Project Officer

Expertise France

Expertise France (EF) is a public agency created on 1st January 2015 under the supervision of the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy and Finance with a strong inter-ministerial vocation. EF offers programme 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, public health, human rights, strengthening of institutions and NGOs and governance. Carrying out large-scale, multi-stakeholder programmes, 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 programmes. www.expertisefrance.fr

1. Project background

Syria is the scene of a protracted crisis that has forced millions of Syrians to flee their homes and often their country. The settlement of refugees in neighbouring countries puts considerable pressure on essential public services.

The Syrian crisis has significant human, social, and economic impacts on Lebanon. The country hosts 1.5 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees, the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. Lebanese municipalities and localities with very limited financial and human resources have been overtaken and severely affected by the influx. Severely strained public services and infrastructure exacerbate social tensions between the Lebanese and the displaced, undermining social cohesion. Economically, Lebanon has suffered from a loss of trade, tourism, and investment; its most vulnerable face many challenges, such as reduced job opportunities and depleted savings.

Lebanese NGOs play an essential role in responding to the challenges Lebanon faces. Their presence in the areas most affected means that they can address a great many of the needs of host and refugee populations, reducing vulnerabilities. Some NGOs help by providing healthcare, education, psychosocial support, and other services when public facilities are overloaded. Other NGOs help improve the well-being and/or social and economic situation of those hit hardest by the crisis.

Lebanon is home to one of the most vibrant and dynamic civil societies in the Middle East. Lebanese NGOs work on vital social and technical issues, ranging from social cohesion to reforestation, through programs that promote long-term development and humanitarian relief. Lebanese civil society organizations are very dynamic; ambitious, new organizations regularly rise to meet new crises while established CSOs switch between thinking long term and resolving periodic crises, such as the influx of Syrian refugees.

However, Lebanese NGOs’ reliance on international donors and INGOs for funding means that most local NGOs suffer from a structural weakness and their agility is not entirely sustainable. This weakness hinders their growth and hampers the development of a robust national civil society that can reliably play a key role in crisis prevention and management.

International donors and aid providers have widely noted that many local NGOs in Lebanon and elsewhere have difficulty accessing the development aid that they depend on. In 2016, the international community agreed to make a “Grand Bargain” in order to increase development-assistance efficiency and bridge the widening financing gap between humanitarian and development needs. Donors and aid providers made a commitment to the "localization of aid", meaning that they will channel a larger share of international aid funding to national and local responders. This will reposition local NGOs at the centre of humanitarian actions, improve the sustainability of their actions, and ensure that crisis-response actions meet local needs.

The Grand Bargain rests on four actions: (i) increasing the visibility of local NGO actions, (ii) providing major support to build on local NGO assets, capacities, and skills in order to increase their effectiveness and ability to rely on local workers, (iii) promoting more direct-to-NGO international funding, and (iv) improving the quality of partnerships with local NGOs by considering them more equal partners.

2. The Shabake project

The Shabake Project was designed in the framework of the localization of aid agenda and the need to strengthen Lebanese NGO capacities so that local recipients can take the lead in responding to crises generally and to the Syrian-refugee crisis in Lebanon specifically. 

The project aims to help local and international Lebanese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) become lasting, key players in mitigating and ameliorating the effects of the Syrian refugee crisis on Lebanon.

The selected beneficiary NGOs will receive funding and expert assistance for their own-capacity-building plan. They will also have an opportunity to put their new institutional changes into practice via a humanitarian project that reduces vulnerabilities. In addition, each NGO partner will be invited to meet and directly interact with donors, aid providers, and public authorities working in the development-aid ecosystem. 

To this end, he Shabake capacity-reinforcement project is divided in three main component parts:

1.           Building on the strengths, assets, capacities, and skills of the local Lebanese NGOs selected for a grant award.

