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ABOUT SPARK MICROGRANTS

Spark Microgrants believes in a world where everyone lives with dignity and determines their own positive future. Decades of prescriptive aid have side-lined the poor from the very programs meant to uplift them. We believe in local solutions grounded in inclusive and community-based decisions and actions. At the heart of Spark’s model, the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), are ‘town-hall’ style weekly meetings, in which women, men, young, old, plan together for their community’s future. Each village elects a leadership committee, establishes a village savings account, and launches a project of their choice. Members receive training on financial management, transparency, leadership, village planning, and advocacy. Each village then receives a village block grant and additional management support to operationalize their project ideas.

Spark trains partner organizations and works with governments to scale the FCAP to advance social and economic development, and secure lasting change. Spark is now active in 500+ villages in 6 countries, improving the lives of over 1.4 million people.

As a team, we share a set of common values that shape how we work. These are:

1. Facilitators. We don’t impose; we enable others to generate impact.
2. Community-driven. We are motivated by what is best for the community.
3. Process-centred. The how of what we do is just as important as the what.
4. Authentic. Our vision and values live in everything we do.
5. Dynamic. We seek opportunities and are willing to take risks to serve our community partners better.

OVERVIEW

The Trainer trains Social Economic Development Officers (SEDO) and supports them in leading a high quality training for Community Based Facilitators (CBFs) on the Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP). The trainer oversees the project implementation within the sector through regular check in with SEDOs, coordinates proposal development and project implementation. The trainer builds and maintains sector government relations and reports directly to the District Coordinator (DC). S/he interacts with other function teams within the province for successful project implementation.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Training

• Prepare and conduct SEDOs training with quality
• Collect training learnings for future adaptations/improvements
• Oversee/support SEDOs during CBFs training

1. Proposal Development:

• Collect proposal development pieces and document them
• Share documented ideas and proposal pieces with the Proposal Review Committee (PRC) and ensure their review
• Share PRC feedback with village, facilitate incorporation of feedback
• Share revised proposal with PRC
• Upload/save appropriately the approved village project proposal
• Coordinate subproject proposal development and review with SEDOs, CBFs, and the PRC

1. Stakeholder Management:

• Conduct a weekly check-in with each SEDO
• Co-facilitate with the SEDO the monthly CBFs coordination meeting
• Attend the quarterly district task force meeting
• Attend and represent the organization in district open days
• Provide weekly report to Sector Officials and leading communication aspect with Local Government (LG)
• Follow up on highlighted issues on community weekly report

1. Project Implementation Tasks

• Support the SEDO in selecting CBFs
• Register Communities on CommCare for meetings reporting
• Keep community profile updated
• Ensure project timelines are met within villages
• Coordinate subproject proposal development and review by SEDOs and PRC
• Act as liaison between PRC, CBFs, SEDO, and village in communicating proposal review and approval updates
• Preparing and organize village exchange visits where necessary
• Collect, consolidate and analyze Technical Advisors’ reports and submit them to the DC
• Coordinate the FCAP Leadership Committee Training in each village
• Prepare and Lead the Cell pathway selection meeting (during Planning in year 1 and year 2
• Attend JOC meeting (Joint Operation Center) to update LG on the progress
• Support SEDOs on Facilitator Monitoring Form (FMF) and sharing back the FMF feedback
• Conducting procurement training for village-level committees
• Leading the Microgrant disbursement process at the village level

1. Safeguarding and Risk Management

• Support communities to assess and mitigate environmental and social risks that may arise from microgrant projects;
• Monitor environmental and social risks in microgrant project implementation;
• Lead implementation of the grievance redress mechanisms at District and Village level in accordance with Spark's safeguarding procedures'
• Conduct Focus Group discussion in each village (during planning and post-implementation phase).

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• You are driven by a world with a strong civil society where communities are in the driving seat of local change
• You have relevant development experience, ideally in either community-driven development, governance, citizen engagement, social accountability, livelihoods, or other related areas and/or policy-driven change,
• Excellent training skills
• Excellent community proposal writing skills
• You possess strong planning, organizational and coordination skills.
• Good understanding of the parameters of quality in the context of the organization.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Community/Rural Development, Project Management or related field
• Knowledge of community work in rural areas in Rwanda, community development policies/programs
• IT skills, good English - both written and oral, critical thinker, problem solving, great facilitation abilities.
• At least 3 years of work experience

WHY WORK WITH US

• You will be joining a dynamic team that hails from ten countries around the world and is committed to our vision
• You will have the freedom and autonomy to make your role your own. We want to hear your innovative ideas, your vision for the future, and your critical questions.
• We respect and value work-life balance and your need for downtime, vacation, and reflection.
• You will join a dynamic and growing organization with a clear pathway to learning and career advancement.

OTHER INFORMATION

Job Location: Northern or Southern Province, Rwanda

Reports to: District Coordinator

Start Date: As soon as possible

Application closing date: on a rolling basis.

Probation period: 3 months probation period with learning and performance objectives

HOW TO APPLY

Follow this link to apply: https://sparkmicrogrants.bamboohr.com/careers/128

SAFEGUARDING

Our safeguarding follows a do no harm principle. All Spark staff are expected to respect and uphold the safeguarding procedures and principles to minimize harm to stakeholders, program participants, and the environment, in compliance with the World Bank Environmental and Social Framework and Rwandan Legislation.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Spark Microgrants provides equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals. Employment decisions at Spark are based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. Spark does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by the law. Spark will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would result in undue hardship to daily operations.