SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND

Programme Associate – Sub-Saharan Africa

Based in Washington, DC

Job Description/Announcement

Please note that English language fluency and French language proficiency are both required for this position. Thank you. 

The Organisation

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international non-profit organisation that promotes peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and a European office in Brussels, Belgium, SFCG’s mission is to transform how individuals, organisations, and governments deal with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. SFCG seeks to help conflicting parties understand their differences and act on their commonalities. With a total of approximately 400 staff worldwide, SFCG implements projects from 28 offices in 20 countries, including in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the United States and Africa.    

Programme

SFCG currently has programs in nine countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: Angola, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone.  The Africa Team is comprised of five members who provide leadership and support to these country programmes, led by the Africa Director and managed by the Africa Programme Manager. 

Summary of Position

The Programme Associate is a member of the support team for the Africa programmes and is the primary contact in Washington. The Programme Associate works with the country programme teams to produce proposals, reports, programme literature, and other materials. In this function, the Programme Associate supports programme design, administration and monitoring, providing input and feedback to the country teams to better target proposals and capture results. The position is involved in representation of the Africa programmes in the DC community. The position is also responsible for supervising the DC-based interns and liaising with the international interns in the field, as needed. The position holder will work closely with the field-based Africa team, field offices; and Washington based divisions within Search for Common Ground. The position reports to the Africa Programme Manager.     

Work Environment

Search for Common Ground has a great work environment with a mission of peace-building in the world, hard-working and friendly co-workers, team-building opportunities, and involvement in staff events (i.e. monthly staff meetings, peace-building films, and brown bag sessions, such as informational seminars by employees). The organisation has won numerous awards. 

Responsibilities

• Contribute to program design and lead proposal writing process for technical and budget components of proposals for Africa programs as assigned;
• Maintain standard attachments for proposals, including but not limited to capacity statements, examples of impact and HQ and field staff resumes;
• Write interim and final narrative reports to donors on project achievements;
• Recruit and manage DC-based intern staff;
• Maintain contacts with international interns to ensure field-based learning is incorporated into institutional knowledge and visibility documents;
• Manage preparation of contracts for consultants and follow-up on payments;
• Support the coordination between the Africa programs and the Finance Department and Grants Manager on proposal requirements, grant contracts, and reporting as needed;
• Update and maintain content for Africa programmes on the SFCG website;
• Lead the production of quarterly newsletters and other programme literature on Africa programme activities and events for public distribution, in coordination with the Programme Assistant;
• Provide general logistical support as required including support for trainings, special events and hospitality for international guests and staff;
• Research, identify, and compile updates of trainings, awards, and fellowship opportunities for Sub-Saharan Africa programs and staff in order to provide capacity building and recognition opportunities;
• Represent SFCG at events and meetings;
• Maintain relationships with contacts from major donor and partners based in Washington, DC; and
• Be engaged in the continuing development of the organisation, its mission and its staff, through the sharing of experience and knowledge, particularly contributing to its Institutional Learning initiative.

As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.

Minimum Qualifications

Essential

• Bachelor’s degree in conflict resolution, international development or related field;
• Minimum of five (5) years of work experience in related field, with at least two (2) years of experience in conflict resolution, international development or related field;
• Knowledge and/or experience in Africa, especially countries in conflict;
• Excellent writing skills;
• Experience in proposal writing and development;
• Ability to prepare budgets and experience with Microsoft Excel;
• Ability to represent projects professionally to a variety of audiences;
• Strong organisational skills;
• Ability to work well under pressure with strong attention to detail;
• English fluency;
• French proficiency (including written);
• Ability to travel overseas on short notice; and
• Flexibility and a sense of humour.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of Portuguese

Salary: Maximum salary is in the low thirties, and is commensurate with education and experience. The organisation provides excellent benefits. 

To Apply:  Please send a cover letter and current resume to Este endereço de e-mail está protegido de spam bots, pelo que necessita do Javascript activado para o visualizar or fax to +1 (202) 232-6718 with the subject heading:  Programme Associate-Sub-Saharan Africa. Please be sure to include salary requirements (in currency figures) or current salary, projected start date, and to mention where you found this posting. Position is open until filled. No phone calls please. Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. Please see our web site at www.sfcg.org for full details of our work.