Project Coordinator

POSITION TITLE	Project Coordinator
POSITION LOCATION	Jaffna, Northern Province, Sri Lanka
REPORTS TO	Project Director / Country Director, Sri Lanka
CONTRACT TERM	One Year , renewable
APPLICATION DEADLINE	29th October 2023

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BACKGROUND

WUSC (World University Service of Canada) is a Canadian non-profit organization working to create a better world for all young people. We bring together a diverse network of students, volunteers, schools, governments, and businesses who share this vision. Together, we develop solutions in education, economic opportunities, and empowerment to overcome inequality and exclusion for youth around the world, particularly young women and young refugees. WUSC currently works in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $40 million. We have over 90 staff in our Ottawa office, and over 200 people overseas implementing 16 development projects in collaboration with donors such as Global Affairs Canada, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the African Development Bank.

Growth, Resilience, Investment and Training (GRIT) – Building a Gender-Responsive Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Sri Lanka’s North is a 7-year collaborative initiative (2022-2029) that will build sustainable pathways to enhanced economic empowerment, well-being and inclusive growth in Sri Lanka (SL), especially for young women in the North of the country.

This project will test innovative, sustainable models to improve the enabling environment and reduce gender-specific barriers to increase equitable and sustainable growth of start-up, early-stage, and growth-stage enterprises, especially those owned by, operated by, or serving women in the North of SL.

Our network in Canada also works with WUSC to raise awareness among Canadians to inspire greater action on global development issues. Our collective focus is on sustainable and inclusive changes to create a better world for women and their communities.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the supervision of the Project Director / Country Director for Sri Lanka,  the Project Coordinator will be responsible for coordinating activities in the Northern Province, in line with the project implementation plan and schedules.   She/he shall ensure the coordination of all activities assigned and is responsible for managing its human resources and its material and financial resources. She/he shall represent the project as assigned in dealings with different agencies, stakeholders and organizations and ensure linkages and synergies between the Program and the other regional projects and activities in the country. The Project Coordinator will be the main point of contact for the Program’s partners in the North.

She/he is responsible for developing a solid network of partners – from public and private sectors, and the larger entrepreneurial ecosystem – to achieve the project’s objectives. In carrying out this mandate, the Project Coordinator will be supported by local country employees, including volunteers. The project coordinator may count on the support of colleagues from teams in Canada for volunteer mobilization, systems change, ecosystem development, training, sectoral analyses, gender, and monitoring and evaluation.

The Project Coordinator will provide technical support to guide the project activities and outputs and ensure effective implementation of the project activities assigned to the North and will be responsible for required project reporting, partnership and ecosystem building as per the requirements of the project theory of change, PMF and the action areas of the Feminist International Assistance Policy. The Project Coordinator duties will include, but will not be limited to:

Coordination and Project Management:

• As guided by the Project Director, manage the overall conduct of the project, including implementing planned activities, monitoring implementation progress, managing the project risks, capturing lessons learned, etc.
• Develop the annual work plans in coordination with the project partners and ensure they are approved by the Project Director / Project Steering Committees.
• Supervise, guide and coordinate the work of consultants and project executing partners.
• Engage and maintain direct dialogue with relevant government agencies represented in the North to support the implementation of the project.
• Liaise and lead the coordination between the Regional-level ecosystem stakeholders and organize Regional-level meetings (to be held at east once a year);
• In close liaison with the Project Director, prepare and revise project work and financial plans.
• Manage, monitor and report project risks.
• Contribute to knowledge management processes as well as the organization and maintenance of the project filing system.
• Participate in relevant Project progress meetings, technical meetings as well as regional and national meetings.
• In close liaison with other project partners, organize and implement required training programmes / workshops.
• Strong engagement of investors and BDS mentors in the North.
• Ensure all logistics programme teams are secured and managed with the support of the country operations staff

Technical Support:

• Provide technical guidance to local partners on entrepreneurship ecosystem building and systems change and gender responsive programing at the regional level and ensure that work is harmonized across partners, ecosystem stakeholders, other development partners and project consultants who are providing similar outputs in accordance to the project’s logic model and theory of change;
• Provide technical input to working documents, studies and technical reports as required in the framework of project activities on the topics of entrepreneurship ecosystem building and systems change and gender
• Lead and supervise the implementation of the resilient and sustainable ecosystem development approach in the project.

Reporting, Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Prepare/lead the preparation of progress reports in compliance with relevant guidelines, including (but not limited to) periodic status/progress reports, annual project performance reports including monitoring of project: Performance Management Framework; Financial data; Risk’s assessment; Project indicators; Lessons learned; Project Results.
• Conduct visits to the Country Office as necessary.
• Support the documentation of lessons learned from the project and provide recommendations.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Leadership:

Plans and acts transparently, actively works to removes barriers; Creates awareness of substantive opportunities and risks among others; Navigates complex circumstances thoughtfully and is solution minded.

Innovation:

• Creates new and relevant ideas and leads others to implement them; Integrates diverse contributions to formulate coherent approaches;
• Aligns innovation to service delivery components; Manages prototype / pilot efforts and seeks feedback.
• People Management:
• Models high professional standards and motivates excellence in others;
• Coaches team members / partners to share knowledge across teams;
• Addresses conflicts in a timely, sensitive manner; escalates to leadership when appropriate;
• Recognizes members of the team for their efforts and successes;
• Optimizes individual and team abilities.

Communication & Relationship Management:

Gains trust of peers, partners, stakeholders, government by presenting complex concepts in practical terms to others; Persuades others to embrace new ideas, even when controversial; Empathizes with client perspectives and needs and communicates messages with the clients’ experiences in mind; Creates opportunities for developing new and important relationships.

Delivery:

• Critically assesses value and relevance of existing policy / practice and contributes to enhanced delivery of products, services, and innovative solutions;
• Anticipates constraints and identifies solutions; Expands capacity of team to deliver on time, on target, and within organizational standards;
• Ensures high quality of work in terms of both substantive depth and adaptive relevance to identified barriers;
• Exhibits thorough organizational awareness of WUSC’s approach to Gender Lens Investment, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, Anti  Discrimination and Diversity Policy and Safeguarding with integrity and accountability;
• Exhibits sound judgment and the ability to make reasonable decisions in complex situations.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

Entrepreneurship and Investments

Knowledge of the life cycle of an entrepreneur, investor relations and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations.

Sustainable Ecosystem Development

Knowledge of sustainable development concepts, principles and issues and the ability to apply to strategic and/or practical situations, covering the economic, social and entrepreneurial dimensions.

Project Management

Ability to plan, organize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Social Cohesion

Knowledge of methods and experience of supporting communities to achieve greater inclusiveness, more civic participation and creating opportunities for upward mobility. 

Partnerships

Ability to engage with other agencies, donors, and other development stakeholders, ecosystem actors and forge productive working relationships.  Be proactive and strategic in managing partnerships, conflict resolution and inculcating a culture of inclusion and gender equality.

EDUCATION

An advanced university degree in a relevant discipline (international development, economic development, business development or development studies) or equivalent years of professional experience.

EXPERIENCE & KNOWLEDGE

• 5 to 8 years of experience in the field of entrepreneurship development, especially in an intercultural, and complex context.
• Experience in systems change related development cooperation programs.
• Two years of experience in coordinating intercultural teams and experience in volunteer management an asset.
• Experience in needs analysis, capacity building and training.
• Experience in budget development and budget management.
• Experience in project development and project management.
• Excellent communications and representation skills.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills.
• Knowledge of national development strategies, particularly in relation to the economic sector, businesses, entrepreneurship, employability, and vocational and technical training.
• An entrepreneurial spirit.
• Proficiency with information technologies and computer skills (Word, Excel, the Internet, etc.) and familiarity with Google Drive and Gmail an asset.
• Knowledge of the economic development sector.
• Adherence to the Gender Equality approach and the values of social inclusion.
• Knowledge of Results-Based Management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Curious, enthusiastic and willing to innovate and adapt.

LANGUAGES

• Complete fluency in English and Tamil is required.
• Fluency in Sinhala will be an advantage.

APPLICATIONS

WUSC’s activities seek to balance inequities and create sustainable development around the globe; the work ethic of our staff, volunteers, representatives and partners shall correspond to the values and mission of the organization. WUSC promotes responsibility, respect, honesty, and professional excellence and we will not tolerate harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation or abuse of any form. Successful applicants will be required to undertake an enhanced criminal record check where appropriate.

WUSC is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. No telephone calls please.

If you wish to apply for this position, please follow this link to register on WUSC’s candidate database.