Search for Common Ground Myanmar is seeking a proactive, dynamic and experienced Project Manager, to oversee and manage an exciting new project at Search Myanmar which will build the capacity of multiple stakeholders in information and rumor management. The Project Manager will ensure high quality program implementation, maintain strong relations with key government stakeholders and partners, and lead a motivated and committed team. Reporting to the Head of Programs, this position is based in Yangon, Myanmar with regular travel.

Search for Common Ground (Search)

Search is the world’s largest and oldest international non-profit peacebuilding organization, which promotes the peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium, Search’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict—away from destructive approaches towards cooperative solutions. Established in 1982, Search today has more than 900 committed staff worldwide and implements projects in more than 35 countries across the globe.

In Myanmar, Search has been working since 2014 to support locally led processes at different levels of society in order to transform approaches to dealing with conflict. Search Myanmar has been supporting an inclusive peace process at the local level, and skills building and trust building with and between a multitude of stakeholders, including government, the private sector, the media, and civil society including women, youth and minorities. Search Myanmar works with local partners across six states and three regions to support Myanmar in its priorities of peace, development and democratic change.

Search Myanmar is at an exciting stage and is reaching a new level of growth, scaling up its programmatic work, team, office and operations to support its strategy in the country to support Myanmar in its priorities of peace, development and democratic change.

About the Project

Search and the Government of Canada are partnering to implement a 2.5-year project which will prevent violence and misinformation in the post-election period in Myanmar, by engaging stakeholders at multiple levels, directly engaging with Union- and state-level government and media as well as key influencers at the community level in target states most at risk, for a two-fold approach that improves institutional capacity for effective information and rumor management and local capacity to prevent and mitigate potential violence.

The project includes extensive engagement with the project stakeholders, which include Union- and state-level government and media as well as key influencers at the community level. Key activities include the development of develop a toolkit on election information management and media literacy, training to all project stakeholders, facilitation collaboration between government and media stakeholders to support initiatives around information management post-elections, mobilizing stakeholders into Community Information Management Committees (CIMC), holding dialogues, implementing initiatives to combat misinformation and prevent violence in target areas, and the production of a youth television show.

Project locations will be finalized in the inception of the project but will likely include Rakhine, Kachin, Shan, and Kayah States.

About the Position

The Project Manager is responsible for managing the coordination and implementation of project objectives with creativity and diligence. The Project Manager will work to develop strong relationships with key partners, including SFCG programs and divisions, outside organizations and individual consultants. S/he also manages/coordinates all financial, logistical, programmatic and partnership-related aspects of the project. This position will work closely with, and reports to, the Head of Programs.

This is a large and complex program that will require managing numerous activities and stakeholders simultaneously. Building relationships with government stakeholders will be an essential part of this project, and the Program Manager will be supported by a Government Liaison officer. As the project aims to respond directly to heightened risks of misinformation and violence in the post-election period, the program manager will need to understand and analyse the conflict dynamics surrounding the elections in target states continuously, and be able to adapt the project activities to effectively respond to those changes and ensure project objectives are achieved. The project manager will manage a team of project officers and a project coordinator, and report directly to the Myanmar Head of Programs.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and oversee high quality project lifecycle management, in coordination with project team, to implementation project activities and achieve the project objectives
• Develop and maintain strong and trusted relationships with all stakeholders including government, non-state organizations, civil society partners, and youth stakeholders
• Lead communication and oversight of partnership with the Government of Canada, including timely updates and monitoring and evaluation requirements
• Ensure high quality budget management, including preparing detailed work plans and budget projections
• Work closely with the DM&E team to ensure reflective learning and capturing of expected results and to contribute to both project and internal institutional learning
• Keep up to date on Myanmar and target States conflict dynamics to ensure continued relevant of project and aims
• Ensure adherence to Search policies and procedures by all project team members.
• Ensure regular reflection on project planning and implementation with team and external stakeholders
• Represent Search Myanmar and the project in coordination, advocacy and information sharing efforts
• Adhere to Search’s Common Ground Approach values in everyday work

Essential Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelors degree or equivalent in social science, arts, peace and conflict studies, management, or other related field
• At least 3 years proven experience in project cycle management with international organisations, including compliance and financial management skills.
• Demonstrated experience in managing large and complex projects, and a high level of personal efficiency, motivation and ability to balance multiple urgent or important tasks
• Strong understanding of conflict dynamics in Myanmar including surrounding the elections and political transitions, and the nature and trends of online hate speech and mis/dis information, particularly in the target states of the project.
• Adaptable and flexible personality with skills to understand and analyse the political, security and conflict context in Myanmar and target states, and rapidly and creatively adapt activities in response as needed.
• IT skills, with particular understanding of misinformation and hate speech trends and how to monitor those.
• Strong budget management experience and track record of strong project execution
• Demonstrated experience in managing large and diverse teams effectively
• Proven experience in building strong relationships across diverse stakeholders including government, Ethnic Armed Organizations, authorities and civil society organizations
• Strong leadership and management and coordination skills with excellent motivation and team building skills
• Understanding and experience of negotiation and finding collaborative solutions to diverse or conflicting perspectives with individuals from different backgrounds
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English
• Demonstrated attention to detail and procedures, as well as work independently
• A positive personality, who sees challenges as growth and learning, and proactively finds solutions to problems

Desirable

• Proficiency of Burmese language; knowledge of other ethnic languages desirable
• Experience and/or strong knowledge of conflict dynamics in Myanmar or other contexts, focusing particularly on rumor & information management initiatives.
• Masters degree in social science, arts, peace and conflict studies, management, or other related field
• Previous experience in coordinating peacebuilding-focused trainings, including curriculum development, training oversight, and quality implementation

Lines of Communication

• Reports to: Head of Programs
• Directly Manages: Project Coordinator; Project Officers (4x); Government Liaison Officer
• Liaises with: Finance team, Operations team, DM&E Department

Source:https://jobs.lever.co/sfcg/99e9ab48-aade-4304-89b2-77e3b837870a