PNG Project Manager, Highlands Programme

Job Title: PNG Project Manager, Highlands Programme

Location: Australia (preferably Melbourne), with frequent international travel and subsequent relocation to PNG

Reporting to: Director of Pacific Programmes

Duration: Fixed-term contract until 31 December 2025

Responsible for: Project Officers and consultants.

Conciliation Resources

Conciliation Resources is an independent international organisation working with people in conflict to prevent violence, resolve conflicts and promote peaceful societies. We believe that building sustainable peace takes time. We provide practical support to help people affected by violent conflict achieve lasting peace. We draw on our shared experiences to improve peacebuilding policies and practice worldwide. We have worked in the South East Asia and the Pacific regions since 1994 and currently have four programmes: A regional Pacific Programme, a Fiji Programme, a Papua New Guinea Programme and a Philippines programme.

Conciliation Resources’ core values of Collaboration, Creativity, Challenge and Commitment underpin everything we do, and staff are expected to apply these values to their work and in their interactions with others. In addition, we foster an internal environment of transparency, mutual respect, integrity and professional discretion.

Conciliation Resources has worked in Papua New Guinea since 2001 (in Bougainville) and initiated work in the PNG Highlands in 2020, working with community based organisations and individual peacebuilders to understand and strengthen capacities to identify, manage, address and prevent violent conflict. Conciliation Resources also works to convene provincial and sub-provincial authorities, with development and private actors to engage with community leaders on peace and conflict issues and form joint understandings of local conflict challenges and community needs to be able to address them. Conciliation Resources will now expand our work in the Hela and Morobe provinces and require an experienced project manager to build up and implement this new and exciting work.

Job Purpose

The Highlands Project Manager is responsible for developing and managing our peacebuilding and conflict resolution work in Hela Province (Highlands) as well as an expansion and programme development in Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea (PNG). This includes contributing to research and analysis on peace and conflict drivers, supporting mechanisms for conflict prevention and management, including mediation and peacebuilding trainings, promoting gender-sensitive and inclusive participation in peace processes, and supporting community-led peacebuilding initiatives and dialogues. The post holder is responsible for overseeing the full project cycle for these activities, including design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, narrative and financial reporting. They act as a resource to partner organisations and represent the programme in a consortium as well as meetings with a range of interlocutors in the field. The post-holder contributes to strategic development, implementation and resourcing of the Highlands, PNG programme as a whole, and manages Programme Officers, consultants and volunteers. The post will initially be based in the Australia (preferably Melbourne) and will involve frequent travel to the region, with relocation to the region within 18 months.

Specific Tasks and Responsibilities

a. Strategic and operational planning

Lead on the design and development of projects that strengthen Conciliation Resources and its partners’ work in the Highlands and Morobe region, and consolidate the programme’s success in achieving its objectives.
Contribute to the Pacific programme’s strategic and operational planning processes, including participation in the annual planning cycle and monitoring and evaluation processes, along with coordinating partner and other external input.
Participate in team and other internal meetings or working groups.

b. Programme management and partner support

Manage a portfolio of projects, overseeing the implementation at all stages (design, setting budgets, implementation, monitoring, reviewing and reporting). In particular, building a project in Morobe which is a new area for CR.
Provide support, advice and facilitation to partner organisations, in achieving mutually agreed outputs and outcomes and ensure that these are implemented in compliance with contractual criteria agreed with donors.
Manage the work of consultants employed to support specific project activities.
Lead on establishing and overseeing a monitoring and evaluation system in coordination with local partners.
Manage the delivery of communications deriving from the programme (including written publications, multi-media material, website and intranet entries and other public resources).
Develop and maintain collaborative partnerships with the consortium, as well as credible and reliable local, national, regional or international organisations, ensuring the operation of formal agreements affecting the operation of the programme.
Produce regular narrative reports on project activities, including the collation of partner narrative reports, for submission as internal and donor quarterly and annual reports.
Input contacts and information onto our databases, helping to maintain efficient electronic and paper filing systems, and organisation-wide administrative systems.

