Madagascar: Project Development Intern/Officer (Community Health)

About the organisation

SEED Madagascar is a British charity working in partnership with communities in the South East of Madagascar. We integrate high quality community health, sustainable livelihoods, education infrastructure and conservation programmes to support long-term sustainable change and add to international best practice through research and publication across all of our programmatic areas. We are now looking for entry level officers and managers to work alongside national staff and expand our team.

Position Overview

Based in the coastal town of Fort Dauphin in the southeast of Madagascar, this post will provide support to the sustainable livelihoods projects running through the NGO. SEED Madagascar’s approach is particularly focused on supporting impoverished rural communities to diversify their livelihoods and develop alternative livelihood practices to increase income and reduce pressure on dwindling natural resources. The successful candidate will work within a combined Malagasy and International team to assist in developing projects, writing proposals to secure funding, supporting with the implementation of projects and evaluating their success. The role is predominantly office-based, and the diversity of activities undertaken will provide a wide-ranging experience for a development professional who can effectively and efficiently deal with a comprehensive range of tasks related to the complex world of overseas development work.
Initially an internship for the first three months before taking on the full responsibility for the co-ordination of the projects, this exciting post would suit someone with some experience or a passion to learn, and would be essential in-country experience for anyone wishing to begin a career in international development.

Title: Project Development Intern for initial 3 months, change of title and responsibilities to Project Development Officer subject to passing probationary review.
Location: Fort Dauphin, Anosy Region, Madagascar
Timeframe: 12 months extendable
Probationary period: 3 months.
Contract: Voluntary, unsalaried, 12 months.
Reporting to: Head of Project Development (Community Health, WASH and Construction)

Primary responsibilities
Development of new projects (including funding searches); preparation and editing of proposals and reports; information formatting; monitoring and evaluation of current projects; researching international best practice; liaison with the London project development team and local staff.

Core Duties

• Compile funding proposals based on past evaluation, team discussion and International best practice in an engaging and professional manner
• Support development of projects that fulfil local need and sit within the aims of SEED for poverty reduction and environmental conservation in the aforementioned sectors, taking into account research findings, local needs and constraints, government objectives and SEED’s previous experience
• Write project reports to a high standard of English that clearly demonstrate the successes and challenges of the community health projects, learning from the project and give clear budgetary information
• Conduct internet searches for potential donors to fund the programme and relating projects
• Conduct research into international best practice with regard to community health programmes and take the lead in discussing these with the team.
• Take a leading role in ensuring that all of the statistics relating to the projects are accurate
• Take an active role in project management meetings, leading these where appropriate
• Work with the Malagasy team in increasing their skills and capacity, providing mentoring or training where appropriate
• Assist in developing monitoring and evaluation tools for projects and to work with the team in the field on implementing these
• Analyse data and be able to clearly and concisely present to the team, with demonstrable ability in gathering and assimilating information from various sources, compiling documents (reports and proposals), and identifying lessons learnt and best practice
• Work alongside the Head of Project Development and Head of Finance in developing and managing the budgets relating to projects
• Take the lead in writing social media for the environment, conservation and sustainable livelihoods projects
• Form part of the team representing projects or SEED when required
• Liaise with the UK team in London ensuring clear communication at all times
• Maintain a database of projects and funders alongside the UK team in London and maintain the database of photographs for projects
• Take an active part in international team meetings and the support to other members of the team
• Complete other ad-hoc tasks as required by the Head of Project Development or Director of Operations and Heads of Departments to further the aims and work of the organisation

Person specification

• Hold an Undergraduate/Masters Degree in or relating to International Development or Community Health, or have equivalent experience
• Demonstrate sound knowledge and keen interest in community health and its interface with international development; previous experience of community-based work would be an asset.
• Demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to SEED’s ethos and approach and be a good ambassador for SEED at all times. • Have passion, curiosity and motivation for the job and the ability to enthuse others.
• Have the ability and desire to work with teams from different economic and cultural backgrounds and across multiple language barriers.
• Have the ability and desire to build capacity and share skills across cultures.
• Demonstrate proven ability to recognise and appropriately deal with challenging situations.
• Demonstrate an awareness of and comfort with increased social and professional responsibility, working at all times with cultural sensitivity and respect.
• Be punctual and be able to work to tight deadlines in an organised manner and to a high standard
• Have a flexible and patient attitude.
• Have excellent problem-solving skills.
• Be able to work both independently and as part of a team.

Practicalities

The successful candidate will be able to financially support themselves for the full duration of this post and be equipped with a laptop computer (non-tablet).

Interested applicants should send a CV and covering letter outlining how their skills and experience match the requirements in the role description criteria to Lisa Bass by email at Lisa@seedmadagascar.org.

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Long-listed applicants will have an initial informal chat with Madagascar based staff and short-listed applicants will then be offered a face-to-face interview with the London team in person.

More information on the work of SEED Madagascar can be found at www.madagascar.co.uk.