Marko Phiri has just had his short story Change published by The Kalahari Review

Alex Chimange has published a book on civil society collaboration challenges in Zimbabwe

Work in and for Zimbabwe. Help grow our nation. Check out the vacancies below. If you’d like to receive this sort of information, as well as civic and human rights updates, by email each week drop us a note saying “subscribe” to info [at] kubatana [dot] net

Please note that the job vacancies we carry are related to the NGO and civil society sectors only.

Five (5) vacancies: OPHID
Deadline: 25 November 2012

OPHID charitable trust, a local organization established in 2007, supports the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare in Zimbabwe in the implementation and management of maternal and neonatal child health (MNCH), early childhood development, sexual and reproductive health, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) and paediatric ART activities.

OPHID seeks to fill the following positions for a 5-year USAID funded program designed to expand current national Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services. The award aims to (1) provide technical and other assistance to the national level of the PMTCT programme; (2) strengthen the provision of clinical services for comprehensive PMTCT; (3) strengthen paediatric HIV services; (4) conduct operations research and (5) strengthen the continuum of care for mother, infant and family.

1) Human Resources Manager

Summary of Position
Reporting to the Deputy Director, the Human Resources Manager is responsible for all aspects of the human resource function within the organization.

Main responsibilities
-Staff recruitment and retention
-Employee relations, HR policies, compliance and practices
-Compensation and benefits administration
-Performance management and employee development
-Management and administration of staff records

Requirements
-Recognized degree in Human Resources Management or a related discipline
-5 years of work experience in a similar position
-Comprehensive knowledge of HR principles, labour laws and regulations
-Good communicator, an ability to function as a catalyst and coach, guiding people at all levels of the organization to facilitate their learning and development
-Strong work ethic coupled with enthusiastic and passionate approach to work with an ability to multi-task and to work with limited supervision
-High degree of professionalism and integrity and ability to demonstrate good judgment, discretion and confidentiality at all times
-Proficiency in usual desktop software (MS Word, Excel, Outlook) a requisite and website management a bonus.

2) Finance Officer

Summary of the position
Reporting to the Senior Finance Officer, the Finance Officer is responsible for attending to the daily accounting functions.

Responsibilities
-Payments to suppliers of goods and services
-Posting of all accounting transactions in Pastel accounting package
-Daily monitoring of project bank balances and querying any anomalies
-Management of project field advances and maintaining a register to monitor clearance thereof
-Preparation of bank reconciliations
-Preparation of daily/monthly journal vouchers and posting into pastel accounting package after approval
-Filing all vouchers and journals on a daily basis
-Management of the payroll and attending to all statutory payments by due date
-Any other duties as may be delegated by Senior Finance Officer

Requirements

Minimum
-Diploma in Accounting, CIS part B or equivalent
-Three years NGO experience in similar position

3) Provincial Monitoring and Evaluation Officer x 2

Summary of Position
Based in the provincial office (Mashonaland Central or Manicaland) and reporting to the Provincial Coordinator, the Provincial Monitoring and Evaluation Officer will support the data collection and quality control for monitoring, evaluation and reporting activities.

Responsibilities
-To assist the OPHID provincial team in the development (and maintenance) of a sound M&E system including implementing procedures for the timely collection, compilation and analysis of programme data
-To sensitize and train PMTCT related staff in the application of M&E system
-To review monitoring reports to assess interim impacts and identify potential programme barriers to inform implementation
-To respond to information needs of project management, implementing partners, primary stakeholders and donors
-To assist in data management for operational research projects
-To assist the Provincial Coordinators in preparing regular programme related documents/reports

Requirements
-Degree in relevant discipline
-At least two years experience in: participatory assessment and monitoring, data processing and analysis and computer experience, training, facilitation and communication skills and M&E design experience

4) Operational Research Officer

Summary of Position
Reporting to and working in close collaboration with Operational Research Coordinator on a variety of quantitative and qualitative research projects.

