Reporting Specialist (re-advertisement)

Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting Unit

The Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting (PMER) is a strategic unit within the organization that has the oversight, coordination and support responsibility for the planning, reporting and grant management in SCA overall under direct supervision of the Country Director/Afghanistan and technical guidance of SCA’s Secretary General.

The Unit is responsible for the facilitation of strategic and annual planning, as well as other major organisational planning processes that requires broad coordination. The Unit coordinates the required (by internal demands, donors and governmental authorities) SCA reporting processes and requirements, in particular the Macro Annual Report.

The Unit is also responsible for the grant management of agreements/contracts for donors based in Afghanistan, and where PMERU has been assigned a grant management responsibility, in close collaboration with the Programme Department at Kabul Management Office and the Aid Coordination Unit at Stockholm Management Office. The Unit supports quality proposal development and project design, in particular ensuring compliance with donor requirements, while undertaking regular follow-up with potential donors. 

Scope of Work

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Senior Head of Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting, the Reporting Specialist is responsible to manage all internal and external reporting, with a particular focus on Result-Based Reporting, including the Annual Report and individual donor reports, through systematic tracking of reporting deadlines and requirements according to the contractual agreements with donors and SCA’s internal procedures. The Reporting Specialist will initiate, materialise and coordinate a participatory reporting approach to ensure concerned programmes/units, including the Regional Management Offices, are fully engaged throughout the process and provide the required qualitative and quantitative inputs. The position holder will work closely with the concerned departments/units – including the Aid Coordination Unit in Stockholm Management Office – to coordinate the process, and obtain the required input needed for the report. This also includes engaging cross-cutting units such as Human Rights & Gender, Civil Society & Capacity Building, and Advocacy, to ensure SCA’s strategic means and thematic areas are properly addressed in the reports. The Reporting Specialist will also take active part in compiling and reviewing the Annual Work Plan narrative and ensures that the work plan addresses individual donor reporting requirements. She/he is also responsible for building the capacity of respective staff in Result-Based Reporting, developing relevant tools, and complying to donor requirements.

Responsibilities

• Develops and communicates annual reporting directives and templates across the organization, in consultation with the Senior Head of PMER, contract holders, and senior management.
• Coordinates, compiles, and edits the Annual Macro Report, and ensures it is reviewed by relevant units/programmes, and senior management.
• Ensures that the reports are systemised, meet donor requirements, and are consistent with the results framework.
• Improves the Macro Reporting system to ensure individual donor reports are easily extracted.
• Initiates, coordinates, and compiles individual donor reports in line with the deadlines and donor requirements and in close coordination with the concerned units, especially the contract holder.
• Disseminates draft reports for review and feedback to implementing departments/units, and relevant technical units, both in Kabul and Stockholm Management Offices.
• Maintains close relations with the Aid Coordination Unit in Stockholm to coordinate Sweden-based donor reports.
• Works closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation team to incorporate M&E data in the reports, including SCA’s progress towards its Strategic Objective/Outcome indicators.
• Works closely with the Finance Department to ensure all financial reports are prepared in line with contracts and are submitted along with the narrative reports.
• Ensures that SCA’s strategic means and thematic areas are addressed in the reports by engaging relevant crosscutting unit (s) during the reporting process, including draft reviews.
• Compiles and edits the narrative part of the Annual Work Plan and ensures that the work plan corresponds with individual donor reporting requirements.
• Builds the capacity of team members and respective programme/unit staff in Results-Based and donor reporting.
• Attends/leads/supports meetings and workshops and undertakes other related duties as/when assigned by the Senior Head of PMERU.
• Captures Lessons Learnt and identifies areas for improvement at the end of each reporting cycle and improves the reporting process accordingly.

Entry Requirements

Qualifications

• Master’s degree, or equivalent, in Business Administration, Development Studies, Social Sciences, or relevant professional fields.
• At least 3 years of relevant work experience at the national/international level involving multi-stakeholder and multi-sectorial projects, and partnership development.

Essential Competence

• Excellent command of English, written and spoken (preferably English native speaker).
• Ability to provide clear messages on complex information.
• Ability to seek and synthesise information from a variety of sources and draw solid conclusion based on in depth analysis.
• Strong knowledge of donor rules and regulations related to reporting and compliance.
• Proven ability to prioritise, handle multiple tasks, and meet deadlines.
• Accuracy and attention to detail.
• Skilled in Results-Based Planning and Reporting.
• Good communication skills, including the ability to write high quality donor and organisational reports and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style. Writing samples will be required from short listed candidates.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, teamwork and adaptation at working with people of diverse cultural and social backgrounds.
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and travel to project field sites.
• Ability to develop staff competence in result-based and donor reporting.

Desired Competence

• Knowledge in design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects.
• Familiarity with applying the Rights-Based Approach in a developmental context.
• Previous experience in Afghanistan or a similar environment.
• Have participated in HEAT-Training.

Application information

Contract period: 2 years with an initial 6 months probationary period
Conditions: Non-family posting. SCA offers a competitive salary, free housing, insurances and other benefits.
Duty station: Kabul. Due to the current situation SCA might decide to re-locate to other duty station and/or from home.  
Duties to begin: A soon as possible after agreement
Last date for application: 9 August 2021

Apply from www.sak.se (Lediga jobb) or www.swedishcommittee.org (Vacancies)
Download a 1-page letter explaining why you are interested in and suited for this position and your CV (no more than 2 pages) in English.

Swedish Committee for Afghanistan

Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) has been present in Afghanistan since the beginning of the 1980s. With over 6 000 Afghan employees, and 17 expatiates, it is one of the largest organizations in the country. SCA is presently managing development programmes linked to Strategic Objectives within Health, Education, Rural Livelihoods and Community Governance, with a total annual budget of roughly USD 40 million. SCA operates in 14 provinces in Afghanistan and contributes to stability in an unstable country. The programmes are, to a vast majority, implemented in rural areas. In Sweden, SCA has around 24 staff at the office in Stockholm, and about 3000 members in local chapters all over the country.

In Afghanistan, close to 90,000 children go to schools run by SCA. Over one and a half million people receive medical care each year at clinics and hospitals run by the organization, while 3,000 children and adults with disabilities receive special education.

In recent years, SCA has moved from a humanitarian organization to an NGO which emphasizes on capacity development for individuals and civil society organizations related to its development programmes, aiming to enhance their capacity to advocate for their rights.

Activities are based on a Rights Based Approach, claiming that satisfying hunger and living with dignity is a right, not a gift. As such, SCA emphasises that women have equal rights and should have the same opportunities as men through its empowering programme activities.