Programme Officer – Schools, WASH and Solar

(Madagascar based)

Position Overview

This in-country post is based in our Schools, WASH and Solar Programme, and will support the
management and development of solar light libraries based in schools for springboarding electrification
in isolated, rural communities.

This is a superb opportunity for a passionate development professional with one to three years of
experience in grant writing, programme delivery and an interest in solar and education projects, who
would like to make the step into a management position.

The successful candidate will work alongside national and international staff, communities, partners and
a Solar consortium in Madagascar, supporting the grant writing, reporting, evaluation and continual
development of our Solar and Schools programmes.

It is essential that the post holder has grant writing experience and is able to work in English and French
to a high standard.  Candidates who do not meet these criteria will not be considered.

About the organisation

SEED Madagascar is a British Charity working in partnership with communities in the southeast of
Madagascar.  We integrate high-quality community health, sustainable livelihoods, education
infrastructure and conservation programmes to support long term, sustainable change while adding to
International best practice through research and publication.

More information on the work of SEED can be found at www.madagascar.co.uk

Location: Fort Dauphin, Anosy Region, Madagascar
Timeframe: two years, extendable (probationary period 3 months)
Terms and conditions: Local salary, contribution to a return flight to post of £1,200 and insurance of £650
Reporting to: Programme Manager (Schools, WASH and Solar)

Duties and responsibilities:

Provide advice and support in the development of projects including: preparation and editing of funding
proposals; preparation and editing of reports for external stakeholders; monitoring and evaluation of
current projects; developing and updating guidelines and templates for external-facing materials; liaison
with the London project development team and local staff; and support and mentoring of interns and
junior officers.

Core Duties

●  Compile funding proposals based on past evaluation, team discussion and international best

practice in an engaging and professional manner;

●  Write project reports that clearly demonstrate the successes and challenges of the projects,

learning from the project and providing clear budgetary information;

●  Support with first-stage editing of proposals and reports across the department to a high

standard and providing detailed, constructive feedback to Junior officers;

●  Lead on budget management and development alongside the Programme Manager and Head of

Department;

●  Lead on donor compliance and consortium engagement, working with the Programme Manager

and the implementation team to ensure that project milestones are met;

●  Work alongside the Programme Manager in problem-solving and providing additional support in

line with emerging issues from project implementation;

●  Manage pieces of long-term project work that require a higher level of expertise and experience

across the department;

●  Support in the recruitment of new staff and provide support, management, review and

professional development to any Junior Officers;

●  Foster essential cross-cultural collaboration, providing support to both the national and

international teams to bridge gaps in understanding and priorities for project development and
implementation;

●  Provide pastoral care, guidance and act as a role model, both professionally and personally, for a

team of early career professionals living in country;

●  Develop and update resources to support project development processes, including proposal

and budget templates and style guidelines;

●  Assist in developing MEL tools and analysing data, including the writing of MEL reports when

needed;

●  Support the growth of project development procedures, guidelines, and trainings, and provide

project-specific information to inform policy development across the organisation;

●  Ensure that statistics, research, funding trackers, photo database and handovers relating to the

projects are accurate;

●  Oversee the project-specific website and social media content;
●  Work with the national team and external partners in increasing their skills and capacity,

providing mentoring or training where appropriate;

●  Take an active role in project management meetings, leading discussions and standing in for the

Programme Manager where appropriate;

●  Ensure all of SEED’s policies and procedures are evident throughout the work of the department,
including those for safeguarding, whistleblowing and anticorruption, and undertake continual
training to ensure these are promoted at all times;

●  Liaise closely with the UK team in London ensuring clear communication at all times;
●  Complete any other tasks required by the Programme Manager or Director of Programmes and

Operations.

Person specification

●  Degree-level qualification or equivalent experience in international development, solar provision

or have equivalent experience;

●  Minimum of 1-2 years’ professional experience of securing funding, project management, donor

compliance and donor reporting;

●  Familiarity with the use of project management tools including Logical Frameworks, Theory of

Change models, Budgets, Activity Plans and Monitoring & Evaluation frameworks;

●  Fluency in written and spoken English and French with excellent written communication skills

and the ability to edit English documents to a very high standard;

●  Excellent proposal and report writing and editing skills, with previous experience compiling

project proposals and reports and the ability to tailor written information to various audiences;
●  Demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to SEED’s ethos and approach and be a good

ambassador for the organisation at all times;

●  Have passion, curiosity and motivation for the job and the ability to enthuse others;
●  Experience of living and working in a developing country with the ability and desire to work with
teams from different economic and cultural backgrounds and across multiple language barriers;
●  Demonstrate proven ability to recognise and appropriately deal with challenging situations and

problem solve;

●  Demonstrate an awareness of and comfort with increased social and professional responsibility,

working at all times with cultural sensitivity and respect;

●  Demonstrate the ability, social skills and confidence to give clear guidance and support to other
members of the team in respect of the philosophy and procedures of SEED in order to protect
both their safety and the reputation of the NGO;

●  Be able to work to and advocate for all of SEED’s policies and procedures, safeguarding those

that SEED works with and reporting any concerns appropriately;

●  Be punctual and be able to work to tight deadlines in an organised manner and to a high

standard;

●  Be able to work both independently and as part of a team;
●  Excellent listening and verbal communication skills and a flexible and patient attitude;
●  Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Application procedure

Interested applicants should send a CV and covering letter in English outlining why they wish to take up
this position and how their skills and experience match the requirements in the job description criteria
to  SEED  Madagascar  Director  of  Programmes  and  Operations,  Lisa  Bass  by  email  on
lisa@seedmadagascar.org.

Please note: AI generated cover letters and recruitment exercises will not be processed.

We value concise and focused applications. To help us review all submissions efficiently, please limit your
CV to a maximum of four pages. Unfortunately, longer CVs cannot be considered.

Application  Deadline:  Monday  5th  January  2026  at  23:59  GMT.  Applications  will  be  reviewed  on  an
ongoing basis throughout this period.

Candidates  will  complete  an  exercise,  long-listed  applicants  will have an initial informal interview with
Madagascar  based  staff  and  short-listed  applicants  will  then  be  offered  an  interview with the London
team.

SEED  Madagascar  actively  encourages  equality,  diversity,  and  inclusion  in  the  workplace  and  aims  to
create  a  working  environment  free  of bullying, harassment, victimisation, and unlawful discrimination,
where individual differences and the contributions of all staff are recognised and valued.