Senior Community Mobilizer - Trincomalee

ROLE PURPOSE: 
The role holder will assist project implementation by working directly with beneficiary schools, community, and local stakeholders, coordinating various Community Mobilization activities and events in support of Save the Children’s work to serve the marginalized and vulnerable within the implementation of the USDA-funded McGovern-Dole (MGD) International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program-PALAM/A II. 
The Senior Community Mobilizer will collaborate with the PALAM/A district-level Commodity Coordinator and the Senior Community Coordinator, to organize distributions of USDA donated commodities at JDP points according to donor/SC policies and procedures.
In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.
 
SCOPE OF ROLE:
Reports to: Senior Community Coordinator in the assigned district
Staff reporting to this post: None
Budget Responsibilities: N/A
Role Dimensions: Liaise with SMP’s / School Development Committees (SDC) to implement Community Mobilization Strategy in the assigned district. Responsible for working on multi-functional areas and liaising with various stakeholders.
 
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY: 
Under the guidance of the Senior Community Coordinator and Senior Manager Community Mobilization, the Senior Community Mobilizer will:

• Assist in the establishment and management of the Joint Distribution Points (JDPs) throughout the program implementation district(s) to which the role is assigned.
• Support the Sarvodaya community and combined distribution-related activities within designated areas.
• Facilitate awareness creation sessions of PALAM/A Program for stakeholders on core programmatic goals covering areas such as general project design, as well as critical policies such as the SCI Child Safeguarding Framework (CSGF), compliant feedback mechanisms and the provision of the USDA commodity.
• Ensure the smooth day-to-day operations of JDPs in the district to achieve all bi-monthly, quarterly and annual programmatic goals.
• Support in identifying and developing a complete network of suitable, centrally located distribution site in the district(s) that is both accessible to arriving commodity transport vehicles and also easily reached by School Meal Providers / appointed SDC members. 
• Assist the PALAM/A Program’s Commodity Team in scheduling monthly or bi-monthly deliveries of USDA commodities to JDPs within the province/district. This includes facilitating the timely dissemination of delivery information to JDP members and taking the required steps to ensure full attendance at JDP meetings.
• Work as required with PALAM/A Program’s Commodity Team to establish and maintain efficient distribution sites in the district that comply with all minimum safety and accessibility requirements per Save the Children’s Commodity Management best practices.
• Support the Commodity Coordinator in coordinating with local transporters within the district for the “last-mile” transportation of commodities (from the JDP distribution site to the assigned school area). 
• Administer/manage the disbursement of monthly transport subsidies to SMPs in the district and ensure financial compliance by all parties involved, including initial reconciliation reports. 
• In the assigned district, serve as the primary pathway for the dissemination of capacity building and awareness creation of the PALAMA project, including the benefits of education to sustain student enrolments across schools under purview.  
• Serve as the primary conduit and trainer for capacity-building sessions and awareness programs to district, and local partners, and co-facilitate in streams such as general operations, local commodity procurement, processing payments for vendors, USDA commodity receipt and food storage best practices, JDP monthly financial management process via training and regular sensitization messages.
• Facilitate Initial Contact Meetings (ICMS), Full-day SMP Module Training Programs and SMP Cooking Demonstration Programs.  
• Support “Take Home Ration” distributions to beneficiaries as required.  
• Be a regular member of the joint monitoring teams that regularly visit school and SMP kitchen 
• As required support with livelihoods, school garden and nutrition stream activities at the district level. 
• Serve as the primary information pathway between PALAM/A and district School Meal Providers.
• Maintain a district-level SMP database and update list on a monthly basis; the updated list is used to calculate commodity distributions and notify the Senior Community Coordinator, of any changes to the recipient numbers.  
• Compile the supporting of required information on the commodity needs/receipts and other JDP performance indicators/monitoring plan documents, to assist in the effective delivery and distribution of food items; accurately synthesize this data into monthly reports in a timely manner.
• Maintain required updated qualitative and quantitative information to assist the MEAL unit with regular monitoring of the project activities. 
• Comply with the requirements of Save the Children’s Child Protection Policy to ensure maximum protection for children. 
• The job duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the post holder may be required to carry out additional duties within his / her skill levels and competencies to support in the implementation of other activities/tasks as assigned by different programmatic streams. 

 
QUALIFICATIONS 

• A Higher Diploma in Social Sciences, Economics, Business Administration, Logistics Management or a related field. A bachelor’s degree in the relevant field will be an advantage. 

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• A minimum of 3 years' experience in a similar capacity in community mobilization, program administration in humanitarian or international development organizations
• Proven experience in all technical areas of community mobilization, NGO programming and/or large-scale operations.
• Previous experience with food aid programs, especially UN WFP, USDA Food for Education, USAID Title II, or other school feeding programs food aid programs.
• Experience working in remote field bases with limited infrastructure.
• Ability to synthesize and analyses information, and make clear, informed decisions.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships quickly with a wide range of people, both internally and externally.
• Strong planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organize a substantial workload comprised of complex, diverse tasks and responsibilities.
• Understanding of the political, social and cultural context of Sri Lanka
• Fluency in both written and spoken communication skills in English and Sinhala/Tamil as appropriate.
• Good computer literacy (MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint and all MS Office applications) 
• Behave and demonstrate a high level of courtesy, and honesty, encouraging openness and transparency.
• A good understanding of the mandate of Save the Children, commitment to and understanding of child rights, the aims and principles of Save the Children, and its humanitarian standards such as Child Safeguarding and the Code of Conduct. 
• Willingness and ability to ride a motorbike and having a valid motorbike license.

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