Junior Architect

Expertise France is a French public agency under the tutelage of the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy and Finance with a strong inter- ministerial vocation. Expertise France offers project engineering and technical assistance by developing and implementing international cooperation actions worldwide. EF operates in various fields of development and institutional cooperation including safety and security reform, post-crisis/ stability, public health, human rights, strengthening of institutions and NGOs and governance. Carrying out large-scale, multi-stakeholder projects, EF can ensure the cooperation between individuals, teams and institutions with very different statuses, cultures and specialties. Besides, EF has acquired a sound experience in administrative and financial management of large-scale international projects and is accredited by the European Union for the management of delegated Community funds.

Context

The Middle East is currently experiencing a profound crisis. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq are both a reflection and a transmitter of this crisis, with growing potential to further destabilise neighbouring countries and the wider region. These crises have resulted in a humanitarian disaster affecting more than 13.5 million people who were forced to flee their homes from Syria, and more than 17 million people in need of humanitarian aid (12.2 in Syria and 5.2 in Iraq).

Lebanon is now home to the largest number of Syrian refugees per capita relative to its total population, putting a severe strain on the country’s fragile infrastructures, economy, and security. The population of Lebanon was estimated at about 4.8 million (including almost half a million Palestinian refugees) in 2013. Even though Lebanon has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, up to date it has taken in about a fourth of its own population. According to UNHCR, in September 2016 about 1,017,433 persons from Syria were registered as refugees in Lebanon. In the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan 2017- 2020 (2018 update) (LCRP), the total number of people living in Lebanon is estimated at 5.9 million, with 3.3 million people in need. Among the Syrian refugee population in Lebanon, which today comprises over 1.5 million people.

Background information on Qudra Specific Objective 3

’Qudra – Resilience for Syrian refugees, IDPs and host communities in response to the Syrian and Iraqi crises’ is a regional action financed by the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, the Madad ‘Fund and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), seeking to strengthen the resilience of Syrian refugees, IDPs and host communities in response to the Syrian and Iraqi crises.  The programme launched in June 2016, is being jointly implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Expertise France (EF) and Spanish Agency for International Development (AECID) in programme partner countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and North Iraq.

In Lebanon, Expertise France ensures the consistency and the implementation of the Specific Objective 3 of Qudra. The project seeks to improve social stability between communities in Lebanon through a comprehensive and local approach of protection for children and adults. To do so, activities will revolve around four pillars: (i) support to Social Development Centers (SDCs) of the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA), (ii) Child Protection activities, (iii) protection activities and (iv) campaigns and communication activities. Expertise France will work within the framework of the LCRP and MoSA National Plan to Safeguard women and children in close partnership with Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA). The programme will be implemented in the SDCs of the MoSA and if needed in annexes that might be developed during the project’s lifespan. Expertise France will select local NGOs as partners to implement the activities, these NGOs will hire the necessary staff and implement the activities following a precise programme drafted with the MoSA.

Description of the Tasks:

Reporting to the Architect Consultant and under the overall supervision of the Project Manager, the Junior Architect will be required to focus mainly on the implementation phase (construction and site supervision). If needed and as requested by the Architect Consultant, the JAC will be required to provide assistance in the pre-construction phase.

Pre-construction phase

• Assist in the preparation of the necessary architectural design drawings, construction/rehabilitation specification, preparation of the Bill of Quantities (BoQ)
• Report to the Architect Consultant under the overall supervision of the Project Manager

Site Supervision

• Assist the Architect Consultant in the follow up on the construction/rehabilitation work progress
• Supervise the rehabilitation of the centres, deal with delays and incidents, propose alternatives and solutions adapted to the context
• Ensure the compliance with the plans, specifications and other contractual obligations
• Provide feedback on the evaluation of the work progress that doesn’t comply with the specifications and the plans and report any discrepancy to the Architect Consultant
• Submit daily reports of construction tasks delivered by the contractor (construction companies), inspection reports and progress reports to the Architect Consultant and the Logistics Coordinator under the overall supervision of the Project Manager

Ensure the project objectives related to the consultancy/assignment are met

Requested Profile

• Engineering degree in one of the relevant fields (Civil Engineering, Architecture)
• At least 5 years of experience in buildings’ rehabilitation (rehabilitation of government contracts, implemented projects under international cooperation projects would be a distinctive advantage)
• Ability and skills in drafting and advising on safety engineering design standards
• Understanding the “social role of architecture” (access for persons with disabilities, children etc.)
• Ability and willingness to travel across the assigned project areas
• Ability to work effectively in a multicultural/multinational environment
• Excellent planning and reporting skills, ability to adapt to dynamic environments
• Diplomacy and negotiating skills are priorities
• Excellent knowledge of Lebanese policies, guidelines, specially of the Ministry of Social Affairs is desirable
• Excellent reports writing skills is a must
• Professional working knowledge of English & Arabic are required. French is an asset
• Good coordination and team work skills

Location, Duration and Arrangements for performance

Location: All over Lebanon (requires a lot of flexibility)

Starting Date: ASAP

Period of Implementation:  3 months (extendable to 6 months)

Type of Contract: Consultancy Fixed Term Contract

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              Source: UNRWA

              http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=122

              http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/region.php?id=90&country=122, last update, September 2016