Senior Project Officer for Women Economic Empowerment

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

CRS Philippines, established in 1945, is the longest running, continuous CRS country program in the world with extensive programming in emergency response, early recovery and disaster risk reduction, climate resilience and peace governance. The Philippines country program has over 70 staff members in Manila, Davao, and Cotabato City. CRS Philippines is committed to collaborating with our strong network of church partners, national and subnational government agencies and secular NGOs throughout the country.

As a key member of the Women Advancing Sustainable Livelihood and Economic Empowerment in the Bangsamoro project team, you will facilitate the achievement of project objectives through coordinating and reporting on all project activities and providing technical support to key project stakeholders advancing CRS’ work serving the poor and vulnerable. Your coordination and relationship management skills will ensure that the project for which you are responsible applies best practices and constantly works towards improving the impact of its benefits to those we serve.

• →Actively contribute to crafting logical, detailed implementation plans that support the achievement of desired project goals, and in developing realistic budgets to support the completion of plans.
• →Organize and lead the implementation of assigned project activities as outlined in the detailed implementation plan in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practices.
• →Ensure learning properly accompanies project activities throughout the project cycle. Support accountability through coordinating project evaluation activities and guiding project stakeholders in their efforts to reflect on project experiences. Analyze implementation challenges and report any inconsistencies and/or gaps to inform adjustments to plans and implementation schedules.
• →Coordinate and oversee working relationships with all local project stakeholders and serve as liaison between them and the project team to mobilize local actors and promote project activities and impact.
• →Supervise and perform ad-hoc inspections of various processes and resources at project sites to ensure timely project activities implementation and adherence to established process standards and procedures. Ensure proper tracking of resource use for project activities through periodic budget reviews and follow-up with and assistance to implementing partner.
• →Support and coordinate capacity building and technical support activities to ensure assigned project activities are implemented per project guidelines and standards.
• →Coordinate provision of any logistical and administrative support to staff and project stakeholders.
• →Ensure project documentation for assigned activities is complete with all required documents and is filed per agency and donor requirements. Assist with preparation of trends analysis reports and documentation of case studies and promising practices
• →Coordinate and monitor financial and material resources relevant to project needs. Through planning and oversight, ensure efficient use of project resources. Support the development and preparation of the budget forecasts. In collaboration with the Technical Advisor – Social Cohesion/Program Manager and Finance Officer, review monthly budget comparison report especially for assigned activities, and provide feedback for adjustments when necessary. 

The Senior Project Officer for Women Economic Empowerment will lead implementation of project activities under the three project outputs: Output 1. Enhanced skills, capacity, and access to financial inclusion enabling women to engage in viable and scalable economic activities; Output 2. Improved access of women to markets for sustained participation in local value chains; and Output 3. Strengthened institutional and policy support for Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) initiatives.

• Bachelor's Degree required. Degree in International Relations, Development Studies, Social Work, or in the field of Peacebuilding, Governance would be a plus.
• Minimum of 5 years of work experience in project support, ideally in the field of community development, women and gender programming, and Peacebuilding.
• Additional education may substitute for some experience; additional experience may substitute for some education.

• Experience working with partners, participatory action planning and community engagement.
• Experience facilitating meetings and training activities
• Staff supervision experience a plus.
• Experience monitoring projects and collecting relevant data.
• Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 

• Understanding of gender dynamics, governance, and overall context in the Bangsamoro
• Analysis and problem-solving skills with ability to make sound judgment
• Good relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with local partners
• Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented
• Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities
• Demonstrates tolerance of differences in faith, background and opinions

Required Languages – English and Filipino

Travel – 40% travel to project sites.

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

Key Working Relationships: 
      Internal: MEAL Assistant, Admin Assistant, Finance Officer; 
      External: Technical partners, beneficiaries, government (parliament, ministries, local government units), other NGOs and civil society organizations.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff) 

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results. 

• Integrity 
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships 
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship