Kenya Ministry of Water and Irrigation Jobs Sep 2012

The Government of Kenya has received financial support from International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Spanish Trust Fund for the implementation of Upper Tana Natural Resources Management Project. 

The overall goal of the project is to contribute to reduction of rural poverty in the Upper Tana River catchment. 

This goal will be pursued through two development objectives which reflect the poverty-environment nexus: 

(i) Increased sustainable food production and incomes for poor rural households living in the project area and 

(ii) Sustainable management of natural resources for provision of environmental services. 

The project will cover six counties namely: Embu, Tharaka Nithi, Meru, Kirinyaga, Murang’a and Nyeri. The project duration shall be eight (8) years (2012/2020). 

The Project Coordination Team (PCT) will be based at Embu County.The PCT will be responsible for project coordination and management and will ensure that the project is implemented according to the Financing Agreement and within the Government regulations. The PCT will supervise, backstop and advise all implementing agencies on their roles in the project.

The government plans to utilize a portion of the funds to support placement of a PCT whose staff will be serving on one year contract renewable annually for the period of the project subject to satisfactory annual assessment. 

The PCT will be composed of the following staff who must be Kenyan citizens and have capacity to work with minimum supervision to meet strict deadlines as well as willingness to work outside normal office working hours

Project Coordinator (PC)

One (1) Post

Reporting to the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Project Lead Agency, currently the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI), or a senior official designated by the PS to act on his/her behalf, the PC will be responsible for the day-to-day operations and coordination of the project activities and for ensuring that all documents (AWPBs, budgetary allocations, disbursement of funds, progress reports, audit reports, withdrawal applications etc) are prepared and submitted on time as well as adherence to government and donor regulations. 

She/he will also be the Secretary to the Project Steering Committee (PSC), which will be chaired by the PS of the Lead Agency or his designated representative.

Key Responsibilities

• Providing effective leadership to the PCT;
• Ensuring effective and efficient utilization of project funds and other resources;
• Ensuring Implementation of the project according to approved Annual Work Plans and Budgets.
• Dissemination of relevant government policies,
• Recruitment and supervision of technical assistance,
• Supervision of implementation of activities financed by the project through technical assistance, contracts, implementing partners or community groups;
• Ensuring that project progress, audit and other reports are produced and submitted to the appropriate stakeholders on a timely basis;
• Adequate liaison and networking with other agencies either working in the project area or potentially concerned with project activities, and with other relevant sectoral projects;
• Promoting appropriate technologies for the project in a participatory integrated development manner;
• Ensuring gender mainstreaming and equality in all project activities;
• Accurate information dissemination about project activities; and
• Performing any other duty relevant to the project as may be assigned by the PS responsible for the project or his designated representative.

Qualifications

• Must have a first degree in Civil Engineering, Agriculture Engineering, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences or a relevant field from a recognized university. In addition, the applicant must have Master’s degree in a relevant field from a recognized institution;
• Have 15 years working experience 5 of which must be at senior management level handling multi-sectoral donor-funded projects in community rural development field;
• Strategic Leadership and Management training certificates will be considered an added advantage
• Have a good understanding of participatory approaches to activity–based planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation;
• Be up to date with reforms in the relevant sectors and have clear understanding of relevant government policies and operations;
• Ability to mobilize funds and be familiar with GOK and development partners financing procedures;
• Have proposal and report writing skills;
• Have strong leadership, training and communication skills;
• Be computer literate and able to apply basic software for the project; and
• Be a professional of high integrity.

Project Financial Controller (FC) 

One (1) Post

Reporting to the Project Coordinator, the FC will be responsible for the following:

Key Responsibilities:

• General administration of the financial resources of the project and ensuring that government and donor financial procedures are adhered to by all project staff and implementing agencies;
• Preparation of the annual budget in line with the guidelines provided by the Ministry of Finance and IFAD for inclusion into the national and county budgets;
• Compiling the Statements Of Expenditures (SOEs),preparing Withdrawal Applications (WAs) and liaising with the Accountant of the borrower to reconcile the Special Account and Project accounts;
• Preparation of timely financial reports for the project and advising the PCT on the project’s financial status and trends;
• Ensuring that internal and external auditors are availed all necessary documents during the audit;
• Identifying suitable software packages for efficient project accounting, financial management and controls;
• Facilitating capacity building on financial management for implementing partners at the national, county, sub-county and community levels; and
• Any other relevant duty assigned by the Project Coordinator.

