Company Profile

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. 

CRS launched its work in Ghana in 1958 and currently has robust programming in Agriculture and Livelihoods, Health, WASH, Migration, Youth Development and Peace Building, Gender and financial inclusion. CRS is implementing several projects across these core program areas to address issues of poverty and in Justice

Job Description

Program Summary

The Junior Professionals Program (JPP) is a unique career-building opportunity for women who are passionate about relief and development work and have the skills, attitude and approach to grow into managerial positions with CRS. This structured and intentional field-based learning program is designed to prepare Junior Professionals for positions of greater responsibility with CRS.

Under the supervision of experienced staff, Junior Professionals actively support CRS’ relief and/or development projects while building foundational skills in programming and operations. During the 12-month program, Junior Professionals gain experience in project management (including monitoring and evaluation), project design and proposal development, partnership and capacity building, budget and resource management, supply chain, logistics, human resources and more. With this practical training and the support of strong mentors, graduates of the JPP are strong candidates for onward positions with CRS.

Primary Responsibilities
Under  the supervision of an experienced staff member, the Junior Professional will support CRS’ programming and operations as follows:

Project Management

• Support implementation of current projects (e.g. participate in planning/review workshops, support development of capacity building/awareness raising materials)
• Support monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning activities (review/develop survey instruments, oversee periodic collection of monitoring data, train data collectors, support evaluations, document lessons learned, etc).
• Support appropriate management of cash and in-kind resources (monitor/analyze spending on project budgets, prepare cash forecasts, participate in financial reporting to donors, study & support commodity management, etc).
• Support timely and accurate reporting (review/synthesize data to report on project indicators, draft/edit narrative reports in collaboration with CRS staff and partners, etc).

Project Design and Proposal Development

• Support research & analysis to inform project design (primary & secondary data collection, needs assessments, problem identification, stakeholder analysis, gender analysis, gap analysis, theory of change, etc).
• Support proposal development for CRS and partners (draft sections of technical narratives and budget, package/edit proposals for submission).

Partnership & Capacity Building

• Support CRS partners with activity planning & implementation, project design, monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning.
• Support partnership strengthening and capacity building (e.g. participate in partnership reflection workshops, partner assessments and monitoring visits).

Finance, Supply Chain, HR, Compliance

• Support strong financial management by analyzing budgets, monitoring & forecasting spending, reviewing supporting documentation for financial transactions by CRS and sub-recipients.
• Support supply chain management by reviewing systems for delivery, storage and distribution of goods, assisting with inventory counts, data collection, analysis & verification. 
• Support procurement by assisting with bid analysis and vendor selection, contracting, receipt and warehousing of goods.
• Support human resources by preparing job descriptions, reviewing applications/shortlisting candidates.
• Support audit and compliance by reviewing internal controls, systems for fraud prevention, studying CRS policies and donor regulations.
• Support security by reviewing security protocols and manuals, updating as needed.

Key Working Relationships

• Internal: CRS Country Representative, Head of Programming, Head of Operations, Program Managers, Finance, Supply Chain and HR staff
• External: CRS partner organizations

Required Skills or Experience

Required Qualifications

• Masters degree (in Francophone system the equivalent of Bac + 6) in related field (e.g. International Development, Agriculture, Health, Business, Public Administration, Finance, Human Resources, Supply Chain)
• Graduated within 18 months of October 2021
• At least 6 months of relevant work experience (includes internships, volunteer or paid work experience)
• Excellent speaking and writing skills in English
• Citizen of Ghana
• Desire to work in development and humanitarian field
• Works well in teams and multicultural environment
• Willingness to travel (up to 10-15% of the time)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, strong research skills, sound judgement
• Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented and results-oriented
• Strong relation management abilities (ability to collaborate with people of diverse backgrounds)
• Good presentation and facilitation skills
• Proficiency in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and Web Conferencing Applications

Agency-wide Competencies

Based on the mission, values, and guiding principles of the agency, CRS competencies are to be exemplified by all staff in fulfillment of his or her respective roles and responsibilities.

• Integrity
• Accountability and Stewardship
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Strategic Mindset