1. Position Purpose:
The Project Manager is responsible for the overall planning, coordination, implementation, supervision, monitoring, and reporting of SADA's Child Nutrition Project in north region. The position will ensure effective implementation of the First Foods Afghanistan Initiative, with a focus on improving infant and young child feeding practices, increasing access to diverse and nutritious first foods, supporting women- and youth-led initiatives, strengthening community-based nutrition and SBCC activities, and improving access to First Foods WASH and health-related services. The Project Manager will provide overall leadership to the project team and ensure compliance with approved project plans, targets, donor requirements, SADA policies, safeguarding, PSEA, gender, accountability, and relevant national nutrition standards.
2. Responsibilities and Tasks
- Lead the overall planning, coordination, implementation, and day-to-day management of the Child Nutrition Project in accordance with the approved project document, workplan, targets, budget, implementation schedule, donor requirements, and relevant national nutrition standards.
- Develop, review, and regularly update detailed project workplans and implementation schedules, ensuring that activities are completed on time and meet approved targets and quality standards.
- Provide effective leadership, supervision, and technical guidance to nutrition counsellors, community mobilizers, field staff, and other project personnel, ensuring that all staff clearly understand their responsibilities, targets, deliverables, and reporting requirements.
- Lead the transparent identification, assessment, verification, and selection of eligible SMEs, women- and youth-led microenterprises, community interest groups, and innovation initiatives in accordance with approved eligibility and selection criteria, project targets, donor requirements, and SADA procedures.
- Coordinate calls for concept notes and provide appropriate technical guidance to applicants; review and evaluate submitted concept notes, business ideas, budgets, and implementation plans; document selection decisions; and ensure that supported initiatives contribute to the availability, accessibility, safety, and affordability of nutritious complementary foods for children aged 6–23 months.
- Manage the incubation-grant process, including due diligence, grant agreements, disbursement planning, grantee orientation, documentation, and coordination with Finance, Procurement, MEAL, and relevant technical teams to ensure that grants are awarded and utilized in accordance with approved purposes and procedures.
- Ensure that selected SMEs and microenterprises receive appropriate incubation support, technical training, coaching, mentoring, and business-development assistance related to First Foods production, processing, food safety, quality assurance, packaging, marketing, and enterprise sustainability.
- Conduct regular monitoring visits to supported enterprises and grant recipients to verify the appropriate use of funds, progress against approved concept notes and business plans, achievement of agreed milestones, compliance with grant conditions, and timely resolution of identified challenges.
- Maintain complete, accurate, and updated grant-management records, including assessment and selection documents, concept-note reviews, due-diligence records, grant agreements, disbursement evidence, financial documentation, monitoring reports, deliverables, and grant close-out records.
- Identify and manage grant-related risks, including misuse of funds, fraud, conflicts of interest, safeguarding concerns, implementation delays, weak performance, and non-compliance, and immediately report significant concerns to the National Projects Focal Point and relevant SADA management for corrective action.
- Coordinate the implementation of all First Foods interventions, including support to women- and youth-led enterprises, First Foods production and processing, community interest groups, innovation initiatives, and other activities designed to increase access to safe, nutritious, affordable, and locally available complementary foods.
- Ensure the effective implementation of nutrition counselling, MIYCN/IYCF, Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC), community dialogues, awareness activities, recipe demonstrations, and other interventions aimed at improving dietary diversity, responsive feeding, hygiene, and safe food preparation practices.
- Coordinate activities supporting women, girls, and youth, including First Foods skills and knowledge courses, coaching and mentoring, Madar Innovation Kitchens, Mother-to-Mother First Food Circles, youth-led innovations, and other community-based learning and empowerment initiatives.
- Oversee First Foods WASH and One Health activities, including the distribution and proper use of household WASH packages and baby WASH kits, hygiene and safe food-preparation awareness, community sensitization, and approved small-scale WASH rehabilitation activities.
- Establish and maintain effective coordination and working relationships with donor, Provincial Public Health Department, relevant government authorities, health facilities, community structures, shuras, community leaders, women and youth groups, and other stakeholders to ensure technical alignment, community ownership, and effective implementation.
- Work closely with the MEAL team to monitor project progress, verify achievements, track indicators and targets, ensure data quality, document results, and use monitoring findings and community feedback to improve project implementation and decision-making.
- Ensure effective community engagement, accountability, and feedback mechanisms, including accessible complaint and feedback channels, community consultations, meaningful participation of women and youth, and timely and appropriate follow-up on concerns raised by beneficiaries and community members.
- Coordinate with Finance, Procurement, Logistics, Human Resources, Administration, and other support departments to ensure the timely availability and proper management of project funds, grants, supplies, equipment, transportation, staffing, and other operational requirements.
- Monitor project expenditure, grant disbursements, and resource utilization in coordination with the Finance Department; ensure that expenditures remain within the approved budget; identify financial and operational risks; and take timely corrective action in accordance with SADA and donor requirements.
- Prepare and review timely, accurate, and high-quality project reports, progress updates, grant-monitoring reports, activity reports, success stories, lessons learned, and other required documentation, ensuring that reported achievements are supported by reliable evidence and are consistent with programmatic and financial information.
- Identify, assess, and manage project implementation, operational, security, financial, coordination, safeguarding, and reputational risks; ensure appropriate mitigation measures are implemented; and immediately report significant risks, incidents, delays, or safeguarding concerns to the National Projects Focal Point and relevant SADA management.
- Ensure that all project activities comply with SADA policies, the Code of Conduct, Child Safeguarding and PSEA requirements, gender and disability-inclusion standards, Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), donor requirements, and applicable national policies and standards.
- Perform any other project-management duties assigned by the National Projects Focal Point or SADA management to support the effective, timely, and accountable implementation of the project.
Highly Required:
- Recognize and report any concerns related to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA).
- Share PSEA key messages with beneficiaries, vendors, and contractors.
- Report SEA allegations through established SADA reporting mechanisms.
- Maintain confidentiality and respect the dignity of survivors.
- Refer SEA survivors to available support services in accordance with SADA procedures.
- Adhere to SADA's Code of Conduct, Child Safeguarding, and PSEA policies.
