Rootslab Project Manager

OXFAM PURPOSE: To work with others to overcome poverty and suffering.   JOB PURPOSE: The Roots Lab Project Manager will work to start up and safely delivery the Roots Lab project in Lebanon, a new 2-year innovative pilot program. Roots Lab is a collaborative project of Oxfam, FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund, Global Fund for Women and Young Foundation that seeks to test how best to incubate social change driven by young women activists.   FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund, Global Fund for Women, Oxfam and the Young Foundation have joined together to adapt a potentially game-changing approach- a social innovation laboratory - to advance young women's rights, leadership and collective action. The project responds to the fact that deep-rooted gender inequality prevents millions of young women from making choices about and taking control of their own lives. Yet not enough resources go to young women directly to help them address, innovate around and combat these challenges. We believe young women activists are best placed to imagine and develop high-impact solutions in their communities, but they often lack the opportunity and capacity to do so. Young women often lack the connections across sectors, financial resources, professional skills, networks and profile necessary to develop their ideas, scale their projects, and access mentoring and coaching support.   The Project Manager will work closely with the Oxfam Lebanon Head of Programmes, Gender and Governance Advisor, as well as staff and advisors of the other Roots Lab partners to ensure the success of the Roots Lab pilot project. Therefore they will be responsible to ensure the management of the project in Lebanon in all its’ aspects, including coordinating all logistics, outreach, communications and media work, and networking with local (women’s rights) organisations and institutions, young women, and potential donors and the private sector.   Through The Roots Lab, we seek to equip young women who are most impacted by social issues to become social innovators. The two-year pilot program will trial a new model for achieving social change driven by young women activists. The model will include structured support for young women to develop and test social innovations, including tailored skills building, and individual mentoring and peer-to-peer networks.  We will also create links with existing women's rights groups to ensure that the participants are learning from past and current practices as they imagine new solutions that will fit the future. This is an exciting opportunity for a self-motivated, feminist activist from Lebanon to be part of a brand new pilot initiative that will (if successful) be rolled out globally. We are looking for someone who is excited about creating change in new and innovative ways, who wants to challenge ‘development as usual’ and who wants to work with partners in a way that is collaborative, feminist, and consultative. The ideal candidate has program management experience, as well as a strong understanding of how to coordinate teams, produce innovative content, and support young feminist activists. The successful candidate will have in-depth knowledge of the political and social context in Lebanon and fluency in Arabic and English. BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY: Approximately $300,000 Dimensions   Responsible for all stages of design and implementation of the designated project, i.e. concept validation, implementation, monitoring, evaluation. Responsible for building national momentum and support, excitement and influence for Roots Lab – both the concept and pilot innovations - amongst the widest possible network of stakeholders and allies. Represents the project in coordination meetings and external relationships, contacts are with wide spectrum of actors, often external, and networking across sectors is key. Partnership relationships: Responsible for ensuring the shared vision, connections, skills and ideas of the three other project partners – FRIDA, Global Fund for Women and Young Foundation – are infused into project design and implementation Responsible for short, medium and long term planning, in the context of shifting political context and in alignment with program design, consortium principles, and partners. Managing/supervising resources including people, assets and budgets. Support fundraising efforts and produce clear and quality reports (financial and narrative) that demonstrate a prioritisation of programme learning and good accountability. Responsible for decision-making that will requires significant levels of judgment based on experience, supported by line manager and the programme team. Diverse and complex problem-solving, requiring professional knowledge field experience and an understanding of development, women’s rights, feminism, human rights and humanitarian work. Responsible for effective sharing impact and communicating progress, success and challenges for the purposes of advocacy and influencing. Requires the ability to analyse and communicate complex information to a wide audience and to communicate complex concepts and issues in a relevant and meaningful way to other Roots Lab partners and stakeholders.  Key Responsibilities  Programme management Responsible for the implementation of all aspects of the Roots Lab initiative and ensure success in the key objectives of the project. Coordinate regular meetings and dialogues with the three other project partners – FRIDA, Global Fund for Women and Young Foundation – as well as their advisors, grantees and partners, where relevant. Build a strong network of local (women’s rights) organisations, donors, institutions, media and the private sector in support of the Roots Lab’s outreach and engagement. Support Roots Lab participants in planning and monthly follow up for their projects, including the monitoring of activities and budget and, procurement planning. Work closely with Roots Lab applicants and participants to resolve questions, mitigate risks (in terms of project delivery and safety), provide support and ensure progress. Ensure that risk management and contingency planning is included at all stages of the programming and is regularly updated. Represent the Roots Lab partner consortium in conversations and activities with externals. Cooperate with the Oxfam Media and Advocacy team and with Roots Lab global and in-country partners in designing, organising and preparing communications and media products/ campaigns.  Consortium Partnership Management Manage all the Lebanon in-country Roots Lab partnerships. Create a positive working environment supportive of trust and collaboration amongst consortium partners, as well as Roots Lab delivery partners and participants.  Monitoring and Evaluation Monitoring and evaluating the project regularly and in innovative ways (ie. using technology, video, and social media), ensuring partners’ and community participation and as appropriate, as well as accountability towards local communities. Follow up on MEAL activities to ensure and findings ensuring that learning from monitoring and evaluation is included and strategies and programme implementation are adapted accordingly. Support the MEAL Coordinator and work closely with Roots Lab global and in-country partners to establish a high-quality Lebanon specific MEAL framework.  Resource Mobilization and Donor Relations Write and compile high quality narrative reports on pilot progress, and support the development of  proposals for further funding for the Roots Lab, in collaboration with consortium partners. Ensure sustainability of the Roots Lab project after its’ end date, and support the sustainability of projects incubated by the Roots Lab. Work with the funding coordinator to maintain strong existing donor relationships and develop new ones through frequent contact and fulfillment of donor requirements.  Skills and Competences: Strong project management skills, particularly with regard to working with others collaboratively to get things done. Understanding of emerging trends, challenges and actors within women’s rights, feminist and women rights movements  in Lebanon Proven ability to manage partner relationships including experience managing projects that involve multiple stakeholders and partners. Willingness to proactively engage all project partners in the design and evolution of the pilot. Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Arabic and preferably also French. Ability to motivate others by providing inspiration and leadership. Experience working with women’s rights organisations and networks in Lebanon and ability to network and establish new partnership and coalition to advance gender justice and women’s rights. Strong organisational and personal management skills, with ability to prioritise work issues to meet deadlines. Strong social media skills (eg using websites/Twitter/blogs) Proven skills in engaging with national organizations, institutions and private sector, communications visibility, and campaigning Proven experience of working with/ in social innovation and business incubators. Excellent networking skills. Good interpersonal skills and ability to develop and maintain relationships Ability to work creatively, effectively and in an innovative manner and to identify and develop new ways to use the media to Roots Lab’s advantage Sensitivity to cultural differences, and the ability to work in a wide variety of cultural contexts. Sympathy with the aims and Objectives of Oxfam and the project partners. Commitment to advancing young feminist social innovation and leadership, with a women’s human rights lens.