Program Associate

Work base: Disaster Management Department, Bihar, India.

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), established in 1986, is a regional non-profit foundation with headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand supporting the advancement of safer communities and sustainable development, through implementing programs that reduce the impact of disasters upon countries and communities in Asia and the Pacific. The primary geographical focus of ADPC’s activities is Asia with the South, South East and East Asia being the primary sub-regions.

ADPC has more than 30 years of working experience in Asia along with the national and local Government of its charter member countries as well as countries of the Regional Consultative Committee (RCC) on Disaster Management. ADPC works to build preparedness at all levels, from regional, to national, sub-national and even to individual communities. Further details on ADPC and its programs can be found at www.adpc.net.

The Government of Bihar, India, has successfully validated the Bihar Roadmap for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015 2030) in January 2016 with the support from various stakeholders at international, national and state-level.

In partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) will be providing technical assistance to the Government of Bihar in implementing priority capacity building activities of the recently developed Bihar Roadmap for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Statement of Intent:

ADPC is currently looking for a suitable candidate for the position of Project Associate. As part of the Training Services Department and the project team based at Disaster Management Department, Government of Bihar, the Program Associate will be mainly responsible for providing support in the implementation of activities of the ‘Applying Bihar DRR Roadmap Recommendations: Building state-level Emergency Response Capacity’ program in Bihar, India. This position is open only to Indian nationals.

Note: It is not the intent of this Position Description to cover every aspect of the position requirements, rather to highlight the most important areas of personal and joint responsibility.

Qualifications and Experience:

• MA/MSc in Disaster Management, Environmental Sciences, Social Sciences, Business Administration, Natural Science and Natural Resource Management, Engineering, or any other related fields is essential.
• Minimum 3 years of proven experience in project management and project implementation.
• Expertise in development of work plans, financial reporting and budgets, as well as develop quarterly and annual reports for tracking membership and partnership activities, program expenditures and donations.
• The ability to plan and execute events, previous experience in event or workshop coordination is helpful.
• Familiarity and some years of experience in working with government agencies is desirable.
• Previous experience in working with Humanitarian NGOs or international organization in similar programs.
• Knowledge of working ethics of national or state government agencies, International NGOs, National NGOs, private organizations and international organizations would prove to be an added advantage.

Personal Qualities:

• Self-motivated, pro-active and takes initiative;
• Demonstrated ability and plan and organize work and time independently;
• Excellent interpersonal skills, team-oriented work style, and experience in working in a multi-cultural environment;
• Strong desires to learn, undertake new challenges, must a creative problem-solver, and must have self-confidence, willingness to work hard, good sense of humor but with seriousness about the quality and excellence of work.

General Requirements:

• Operate within all ADPC Guidelines & Procedures/ Policies.
• Operate within Government Procedures/Policies.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Assist the Program Manager at the state level for coordination with Government of Bihar, ADPC head office, BMGF project office in Bihar, and other stakeholder agencies.
• Manage day-to-day local administrative activities and assist in program monitoring and evaluation activities of the project.
• Coordinate with Program Manager in Bihar and other Technical Specialists of the Roadmap Implementation Support Unit for Bihar DRR Roadmap at Disaster Management Department, Patna in implementing the project activities at a regular basis.
• Provide assistance in activities such as training needs and capacity assessment, establishment of DRM resource center, risk assessment and mainstreaming initiatives in agriculture and health sectors in Bihar.
• Review training design and training materials for capacity building & training programs being implemented in Bihar.
• Coordinate with other members of ADPC project team in Bihar, and provide necessary support in implementation of the training and capacity building activities in Bihar.
• Attend regular stakeholder coordination meetings such as Program Advisory Committee meetings and Technical Working Group meetings.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the Head – Training Service Department and the duty station supervisor/project manager/s.

Reporting Relationship:

• Directly report to the State Program Manager.
• Work closely with other staff in state program team and ADPC HQ.