Senior Project Coordinator

The role

We are currently looking for Senior Project Coordinator based in Vientiane Capital.

Role Purpose

The Senior Project Coordinator leads the day-to-day coordination and technical delivery of the ECHO-funded ECHO Asia Regional Disaster Preparedness and Early Warning Action programme in Lao PDR. Working under the Project Manager, the post-holder ensures the timely, high-quality implementation of Result 1 (impact-based early warning systems and harmonised SOPs) and Result 2 (community and school preparedness) activities across the project’s target districts, coordinates the country’s contribution to Result 3 (regional learning, dissemination and scaling) and maintains readiness to activate the project’s Crisis Modifier under Result 4 (emergency response), and provides the primary link between the country team, national partners and the regional technical partner (ADPC).

The role carries lead responsibility for coordinating field implementation, supervising the Project District Officers and the MEAL Officer, and maintaining strong working relationships with the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, the Lao Red Cross and sub-national disaster management authorities, Labour and Social welfare at district, provincial and central level, and disaster management committee. The Senior Project Coordinator ensures that child-centered, disability-inclusive and gender-responsive approaches are embedded throughout delivery.

In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

• Ensure they fully understand the provisions of the Child Safeguarding Policy, the Code of Conduct and Local/Country Procedures.
• Conduct themselves in accordance with the rules of the Child Safeguarding Policy, in their personal and professional lives – which includes reporting suspicions of child abuse.

Key responsibilities:

Project Coordination and Implementation

• Coordinate the planning and timely delivery of all Result 1 and Result 2 activities in Lao PDR, ensuring coherence with the overall workplan and the three-Results framework.

• Develop and maintain detailed activity work plans, implementation schedules and procurement plans together with the Project Manager.

• Ensure activities remain on track against agreed timelines, quality benchmarks and milestones; flag delays early and propose corrective action.

• Organise and facilitate technical consultations, harmonisation workshops, simulations and after-action reviews with national and sub-national authorities.

• Support the integration of impact-based triggers, warning messages, SOPs and contingency plans into district-level DRM frameworks.

Technical Coordination (Early Warning and Community/School Preparedness)

• Coordinate the co-development and roll-out of impact-based early warning protocols, SOPs and decision-support tools in collaboration with ADPC and DMH.

• Oversee community and school risk and hazard mapping, participatory planning, drills and the development of preparedness plans and SOPs (Result 2).

• Ensure technical outputs reflect Save the Children’s Child-Centered Early Warning Systems (CCEWS) approach and are inclusive of children and persons with disabilities.

• Support inclusive last-mile dissemination of early warning through multiple trusted channels.

Partner and Government Stakeholder Coordination

• Serve as the primary day-to-day liaison with DMH, the Lao Red Cross,Ministry of Labour and Socia Welfare and sub-national disaster management committees.

• Coordinate joint planning and review with partners, ensuring clear roles, responsibilities and accountabilities.

• Support partner capacity strengthening in line with Save the Children’s localisation commitments.

Team Supervision and Capacity Building

• Line-manage and provide technical guidance to the Project District Officers and MEAL Officer; set objectives, review performance and support professional development.

• Promote a collaborative, safe and accountable team culture aligned with Save the Children’s values and safeguarding standards.

In-Country Budget Management and Financial Oversight

• Manage the in-country project budget, monitoring expenditure against plan and ensuring delivery stays on track and within DG ECHO eligibility rules.

• Lead regular (monthly and quarterly) budget-versus-actual (BVA) analysis with the finance team; review variances, explain deviations and adjust activity phasing and spending as required.

• Develop and maintain budget forecasts, cash-flow projections and procurement/spending plans aligned with the workplan.

• Ensure value for money, accurate cost coding and timely, compliant use of funds; support audit readiness and resolution of any findings.

• Oversee activity- and partner-level financial monitoring in coordination with finance staff, flagging risks of under- or over-spend early and proposing corrective action.

Regional Learning, Dissemination and Scaling (Result 3)

• Lead and coordinate the country’s Result 3 contributions, including national dissemination workshops and the documentation of country case studies and lessons learned (R3.A6).

• Ensure operational evidence from Results 1 and 2 feeds into regional learning, technical clinics and the Anticipatory Action business case (R3.A1, R3.A4).

• Support national follow-up to regional engagement with ASEAN, the AHA Centre, MRC and the AA Technical Working Group, and contribute to national financing assessments and learning briefs (R3.A5).

• Promote the uptake of regional best practice into national DRM frameworks.

Crisis Modifier and Emergency Response (Result 4)

• Maintain readiness to activate the project’s Crisis Modifier when an emergency occurs in implementation areas, covering multiple hazards including floods, heat waves and fires.

• Lead rapid assessment and prepare well-justified Crisis Modifier activation requests for ECHO approval, working with the Project Manager and finance team; where allocated funds are insufficient, support requests for additional emergency funding.

• Coordinate timely, principled emergency response that tests and uses the triggers, SOPs and early-action mechanisms established under Results 1 and 2.

• Document each activation and feed learning into SOP and trigger refinement.

MEAL, Reporting and Compliance

• Work with the MEAL Officer to ensure quality data collection, indicator tracking and functioning feedback and complaints mechanisms.

• Contribute to high-quality narrative reporting and documentation of results and learning for management and donor reporting.

Ensure adherence to Save the Children and DG ECHO compliance, safeguarding and anti-fraud standards throughout implementation.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Bachelor’s degree in DRM, Development, or Social Sciences required; Master’s degree preferred.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential

• Minimum 5 years of project coordination or implementation experience in disaster risk reduction, early warning, climate resilience or humanitarian programming.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating with the government sectors, other development agencies and field teams and multi-site implementation.
• Experience working with government DRM authorities, hydro-meteorological agencies and/or the Red Cross movement.
• Strong understanding of community-based disaster risk management and/or early warning systems.
• Excellent written and spoken Lao and good working English.
• Demonstrated commitment to safeguarding, disability inclusion and gender equality.
• Ability in leading a team of field staff in a changing and dynamic work environment.

Desirable

• Experience with DG ECHO or other institutional donor-funded projects.
• Familiarity with impact-based forecasting, anticipatory action or SOP development.

Contract length: Fixed term (1 year with the possibility of extension)

The Organisation

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information:

Interested candidates please submit a full application using a cover letter and up-to-date CV as a single document including contact details of three professional referees (current and last line managers and HR department). Please also include details of your salary expectations and a copy of your ID card. Please note that we will require a copy of your Criminal Records (ໃບແຈ້ງໂທດ) later.

Save the Children International is a child-rights based organization. Safe recruitment is central to the safeguarding of children and young people that we come into contact with, and support through our programmes.

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Save the children is an equal opportunities employer, qualified females, persons with disability and candidates from diverse cultural backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our global anti-harassment policy.