Project Manager WPS at Cordaid

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Description of the project:**

As part of the British National Action Plan 1325, the project “Women’s Voices First – Women Leading the Way to Inclusive Peace in Iraq”* will provide support to Iraqi grassroots women-led, feminist and women’s rights organizations to become self-reliant and interconnected, advancing a localized transformative WPS agenda, contributing to inclusive peace and security in communities across the Federal and Kurdistan region of Iraq. The project commits itself to the following pillars:*

• flexible, multi-year funding focused on enabling the CSOs to define their own priorities under the WPS agenda that meet the identified needs of women and girls in the communities they serve;
• tailored capacity building and technical support to WROs / CSOs;

strengthened coordination and networking across WROs / CSOs;

Key responsibilities:

• Develop and implement an effective project implementation strategy in collaboration ensuring that the project is both gender-sensitive as well as gender-transformative in cooperation with the donor, advisory committee, team members (Baghdad / Erbil and Global office), partners and other stakeholders;
• Initiate and maintain mechanisms for ongoing cooperation, communication, joint planning, and problem-shooting across the partnership;
• Ensure all project-based needs and requirements are shared with the project in a timely way, and resources effectively planned and allocated, for optimal value-for-money implementation;
• Ensure achievement of consistently excellent standards in the management of human, financial and technical resources of the project, including inspiring and maintaining high standards of work for project staff;
• Lead project quality control and contractual compliance, and monitor overall financial integrity of the project;
• Maintain together with the team a professional and partner-friendly accessible grant management system for 36 CSOs in Iraq (nationwide);
• Regularly update project context analysis and risk log;
• Advise the core project team on meaningful engagement with key actors and institutions;
• Oversee implementation of risk mitigation and lead crisis response actions as needed;
• Devise and implement a strategic external communications plan (including crisis communications) and represent the project externally together with the lobby & advocacy / communication officer.
• Establish and maintain close relations with key governmental and international stakeholders, participating in relevant networks, working groups, and other coordination bodies at national level
• Produce reports to the management board, advisory committee and respond to periodic management board requests for information
• Ensure effective reporting to the donor that builds trust and transparency
• Implement overall monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework
• Consolidate tracking of project indicators against targets
• Participate in weekly Program Team staff meetings, including provision of work-related updates.
• Participate in weekly substantive check-ins with Director of Program.

Code of Conduct

It is our shared responsibility and obligation to prevent matters involving Sexual Exploitation & Abuse, Trafficking in Persons, Child Safeguarding, and any suggested violation to Cordaid’s Code of Conduct, which may involve Conflicts of Interest, Corruption or Harassment. If you see, hear, or are made aware of any suggested activities then you have an obligation to report.

Qualifications and skills:

• 5+ years of professional experience successfully managing projects in Iraq or similar contexts, preferably in the fields of women, peace and security, conflict prevention, peacebuilding, women’s rights, security and justice, youth, or advocacy.
• Academic / bachelor qualification in a relevant discipline (anthropology, development studies, economics, political science), ideally at graduate level;
• Outstanding diplomatic and consensus-building skills, able to build and sustain effective working relationships with partners, key stakeholders, senior officials)
• Substantial experience in project management of donor-funded programs;
• Superior communication skills: Arabic mandatory (spoken and written), English (excellent: spoken and written) and Kurdish preferred;
• Proven working experience in project management with NGOs and CSOs;
• Coaching skills to support staff and local partners:
• Proven sharp analytical skills;
• Proactive, entrepreneurial, and effective in a fast-paced cross-cultural work environment;
• Strong written and verbal skills for communicating with a diverse audience, including internally and external high-level stakeholders;
• Solid organizational skills including attention to detail and multitasking skills.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office & Administrative skills.