2.           Having each NGO partner implement a crisis-response project to reduce vulnerabilities.

3.           Improving and/or integrating the participation of NGO partners in the development-aid ecosystem. 

3. Job Description / Assignment

Expertise France is recruiting a Project Officer, to support the implementation of the Shabake project. Working under the authority of the Shabake Project Manager (PM), and the Programme Director of Expertise France in Lebanon, the Project Officer (PO) will conduct the implementation of the project activities.

The position is based in Beirut, within the Expertise France Lebanon coordination office.

Overall purpose of the role: The SHABAKE Project Officer will support the PM in creating a dynamic with partners, to achieve the outcomes of the project. The PO will be involved in the planning, implementation and monitoring of all activities within the project period, as well as conducting any field survey and assessment required. Moreover, he/she will be in constant contact with the partner NGOs of the project, and he will coordinate the efforts of the Shabake team members, under the responsibility of the PM.

Responsibility 1: Activity planning, implementation and monitoring

• Assist the PM in the planning of project activities on a monthly basis, including setting the objective, expected outputs, roles and responsibilities within the project team ;
• Prepare detailed work plans and follow up on the progress ;
• Coordinate the day to day monitoring of activities with the M&E Officer
• Assist the PM in monitoring the results and indicators related to the project activities through reporting, follow up, results and context monitoring, to be coordinated with the M&E unit;
• Identify and share with the PM any technical problems faced, potential risks and proposed solutions ;
• implementation of the communication plan, with the support of the communication officer
• Play as an acting PM role during her absence.

Responsibility 2: Partnership management and capacity building

• Follow up the partnerships with NGO’s on a daily basis (coordination meetings, minutes, liaising regularly etc.)
• Launching of call for proposal/tenders to hire external consultants and partners ;
• Identifying and documenting the capacity development needs of partners and prepare joint plan to overcome it with PM ;
• Assist the discussions between the NGO’s involved in the project and other NGO’s and aid providers ;
• Assist the PM in identifying key stakeholders to be involved in the project and support her in approaching them ;
• Make sure that the information needed is shared in due time with partners (official letters, activity reports, minutes of the meetings …) ;

Responsibility 3: Logistic and Administrative support

• Facilitate the logistic organization of training sessions, workshops, seminars, meetings in coordination with EF logistic department ;
• Make sure that logistical, administrative and financial procedures linked to project implementation are followed ;
• Follow up and ensure that all administrative documents related to project implementation are up to date and stored;
• Collect weekly the logistic needs and prepare the purchase and service requests when needed;
• Provide translation, oral and written in French, Arabic and English.

Responsibility 4: Reporting, documentation and knowledge management

• Follow up with NGO partners on their reporting (both narrative and financial)
• Collect data/reports from project stakeholders and ensure the accuracy of data/reports ;
• Draft the monthly/quarterly information sheet summing up monthly/quarterly achievements and planned activities with PM guidance/support ;
• Support the PM in producing donor reports and ad hoc reports related to field visits and attendance at workshops, conferences, seminars, etc.
• Support in the documentation of best practices, challenges, lesson learning and recommendations of project activities ;
• Participate in writing articles and creating and managing communication tools, in coordination with PM and communication expert.

4. Technical Skills, Experience & Knowledge

Education level

• Relevant University degree in Management, Political Science, Social Sciences.

Qualifications

• At least 3 years of relevant experience in similar position (support to project management).
• Experience in designing and conducting capacity-building activities for local partners, especially NGOs.
• Knowledge of the Lebanese civil society and the Lebanese aid ecosystem in general.
• Good computer skills: MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook).

Personal qualities

• Fluency in French and Arabic (written and spoken). Excellent command in English.
• Good communication and reporting skills.
• Strong relationship skills and the ability to work effectively with local stakeholders.
• Proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented.
• Previous experience work experience for international agencies would be an asset.

5. Application process

Applications (detailed resume and cover letter) are to be sent to the following email address:  info-shabake@expertisefrance.fr ; under the title:  Project officer Shabake – Lebanon.  

Please draft your cover letter in French and your CV in English.

The deadline for application is May 31st, 2019