Project Officer

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY: Project Officer will provide support to the Program Manager in all aspects of implementing Mercy Corps’ local municipality project.  S/he will be responsible for building relationships and collecting information about local municipalities’ response to Syrian crisis.  It will involve detailed interviews, focus groups, field-level observations to collect data and support the development of a guide that will be disseminated to municipalities throughout the country.    ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: Map union and associated municipalities to understand relationships, power structures, etc.   Build relationships with unions and local municipalities to introduce the project and facilitate access to information about their municipal service provision structures and capacities; Collect information about union and municipality responses to Syrian crisis, including strategies to cope with population influx, service provision, political tensions, community needs, governance issues, etc.  through key informant interviews, focus groups, observations, etc. Analyze data collected to identify common themes and lessons learned across multiple areas; Support development of guide for municipal offices that supports their response to crisis and promote good governance; Test initial draft of guide to ensure recommended actions are relevant to target audience; Disseminate guide to unions and municipalities through consultations and meetings to highlight strategies that can support crisis response and promote good governance; Identify small-scale grants in each target municipality that support crisis response to enable local government to address refugee and host community needs; Facilitate internal Mercy Corps procurement processes to secure materials, transport to target area, provide, install, etc. based on requirements; Mentor local municipal actors to apply strategies to promote greater crisis response; Monitor use of small-scale grant and application of strategies to improve municipal crisis response; Participate in planning and information collection to inform future program design; Contribute to quarterly reports and other ad hoc reports to meet donor and internal requirements; Participate in internal office coordination and planning meetings and workshops; Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission. Other assigned tasks, as necessary.   KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE: Bachelor’s or Masters Degree in a relevant field preferred.  Must have excellent written and verbal English and Arabic Skills.  Must be computer-literate, particularly in programs such as Word and Excel.  Strong organizational skills required, as is the ability to work independently and take initiative.  Must work well as a member of a team.  Experience working with youth and conducting trainings is required.  Must be willing to travel throughout Lebanon, sometimes staying overnight.