Portfolio Officer

**Background and Context**

The Women ADAPT project is a 2-year project that aims to strengthen climate resilience of women-led MSMEs, cooperatives, and smallholder farmers in Benin and Burkina Faso by increasing access to climate-smart technologies, finance, and information systems. The project is implemented by AECF in partnership with UNIDO, with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and with oversight from a Project Steering Committee (PSC).

**Role Purpose**

The Portfolio Officer is responsible for leading the effective planning, coordination, and implementation of the Women ADAPT project, ensuring delivery of results in line with approved work plans, budgets, and timelines. The role will oversee day-to-day project operations, coordinate stakeholders, and ensure compliance with UNIDO, GEF, and AECF requirements while maintaining high standards of quality, accountability, and impact.

The role combines technical coordination, project management, stakeholder engagement, and compliance oversight to ensure timely, cost-effective, and high-quality execution of project activities.

**Key Responsibilities:**

1. Lead and coordinate day-to-day implementation of the Women ADAPT project to ensure timely and effective delivery of outputs.
2. Oversee project financial management, including budgeting, expenditure tracking, and financial reporting compliance.
3. Design and implement the project Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework, including data collection and performance tracking.
4. Develop, manage, and update annual work plans, budgets, and implementation schedules.
5. Monitor project progress against targets and take corrective action where needed to ensure results are achieved
6. Serve as Secretariat to the Women Adapt Project Steering Committee (PSC), including organizing meetings, preparing documentation, and tracking decisions and actions.
7. Prepare high-quality technical and financial reports for UNIDO and the Project Steering Committee (PSC) where required.
8. Coordinate and maintain effective engagement with key stakeholders, including UNIDO, government partners, private sector actors, and beneficiaries.
9. Manage procurement and contracting processes for consultants and service providers in line with AECF and UNIDO guidelines.
10. Lead project communication, knowledge management, and visibility efforts to document and share results and lessons learned.
11. Support AECF resource mobilization efforts.

**The Candidate**

**The suitable candidate should be/have:**

- At least a bachelor’s degree in economics, development finance, development studies, business or commerce, or a related field.
- At least 5 years of experience in end-to-end project management, business advisory, enterprise development, and private sector development, including scoping and design, resourcing, risk management, and quality assurance.
- Experience in climate change adaptation, climate-smart agriculture, or resilience programming, preferably in agricultural or women MSME contexts.
- Demonstrated experience working with digital technology platforms (e.g. climate information systems, MIS, data platforms, or digital advisory tools) to support project implementation, monitoring, or service delivery.
- Familiarity with climate risk, climate finance, or climate adaptation technologies
- Experience integrating technology solutions into agricultural or financial services programs
- Excellent business judgment, analytical and problem-solving skills to identify issues, present creative, practical solutions, and make and commit to sound decisions, anticipating short-term and long-term implications.
- Demonstrated strong written, presentation, and communications skills in English & French and the ability to synthesize and present information effectively and tailored for different audiences.
- An understanding of donor operations and international development organizations.
- Fluency in French and English.