c. Policy and analysis

Keep informed of political, social, economic and security developments in the region that influence the peacebuilding and conflict transformation objectives of the programme, while sharing information and analysis drawn from fieldwork experience.
Working with the Director of Pacific programmes and the rest of the South East Asia and Pacific programme team to ensure delivery of policy messages, analysis and lessons learned to relevant interlocutors, including donors, partners and government officials.
Engage in programme and organisational learning, through programme reviews, regular monitoring and evaluation at key points, as well as contributing to organisation learning events (including short downloads, brownbag lunches, organisational retreats, Accord articles and other activities).

d. Representation and networking

Maintain an effective liaison with donors and relevant governmental authorities to facilitate the timely implementation of project activities. Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with project consortium, partners and other interlocutors.
Represent Conciliation Resources and effectively communicate its strategies and key messages to donors, politicians, diplomats, community-based organisations and other target groups through one-on-one meetings and speaking at events.
In consultation with the Communications team and the Director of Pacific programmes, respond to requests from institutions, researchers, journalists and others.
Drawing on the support of the Accord, Policy and Learning (APL) team, contribute to the development and implementation of communication and advocacy strategies for South-East Asia and Pacific programme work.
Produce content for communications about the programme (including written publications, multimedia material, website and intranet entries and other public resources) and ensure that the programme’s public outputs are developed through appropriate interface with other parts of Conciliation Resources. Ensure that the programme’s section of the Conciliation Resources website is kept up to date.

e. Financial management and fundraising

Lead on securing funds for the Highlands program work, in collaboration with the Director of Pacific programmes and programme team, by drafting proposals, taking lead responsibility on some applications, and building relationships with donor representatives.
Manage the budget for specific projects, including developing new budgets, monitoring and forecasting expenditure, overseeing financial reporting, and ensuring sound financial management in compliance with internal and donor finance procedures.
Develop and maintain strong relationships with current and potential donors, particularly those based in the region.
Maintain appropriate project documentation and filing systems ensuring that the programme complies with and participates in maintaining internal administrative and financial systems and policies.

f. Personnel management

Manage Programme Officers, providing operational management, ensuring professional development and performance management, including through fortnightly meetings and annual appraisals.
Ensure they, staff and consultants adhere to Conciliation Resources’ security and safeguarding policies and guidelines when working, and when travelling to Papua New Guinea.
Contribute to programme security systems and processes for the Highlands programme work and take an active role in managing crisis response.
Be mindful of and plan around the security implications for staff, partners, consultants and others engaging with Conciliation Resources’ work.

g. Other

Perform additional tasks, consistent with the skills and expertise of the post-holder, as requested by the Director of Pacific programmes.
Apply our core values to all work and develop them within the organisation, including through signing and adhering to Conciliation Resources’ Code of Conduct.

Person Specification

Essential knowledge, skills and experience

Experience managing the implementation from a variety of institutional donors, including USAID
Substantial experience of project management including project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and narrative and financial reporting.
Demonstrable experience of preparing, managing and monitoring budgets, local partners’ activities and of financial and narrative reporting to donors.
Experience of developing new project ideas, building relationships with donors and writing proposals and budgets to secure new funds.
Experience of planning, running, and facilitating effective meetings and workshops.
Practical experience of designing and implementing conflict resolution and peacebuilding interventions, including experience of working with international, national and local partner organisations in conditions of current or recent conflict.
Experience of living or working in the Pacific region.
Experience of and sensitivity to communicating with multicultural and diverse audiences (including senior government officials, politicians, opposition groups, national and local NGOs and conflict-affected communities).

Desirable knowledge, skills and experience

Knowledge of Papua New Guinea context and connections with in-country and international stakeholders.
Spoken or written Tok Pisin
Experience of working as part of a consortium
Knowledge and experience of peace mediation and dialogue processes, including local community dialogue and reconciliation processes
Appreciation of confidentiality, political sensitivity and the complexities of working in a situation of unresolved conflict or political transition.
Post-graduate study or equivalent by experience in conflict resolution, international relations, development studies, international humanitarian law, gender, peace and security or other related fields.
Experience of working in a conflict-affected area, and experience of hostile environment training or willingness to undertake hostile environment training.

Other role requirements

Excellent spoken and written English.
Willingness to work irregular hours on occasion and for frequent international travel.

July 2024

Conciliation Resources Australia

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