Project Advisor in Rural Development At Comité de Coopération avec Laos

Expected start date: February 2025 Duration: 30 months, full-time Contract type: Local contract

About CCL: CCL (Comité de Coopération avec le Laos) is a French NGO established in 1980 to support the country’s reconstruction after years of war. CCL operates exclusively in Laos and has 44 years of experience in implementing rural development projects, particularly with ethnic minorities. Currently, CCL is implementing projects in the provinces of Phongsaly, Oudomxay, and Bolikhamxay.

Job Context: This position is part of a rural development project in Oudomxay province (Beng, La, and Xay districts) in northern Laos, titled “Systematic Action for Development, Agriculture, Environment, and Biodiversity, Phase 2.” The project will support 50 village communities, primarily Khmu, Akha, and Hmong minorities, through participatory approaches.

Role of the Project Advisor within the project and the CCL:
The Project Advisor for Rural Development is based in Oudomxay with regular missions to Vientiane to ensure coordination with the CCL’s management team and civil society partners. They report directly to the CCL Director based in Vientiane and work closely with the program officer based in Vientiane and the project coordinator based in Oudomxay.
The field team consists of a coordinator, an admin-accountant, a driver, and 5 technicians (Biodiversity, Agriculture, Water & Environment, Forests & Non-Timber Forest Products, Pesticides), of which 2 are still to be recruited. A rural development and monitoring & evaluation assistant will be recruited in 2026.

Job Objectives
The Project Advisor will be responsible for:

• Project Management:
  • Human Resources Management:
    • Coaching of the project coordinator in managing the project team.
    • Participating in the recruitment process, including defining job descriptions, reviewing applications, and conducting interviews.
    • Participating in staff performance appraisal.
  • Budget Management:
    • Checking and validating the consistency of activity plans and monthly budgets with project objectives.
    • Monitoring cash flow and annual and quarterly activity plans.
    • Ensuring compliance with budgetary codes for each expense.
  • Financial Management:
    • In collaboration with the Financial Director, planning annual and quarterly expenditures.
    • Managing disbursement requests from various funding partners.
    • Monitoring expenditures and supporting the preparation of financial reports to partners.
    • Participating in project financial audits, including preparing terms of reference and audit contracts, collaborating with the Financial Director during the audit process, and preparing responses to management letters.
  • Partnership Management:
    • In collaboration with the project coordinator, preparing, supervising and monitoring contracts, and coordinating with partners (local authorities, civil society organizations).
  • Consultancy Contract Management:
    • Preparing terms of reference and contracts, supervising and monitoring contract implementation, and reviewing deliverables.
• Funding Management and Research: along with the program officer
  • Monitoring the establishment of funding agreements with donors.
  • Ensuring co-financing of the program.
  • Drafting and monitoring funding proposals.
  • In coordination with the project coordinator, preparing for donor visits and accompanying them on project sites.
• Technical and Methodological Support to the Project Team:
  • Technical Support:
    • In collaboration with the coordinator and technical staff, supporting the preparation of activities related to agricultural support (technical training, input distribution, vaccination campaigns), non-timber forest product management (bamboo, broom grass…), village and inter-community consultations, community governance strengthening (support to committees), water supply support, participatory risk and climate vulnerability assessments, human-elephant coexistence, awareness-raising campaigns on contract farming and land rights, and exchange visits.
    • In collaboration with Lao civil society partners (or consultants), the coordinator, and technical staff, participating in the preparation of activities such as awareness-raising campaigns (pesticides, biodiversity) in schools and villages, facilitation of multi-stakeholder workshops of provincial think tanks (pesticides, biodiversity), formalization of protocols and implementation of thematic studies (Nam Phak basin diagnosis, pesticide study, biodiversity monitoring studies), training for project staff (including initial training and procedure follow-up), and national seminars (pesticides, biodiversity).
  • Methodological Support:
    • Developing participatory techniques for various project activities.
    • Formalizing techniques to better include women and youth in all project activities (participant numbers, proactive participation), and supporting their implementation by the project team.
• Project Monitoring and Evaluation:
  • Developing and managing the project’s monitoring and evaluation system with the project team (preliminary project study, development of monitoring tables, questionnaires, case studies, data analysis linked to project indicators).
  • Guiding and supporting the technical and methodological monitoring of the project team based on the results of the monitoring and evaluation.
• Report Writing:
  • Drafting activity reports in French and English for project funding partners.
• Communication:
  • Writing articles for the CCL website and Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.
  • Participating in the drafting of the association’s annual report
• Representation of CCL in Civil Society Networks:
  • Participating in meetings, networks, working groups, workshops, and conferences for representation, continuing education, and dissemination of project lessons learned.
• Support for programmatic and Organizational Development of CCL:
  • Participating in projects monthly meetings
  • Monthly report’s meeting on the project’s progress with the program officer
  • Participating in experience and expertise exchanges between projects
  • Depending on needs, participating in the definition of CCL’s strategic orientations, administrative support, capacity building, and representation of CCL with partners.

Profile:
•Master’s degree in agronomy, agriculture, geography, anthropology, development economics, or related fields
•At least 5 years of experience in rural development project management
•Strong budget management skills
•Experience in monitoring and evaluation
•Proficiency in French and English
•Knowledge of Lao is a plus
•Experience working in a rural, developing country is desirable