Qualifications

• Must have a Bachelor of: Commerce (Accounts options) or Finance or Business Administration degree from a recognized university plus professional accounting qualification (CPA-K); Masters degree in a relevant field will be an added advantage;
• Have ten (10) years working experience five (5) of which must be in government ministry/department handling donor-funded projects;
• Having a Management training certificate will be considered an added advantage
• Be computer literate, especially in electronic spreadsheet, and other specialized accounting packages;
• Have a good working knowledge of accounting, personnel and procurement policies and procedures;
• Ability to prepare financial statements as per International Accounting Standards;
• Have a good working knowledge on banking and financial control; and
• Have strong leadership and communication skills.

Procurement Officer (PO)

One (1) Post

Reporting to the Project Coordinator, the PO will be responsible for coordinating the procurement function based on GoK and IFAD guidelines and procedures.

Key Responsibilities

• In collaboration with other members of the PCT and implementing partners, prepare annually an 18-month procurement plan for works, goods and services required by the project and submit the same for approval by the PSC and IFAD along with the AWPB;
• Ensure the preparation and assembly of tender and contract documents for specific procurements according to GoK and IFAD guidelines;
• Assist the members of the PCT and other implementing partners in preparation of TORs and contractual documents;
• Prepare tender notices and advertisements in appropriate national and international papers and websites as required;
• Participate in relevant tender committee meetings and assist with the preparation of committee reports;
• Review and advise on tender evaluations and make necessary follow-up;
• Maintain and update procurement files containing high quality and readily available information for review by supervision missions;
• Maintain the contract register and regularly update the same with monitoring data on progress of all contracts;
• Draw the attention of the Project Coordinator to potential or actual violation of contractual terms by contractors and service providers for appropriate sanctions;
• Undertake any other duties assigned by the PC.

Qualifications

• Must have a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, Business Administration, Procurement or any other related degree from a recognized university. Master’s degree in a relevant field will be an added advantage;
• Must have a Graduate Diploma of Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supplies or Diploma in Purchasing and supply;
• Management training certificate will be considered an added advantage; 
• A minimum of 8 years’ experience in public procurement of goods and services, 3 of which must be in a government ministry/department handling donor funded projects;
• Have experience in preparing tender and contract documents for national and international competitive bidding;
• Have a comprehensive knowledge of Public Procurement Regulations, as well as procurement guidelines for IFAD and the World Bank; and
• Be computer literate.

Monitoring & Evaluation Officer (M&EO) 

One (1) Post

Reporting to the Project Coordinator, and working very closely with the Knowledge Management and Learning Officer, the M&EO will be responsible for coordinating and facilitating the project planning and M&E activities towards a coherent and flexible project management system.

Key Responsibilities

• In collaboration with other component coordinators, establish a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system taking into account the Government monitoring frameworks, IFAD RIMS, the project objectives and the experience from MKEPP;
• In collaboration with members of the PCT, the counties and implementing partners, continuously review/update the M&E indicators and the log frame of the project;
• Organize and supervise baseline surveys, Annual review workshops, impact assessment studies, Mid Term Review and completion report and other relevant studies;
• In collaboration with other members of the PCT, the counties and other implementing partners, coordinate and prepare the project annual work plan and budget (AWPB) and project reports;
• Development of implementation targets, monitor implementation processes and performance, assess outputs and outcomes as well as reporting back to stakeholders to create a better learning environment;
• Identify training needs and organize trainings on Participatory M&E for relevant stakeholders
• In collaboration with Community Empowerment Coordinator, ensure gender mainstreaming and equality in all project activities; and
• Any other relevant duty assigned by the Project Coordinator

Qualifications

• Must have a Bachelor’s degree in Economics/Statistics/Mathematics or a related field from a recognized university. Master’s degree in a relevant field will be an added advantage;
• Management training certificate will be an added advantage;
• Have 7 years working experience three (3) of which must be in participatory M&E and handling multi-sectoral community based government/donor funded project; and
• Be computer literate and able to use advanced computer packages for analysis and data storage.

Knowledge Management and Learning Officer (KM&LO)

One (1) Post

Reporting to the Project Coordinator, and working very closely with the M&E Officer, the KM&LO will coordinate the establishment and operation of an integrated Knowledge Management and Learning (KM&L) system towards a coherent and flexible project management system. 

