Project Assistant

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT®, is a not-for-profit agricultural research for development organization with partners in over 100 countries. Please refer to our website for more information: www.cimmyt.org

CIMMYT is seeking a dynamic, self-motivated, and service-oriented professional for the position of SASAS Project Assistant for the USAID-funded Sustainable Agrifood Systems Approach for Sudan (SASAS) implemented in Sudan from October 2022 to September 2024. The goal of the SASAS project is to ensure smallholder farmers in important food production regions in Sub-Saharan Africa have the information and innovations needed, using market-based approaches, to maintain or increase food production to mitigate the impacts of the global food, fuel, and fertilizer price increases resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The incumbent will support in ensuring the SASAS project implementation is on target and deliverables are met on time, within budget, and in scope.

The position is based in Khartoum, Sudan.

Specific Duties:

Project Coordination and Monitoring

• Support in coordinating SASAS project-wide initiatives, reports, and meetings between AIDI and other project groups.
• Prepare necessary documentation and coordinate the administration of project subcontracts and consultancies, ensuring full compliance with established policies and processes, monitoring their implementation, and ensuring smooth closure of contracts.
• Assist the Country Coordinator in organizing project workshops and follow up to ensure responsible parties follow through on the decisions related to project implementation.
• Provide support to the SASAS Project Lead & Country Coordinator as they develop annual work plans and monitor their execution against the project baseline, including activities, deliverables, schedule, and associated costs, and ensure that the project work plan is regularly updated in CIMMYT’s project management system (Teamwork).
• Support in ensuring effective deployment of staff and other resources, including staff time allocation to the SASAS project.
• Support in managing partners’/stakeholders’ expectations, and review for quality assurance project deliverables.
• Support systematic monitoring of contributions by project team members to facilitate performance management.

Project Financial Monitoring

• Provide support to SASAS Finance Officer when developing SASAS annual budget.
• Monitor and report on the utilization of budget and commitments accurately and in a timely manner to facilitate informed decision-making, including appropriate project budget upload and revision, based on the work plan, extracting project budget monthly, reviewing transactions, and providing feedback to SASAS Project Lead and Country Coordinator.
• Support in ensuring SASAS financial transactions undergo a proper institutional approval process and are satisfactorily executed.
• Support in the program procurement and management of SASAS project assets, inventory, and other resources, in alignment with CIMMYT’s policies and processes.
• Review financial transactions and share the burn rate report with the program staff.

Project Reporting

• Support in project technical reports writing in consultation with the Country Coordinator.
• Curate, manage and ensure the appropriate availability of key project documents to project staff and partners.
• Participate in compiling the periodic report as per CIMMYT and donor requirements.

Other Responsibilities

• Coordinate SASAS events and training activities.
• Facilitate preparation of Standard Service Agreements for SASAS field trials

Required academic qualifications, skills, and attitudes:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration degree or any other relevant degree. Project Management certification will be an added advantage.
• At least 3 years of experience in project management in an international development organization.
• Good communicator, excellent spoken and written English.
• Experience in monitoring and reporting on grant-funded projects.
• Excellent computing skills; EXCEL, MS Word, PowerPoint, MS Project, Web Management, etc.
• Exhibit the following competencies: proactivity, problem-solving, decision-making achievement orientation, and teamwork.
• The selected candidate must exhibit the following competencies: Organization, Critical thinking, Teamwork, Client Orientation, Problem-Solving decision-making, Negotiation, and Conflict resolution.

CIMMYT offers an attractive remuneration package and support for continuous professional development.

Candidates must apply online to SD23145_Project Assistant. 

For more information on the recruitment process please, contact Didier Gonzalez (l.g.zarraga@cgiar.org)

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

 This position will remain open until filled. 

CIMMYT is an equal-opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality, teamwork, and respect for diversity. Women are encouraged to apply.