Job Title: Project Coordinator (Open to Ugandan Nationals Only)
Location: Mbale, Uganda
Reports to: Programmes Director/Country Director

Application Deadline: 30th September 2026

Direct Reports: Value Chain Manager; MEAL Manager; Finance and Partnership Specialist

Program Background

The Green Resilient Enterprise for Empowered NTFP Development Project (GREEN Project) is a 28-month initiative implemented under the ReForEst Uganda Programme with funding from Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and the European Union. The project seeks to enhance livelihoods, jobs and ecological resilience through sustainable Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) enterprises while contributing to forest conservation, restoration and climate resilience across 16 districts in Eastern Uganda and Napak District in Karamoja. The project focuses on five priority NTFP value chains: bamboo, honey/apiculture, shea, cashew, and wild mango. Through a Green Entrepreneurship Platform (GEP), incubation services, acceleration support, cottage industry, access to finance and market linkages, the project will strengthen 140 enterprises, 50 producer groups and support 10,000 households along these NTFP value chains. 

Job summary

The Project Coordinator will provide overall leadership, management and coordination of the 28-month Green Resilient Enterprise for Empowered NTFP Development (GREEN) Project. The Project Coordinator is accountable for delivery of the approved action on time, within budget and to the required technical and compliance standards. The role will coordinate GOAL, co-applicants, third-party implementers, associates, consultants and service providers; serve as GOAL's principal operational focal point with AICS; and ensure strong integration across programme, finance, procurement, partnerships, MEAL, safeguarding and operations.

To be successful in this role, you will need:

Essential 

• Master’s degree in Agriculture, Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, Forestry, Natural Resource Management, Environmental Management, Business Administration, Development Studies, Economics or a related field.
• Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in agriculture, NTFP, or markets development programming preferably within Uganda or East Africa. with at least 5 years at senior technical level, delivering impactful and complex market-led projects in Uganda or East Africa, with preference for prior Chief of Party and Team Lead experience,
• Strong technical understanding of market systems development, MSME/enterprise development, value chains, access to finance and market linkages; experience linking economic development with climate, forestry, agroforestry or natural-resource outcomes is strongly preferred.
• Proven experience managing partnerships, consortium arrangements, grants/sub-grants or financial support to third parties, including partner due diligence, performance management and compliance.
• Strong project financial management and procurement oversight skills, including budgeting, forecasting, value for money, controls, documentation and audit readiness.
• Complex programme management experience and demonstrated success building, managing and leading a team of professionals using learning and adaptive management.
• Proven track record of providing strategic direction, building leadership and consensus, delivering on Value For Money and, understanding and interacting with sustainable and climate smart landscape management and adaptive learning.
• Strong people-management skills, including supervision, coaching, performance management, delegation and collaborative leadership across multidisciplinary teams.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, negotiation, problem-solving, organisation and prioritisation skills; willingness to travel frequently across project districts.
• Working experience in Uganda or East Africa.
• Strong project financial management skills.

Desirable

• Previous experience managing EU-funded actions and familiarity with AICS, EU grant management and/or PRAG requirements.
• Substantial working experience in Uganda, with established understanding of Ugandan government, private-sector and agricultural/forestry institutions.
• Experience with NTFPs, green enterprises, business incubation/acceleration, cottage-industry or processing investments, standards/certification, digital enterprise platforms and/or blended or commercial finance.

The key responsibilities of the role will be:

Strategy and Technical Leadership

• Provides overall strategic and technical leadership for the GREEN Project, ensuring delivery remains aligned with the approved proposal, logical framework, work plan, budget, grant contract and ReForEst Output 3 objectives
• Ensures technical coherence and quality across the five NTFP value chains and across field-based activities, incubation, acceleration, cottage-industry support, the GEP, finance and market linkages, and policy/coordination activities.
• Maintains a market-systems and private-sector orientation that strengthens commercially viable NTFP enterprises while linking enterprise growth to sustainable harvesting, restoration, agroforestry and biodiversity outcomes.
• Provides overall leadership to identify and capture learnings and positive outcomes for scaling,