Main Responsibilities
-To plan and develop operational research/programme implementation proposals as per donor requirements in close collaboration with the Operational Research Coordinator, field and management team
-To design, carry out, analyze and summarize the results of operational research projects (including surveys, cohort studies, monitoring and evaluation strategies)
-To supervise and coordinate research project team members including consultants, university students, work experience attachments, data collectors and data entry clerks as applicable
-To provide public health expertise to ongoing operational research projects/programme implementation within OPHID’s programme portfolio
-To support project coordinators in the operationalisation and correct implementation of research results
-To document best practices and ensure national, regional and international dissemination of ensuing operational research results

Requirements
-MPH/MSc Epidemiology +/- background in health related field
-Competence in research design (quantitative + qualitative methodology)
-Ability to work independently (coordinate implementation of research project) without direct supervision
-Proficiency in statistical packages/data management/data analysis
-Excellent communication skills (documentation, report writing, proposal writing, publications).

To apply for any of the above positions, send a cover letter, CV, with three (3) current references to: recruitments [at] ophid [dot] co [dot] zw

Clearly specify the position for which you are applying in the subject line of your email and on the cover letter.  Only short listed candidates will be contacted.

OPHID is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified individuals with relevant experience are welcome to apply.

I liked reading this on Andrew Sullivan’s blog recently.

A classic from the NYT in the form of an open letter to the restaurant owner, Guy Fieri. Money quote:

Why is one of the few things on your menu that can be eaten without fear or regret — a lunch-only sandwich of chopped soy-glazed pork with coleslaw and cucumbers — called a Roasted Pork Bahn Mi, when it resembles that item about as much as you resemble Emily Dickinson? …

Hey, did you try that blue drink, the one that glows like nuclear waste? The watermelon margarita? Any idea why it tastes like some combination of radiator fluid and formaldehyde? …

And when we hear the words Donkey Sauce, which part of the donkey are we supposed to think about?”

It’s great to read a literate rant in a review section. It should happen more often. Crankiness is way more readable than gussied-up p.r.

In Zimbabwe, being the scared of any kind of criticism country that we are, I’m really tired of “gussied-up p.r.” masquerading as restaurant reviews. For the most part our country’s restaurants offer up uninspired and overpriced food. Our reviewers need to stop being polite and start saying it like it is and maybe our standards would improve.

Programme Assistant: United Nations Children’s Fund
Deadline: 26 November 2012

Vacancy Announcement No. Zim/2012:33
GS5 Level (on secondment to ZIMSTAT)
Based in Harare (Temporary Appointment Post)

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. For 60 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.

Purpose of the Job
This post is created to provide support to ZIMSTAT to carry out second phase of the household targeting survey. The post will be placed at ZIMSTAT.

Major Tasks to be accomplished
-Assist the Project Manager of ZIMSTAT to liaise with all stakeholders
-Ensure the stakeholders have the same level of information on the progress of the targeting survey
-Provide logistic support for the targeting survey in close cooperation with the Programme Officer
-Conduct regular field monitoring of enumeration, minimum 5 days per month and immediately alert the Project Manager of any bottlenecks or issues of concern in the process

Qualifications and Competencies
-Completion of secondary education and ability to operate financial programmes and software
-Additional commercial training in accounting or finance is desirable
-At least 5 years of administrative experience, including record-keeping and processing of information
-Demonstrable proficiency in computer application packages
-Good communication and organizational skills
-Ability to work in a multicultural environment.

If you have experience of working in a similar capacity, meet the above profile and want to make an active and lasting contribution to build a better world for children, send your application letter together with curriculum vitae quoting vacancy notice number to the following address.

Human Resources Manager
(Vacancy Notice No. 33: Zim-2012)
UNICEF, 6 Fairbridge Avenue,
P O Box 1250
Belgravia, Harare

Or email: hararevacancies [at] unicef [dot] org

Only short listed candidates will be contacted.

UNICEF is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff. Well-qualified candidates, particularly women are especially encouraged to apply.

To love what you do and feel like it matters, how could anything be more fun?” – Katherine Graham