System Development Assistant

Proforest is seeking an enthusiastic junior professional with practical experience to support Group Operations Director with development and maintenance of Proforest’s project and programme management systems.

About Proforest

Proforest is a not-for-profit, mission-driven organisation that works with producers and other private sector partners, as well as governments, civil society organisations and NGOs, throughout agricultural and forest product supply chains. Proforest is now an established world leader in the development and implementation of sustainable production and responsible sourcing with a global presence. Our head office is in the UK with regional offices in Malaysia, Ghana, Colombia and Brazil.  We are working across agricultural and forest product supply chains, with particular focus on palm oil, soy, sugar cane, cattle and cocoa, helping companies, governments, non-governmental and civil society organisations to achieve sustainable use of the world’s natural resources.
Proforest provides practical consultancy services to producers, processors and purchasers to help them work in environmentally and socially responsible ways. We also implement donor-funded programmes, which aim to create the enabling environment, and build the capacity required, to deliver agriculture and forest commodities sustainably at scale.

Position summary

Proforest places great emphasis on building appropriate internal systems and policies to ensure quality, consistency and effectiveness of our work across the Proforest Group. The position offers an exciting opportunity to join Proforest’s growing Technical Operations team and take a supportive role in the development and maintenance of Proforest’s project and programme management systems which need to constantly evolve and improve.

Main responsibilities

The main responsibilities include:

• Assist on the design and development of project and programme management systems including tools and linkages between planning & budgeting, resource allocation, income forecasting, work-in-progress and reporting.
• Actively contribute ideas and approaches during system design and development phase.
• Assist in performing system testing and with the validation of functional requirements integration
• Assist in adapting mock-ups systems for local variations for each Proforest entity
• Create and update user and system documentation
• Provide system training to project /programme managers and regional system managers to ensure better use and understanding of systems
• Maintain the project and programme systems for tracking changing requirements and solutions for improvements
• Provide ongoing business support to the technical staff and management team, including planning & budgeting, contracting, reporting and monitoring, as required
• Perform other internal system support related duties as required

Qualifications, experience and skills

Key requirements for this position include the following:

• A university degree in a relevant discipline
• A demonstratable understanding about project management lifecycle and project finance
• Proven practical experience in development and implementation of project management system or workflow
• Advance IT skills (able to use with proficiency MS Office – especially strong excel spreadsheet modelling skill, familiarity with Smartsheet System would be a bonus)
• Excellent written and communication skills in English including presentation skills; fluency or working knowledge in a second language – especially Portuguese, Spanish, French, Bahasa Malaysia – would be an advantage
• Demonstrated numeracy and attention to detail skills
• Excellent problem-solving and organisational abilities
• Highly developed interpersonal and teamwork skills, with the ability to foster positive working relationships in a multi-cultural environment
• Open to change and flexible

Salary and practical details

• Salary range: £23,000 - £26,000.
• Location: Oxford, UK.
• Full time permanent position.
• Benefits: Proforest has a company pension scheme; details on request.

To apply

Please send your CV, a cover letter explaining your suitability for the position and confirmation that you are eligible to work in the UK to personnel@proforest.net or by post to:
Human Resources | Proforest |South Suite | Frewin Chambers |Frewin Court | Oxford OX1 3HZ |UK

Application Deadline: 31 July 2019

Interviews will be held during the week commencing 5 August

Proforest is an equal opportunity employer.