Program, Grant and Compliance Management

• Manages programme implementation according to the overall workplan, budget, and results framework.
• Translates the approved action into detailed annual, quarterly and monthly implementation plans; maintain the project critical path and ensure milestones, deliverables and dependencies are actively managed.
• Ensures efficient communication channels within the programme structure and with partners.
• Serves as GOAL's principal operational focal point with AICS, supporting regular progress meetings, quarterly reviews, ad hoc consultations, site visits, and timely narrative, technical and financial reporting.
• Ensures that the planning and reporting schedule are verifiably achieved.
• Works with the grants management and finance teams to oversee partners’ timely reporting.
• Ensure project implementation complies with the AICS/EU grant contract, GOAL policies and procedures, procurement rules, visibility requirements, ethical standards and donor-approved procedures
• Ensures that achievements and best practices are captured and disseminated
• Ensures logistics, administration and  human resources are conducted in accordance with GOAL Uganda policy and with the maximum benefit to the programme.
• Maintains an active project risk register covering programme, fiduciary, procurement, partnership, safeguarding, environmental, market and operational risks, and ensure mitigation actions are implemented and escalated as needed

• Ensures efficient use of project assets, logistics and human resources and coordinate timely resolution of implementation bottlenecks across GOAL and partners.
• Ensures accountability to project participants, adhering to international standards guiding development work.

Partnership management

• Ensures consistent and dynamic coordination with all partners and stakeholders through regular, structured coordination meetings and updates.
• Manage relationships with third-party implementers, associates, cottage-industry hosts, technical consultants and service providers, ensuring coordinated delivery and compliance with agreed scopes, milestones and standards.
• Establishes systems and processes that enable regular reflection and effective monitoring of partners’ performance management.
• Facilitates, oversees, and leads joint planning sessions and shared learning initiatives with partners.
• Ensures well-functioning community feedback mechanisms and strengthen engagement with district local governments.

Team Management

• Builds the capacity of the project team and partners’ staff, embedding a learning culture following adaptive management principles.
• Manages the recruitment and training of programme staff to attract staff of the quality required for successful implementation of activities.
• Recruits, supervises, coaches and performance-manages direct reports; fosters a collaborative, accountable and learning-oriented team culture; and ensures appropriate staffing, delegation, duty of care and staff development throughout implementation.
• Ensures programme achievements, challenges and corrective actions are clearly communicated to GOAL management, AICS, co-applicants and other governance structures.

Representation:

• Represents GOAL and the GREEN Project with AICS, government, private sector, financial institutions, development partners and other stakeholders, maintaining strong relationships, professional credibility and accountability.

General Terms and Conditions

At GOAL we welcome people of all abilities and want to ensure that our hiring and interview process meets the needs of all applicants. If you require a reasonable accommodation to make your application or interview experience a great one, please just contact our Recruitment Team at [email protected]

GOAL Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:
GOAL is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to building an inclusive environment for all employees. We foster an inclusive culture where all voices are heard and valued. We know that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.

All employees share in the responsibility for fulfilling GOAL’s commitment to equal employment opportunity and equal treatment. GOAL does not discriminate against any employee on the basis of sex, race, color, ethnic background, tribe, birth, creed or religion or social or economic standing, political opinion, disability.

Code of Conduct and Accountability within GOAL

GOAL is an equal opportunities employer and has values and behaviours framework which defines our code of conduct. Any candidate offered a job with GOAL will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability.

• Comply with GOAL’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, Code of Conduct, health and safety, data protection and confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols.
• Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area.
• Report any concerns about inappropriate behaviour of a GOAL staff or partner.

Safeguarding

Children and vulnerable adults a must be safeguarded to the maximum extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury, and any other harm. One of the ways that GOAL shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates.

GOAL 

Established in 1977, GOAL is an international humanitarian agency and works with the most vulnerable communities to help them respond to and overcome humanitarian crises, and to assist those facing poverty and exclusion achieve greater resilience and well-being. GOAL envisions a world beyond humanitarian crises where poverty no longer exists, where vulnerable communities exposed to shocks and stresses are resilient, where barriers to well-being are removed and where everyone has equal rights and opportunities. 

General Description of the Country Programme 

First operational in Uganda in 1979, the current GOAL Uganda country programme focuses on Health, (including WASH, Health Accountability and Nutrition); and a market-based systems approach to improving agricultural livelihoods and WASH. GOAL Uganda mainstreams gender, child protection, social behavior changes and resilience strategies across all programming. GOAL uses a mixture of direct implementation and partnerships with national and international civil society organizations, local government, the private sector and communities to give effect to our mission.  

GOAL Uganda has a skilled team of over 110 personnel and has a head office in Kampala and field offices in 7 locations across Northern, Southwestern and Eastern regions of Uganda.  GOAL Uganda’s donors include the Mastercard Foundation, charity: water, Irish Aid, The Kingdom of Netherland Embassy in Uganda (EKN) and other private donors.  

Interested applicants who meet the requirements should apply through the link with at least 3 professional referees (current or former Line Manager) from the last three employers and daytime contact number by 30th September 2026.