Project Assistant

PROJECT ASSISTANT International Rescue Committee (IRC) ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY The International Rescue Committee is actively seeking a Project Assistant to join our team working on the RE: BUILD program, an ambitious initiative funded by the IKEA Foundation to transform the lives of urban refugees and vulnerable communities across East Africa. Operating in Kampala and Nairobi over an eighteen-month implementation period, this project brings together a powerful coalition of local and international partners committed to building economic resilience and creating sustainable livelihoods. This is your chance to make a tangible difference by supporting communities to achieve economic self-reliance while strengthening the policies and systems that serve them. You'll work at the intersection of community development and systemic change, helping to open doors to income-generating opportunities, financial services, and supportive environments that enable families to reclaim control of their futures. THE ROLE Reporting to the Senior Economic Resilience and Development Officer, you will be the operational backbone of the program's livelihoods activities across Kampala, Mukono, and Wakiso. Your primary mission centers on strengthening the capacity of target clients to launch and grow meaningful income-generating enterprises that lead to genuine self-reliance. WHAT YOU'LL DO Technical Implementation You will identify, select, and register eligible clients for both the Enterprise Growth Fund and climate-resilient interventions. Working directly with community structures, you'll mobilize target populations and build excitement around financial inclusion and climate-smart opportunities. You'll partner with Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and financial institutions to design and deliver capacity-building trainings covering business skills management, group dynamics, value addition, and financial literacy to both individual entrepreneurs and group enterprises. A key focus involves facilitating the formation and training of Urban Savings and Loans Associations (USLAs) under KCCA's climate-smart initiatives. You'll guide progressive savings groups, business collectives, and individual enterprises through the registration process at divisional and URSB levels to obtain official certificates. You'll also establish critical linkages between clients and financial institutions and markets, connecting them with essential services and income opportunities. You will mediate conflicts within KCCA climate-smart business groups with sensitivity and skill, reporting insights to your supervisor. You'll conduct thorough training needs assessments for both individual and group enterprises to identify capacity gaps and guide targeted development interventions. Monitoring, Reporting and Coordination Effective documentation is central to this role. You'll prepare weekly work plans, activity reports, and compile lessons learned for regular submission to your supervisor. You'll actively participate in data collection during implementation and provide timely reports to the Senior ERD Officer and MEAL team. Coordination is critical to success. You'll work seamlessly with the MEAL team, Client Response unit, and broader program staff to identify quality issues and gather field feedback. You'll coordinate closely with partner organizations, financial institutions, and KCCA to ensure aligned implementation and will actively collaborate with government programs operating in your areas of focus. You'll document program successes by capturing best practices, success stories, and compelling case studies from individual and group enterprises, supporting outcome harvesting efforts. Regular field monitoring visits will keep you connected to the enterprises you support, enabling you to provide timely feedback, backstopping, and corrective guidance. You'll remain vigilant in identifying and reporting protection concerns. You'll maintain organized, accessible documentation systems using approved tools and templates, ensuring smooth internal and external communication. Finally, you'll plan and actively participate in key visibility events including trade fairs and public launches that showcase program achievements. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR This role demands someone solution-oriented, detail-oriented, and genuinely passionate about advancing human dignity. You should be comfortable working in dynamic community settings, skilled at building relationships across diverse stakeholder groups, and committed to supporting vulnerable populations with professionalism and empathy. Strong organizational and communication skills are essential, as is the ability to balance multiple priorities while maintaining focus on impact.