Programme Officer ICAR

Job Description

Job title: Programme Officer, International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR)

Place of work: Basel, Switzerland

Employment rate: (80-)100%

Start date: As soon as possible

Contract type: Permanent

Reporting to: Head of Programmes ICAR

Basel Institute on Governance

The Basel Institute on Governance (Basel Institute) is an international and independent not-for-profit organisation working worldwide with the public and private sector to counter corruption and other financial crimes and to improve the quality of governance. Registered as a Swiss foundation with HQs in Basel, the Institute operates globally and maintains field operations in Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The Basel Institute is an Associated Institute of the University of Basel.

Within the Basel Institute, the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) is a specialist centre dedicated to supporting affected countries in recovering stolen assets through capacity building and technical assistance initiatives, including strategic case advice, and by contributing to the international policy dialogue on standard setting in asset recovery. ICAR currently works in approximately 25 countries around the world, including with permanent in-country presence of experts and multi-year programmes in six countries.

Overview of position

In view of ICAR’s growing portfolio of country-specific, long-term technical assistance programmes, ICAR is looking for a Programme Officer with project management experience in the context of development cooperation and the delivery of capacity building and training. The Programme Officer will support the Head of Programmes and the Head of Training to manage ICAR technical assistance (+/- 70%) and training programmes (+/- 30%).

In doing so, the Programme Officer will contribute to ensuring that ICAR programmes are delivered in a coherent, structured, and impactful manner and in line with ICAR’s Operational Strategy as well as requirements set forth by donors. The Programme Officer is also the Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) focal point for ICAR, ensuring that accurate and validated data is collected in a timely manner to inform ICAR reporting to donors.

Whilst the post holder will report directly to the Head of Programmes, s/he will work closely with designated technical and other key project staff at headquarters and in field offices. On matters related to financial, contract management, and HR aspects, she/he will also interact with relevant HQ-based administrative staff as designated by the Head of Operations.

Key responsibilities

Programme management for ICAR country and fly-in, fly out programmes:

• Design, monitor, and manage programme budgets and lead on financial forecasting, reviewing and approving financial reports;
• Coordinate, review, and contribute to drafting substantive programme reports, including interim and/or annual update reports;
• Provide programme coordination, operations, and administrative support, including training and management of local programme managers in financial, risk, and performance management issues (where applicable);
• Contribute to the design and monitoring of work plans and M&E tools in consultation with the programme’s technical experts to ensure programmes deliver against objectives and align with ICAR’s operational strategy;
• Support technical experts to manage programme risks by maintaining risk registers and implementing mitigating measures;
• Contribute to determining staffing needs, including the development and/or revision of TORs for long term technical advisers and short-term consultants;
• Working with HR to manage the recruitment process to ensure that quality candidates can be contracted in line with programmatic timelines;
• With the Head of Programmes, ensure that ICAR field staff contracts are applied, and that performance management of field staff is conducted and documented;
• Contribute to stakeholder management, including with government counterparts, donors, partners, civil society representatives, etc.;
• Develop project management tools, including the drafting of standard operating procedures for new projects, reporting templates, and other tools as required.

Programme coordination, operations and administrative support for the delivery of ICAR training programmes:

• Design, monitor and manage budgets and review financial reports against budget;
• Communicate and coordinate with training recipient organisations to ensure that venue, technical equipment and other key features correspond to our training requirements;
• Support the logistics and administrative aspects of the production of training material, including the quality assurance and proof reading of training material, ensuring that final printed versions meet the requirements for training delivery, and coordinate the timely delivery and receipt of 3^rd party reviewed translated training materials if applicable;
• Management of training participant lists and ledger and coordinate the production of certificates and other course completion documents;
• Support the preparation of funding applications for new training programmes or extensions of existing programmes, and contribute to negotiating contractual arrangements and conditions;
• Support post-training survey activities, including the collection of survey results and the production of training impact studies summarising findings and participant feedback;
• Ensure the timely collection of accurate and validated data related to training activities in the context of ICAR’s M&E system and for ICAR reporting to donors;
• Ensure adequate documentation and filing of ICAR training programme documentation;

Qualifications

• Advanced university degree in development, law, political science, international relations or related fields;
• At least 5 years’ practical experience working in a development field with an NGO or other international organisation, preferably overseas in a coordination or mission support role;
• Proven experience managing donor funded programmes;
• Proven experience of programme design and proposal writing;
• Proven experience of high-quality report writing;
• A good understanding of M&E processes and tools;
• Cross cultural awareness and sensitivity to cultural differences;
• Strong communication and coordination skills, demonstrable experience engaging with a range of stakeholders, including senior officials;
• Fluent in spoken and written English and at least another major world language (Spanish, French and/or Portuguese an advantage).

Offer

We offer an interesting and rewarding working environment with a proactive, dynamic and international team spirit. The work is both routine and varied, and offers scope for initiative and innovation. The salary is competitive.

Application

Please send your written application (CV, letter of motivation, reference letters or, at a minimum, the contact details of three professional references; all documents merged in one PDF file), by 7 April 2021 by email to: application@baselgovernance.org.

For more information about the position, please contact: Peter Wilson, Programme Officer ICAR, peter.wilson@baselgovernance.org.

The Basel Institute is an equal opportunity employer. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.

About the Organization

The Basel Institute on Governance (Basel Institute) is an international and independent not-for-profit organisation working worldwide with the public and private sector to counter corruption and other financial crimes and to improve the quality of governance. Registered as a Swiss foundation with HQs in Basel, the Institute operates globally and maintains field operations in Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The Basel Institute is an Associated Institute of the University of Basel.

Within the Basel Institute, the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) is a specialist centre dedicated to supporting affected countries in recovering stolen assets through capacity building and technical assistance initiatives, including strategic case advice, and by contributing to the international policy dialogue on standard setting in asset recovery. ICAR currently works in approximately 25 countries around the world, including with permanent in-country presence of experts and multi-year programmes in six countries.