Project Officer

The International Center for Biosaline Agriculture(ICBA) is an international, non-profit agricultural research center established in 1999 through the visionary leadership of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), and the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). ICBA is a unique applied agricultural research center in the world that is focused on marginal areas where an estimated 1.7 billion people live. It identifies, tests and introduces resource-efficient, climate-smart crops and technologies that are best suited to different regions affected by salinity, water scarcity and drought. Through its work, ICBA helps to improve food security and livelihoods for some of the poorest rural communities around the world. ICBA is an equal opportunity employer and appoints qualified staff regardless of race, creed, color, age, gender, religion or national origin. We demonstrate our commitment to each member of our team through a competitive benefits package designed to assist our employees to cover their needs and the needs of their immediate family members.

Job Summary

Support the Directorate of Programs, Director and program and project leaders in project management tasks for both internal and external projects. Specifically, the project officer will help in planning, executing, reporting monitoring and evaluating projects according to pre-determined timelines and budgets.  Ensuring quality control throughout the project life cycle is central to this position

Job Responsibilities
  • Project initiating: work with Program and Project leaders, legal advisor and Director of Programs in preparing technical and financial components of legal agreements to be signed with funding institutions as well as with implementing partners;
  • Project planning: work with Program and Project leaders and stakeholders to translate the project proposal into a project workplan, identifying the detailed scope of work and deliverables, roles of partners, schedule and milestone, budget;
  • Project executing: manage the day-to-day operations of the project in collaboration with the relevant scientists; work with Program and Project leaders to recruit and manage appropriate project staff including consultants or contractors; support in reviewing job contributions; initiate and follow-up the procurement of goods and services for the project; organize and facilitate stakeholder consultations and project meetings when required; contribute to the preparation of technical and financial reports; prepare budget forecast; facilitate project audits;
  • Project monitoring: work with Program and Project leaders in measuring project progress and performance against baseline and expected results; monitor milestones and ensure the timely submission of deliverables; determine if variances warrant a corrective action and request changes when appropriate; ensure any changes in scope are approved and documented. Work with ICBA Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist to ensure all results are filtered into the Organization’s MEL plan and KPI reporting. Communicate milestone achievements and success stories from the field to the communications team for dissemination by ICBA media channels.  
  • Project closing: support Program and Project leaders in completing financial, procurement closure and final technical reports; gather final lessons learned and, in collaboration with other Divisions, update knowledge base; ensure all achievements are captured into ICBA KPIs and reported on.
  • Perform other tasks as per Director of Programs and Program leaders’ requirements.
 
Qualifications and Experience
  • University Degree in a related subject (Economics, Business/Public Administration, Social Sciences, Development Studies, etc.), a masters in sustainable development, food security, rural development or environmental sciences will be an added advantage;
  • 2 to 3 years planning and/or management experience;
  • Knowledge of project management preferred in an international organization;
  • Proficiency in the use of computers and related programs particularly MS Project Management
Post Date
6 February 2020
Status
Closed
Vacancy Type
Full-time
Closing Date
29 February 2020
Location
Dubai, UAE
Report To
Director of programs
Job Number
ICBADP-DXB-2019-025