Location: Various countries
COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale is an Italian humanitarian organisation operating across East, West and Central Africa, delivering humanitarian assistance, emergency response and development programmes in complex and fragile contexts. Key areas of expertise include WASH, Food Security and Livelihoods, Nutrition and Protection (with a focus on GBV and Child Protection). Programmes are funded by donors including DG ECHO, EU/INTPA, AICS, UN agencies, OCHA and the World Bank.
Role: The Head of Programmes (Programme Coordinator) is responsible for the definition and quality of the country programmes and the monitoring and evaluation system, in compliance with organisational policies and standards, and supports the Head of Mission in relations with donors and partners.
Responsibilities:
- Institutional relations: meet regularly with donors and partners, engage new potential donors and partners, and ensure participation in sectoral clusters.
- Development: analyse donor priorities and strategies and propose project proposals; coordinate the definition and implementation of the country programme strategy; provide guidance on sectoral positions; capitalise on sectoral experience and develop standards of approach.
- Project management: develop and draft new proposals (ECHO, EU, AICS, UN); review all project reports (interim, quarterly, final) and ensure timely submission; carry out field monitoring missions; support review and approval of MEAL plans and use MEAL data to engage donors.
- Human resources: identify staffing needs, participate in staff selection, train project leaders and programme staff, and evaluate staff.
- Communication: support production of communication and visibility tools and collect data from field teams.
Requirements:
- Master's degree in a relevant subject.
- At least 3 years of experience formulating, implementing and coordinating projects with international NGOs.
- Experience with donors (ECHO, EU, AICS, UN agencies) and knowledge of humanitarian standards and principles.
- Excellent reporting and proposal writing skills in English and French.
- Strong management, leadership, planning and coordination skills; ability to work in stressful, complex situations.
- Desired: prior experience in West, East and Central Africa; knowledge of Italian is a plus.
Contract: 12 months, start date to be defined. Gross salary range €3,000–4,000 per month. Benefits include round-trip flights, health and accident insurance, visa and work permit costs covered, 2.5 rest days per month, training, and 5-day R&R every three months.
* DEADLINE 26-10-2026
HOW TO APPLY:
Apply online via the COOPI candidate portal: https://gnurp.coopi.net/candidate/new/en. COOPI reserves the right to close the vacancy before the closing date once enough applications have been received. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.