Senior Community Development Officer

Build It International is an NGO creating opportunities for young people and their communities through skills training, work experience and essential community building projects. We have pioneered a sustainable, livelihoods based approach to community infrastructure provision and are now expanding our building skills training work.

Our core activity is to train young men and women in building skills so that they can go on to earn a living. We deliver this through our programme of community building construction projects (mainly school construction projects) and through building skills training at our Centre for Excellence currently under development.

We have now completed 41 building projects and trained 704 men and women in building skills. By 2021, we aim to significantly scale up our work and impact by training 500 trainees a year whilst continuing to construct 3-4 schools and health clinics a year.

Role:

We are now seeking an experienced, creative, and determined individual to manage and coordinate pre and post-build support to the schools and communities that Build It works with. The individual will have a key role in researching potential beneficiary schools and other community projects in need of buildings, community engagement during the build period, and post-build support to empower communities and improve the provision of quality education, and when required, other essential services within our projects. The role will involve working closely with key stakeholders such as DEBS, other NGOS, school management and the community to ensure full and sustainable use of new facilities.

Key Areas of Responsibility:

Project Selection Process

• Following BII’s strategic objectives, to lead in the implementation of pre-project research in Zambia
• Carry out community visits, often in rural locations in Zambia to communicate and encourage community participation into activities, mediating when required to ensure community participation during the build period.
• Engage appropriate governmental departments and seek NGO partners to strengthen BII’s project selection process.

Post-Build Project Support

• Plan post-build support programmes to empower communities, strengthen and improve the provision of quality education at schools where Build It has built school infrastructure, and link the community to key stakeholders for service delivery.
• Plan, coordinate and attend meetings and events within the community on a regular basis.
• When required, work with key stakeholders to help ensure maximum outcomes for any health facilities Build It has built
• Conduct monitoring and evaluation visits to selected BII projects, providing reports on progress and appropriate follow-ups.
• Manage post-build support budgets and produce budget update reports at regular intervals.

Reporting

• Produce monthly progress reports
• Produce donor reports as and when required
• Share quality impact case studies, photos and videos.

Skills and Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in working closely with communities
• Community facilitation experience is essential
• Excellent interpersonal, team-working and communication skills
• Candidate must be motivated to work with the community and demonstrate patience, resilience and a confident disposition
• Diploma in Social Work or other relevant field; a Degree is an added advantage
• Good computer skills in MS Office
• Fluent in local languages
• Willing to work in rural settings
• Preparedness to work outside normal working hours when required

Line Management: Country Director, Build It International Zambia

Other Key Relationships

• BII Projects Officer
• BII Training Manager

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