Field Coordinator job description
A Field Coordinator runs day-to-day project activity in a cluster of villages or urban settlements for an NGO or social enterprise. The person links the project team with communities, volunteers and local officials.
Why the role exists
Programmes succeed or fail at the last mile. The Field Coordinator is the staff member who is present in the community, organises sessions, mobilises participants and reports what is happening. The role reports to a programme manager and often works from a block or district base with frequent travel on a two wheeler.
What the person does
- Visit assigned villages or settlements on a fixed schedule and meet community leaders, self-help groups and families.
- Mobilise participants for trainings, camps, health sessions or enrolment drives and confirm attendance on the day.
- Organise sessions with trainers and community volunteers, and arrange venues, materials and refreshments.
- Collect attendance, beneficiary and activity data using paper forms or a mobile app and submit them on time.
- Check the accuracy of records with community members and report gaps to the programme manager.
- Coordinate with anganwadi workers, schools, panchayat members and block officials to keep the activities supported.
- Report field problems, safety concerns and community feedback in a weekly note and in team calls.
- Support the programme manager during donor and partner visits by arranging meetings and travel to sites.
Skills and tools
- Community mobilisation and trust building in rural or urban settings
- Local language fluency and simple spoken English or Hindi
- Data collection on paper forms and mobile apps such as KoBoToolbox or ODK
- Planning field visits and travel within a block or district
- Facilitating small group sessions and trainings
- Basic Excel or phone-based reporting
- Working with panchayat, school and anganwadi officials
- Riding a two wheeler and managing field safety
Education and experience
Preferred, never a bar: equivalent experience counts.
- Graduate degree in social work, rural studies or any stream is preferred, or equivalent field experience.
- Prior experience in community work, a self-help group federation or a field-based NGO is preferred.
- Fluency in the local language of the project area is useful.
- Willingness to travel within the project area on most working days is preferred.
How the work is judged
- Planned village visits and sessions are completed as scheduled
- Participant attendance and enrolment match targets set by the programme team
- Field data is complete, accurate and submitted on time
- Community and official relationships remain positive and problems are raised early
- Issues are reported clearly in the weekly note and followed up with the programme manager
Where the role can lead
- Senior Field Coordinator or Cluster Coordinator covering more villages
- Programme Officer or Programme Manager with responsibility for budgets and reports
- Moves into monitoring and evaluation, training or community engagement roles
Interview questions to ask
Ask every candidate the same questions in the same order and score them against written anchors, so the decision rests on the work and not the impression.
- Describe how you would introduce a new programme in a village where people are suspicious of outsiders.
- Only a few families attend your session. What do you do on the day and what do you change next week?
- How do you make sure the attendance sheet you submit is accurate?
- A local leader asks you to enrol his relatives in the programme. How do you respond?
- Tell us about a time you solved a field problem without waiting for instructions from your manager.
- How do you plan a week that covers five villages with limited transport?
Hiring tips for this role
- Hire for the local language and community understanding first. Outsiders may need months before communities trust them.
- Ask the candidate to explain a typical field day and show how they would record it. The detail shows whether they have done the work.
- A common mistake is promising fast field results while ignoring travel, weather and festival periods. Make the travel load clear in the offer.
- Test data habits with a short practical task on filling a form correctly. Poor records are costly in donor-funded projects.
Questions about hiring a field coordinator
The person runs project activity on the ground: visiting villages, mobilising participants, organising sessions, collecting data and keeping local officials and leaders informed. They report to the programme manager.
A degree in social work or rural studies is useful, but strong field experience and local language skills often matter more. State degree as preferred, with equivalent experience accepted.
Many project areas need one because public transport is limited. If so, say it in the job description and discuss how travel costs are handled. Do not add it as a requirement if the work does not need it.
Yes. GullyHR helps with permanent hiring: it agrees the job description with you, finds and screens candidates with community and field experience, and supports the offer stage. You make the final decision.
Hiring a field coordinator?
GullyHR runs talent acquisition for permanent roles. We agree the job description with you, find and screen candidates against it, and support the offer through to joining. We recruit permanent employees. We do not supply contract or temporary staff.