining routine communication with key partners as well as sharing relevant programme information.
- Programme Administrative and Logistics Coordination
- Coordinate the Programmes periodic key events, ensuring efficient logistical support for key meetings, seminars, Networks conference, including participant coordination.
- ·Coordinate unit procurements in liaison with the Finance and Admin Unit; including sourcing of quotes, facilitating payment for programme-specific purchases, confirming receipt of goods and services
- Other
- Contribute to team-wide communications and knowledge management, and participate in organisation-wide events and discussions on related topics/projects.
- Participate in monthly staff meetings, organizational reviews and planning as well as other meetings that relate to the work of the GMT
Requirements:
- Education
- A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in the Social Sciences, with a strong preference for degrees in Economics, Business, Gender Studies and Political Science.
- Experience
- Minimum of 3-5 years’ experience gained in projects and programming of gender/women’s rights related development work.
- Experience in coordinating multiple integrated projects within a Programme portfolio, and working across multiple country contexts
- Demonstrated and sound experience in network /coalition/movement building in the Women’s Rights sector
- Proven track record in advocacy, particularly in the women’s rights
- Experience in managing multiple donor-funded project, including stakeholder management.
- Knowledge, skills and abilities
- Understanding of networking, coalition and building partnerships with a range of individuals and organizations across multiple contexts
- Strong communication and writing abilities in English with the ability to produce clear, focused reports, briefs and speeches on variety of issues
- Strong research and writing skills
- Ability to harness and use information and communication technology as a tool and resources
- Ability to work independently and in “virtual” teams, as much of the implementation will be done through partners at country level across multiple countries
- Strong MS-Office computer skills including data capture
- Understanding of French, Portuguese and/or Swahili would be an additional asset.
- General Requirements
- Driver’s licence (desirable)
- High proficiency level in English
- Must be eligible to live and work in South Africa
- Occasional regional travel may be required
- Reference, qualification and criminal checks will be conducted.
To apply please submit a CV (maximum 3 pages) with references to [email protected] . Only successful candidates will be contacted.