JO # 19363 – Assistant Programme Officer – NOA – UNHCR Temporary Appointment (Maternity Replacement) - Tripoli, Lebanon

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

Eight years into the Syria crisis, Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita, with nearly 950,000 Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR, about 20,000 refugees of other origins - mostly Iraqi - and Palestine refugees under UNRWA¿s mandate.  There are no formal camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and refugees are living in hundreds of communities and locations across the country.

The refugee response is led by the Government and UNHCR and UNDP, supported by the international community. As the designated lead agency in the refugee response, UNHCR has established a sector-based structure in Beirut and in the field. The structure brings together over 150 UN agencies, national and international NGO partners [over 150 actors, including UN agencies, national and international NGOs and Ministries] in identifying and agreeing on the strategic priorities to address the needs of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese communities. The Lebanon Chapter of the Response Plan falls under the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), whereby UNHCR guides the refugee response and UNDP facilitates the resilience and stabilization component.

The UNHCR operational response in Lebanon is one of the largest for the organization. Media attention and the frequency of influential high-profile visitors is high. The Office has grown substantially in the past years and is currently operating with around 650 staff. Aside from the country office in the capital city of Beirut, UNHCR has field offices in Mount Lebanon, Qobayat, Tripoli, Tyre and Zahle.

The Assistant Programme Officer will report to the head of sub-office and  and will supervise a small team of national staff. He/she may refer to UNHCR¿s Programme Manual (Chapter IV), UNHCR's corporate and regional strategic priorities, operation plans and other relevant institutional rules and regulations for further guidance. 

The Assistant Programme Officer will support the provision of programmatic guidance and support with regard to the implementation of protection and solutions strategies within available resources. The incumbent will play a role in coordinating with the other sections/units to ensure harmonized programmatic approaches at all levels and throughout the UNHCR Operations Management Cycle. S/he will work in line with the overall UNHCR directions which crucially require working with partners, including with persons of concern, governmental institutions and the private sector, ensuring that programme management is approached as per UNHCR¿s Strategic Directions, Global Strategic Priorities (GSPs), Global Compact for Refugees (GCR), corporate positions on SDGs.
The incumbent is expected to work in line with the multi-functional team (MFT) approach as defined within the Program Manual, ensuring the participation of relevant stakeholders in all phases of the Program Management Cycle.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR¿s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties
- Support in assessing and analysing the needs of persons of concern in a participatory manner, using an Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective as basis for planning.
- Provide support on programmatic aspects of developing multi-year protection and solutions strategies and annual plans with corresponding priorities taking into account corporate priorities.
- Support Results Based Management and programme capacity in light of evolving requirements, programming approaches and gaps.
- Assist the planning process in compliance with planning parameters outlined in the Programme Manual and the planning instructions.
- Contribute to the review and analyse of plans, mid-year and year-end reports of UNHCR offices in the region, ensuring quality assurance and compliance with established policies, guidelines, procedures and standards.
- Assist with the provision of overall direction to broaden partnerships with key stakeholders in order to maximize the protection and solutions response for   persons of concern.
- Contribute to the successful application of the framework for implementing with partners, including the effective implementation of the policy on selection and retention of partners, management of partnership agreements, risk-based project performance monitoring, and risk-based project audits, among others.
- Contribute to ensure consistent and coherent monitoring approaches, tools and systems within the Area of Responsibility (AoR), in line with global standards and polices.
- Actively contribute to UNHCRs programming of community of practice and continuously contribute to improvements of programming tools and processes.
- Identify potential gaps and problems and in cooperation with other relevant sections recommend appropriate solutions to ensure the efficient implementation of programme activities.
- Assist in a timely and effective follow-up of internal and external audits observations and recommendations that relate to programmatic issues.
- Provide alternative programme arrangements in order to respond to the changing operational context, while maintaining the quality of deliverables.
- Ensure capacity building of small and local NGOs on the principles of programme management.
- Ensure timely and efficient closure of the annual programme cycle.
- Perform other related duties as required.