Action Against Hunger/Action Contre La Faim (AAH/ACF) is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that was created in France in 1979. AAH/ACF has been active in Afghanistan in the medical, nutrition, food security, and water and sanitation fields since 1995.  AAH/ACF improved access to health and nutrition services for the most vulnerable people, who live in remote areas without a local health system. In particular, the country team supported pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under five, who are at greater risk of malnutrition. Nutrition programs rely on an integrated approach, addressing both primary and underlying causes, in order to have a lasting impact on nutritional status.  The country team worked at community level, in villages and at provincial level, strengthening the public health system. It also worked at national level to ensure reliable information about the nutritional situation reached the wider humanitarian community. Covid-19 prevention was integrated into all interventions and additional response activities were implemented, such as the disinfection of health facilities and public places, cash assistance, psychosocial support and the distribution of hygiene kits to affected populations.

Job Purpose

The holder of the position shall contribute and support the review, formulation and execution of ACF’s Communications Strategy in Afghanistan, coordinating and managing the development and production of communication and reporting materials internally, for donors and for external audience. The holder of the position will support the coordination, development and management of grants, effectively support the Grants Department in several reporting-related efforts, collating and verifying information from the field teams, ensuring data quality, largely contributing to archiving processes, and supporting the Grants team more broadly on an ad hoc basis. In this capacity, the incumbent works closely with the Grants & Reporting Manager and in close contact with the Grants, Partnerships & Communication Coordinator and the Deputy Country Director for Programs.

Mission 1: Reporting

• Support the coordination of all grants under the direction of the Grants & Reporting Manager.
• Contribute to the quality control and timely submission of donor reports (monthly, quarterly, interim, and final).
• Issue monthly planning for reports due within 60 days.
• Support field teams in the drafting of external reports.
• Support the compilation of contributions from different bases and ensure accuracy of data gathered by the program teams, in collaboration with the Program/Field Managers, Project Coordinators and MEAL team. 
• Review external reports and ensure their high quality by conducting English grammar and spelling check and making sure they are clear, accurate and consistent.

Mission 2: Information Management

• Effectively contribute to archiving processes by ensuring documents, records, email communications and other important materials are duly classified and updated in real time, on ACF’s internal shared drive.
• Grants Tracker: ensure all information in “Grants Tracker” is updated.

Mission 3: Kick-off and Close-out Meetings

• Support the coordination and facilitation of kick-off and close-out meetings for all grants.
• Provide appropriate templates, assign tasks to focal points, define deadlines.
• Ensure quality and timeliness of PowerPoint presentations.
• Provide key compliance updates and requirements per donor contract.
• Facilitate meetings by introducing opening remarks, moderating discussions and ensuring time-keeping.

Mission 4: Donor Compliance

• Ensure that grants are implemented in compliance with ACF and relevant donor regulations.
• Provide donor compliance support to all departments.
• Compile and disseminate compliance guidance (from donor or HQ) as required and develop donor compliance summary sheets.
• Review funding agreements (donor), sub-grant agreements (HQ), and operational agreements (implementing partner) prior to signature.
• Ensure visibility requirements for each grant are met in a timely manner, and documented for each grant.

Mission 5: Proposal Development and Amendments

• Support coordination efforts in the development of new proposals (and amendments) under the direction of the Grants Coordinator.
• For proposals, facilitate design meetings, assign tasks to focal points, and centralize the appropriate templates.
• For amendments, support all departments in determining amendment requirements. Provide guidance for budget revision, grant modification process, and program modifications.
• Provide accurate review of new proposals (and amendments) and ensure donor compliance.

Mission 6: Planning and Implementation of Communication/Fundraising Strategy

• Contribute to the development and implementation of the AAH communication and fundraising strategy; and disseminate relevant information and provide communication-related support to field teams on the Strategy.
• Collaborate closely with the HQ communication team.
• Develop, communicate on and implement effective and regularly updated plans for communication materials.

Mission 7: Production of Communication Materials and Maintenance of Communication Archive  

• Draft and edit articles, press releases, success stories, newsletters, web publications, and other advocacy/information materials.
• Actively contribute to the creation/production of communication materials, including films and audiovisuals, and oversee their quality (translation, review of layouts and graphic design). Field visits to project implementation sites are planned and will be defined on an ad hoc basis, based on relevancy and communication/project needs.
• Collect and support the process of systematic collection of success stories, stories of change and case studies by engaging program staff.
• Organizing and maintaining a comprehensive archive of digital photographs, videos and other communication materials.

Mission 8: Capacity Building

• Train staff on AAH communication policies, success story collection, and case story collection and compilation.
• Enhance staff communication and writing skills to ensure high-quality reporting.

Mission 9: Support humanitarian activities of Action Against Hunger

• Assist in emergency interventions and support activities that advance humanitarian goals, as needed.
• Promote gender equality in all activities

SKILLS & EXPERIENCES REQUIRED FOR THE JOB

Education (if relevant) and experiences expected

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Communications, Public Relations, Media studies, Journalism, English Language, Law or equivalent from a recognized University.
• At least 2 years as a Grants, Reporting and/or Communication Officer in a humanitarian NGO

Technical skills

• Excellent communication, oral presentation, writing, speaking skills; the ability to get points across clearly, both orally and in writing.
• Computer-savvy, familiarity with Communication softwares and excellent working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Canva, InDesign, Photoshop, etc.).
• Professional in written and spoken English, Dari and Pashto.
• Ability to improve written content with attention to detail; familiarity with the standards of writing, copy editing, and proofreading.
• Ability to provide technical and constructive feedback and guidance to colleagues (capacity building skills).
• Ability to work in partnership with colleagues, beneficiaries, local implementing partners, government, and other international/national partners; ability to adapt communication depending on the interlocutor.
• Strong knowledge of humanitarian principles, emergency response and the humanitarian ecosystem.

Transverse skills

• Ability to think ahead and decide on courses of action, ensuring that the resources required to implement the action will be available, and scheduling work accordingly to achieve an end result.
• Ability to originate, introduce and be open to new practices, concepts, ideas, change and continuously improve capacity.
• Independent, meticulous, critical mind and thirst for knowledge and progress.
• Good interpersonal skills; active, proactive, self-confident and team player.
• Culturally sensitive and open-mindedness towards gender, religion, race, nationality and age.
• Ability to understand local and remote communities and their customs.
• Strong sense of honesty, moral principles and decency (uprightness).
• Ability to keep confidential information confidential.
• Be familiar with and abide by ACF’s Code of Conduct, ACF protocols and internal security protocols.

Qualified and interested candidates should submit a cover letter and full CV with three Referees indicating the vacancy announcement to the address:

Human Resources Department AAH office

or can also be emailed to:

vacancies@af-actionagainsthunger.org indicating the job tile and vacancy number of the position in the email subject line.

Eligible candidates are invited to apply by the earliest possible, until 27 Nov 2024. 

Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

Do not submit academic certificates with the application. These will be requested if the candidate is selected. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the written test/interview.  

Action Against Hunger/Action Conter La Faim is an equal opportunity employer.  We strongly encourage women and people with disabilities to apply.  ACF/AAH has zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, and abuse (SEA).