Project Officer

WOCCU is the apex association for global financial cooperatives with a network of 74,634 institutions in 104 countries, reaching 411 million households worldwide and more than US $3.7 trillion mobilized in savings. Leveraging this platform, WOCCU supports financial markets in growing economies, along with global partners, such as USAID, the UN, and the World Bank by promoting financial inclusion, strengthening institutions as well as providing policy and regulatory support.

World Council of Credit Unions envisions to expand financial inclusion worldwide through a vibrant and growing global credit union movement because we believe that all people should have access to affordable, reliable and sustainable financial services. Credit unions are member-owned, democratically-controlled and operate for the purpose of maximizing economic benefits to members by providing financial services at competitive and fair rates. We work to advance financial inclusion through the credit union and cooperative model by engaging in international advocacy, development, education and networking that empowers underserved populations, and promotes more equitable and resilient communities through financial inclusion powered by credit unions and financial cooperatives.

WOCCU is currently implementing a 5-year USAID funded project that focuses on improving cooperative financial services through increased digitalization, expanded access to small and medium business financing, more equitable governance through women and youth participation, and deeper understanding of climate risks and financing. This project operates in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Guatemala. In parallel, climate finance is one of the key adaptive strategies for WOCCU and it is exploring solutions with financial cooperatives and credit unions, based in Senegal, Benin and Burkina Faso, to create incentives in product features to encourage farmers and MSMEs, including women & youth, to implement climate adaptation measures, including solar pumps for irrigation, renewable energy and climate-resilient seeds. For this purpose, we are looking for a Project Officer to provide administrative, bookkeeping, and monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) support. This position is an entry to career with impact, with opportunity to support our Senegal-based Regional Director in ongoing and upcoming programs.

Position:
Project Officer

Scope of Work
Under the supervision of Regional Director, provide administrative and financial support to the WOCCU’s projects in Senegal, contributing to the effectiveness and efficiency of project operations.
Administrative and bookkeeping for AGIL4CU/ACTE/CFF Programs and other future projects

• Coordinate and communicate with the home office on administrative and procurement procedures.

• Support maintaining inventory records of any WOCCU project equipment in Senegal.

• Verify travel expense reports and other invoices submitted by the local team; submit all payment requests for approval and processing.

• Manage travel logistics (hotel bookings, transport arrangements, etc.) and office logistics.

• Coordinate the relationship with the local payroll provider, supervise payments, organize the filing system using standard WOCCU naming convention, etc.
• Manage the procurement processes for both office supplies and consultants, in accordance with WOCCU policies.

• Monitor the operational budget and update it on a six-month basis.
• Maintain schedules, schedule meetings, organize logistics for meetings, workshops, fairs and other events organized by WOCCU.

• Provide translation support from English to French and editing of French versions of translated documents.

• Maintain up-to-date contact list of partners, suppliers and strategic stakeholders.

• Maintain the MS Teams and MS SharePoint virtual archive in accordance with WOCCU internal guidelines (naming conventions, file structure).
• Attend online and physical meetings; take notes and prepare minutes.

• Support communication materials development to share with home office and project funders.

This work will require travel in West Africa including but not limited to Senegal, Benin and Burkina Faso.

Monitoring, evaluation and learning:

• Serve as the project focal point for monitoring, evaluation and learning activities, coordinate with partners for data collection and meeting deadlines.

• Support WOCCU partners in collecting, processing, analyzing, synthesizing and communicating regular data, results and learnings from WOCCU projects.

• Coordinate with the partner to monitor the participation of women and youth through data analysis.

• Work with the country team to plan, implement, monitor, evaluate and report on project activities in accordance with the project monitoring and evaluation plan and partner deliverable trackers.

• Provide information in accordance with USAID and WOCCU data management systems.

• Contribute to improving the monitoring and evaluation of WOCCU’s projects in Senegal, Benin and Burkina Faso.

• Edit training materials, reports and other strategic documents in French and English.

Expected training, skills and experience

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as administration, finance, project management is required. A Master's degree in a relevant field is a plus.

• 3-5 years of experience in project management and/or monitoring and evaluation.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, in French & English with experience in cross-cultural collaboration.

• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with a proven ability to work efficiently within a team

• Experience supporting donor-funded projects in work plan development and MEL

• Experience working on projects related to women, young people, climate adaptation and mitigation is a plus.

• Ability to set priorities, manage tight deadlines, handle multiple assignments, and work with minimal supervision in a flexible manner to meet changing deadlines

• Knowledge of cooperative finance or financial inclusion is a plus.

• Ability to travel in West Africa particularly Senegal, Benin and Burkina Faso.

• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office (Advanced Excel, PPT, Word…), internet research, AI tools.

• Residency in Senegal

Candidates are expected to send to consult@woccu.org with copy to dcoulibaly@woccu.org & awessling@woccu.org before February 7, 2025.