Pact is an international nonprofit that works in nearly 40 countries building solutions for human development that are evidence-based, data-driven and owned by the communities we serve. Founded in 1971, Pact works with partners to build resilience, improve accountability, and strengthen knowledge and skills for sustainable social impact.
Department Sustainable Markets (SM) - The Sustainable Markets Pillar, one of three Pact Pillars which also includes Health and Governance Pillars, covers four of Pact's impact areas (Energy, Environment, Extractives and Livelihoods). This Pillar has a range of world-leading initiatives for responsible mineral sourcing, improved energy access, green finance, livelihoods and natural resource management.
Position Overview
Pact’s gold program is working with a variety of US based and international donors, doing impactful development work in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector. At present, the primary geographical focus of the portfolio is West Africa. Major development themes in Pact’s projects include capacity development for ASGM miners and their cooperatives or mining associations; promotion of human rights; support for ASGM formalization and supply chain due diligence; and training on technical aspects of safer mining and mineral processing (including mercury-free gold production).
The team is managed by a dispersed group of passionate individuals and experts, and is currently seeking a Coordinator role, based in Washington DC. The coordinator will fulfill critical support functions of the team consisting primarily of administrative responsibilities, but with the possibility for this to extend to technical aspects of the work (e.g. supporting technical writing and review process, influencing and implementing project designs, participating in project implementation with field work, etc.).
Interested candidates are likely to succeed in this role, should they:
- possess qualities of administrative excellence (e.g. consistent attention to detail; adept and efficient with MS Office computer programs such as Word, Outlook, Excel, Teams, Powerpoint, etc.);
- possess strong interpersonal skills, including active listening, and the ability to smoothly develop relationships across different cultures and personality types;
- be solution-orient and able to proactively identify problems and swiftly resolve them;
- have an interest in global mineral supply chains, and be interested in how these can be improved to the benefit of marginalized groups (specific expertise in gold mining is not a requirement);
- be excited to operate in a multi-time zone team environment, which requires that individuals who are self-motivated and able to multi-task and prioritize multi-project workflows, effectively;
- have ambition to join an exciting and impactful international development organization, and this will include learning firsthand about key aspects of development project design and execution (e.g. proposal writing, budgeting, monitoring evaluation and learning (MEL), etc.).
The coordinator will support the dispersed gold team, through close coordination and communication on the team’s behalf, with Pact-DC based staff and Pact computing/administrative systems. The role will commence with provision of administrative support for 4 ongoing projects that are located in West Africa (both French and English-speaking countries). The coordinator will be brought on for a 3-month trial period after which long-term employment will be assessed. Current Pact-DC workplace policy is in-office 2 days per week however this is subject to change. Maximizing time in the Pact Office (Noma district of DC) will be encouraged during the initial 3-month work trial period.
Key Responsibilities
Responsibilities will include administrative, coordination, and communications support to ensure that gold team members are supported to: execute practical elements of project activities in a timely manner in in compliance with Pact policies and procedures; navigate and use Pact’s internal systems effectively; ensure donor compliance; establish and maintain in person relationships at DC level on behalf of the gold program (for example with Pact’s DC-based finance team, legal team, etc.).
Specific responsibilities will include:
- Weekly coordination calls with gold team members, abroad;
- Learning how Pact’s administrative systems work, and are used to support the implementation of Pact’s development programming, to deliver impact while also ensuring donor compliance;
- Weekly in person-communications with DC based colleagues from program operations, to ensure operational procedures are completed (e.g. facilitating payments to West Africa, contract signatures, etc.);
- Filling in forms and coordinating administrative support for workplans ad hoc requests for inputs and management actions/prioritization;
- Learning and adapting Pact’s online resources and administrative tools, to ensure smooth project implementation, with support from Pact’s other (international) program operations personnel;
- Coordination between Pact and/or project partners (based in West Africa) to provide support and follow-up communications needed to ensure progress for Project workplans;
- Coordination support for Project’s progress reporting (quarterly or bi-annual, depending donor);
- Documentation or review of Project expenses; support to gold team colleagues for administrative tasks such as filing and submitting trip reports, trip expense reports;
- Administrative and coordination support for gold team internal and external communications efforts (e.g. review or formatting of documents, presentations, support for blogging or team publications and project bulletins, internal brown-bag sessions; development of PPTs, etc.).
Basic Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in international development, international relations, regional studies, program management, or related field.
- 2+ years relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experienced.
- Proven interpersonal and communicative skills (references to be consulted).
- Proven administrative skills. Excellent communication and writing skills, in English language.
- Ability to develop and maintain professional relationships internal and external to Pact.
- Demonstrated familiarity with, or eagerness to learn from important mineral sector development literature, such as the OECD Due Diligence Guidance (for responsible minerals); CRAFT Code; UNEP’s Practical Guide to Reducing Mercury Use in ASGM; The ASM Formalization Handbook (from UNITAR), etc. (reading list will be provided after the successful candidate is selected).
- Basic knowledge regarding gold mining; human rights in mineral supply chains; artisanal and small scale mining (ASM) - and why this sector represents an important development priority.
Preferred Qualifications
- Masters degree in field of social science, public policy, business management, international development, or related field;
- Two years of work experience in international development, public policy, or engaging with the mining sector, or a related sector.
- Proficiency in French language will be a helpful asset but not a requirement.