Freedom project regional manager jobs

About Barnabas Aid

Barnabas International is a large family of Christian ministries and charities focused on giving practical support to suffering, abandoned and persecuted Christians around the world. The ministry was founded in 1993, and since then, it has funded projects in more than 100 countries, providing hope and help to millions of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Some of our key projects include supplying food aid, medical supplies, educational and vocational training, Bibles, micro-enterprise, disaster relief, help for victims of violence, and support for pastors and church leaders. Barnabas Aid also provides advocacy for religious freedom, especially for persecuted and suffering Christians.

Barnabas is a Christian ministry and a charity. Employees are expected to subscribe to the Vision, Mission, Value and Statement of Faith, and their work may be viewed as being vocational.

There is an occupational requirement for applicants to be practising Christians, who are engaged in their local church, in order to be able to carry out our roles.

About This Vacancy

We are looking for a motivated and organised Project Officer to join our International Programmes Team on a fixed-term basis for one year, covering a period of maternity leave.

Overview

The Project Officer will be part of a regional team that works with new and existing partners to design, deliver and learn from projects in line with the organisation’s mission. The team supports the full project cycle: partner engagement, application review, due diligence, project design, contracting, implementation support, monitoring, evaluation and project closure, maintaining accurate records throughout, in close collaboration with the Quality Team (Director and Quality Assurance and Impact (MEAL) Specialists).

The Project Officer will work collaboratively across the regional team, providing flexible support and surge capacity during peak periods and responding to emerging priorities as required. Under the supervision of Programme Managers and the Regional Director, they will also take day-to-day responsibility for a portfolio of assigned partners and specific projects, ensuring timely progression from concept to completion and that documentation, compliance, quality assurance and learning requirements are met. This includes working with the Quality Team to integrate appropriate MEAL approaches, support data quality and ensure learning is captured and shared.

Key Responsibilities

·Project Identification and Evaluation

oIdentify and assess project concepts and proposals with assigned partners, ensuring alignment with organisational strategy, feasibility, risk, safeguarding considerations and expected impact.

oContribute to emergency or rapid-response programming when required, including providing surge support to colleagues and helping to coordinate time-critical actions.

oSupport partner mapping and relationship management activities, helping to identify potential partners and project opportunities.

oUndertake contextual and partner due diligence research to inform project design, risk management and decision-making.

oPrepare high-quality proposals for internal review and project governance processes, including summaries of recommendations, risks and mitigation actions with the support of the Quality Team and in line with standards set by them.

·Grant Administration

oSupport Programme Managers and the Regional Director through the full project cycle, from initial scoping and proposal development through contracting, implementation support, monitoring, evaluation and closure.

oManage any individually assigned projects through the full project cycle, from initial scoping and proposal development through contracting, implementation support, monitoring, evaluation and closure.

oEnsure projects comply with organisational policies and procedures (including safeguarding and due diligence), and any relevant donor, statutory and partner requirements.

oEnsure the fulfilment of any actions mandated by the Programmes Subcommittee.

oTrack delivery against agreed plans, budgets and results frameworks; flag variances, support problem-solving with partners and colleagues, and recommend adjustments where needed.

oWork with the Quality Team (Director and Quality Assurance and Impact (MEAL) Specialists) to agree proportionate MEAL plans for assigned projects (e.g., indicators, data sources, reporting schedules), and to strengthen quality assurance throughout implementation.

·Stakeholder Engagement

oAct as a key point of contact for assigned partners, working closely with Programme Managers and the wider regional team to coordinate support and decision-making.

oMaintain regular communication with partners to provide guidance throughout proposal development and implementation, including on reporting requirements, procurement expectations and agreed outputs/outcomes.

oCoordinate with the Quality Team (Director and Quality Assurance and Impact (MEAL) Specialists) to support partner capacity strengthening on quality assurance and MEAL requirements, and to address quality or evidence gaps identified during implementation.

oDevelop familiarity with other organisations working in the Region and look for opportunities to collaborate with and learn from them.

·Budget Administration

oSupport sound financial management across the Regional Team and for assigned projects, including budget review, payment scheduling, verification of supporting documentation and reconciliation of expenditure against budgets.

oFor approved projects, ensure that all finance processes are completed to facilitate payments.

oPrepare clear updates and financial summaries for Programme Managers, the Regional Director and other internal stakeholders, maintaining an appropriate audit trail.

·Reporting and Documentation

oMaintain complete and accurate project documentation for assigned projects, including due diligence records, agreements, correspondence, partner reports and closure documents.

oMaintain project and partner information in relevant systems and trackers, producing reports and analysis as required.

oMonitor progress and results, review partner narrative and financial reports, support evaluations where appropriate, and ensure project learning is captured and shared within the team.

oWork with the Quality Team (Director and Quality Assurance and Impact (MEAL) Specialists) to review project evidence, ensure data quality standards are met, and support evaluations, reviews and learning products as required.

oCoordinate meetings and follow-up actions (including agendas, minutes and action logs) to ensure decisions are recorded and progressed.

