JOB ADVERTISEMENT – PROJECT COORDINATOR
Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya (BNBR) is a nationally registered Public Benefit Organization (PBO)
that has been advancing mental health and well-being in Kenya since 2005. Working closely with
the Ministry of Health, communities and other key stakeholders, BNBR delivers person-centered,
rights-based and recovery-oriented mental health interventions that promote inclusion, dignity and
sustainable improvements in the lives of individuals and communities.
We are seeking a highly organized, proactive, and detail-oriented Project Coordinator to support
the planning, coordination, and execution of projects from start to completion. The ideal candidate
is reliable, resourceful, and comfortable managing multiple priorities, tracking deadlines,
coordinating teams, and ensuring that project activities remain organized and on schedule. The
position will be for an initial period of nine (9) months, effective 1st October 2026, with the
possibility of renewal subject to satisfactory performance and availability of funding.
1. JOB PURPOSE
The Project Coordinator will provide day-to-day coordination and technical leadership to the
design process, working closely with BNBR design team, technical experts, partners, communities,
and other stakeholders. The role will coordinate implementation of the Co-Impact design phase and
support the development and refinement of a strong, evidence-informed, and implementable
systems-change strategy.
The coordinator will also lead and coordinate research, stakeholder engagement, systems analysis,
coalition-building, project design and documentation, ensuring that the final design reflects the
lived experiences, priorities and aspirations of the children and communities the initiative seeks to
serve.
The primary duty station will be Kilifi County, with the possibility of regular travel within the
country.
2. KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
A. Design Phase Coordination
• Coordinate implementation of the Co-Impact design phase and the overall project-
development process.
• Develop and monitor a detailed nine-month design-phase workplan, clearly outlining
activities, milestones, responsibilities, and timelines.
• Coordinate implementation of agreed design activities and ensure that key milestones are
completed within agreed timelines.
• Maintain coordination among project teams, partner organisations and other stakeholders
involved in the design process.
• Organise and coordinate regular design-team meetings, ensuring that decisions, action
points and responsibilities are clearly documented and followed up.
• Maintain a design-phase action tracker and provide regular progress updates to
management.
• Identify emerging implementation risks, capacity gaps or delays and escalate them
promptly for resolution.
B. Systems-Change Strategy Development and Project Design
• Lead and coordinate the development and refinement of the project’s systems-change
strategy.
• Support development and refinement of the original concept, proposal and subsequent
project design.
• Work closely with the dedicated design team, technical advisers and stakeholders to define
the problem, intended systems-level outcomes, target populations and proposed
interventions.
• Support the identification and design of interventions capable of producing sustainable
institutional and systems-level change.
• Coordinate the testing of assumptions supporting the proposed strategy and support the
team to refine strategic priorities based on emerging evidence and stakeholder feedback.
• Analyse how policies, institutions, actors, relationships, incentives and practices influence
the system supporting children affected by conflict and crisis.
• Ensure that the proposed strategy identifies realistic pathways towards long-term systems
change.
• Coordinate the preparation, review and finalisation of design-phase outputs and strategic
documentation.
C. Literature Review and Evidence Generation
• Lead the review of relevant internal and external literature, research, policies, strategies,
programme documents and evidence related to education, children affected by conflict and
crisis, and systems change.
• Develop an agreed literature-review and evidence-generation framework in consultation
with the design team.
• Review relevant national and county policies, strategies, institutional frameworks and
existing interventions.
• Identify evidence gaps, lessons and potential systems-level interventions.
• Prepare concise evidence summaries, analysis and recommendations to inform project
design and strategic decisions.
• Support the design team to use evidence to challenge assumptions and refine proposed
interventions.
D. Organizational Skills and Capacity Mapping
• Assess the technical and operational skills required to successfully undertake the design
phase.
• Map existing skills and capacity within Basic Needs Kenya and partner organisations against
identified design requirements.
• Identify critical skills and capacity gaps that may affect successful completion of the design
phase.
• Recommend appropriate technical expertise, consultants, advisers or partners where
required.
• Coordinate onboarding and engagement of technical experts supporting the design process,
where applicable.
• Monitor whether additional expertise is required as the project design evolves.
E. Stakeholder Mapping
• Coordinate a comprehensive stakeholder-mapping exercise to identify key actors who
influence or are affected by the systems supporting children affected by conflict and crisis.
• Coordinate engagement with key actors within the system to understand barriers,
opportunities, relationships, incentives and potential interventions.
• Plan and facilitate stakeholder-mapping workshops, consultations, focus groups and other
engagement forums.
• Develop and maintain a stakeholder engagement matrix capturing stakeholder interests,
influence, roles, relationships and proposed engagement approaches.
