Terms of Reference

Posted: 2026-06-15 23:44:03  Deadline: June 30, 2026   Contract   Salary: Confidential

The Project Manager is the strategic and operational lead for The Youth Café's Africa-Europe Youth Academy (AEYA) implementation, responsible for coordinating project delivery across partner countries, ensuring donor compliance, leading monitoring, evaluation and reporting systems, and supporting consortium partners through sub-granting, proposal review and capacity strengthening processes.

Position Details

Position Title: Project Manager
Projects: EcoPeace Spaces: Youth Leading Resilience in Central Africa (Lot 2) and Youth Futures in Action: Green Jobs and Digital Futures in East and Southern Africa (Lot 3)
Duration: 30 months aligned with project timelines
Duty Station: Nairobi, Kenya with travel to project sites in Central, East and Southern Africa
Reports To: Consortium Coordinator, The Youth Café
Collaborates With: Finance and Administrative Officer, Partner CSOs, Donor Representatives, Expertise France

Key Responsibilities

Provide strategic and operational leadership for implementation of Lot 2 and Lot 3 across all partner countries and programme components.
Coordinate day to day project implementation, manage activity timelines, resolve implementation bottlenecks, and ensure quality delivery of outputs.
Ensure compliance with EU donor requirements, Expertise France grant conditions, and The Youth Café policies.
Develop and maintain detailed implementation plans and workplans for both project lots.
Serve as the primary point of contact between The Youth Café and Expertise France.
Support partners in proposal design, review, and sub-granting processes.
Lead sub-grantee sourcing and selection processes in collaboration with Expertise France.
Review sub-granting proposals and applications for quality, relevance and compliance.
Oversee sub-grant contracting, disbursement and reporting processes.
Assess sub-grantee performance and support selection of scale up grant recipients.
Develop and implement monitoring and evaluation frameworks, tools and methodologies.
Lead baseline, midline and endline assessments across target countries.
Collect, analyse and interpret quantitative and qualitative data for programme improvement and reporting.
Produce monthly, quarterly and final monitoring and evaluation reports.
Prepare donor compliant narrative reports for both project lots.
Maintain audit ready programme documentation and reporting records.
Facilitate collaboration between African CSOs, youth organisations and European institutions.
Represent The Youth Café and the AEYA consortium in stakeholder forums and policy dialogues.
Build and maintain strong relationships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, Expertise France and other stakeholders.

Qualifications and Experience

Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Political Science, International Relations or a related field. A postgraduate degree is an added advantage.
At least 3 years of demonstrated experience coordinating donor funded multi country development projects, preferably in Sub Saharan Africa.
Proven experience writing EU funded proposals and preparing donor compliant narrative reports.
Direct experience reviewing proposals for sub-granting or subcontracting with understanding of compliance and quality assurance processes.
Strong monitoring and evaluation expertise including framework design, survey development, and quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
Familiarity with EU compliance frameworks, reporting standards and grant management requirements.
Excellent facilitation, written communication and partnership management skills.
Fluency in English.

Desirable Qualifications

Experience working on Expertise France implemented projects or similar EU funded mechanisms.
Experience in youth empowerment, green jobs, digital futures, peacebuilding or climate resilience programming in Sub Saharan Africa.
Proficiency in French.
Familiarity with Expertise France POPS platform or similar EU project management systems.

Application Process

Interested candidates should submit:

A cover letter of not more than one page setting out suitability for the role and confirming availability.
An updated CV of not more than four pages.
Contact details for two professional referees.

Email applications to: human.resource@theyouthcafe.com
Cc: admin.compliance@theyouthcafe.com
Subject Line: Project Manager – AEYA Project

Deadline for submission: 30th June 2026

Official Job Description: https://www.theyouthcafe.com/open-opportunities/a-call-for-application-project-manager-aeya-project

The Youth Café Open Opportunities: https://www.theyouthcafe.com/open-opportunities/