Other duties

The above is not an exhaustive list of duties. From time to time, the postholder may be asked or required to carry out additional tasks, or duties, over and above their usual day to day activities. Employees are expected to work collaboratively across the regional team, including providing flexible support and surge cover as needed.

Person Requirement

Essential

·Experience in project administration or coordination, ideally in the charity, NGO or public sector.

·Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively with a wide range of partners and stakeholders across different cultures and contexts.

·Proficiency in MS Office suite and comfort using online systems for project tracking and document management.

• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to plan and manage multiple projects and deadlines.

·Strong attention to detail.

·Ability to work collaboratively and flexibly as part of a diverse, dispersed team.

·Ability to multitask and meet multiple deadlines under pressure.

·Familiarity with CRM or grant management systems (e.g. Salesforce)

Desirable

·Experience supporting monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL/MEAL) processes and/or producing donor-style reports, including working with quality assurance or MEAL specialists.-

·Additional languages relevant to the region

Person specification

·A strong commitment to the values and mission of Barnabas Aid, with an understanding of Christian principles and ethics in project management.

·High level of integrity, ethical conduct and professionalism

·Personal resilience and adaptability.

·Discretion and sensitivity with understanding of issues of confidentiality.

·A flexible approach to work, with a cooperative and collaborative attitude, ensuring excellent standards of service are always maintained.

From time to time, additional training, including safeguarding training, may be required.

The offer of employment will subject to the appropriate pre-employment checks such as references, qualifications, DBS criminal records, and eligibility to work in the UK.

How to Apply

Please apply by submitting your CV and a cover letter demonstrating how your skills and experience make you a good fit for this role and for the mission of Barnabas Aid.

About Barnabas Aid

Barnabas International is a large family of Christian ministries and charities focused on giving practical support to suffering, abandoned and persecuted Christians around the world. The ministry was founded in 1993, and since then, it has funded projects in more than 100 countries, providing hope and help to millions of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Some of our key projects include supplying food aid, medical supplies, educational and vocational training, Bibles, micro-enterprise, disaster relief, help for victims of violence, and support for pastors and church leaders. Barnabas Aid also provides advocacy for religious freedom, especially for persecuted and suffering Christians.

Barnabas is a Christian ministry and a charity. Employees are expected to subscribe to the Vision, Mission, Value and Statement of Faith, and their work may be viewed as being vocational.

There is an occupational requirement for applicants to be practising Christians, who are engaged in their local church, in order to be able to carry out our roles.

Overview

The role will provide high-quality administrative, systems, and research support to the Quality Team, enabling consistent quality assurance across the grant-making cycle. The postholder will administer and improve the team’s Salesforce processes and data standards, coordinate key workflows and information management, support the Director of Quality, Quality Assurance Specialist and Impact (MEAL) Coordinator with scheduling and documentation, and deliver defined research tasks and short projects (e.g., into quality assurance approaches, MEAL frameworks, tools and best practice) to strengthen the team’s work.

Key internal relationships: Director of Quality; Quality Assurance Specialist; Impact (MEAL) Specialist; Regional Directors, Programme Managers and Project Officers; ICPO; Finance; Data/Systems owners.
 

Key Responsibilities

Salesforce administration and systems support

• Administer the Quality/Projects components of Salesforce (and associated tools), including user support, data standards, fields/picklists, basic configuration tasks within delegated permissions, and documentation of processes.
• Maintain data quality rules and routines (validation, required fields, definitions, and guidance) and run regular data quality checks, working with colleagues to resolve issues.
• Produce and maintain reports/dashboards for the Quality Team (e.g., pipeline status, stage-gate progress, approvals, conditions, timeliness, data completeness, and quality metrics).
• Log, triage, and coordinate Salesforce improvement requests, liaising with system owners/IT and supporting user testing and roll-out of updates.
• Create and maintain user guidance (how-to notes, short training materials) to support consistent use of Salesforce and associated quality workflows

Administrative support to the Quality Director and team coordination

• Support the Quality Assurance and Impact (MEAL) Specialists with planning timetables, collating papers, maintaining decision/action logs, and following up actions with stakeholders.
• Prepare and format documents to agreed standards (templates, document control, version control) and maintain an audit-ready filing system in SharePoint (or equivalent).

·Coordinate team processes, including shared calendars, team meetings, process documentation, and communications that help the Quality Team operate consistently.