The system will link five functions: learning and adaptation for continuous improvement of performance; learning-oriented M&E; internal (PCT) and external (stakeholders) communication; innovation and experimentation; and information management.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee the development of KM&L strategy and plans to ensure systematic, continuous learning, improvement and knowledge sharing;
• Develop a Management Information System (MIS) for managing data and information for overall monitoring;
• Develop and implement processes to ensure that lessons learned and good practices are captured systematically, shared, and used to improve project implementation, including in the development of the AWPB;
• Support advocacy efforts through providing evidence of impact gathered through the M&E system closely linked to knowledge management and communication activities;
• Coordinate the development and implementation of capacity building programmes for PCT staff, the counties and implementing partners, including coaching and mentoring;
• Provide technical backstopping and guidance to county and implementing partner staff on KM&L;
• Ensure that innovative experiences, learning and good practices are captured, synthesized, documented and shared continuously within the project, within the counties, with in-country partners, IFAD and other regional and international partners, including through a project website, documentation centre and communities of practice; and
• Any other relevant duty assigned by the Project Coordinator

Qualifications

• Must have a first degree in Rural Development/ Computer Science/Statistics/ Communications or other relevant field. Master’s degree in Information Systems, M&E, knowledge management or related field will be an added advantage;
• Be proficient in the use of databases, spreadsheets, modern information and communication technology (ICT) in development, and other computer applications; have demonstrated skills in quantitative and qualitative analysis and data management;
• Management training certificate will be an added advantage;
• Have at least 8 years relevant work experience, 3 of which must be in the field of KM&L/ M&E/ MIS/,facilitation of learning processes or a related filed;
• Must have proven experience in designing and implementing successful communication and knowledge management strategies for sustainable development, or in planning and implementing strategies at management level; and
• Proven ability to write reports, articles and or pamphlets depicting project interventions and results;

Community Empowerment Coordinator (CEC)

One (1) Post

Reporting to the Project Coordinator, and working very closely with the other PCT staff, the CEC will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of Community Empowerment component of the project.

Key Responsibilities

• Facilitate the planning, management and implementation of the community based mobilization activities of the project;
• In collaboration with other coordinators, coordinate the awareness creation to stakeholders and beneficiaries on project objectives and implementation arrangements;
• In collaboration with the county stakeholders, identify and establish community-based institutions such as the Focal Development Areas along the river basins, and assist in the formation of the Focal Development Area Committees;
• Organize training for the county implementing teams on PRA/PLA and other participatory community mobilization techniques, and backstop the training of the community-based institutions by the county teams;
• Facilitate the community action plan development process by the county and sub-county teams and the conversion of the plans into interventions and work plans;
• Coordinate relevant community trainings that include: group dynamics, management, organization and governance in collaboration with the county Gender and Social Development Officers;
• Develop a strategy for awareness creation and capacity building on gender equality, participation of women, youth and vulnerable groups in project supported activities, HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation, environmental management, and other cross-cutting issues;
• Ensure gender mainstreaming and equality in all project activities; and
• Any other duties assigned by the PC.

Qualifications

• Must have a first degree in Sociology/Social Work or Community Development from a recognized university. Master’s degree in a relevant field will be an added advantage;
• Management training certificate will be an added advantage;
• Have at least 10 years’ experience in Community Development, three (3) of which must be in handling community based multi-sectoral projects at senior management level;
• Have experience in participatory methodologies such as Participatory Rural Appraisal, Participatory Planning, Participatory Learning and Action; and
• Be up to date with government policies and reform process in the relevant sectors; and
• Be computer literate.

Rural Livelihoods Coordinator (RLC) 

One (1) Post

Reporting to the Project Coordinator, and working very closely with other PCT staff, the RLC will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of Sustainable Rural Livelihoods activities.

Key Responsibilities

• In collaboration with the counties, sub-counties staff and service providers, coordinate all on-farm soil and water management activities supported by the project;
• Regularly review and refine the guidelines and procedures for the implementation of the matching grants for sustainable soil and water conservation and income generating activities, drawing on emerging experience;
• Develop and maintain the partnerships with public, private sector and civil society organizations required for effective implementation of component activities and for sustainability of the activities;
• Coordinate all extension activities related to crop and livestock production, sustainable soil and water conservation, irrigation development, Farmers Field School (FFS) and value addition;
• Coordinate the development of marketing strategies for commodities produced under the project and monitor the implementation of these strategies;
• Facilitate the linkage of income generating activity (IGA) groups with financial services providers; and
• Together with the Community Empowerment Coordinator, ensure gender mainstreaming and equality in all project activities.

Qualifications

• Must have a first degree in Agriculture or a related discipline from a recognized university. Master’s degree in a related field will be an added advantage;
• Management training certificate will be an added advantage;
• Have at least 10 years working experience in a similar field, three (3) of which must be at senior management position handling community based projects;
• Be familiar with policies, reforms and appropriate technologies in agriculture sector; and
• Be computer literate.

Interested candidates who meet the above requirements should send their application letter, detailed CV, copies of certificates and testimonials to:

The Permanent Secretary

Ministry of Water and Irrigation

P.O. Box 49720-00100

Nairobi

Attn: Human Resources Department, Room NO 145

So as to reach on or before 15th October 2012. 

Only shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews.