Project Onboarding & Reporting Coordinator

ORGANISATION OVERVIEW & ROLE PURPOSE Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child. However,  this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination, and it is girls who are most affected.
Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners in more than 70 countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas, Plan International’s purpose is to strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality of girls. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. We enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge. The Project Onboarding & Reporting Coordinator is responsible for supporting the Programme Implementation team in the development of project proposals that will meet the exacting standards of donors and national offices. S/he provides advice, guidance, and practical assistance to support the team in on-boarding newly approved projects, supporting project managers to organise and coordinate the multi-disciplinary teams of colleagues and consultants who conduct due diligence and capacity assessments on time and to standard.  As projects progress the job holder also supports the Head of Programme Implementation (HoPI) in ensuring timely, quality, delivery and providing accountability requirements to donors and national offices. ROLE DIMENSIONS: The Project Onboarding and Reporting Coordinator provides valuable advice, guidance, and practical support to project managers for understanding donor and national office compliance rules and regulations, as well as supporting at critical moments (start up, close out, modification requests) to make sure these are completed efficiently and with quality. The Project Onboarding and Reporting Coordinator must combine big-picture thinking with an ability to manage the details in order to support the HoPI in managing PIU’s entire portfolio of projects – with a particular focus on ensuring our programs manage to report on time and with quality, and that they are set up for success at project start, end, and during any modification requests. The Project Onboarding and Reporting Coordinator must have excellent analytical capacity, as well as an ability to work under pressure, with a strong sense of urgency to meet deadlines and quality standards. This position is not responsible for a departmental budget but influences the extent to which the Programme Implementation budget of around € 9 million annually achieves value for money. The key challenge for this position is around the sheer volume of staff and stakeholders and the number of projects that must be brought to successful completion in parallel.  This requires the job holder to:

• Have an outstanding ability to think both conceptually and tactically, managing multiple moving parts simultaneously
• Excellent proactivity to anticipate issues ahead of time, and establish workplans with agreed roles and timelines that ensure project managers are preparing reports and modification requests (as well as all tasks related to close out and start up) ahead of time, factoring in sufficient time for reviews in country
• Motivate and influence the team to deliver reports on time and to standard using high level interpersonal skills and without the benefit of direct line management authority
• Excellent and proactive communication skills with national offices and donors, allaying any concerns which may arise and escalating issues as soon as these arise to HOPI, Grant finance Manager, PAMS and CFM as needed.

Level of contact with children This position has been classified as “low contact”: Minimal interaction with children Key result areas: KRA 1: Project Onboarding and Start Up Processes Work collaboratively with the Business Development Unit and the Financial Budgeting & Reporting Unit to manage the complex processes involved in project initiation; organise and coordinate the Programme Implementation team and all supporting departments to fully comply with policies and procedures relating to project initiation Ensure FADs are signed by at least two weeks before project start date, and that these include all relevant information required on donor and national office compliance, and that reporting dates are acceptable.  Negotiate with national offices as required on these, with support from the HOPI. Once projects are approved, ensure that project initiation processes are started in a timely manner as per the project initiation checklists (and update the checklists as needed to ensure it covers everything required to ensure successful project initiation)    Follow up with all stakeholders (supporting departments, partnership manager, PMs, PAMs, HR) as needed to ensure all items listed as action points within the initiation checklists are completed on time and within first three months of a project.   Provide all relevant information as per donor compliance and national office compliance (as stated in the FADS) to the project implementation team and the finance team, to ensure that they have all relevant information to set the project up within our program management systems. Ensure that responsibility for carrying out due diligence and developing contracts with specific partners is clearly allocated during new-project onboarding; liaise with colleagues to ensure an efficient process  

KRA 2:  Reporting Management  and Communication with National Offices and Donors

Develop and maintain (in collaboration with the finance team) a tracking system to ensure timely submission of reports, responses to feedback on reports submitted, and modification requests;

Ensure all relevant technical advisors have reviewed reports before submission to national offices / donors, and do a final review and proof-read before submission

Follow up with the Budget & Reporting, MERL and Programme Implementation Teams as necessary to ensure reports and modification requests are submitted on time and with appropriate levels of quality, and escalate any problems to the relevant accountable manager

Participate as possible in check in calls with donors and national officers, or read through notes from these – flagging anything of concern to the HOPI.   Take an overview of information in reports submitted and draw the HoPI’s attention to anything that is falling behind or sub-standard; wherever possible, trouble shoot problems and present solutions

Coordinate with PMs, PAM and finance team to develop a workplan with clear roles and responsibilities related to modifications which need to be submitted, ensuring sufficient time is given for country office review

Submit all reports to the national offices and donors (as appropriate) on time, and manage any feedback requests with relevant stakeholders to ensure we respond to these also on time and with quality

Draft FAD amendments as needed including all relevant information on compliance issues and ensuring data is correct as per our systems, and circulate for review with CFM, HOPI and National office before securing CD signature

Remain looped in on all communications to project team with national offices, to ensure we are responding to adhoc requests within the timeframes.  As necessary, negotiate with national offices for more realistic timeframes which allow for in-country review.

 

 

 

 

KRA 3: Accountability & Compliance Support the development and implementation of systems that will ensure the timely development of reports and delivery of other donor accountability requirements: Ensure all compliance information is captured at project start and made available to implementation team and all supporting departments.    Work closely with PM, finance and MERL team as they are setting up the projects in our management systems to ensure the set up is compliant and appropriate with best practices and with agreed donor and national office reporting and compliance conditions. Work collaboratively with the Budgeting & Reporting Manager to strengthen PIU’s grant management systems, ensuring that end-to-end grants management is carried out in a time-effective manner, in line with good practice Review all reports (financial, quantitative and narrative) before they are submitted to ensure adherence to donor requirements and PIU quality standards Provide support to CLT to input into the quarterly report submitted to the region, on project performance and KPIs for the project implementation team Organise and coordinate the team to support donor audits and to facilitate any visits or ad-hoc requests from donors   KRA 4: Team Collaboration Support the HoPI in managing the Programme Implementation Team, empowering them to contribute effectively towards achievement of PIU’s strategy: As directed by the HoPI, follow up with team members to check on progress and on the achievement of results; ensure that Programme Area Managers and Project Managers are effectively coordinating the roll-out of projects and that all projects are implemented on time, scope and budget   Liaise with Technical Advisors and Support Departments to ensure the Programme Implementation team is equipped to follow Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) and effectively utilise tools that are designed to assure successful programme implementation Identify and trouble-shoot any issues which are impacting successful delivery of projects on scope time and budget, working closely together with all departments (finance, Ops, HR, Risk) to develop solutions and roll these out across our Programmes Foster an inclusive environment by implementation of policies and ways-of-working that provide for diversity and equal opportunities and utilisation of a leadership style that will drive employee engagement, in line with PIU’s Staff Engagement and Communication Approach