Research and special projects (Quality assurance, MEAL and learning)

• Undertake defined research tasks to support the Quality Team’s priorities (e.g., QA approaches in grant-making, MEAL frameworks and tools, file review methodologies, sampling approaches, learning loops, and good practice in documentation and audit trails).
• Produce short research summaries/briefings with practical recommendations for the Director of Quality and Specialists, including options, pros/cons, and implications for Barnabas processes.
• Support discreet improvement projects (e.g., updating templates/checklists, improving guidance, piloting a new dashboard or QA tool) and track actions to implementation.

·Maintain a small library of standards, templates, guidance, and reference materials (including MEAL and QA resources) for the team.

Pre-Committee Proposal Scrutiny

·Formal review of all project proposals before submission to the projects subcommittee to improve quality by ensuring:

oProposals are internally consistent;

oProposed solutions credibly meet the identified needs;

oThe response is proportionate and broadly consistent with other Barnabas Aid projects of a similar nature;

oBeneficiary selection is conducted appropriately and can be justified;

oThe proposal is strategically aligned, represents good value-for-money and meets all of Barnabas Aid’s project policies;

oRelevant harms have been considered and mitigated;

oA proportionate M&E approach is in place;

oPrudent but pragmatic financial arrangements (e.g. split into tranches, use of intermediaries) are adopted and justified.

·In conjunction with regional teams, undertake light editing of proposals to improve clarity and correct inconsistencies and typographical errors.

·Document checks to ensure all due diligence activities have been conducted before proposal is put to the subcommittee.

Post-Committee Follow-up

·Track actions provided by committee to ensure projects fully implement committee decisions (e.g. splitting into tranches, reporting requirements, risk management, etc)

·Draft, for regional team’s approval, project approval/project rejection letters to partners, including all relevant provisions for management of the grants.

Compliance, confidentiality, and continuous improvement

• Handle sensitive information responsibly, ensuring appropriate confidentiality, data protection, and information security practices are applied.

·Support the Quality Team to evidence required checks and maintain consistent records across systems and files, raising risks or gaps as appropriate.

Other duties

The above is not an exhaustive list of duties. From time to time, the employee may be asked or required to carry out other additional tasks, or duties, over and above their usual day to day activities. Employees are expected to work collaboratively across the regional team, including providing flexible support and surge cover as needed.
 

Person Requirement

Essential

·Bible-believing follower of Jesus: Demonstrates a personal commitment to discipleship and growing in faith. In good standing with their Church, actively

participating in its life and community. Committed to affirming and signing Barnabas Aid’s Statement of Faith.

·Educated to degree-level or equivalent, with strong administrative and systems experience.

·Evidence of continuous professional development relevant to administration, data/systems, quality, research, MEAL, or project/grants work

·Experience in a busy administrative role, supporting multiple stakeholders, scheduling meetings, and coordinating actions to deadlines.

·Experience administering or providing ‘super-user’ support for a CRM/database (preferably Salesforce), including maintaining data standards and producing reports/dashboards.

·Experience with document control and shared filing systems (e.g SharePoint), including version control and maintaining audit-ready records.

·Experience undertaking structured research tasks and producing clear summaries/recommendations for non-specialist audiences.

·Highly organised with strong attention to detail; able to manage multiple deadlines and stakeholders.

·Strong systems aptitude: able to document processes, apply data standards, run checks, and support colleagues to use systems consistently.

·Ability to produce clear reports/briefings and summarise research into practical recommendations.

·Confident with Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, SharePoint) and comfortable learning new systems.

·Discretion and good judgement when handling confidential/sensitive information.

Desirable

·Experience working in the charity, international development, or faith-based sector.

·Salesforce administration training/qualification (or equivalent CRM certification).

·Training in research methods, MEAL, data analysis, or quality/process improvement

·Experience in grants administration, governance support, programme/project support, or compliance-focused roles.

·Experience supporting QA, audit, MEAL, or learning processes (e.g., file reviews, indicator tracking, learning events).

·Ability to build and maintain Salesforce reports/dashboards and/or familiarity with basic Salesforce admin concepts (profiles/permissions within delegated scope).

·Familiarity with MEAL concepts (monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning) and how they support quality and learning in programmes.

·Understanding of grants governance, restricted funds, and/or donor intent in a charity setting.

·Experience working in a distributed/remote team environment.

Personal Qualities

·Service-minded and collaborative; enjoys enabling others to do their work effectively.

·Proactive and solutions-focused; comfortable addressing issues, prompting actions and following up with colleagues.

·Curious and methodical; able to work independently on research tasks and present findings clearly.
 

How to Apply

Please apply by submitting your CV and a cover letter demonstrating how your skills and experience make you a good fit for this role and for the mission of Barnabas Aid.