• Build and maintain relationships with relevant government agencies, education actors, civil
society organisations, communities, development partners and other stakeholders.
• Track stakeholder engagements, feedback, commitments and agreed follow-up actions.
• Ensure insights from stakeholder consultations are systematically incorporated into project
design.
F. Community Engagement
• Ensure that the project design reflects the lived experiences, agency, voice and aspirations
of the target population.
• Coordinate meaningful and inclusive engagement with children, young people, parents,
educators, communities and other groups directly affected by the issues being addressed.
• Work with the design team to ensure that community perspectives inform problem
definition, proposed solutions and systems-change priorities.
• Promote meaningful participation of marginalised and underserved groups throughout the
design process.
• Ensure all engagements involving children and vulnerable groups comply with Basic Needs
Kenya safeguarding requirements.
G. Winning Coalition Development and Partnership Coordination
• Coordinate the process of identifying organisations, institutions and individuals capable of
forming a strong coalition to support the proposed system-change initiative.
• Develop objective criteria for identifying and assessing potential coalition members.
• Facilitate discussions with prospective coalition partners to clarify interests, capabilities,
comparative strengths, roles and potential contributions.
• Coordinate engagement among prospective coalition members and other key system actors.
• Support the design team to agree on an appropriate coalition structure, roles,
responsibilities and ways of working.
• Support development of shared expectations and collaboration arrangements among
coalition members.
• Coordinate documentation of coalition commitments and agreed next steps.
H. Design Phase Project Workshops Facilitation
• Coordinate project workshops, design sessions, stakeholder forums and other collaborative
engagements required during the design phase.
• Develop clear objectives, agendas and expected outputs for workshops in consultation with
relevant technical leads.
• Facilitate or support facilitation of structured discussions aimed at generating insights,
testing assumptions and refining the systems-change strategy.
• Ensure workshop findings, recommendations and decisions are accurately documented.
• Coordinate follow-up actions arising from workshops and consultations.
• Work closely with the Project Assistant and Operations team to ensure logistical
arrangements support effective participation.
I. Learning and Reporting
• Maintain accurate records of design meetings, consultations, workshops, decisions,
emerging lessons and strategic changes.
• Coordinate preparation of narrative progress reports and other documentation required by
management and Co-Impact.
• Capture key lessons emerging from the design process and ensure they inform subsequent
stages of programme development.
• Document how the strategy evolves in response to evidence, stakeholder engagement and
testing of assumptions.
• Support preparation of presentations, briefs, concept documents and other materials
required for internal, donor and stakeholder engagements.
• Support preparation of final design-phase documentation and transition materials for the
subsequent implementation phase.
3. ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Academic Qualifications
• A bachelor’s degree in Education, Education Policy, Development Studies or a closely
related field. A background in Education is essential.
• A postgraduate qualification in Education, Development Studies, Public Policy, Project
Management or a related discipline will be an added advantage.
• Relevant training or exposure to systems thinking, systems change, or programme design
will be an added advantage.
Professional Experience
• At least five years of relevant professional experience, preferably within education, child-
focused programming, humanitarian settings, development programmes or related sectors.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating projects involving multiple stakeholders.
• Experience in programme or project design and strategy development.
• Experience conducting literature reviews, research, policy analysis or evidence synthesis.
• Practical experience planning and facilitating stakeholder workshops, consultations or
participatory design processes.
• Experience engaging government institutions, civil society organisations, communities,
donors and other development actors.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate relationships across multiple partners or institutions.
• Previous exposure to programmes serving children in conflict, crisis, marginalised or
underserved settings will be an advantage.
Core Competencies
• Ability to understand relationships between institutions, actors, policies, incentives,
practices and structural barriers within a wider system.
• Ability to translate evidence and stakeholder perspectives into practical systems-change
strategies.
• Ability to manage multiple activities, deadlines, contributors and stakeholders within a
defined design period.
• Ability to review complex information, identify patterns and translate evidence into
strategic recommendations.
• Ability to work within an evolving design process and respond effectively to emerging
evidence and priorities.
4. APPLICATION PROCESS:
Interested candidates should submit their applications to hr@basicneedskenya.org on or before
September 18th, 2026. Please include a cover letter, resume, and relevant certifications. Kindly
note that due to the large volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted
for interviews.
How to apply
Qualified candidates to apply via email hr@basicneedskenya.org clearly indicating the position
they are applying for on the email subject as “Project Coordinator” by COB 18th September
2026. Due to the urgency, application will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
NB: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya is an equal opportunity Employer and does not
discriminate against applicants on any basis.
