Career Opportunities @ CAFOD: Terms of Reference – Extension Officers (5 Positions)

TERMS OF REFERENCE

EXTENSION OFFICERS

Duration: 2.5 Months (Mid July to 30th September 2022)

No. of Person:  5 (one per Location)

Work Base: Freetown, Bombali, Port Loko, Bo and Kenema Districts

JOB SUMMARY

CAFOD in partnership with AIDE is recruiting for Extension Officers to be based in the above districts. They would be responsible to support in the implementation of “MSME Growth Accelerator Programme in Sierra Leone” project and activities in Freetown, Bombali, Port Loko, Bo and Kenema Districts respectively. He/she will be tasked with implementing program activities to support the projects objectives at district and community levels, as well as reporting to CAFOD’s PSD Programme Officer. He/she will also support to facilitate in the identification, assessment, and recruitment process of MSMEs, community engagements, trainings, mentorship, and coaching of MSMEs.

CAFOD AND AIDE IN BRIEF 

The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) is the official development and humanitarian agency of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and part of the global Caritas family. CAFOD’s way of working is through partnership, both civil society and private sector. CAFOD believes in investing in the capacity of local partners; promoting ownership and responsibility; facilitating the flow of resources and knowledge to the point of need, rather than duplicating efforts or direct implementation by outsiders in unknown contexts. As an enabling agency, CAFOD also supports partners to facilitate change at community level, ensuring communities have the spaces, skills and tools to exert their rights.

The African Institute for Development and Equity (AIDE) was born during the exit of CORDAID Sierra Leone, a reputable Dutch NGO with over 120 years of global operations. The vision of AIDE is to actively contribute to the social and economic development of the communities, districts, and nations in which we operate and to be an organization that continuously sows seeds for inclusive and sustainable development—whilst promoting and protecting equality, equity, access, social justice, and Human Rights for all. AIDE creates inclusive and sustainable development by democratizing information, lifting people out of poverty; improving the standards of living; and strengthening the system’s need to make positive changes. Specifically, programming focuses on human capital development, economic and private sector development, business growth and capacity-strengthening, integrated health systems, public sector support, environmental issues, peacebuilding, gender inclusion and performance-based financing.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Working closely with and reporting to the PSD Programme Officer to ensure strong delivery of “MSME Growth Accelerator Programme in Sierra Leone” project, the roles and responsibilities will include:

• Support in organizing programs and activities in accordance with the objectives and goals of the project.
• Lead community engagements and mobilization of MSMEs including radio talk shows and

community meetings to raise awareness and provides constructive feedbacks.

• Facilitate the application process of formal and informal MSMEs including the identification, assessment, on-spot checks, and sorting of qualified and disqualified MSMEs.
• Work with MSMEs and partners to design and implement activities to help MSMEs have access to financial products/services.
• Support CAFOD and AIDE to conduct MSMEs capacity assessment and development of capacity strengthening plans.
• Facilitate mobilization and coordination of trainings, mentorship and coaching and other event for MSMEs engagements with CAFOD, AIDE and other representatives of the project.
• Develop strategies and interventions to improve the quality of activities
• Undertake monitoring of activities, providing accurate, well presented, and compelling reports on time, which will include case studies, video stories etc.
• Support and monitor partner organizations in implementing any other activities related to the project
• Analyzing program risk and provide recommendations.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

The required qualifications and skills for this job assignment are:

• Higher education certificate
• At least two (2) years of successful experience in implementing community mobilization programmes.
• Proven ability to work effectively and safely in rural areas
• Experience organizing and implementing community level multi-stakeholder consultations and forums.

• Substantive knowledge of key issues and emerging trends in PSD/MSMEs
• Excellent communication skills in English, both oral and written and one of the local languages in the district
• Ability and willingness to undertake assignments at short notice.

Experience

• Experience working in private sector development, financial inclusion or Managing MSMEs.
• Experience in working in projects that worked with vulnerable women and youth.
• Experience working within the NGO sector.
• Experience in training and field use of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods.
• Good knowledge of the area and local customs.
• Previous work experience in project location highly desirable.

• Organize and accurately complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities while taking into consideration special assignments, frequent interruptions, deadlines, and available resources.
• Must be able to work on their own and able to manage multiple tasks
• Plan, coordinate and organize workload while remaining aware of changing priorities and competing deadlines
• Establish, build and maintain effective working relationships with partners and project representatives to facilitate the provision of support

• Consistently approach work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Remain calm, in control and good humored even under pressure
• Demonstrate openness to change and ability to manage complexities

TO APPLY

Applicants are required to submit application package via email address [email protected]  with mail subject indicating “MSMEs GAP Extension Officer – Name of Applicant and for which duty station (i.e., Freetown or Bombali or Port Loko or Bo or Kenema)”. All Candidate’s Cover Letter and Resume (CV) must be submitted on or before Tuesday, 12th July 2022 5:00pm GMT.