Programme Officer Lebanon, Relief and Livelihoods - Caritas Switzerland

Caritas Switzerland prevents, combats, and alleviates poverty worldwide. We provide professional, effective, and efficient help to people in need irrespective of their political or religious beliefs, gender, or ethnicity. We are active in Switzerland and 20 countries on four continents with the aim to reduce poverty, strengthen people’s resilience, ensure that their rights are respected, and expand their capabilities to realize goals they have reasons to value. 

Background

Caritas Switzerland (CACH) Switzerland is a secular organization supporting a range of national NGOs to combat and alleviate poverty worldwide. With its projects in development cooperation, Caritas supports children and adults in the areas of income, climate, and migration. It provides emergency relief in disasters and is actively involved in reconstruction work. By combining this humanitarian aid with sustained long-term development cooperation work, we provide additional support in the wake of natural disasters or during long-lasting crises.

In response to the crisis in Syria, CACH has been engaged in relief activities together with its partners since July 2012. CACH is currently supporting projects in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Vis-à-vis the steadily increasing funding gap of the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan and national response plans, CACH has extended its engagement in the region focusing on relief, education, and livelihood, managed from its regional office in Beirut, Lebanon. CACH activities are implemented exclusively through partners with local presence and focusing both on refugees and host communities supporting them from the regional office in Lebanon and sub-offices in Jordan and Syria.

Purpose

This position aims at contributing to the effective implementation of CACH’s programme in Lebanon, focusing on the relief and livelihood sectors. Core aspects of the position related to supporting the Programme Manager and the local implementing partners in all aspects of project cycle management, as well as the setting up of new livelihood and relief projects with a focus on monitoring, reporting, project development, and providing technical assistance to partners. Additional duties range from assisting the Programme Manager in administrative tasks to liaising with partners, other organizations working in a similar field, and with related donors and other stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

1) Project set-up and implementation

1. Assist in tasks related to setting up new projects in Lebanon. This includes drafting of implementation plans, facilitating inception workshops, and assisting the local partner(s) in the effective start-up of projects.
2. Assist local partners in preparing regular work plans.
3. Contribute to the timely and accurate implementation of the project activities with supporting documentation and provide problem-solving solutions and actions in collaboration with implementing partners where needed.
4. Support the partners in high quality and timely internal reporting.
5. Compile on-time reports for assigned projects in line with donor requirements and internal CACH regulations and in accordance with reporting schedule; submit reports to the supervisor.
6. Promote CACH experiences in the fields of Livelihoods and Relief.
7. Carry out other tasks assigned by the supervisor.

2) Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL)

8. Conduct regular project visits within Lebanon to monitor progress and quality of activities and provide structured feedback.
9. Tracking assigned project progress, status, and implementation quality (including field trips as necessary) based on the project work plans.
10. Ensure CACH M&E regulations are adhered to.
11. Assist in preparing new tools and templates and revise existing ones related to ensuring high standards of M&E (e.g. progress, quality, relevance, and impact monitoring) in cooperation with the managers.
12. Assist in the provision of the necessary training to local staff and implementing partners on M&E and related tools and templates.
13. Assist in preparing M&E plans and assist local implementing partners in setting up M&E structures.
14. Assist in the identification of best practices and map lessons learned; formulate and share lessons learned and best practices with the supervisor.
15. Assist in the review of project financial and narrative reports and the monitoring of project expenses.
16. Carry out other tasks assigned by the supervisor.

3) Coordination and Partnership Management

17. Contribute actively to maintain a strong working relationship with partners and keep the Programme Manager informed of all partnership developments.

4) Administrative support

18. Carry out all the logistical and administrative tasks required for the CACH sub-office in the country including small purchases, reservations, preparations for visitors, and other related tasks as requested by the supervisor.

5) Other Tasks

1.Support the Programme Manager in the revision of the project following lessons learned.

Competencies and Qualifications

1) Education
University degree in Humanitarian or Development Studies, International Relations, Social Work, Economics, or a related field.

2) Professional Experience
1. Minimum of four (4) years of experience in a similar position preferably in Lebanon. Prior experience in livelihood and relief and cash assistance projects is a strong asset.
2. Sound understanding of the context and the refugee situation.

3) Skills and Competencies
1. Highly organized, good capacity of analysis and synthesis, and attention to coherence and detail.
2. Strong interpersonal skills, patience, and persistence if required.
3. Strong motivation to work in close partnership with national partners.
4. Sound understanding of humanitarian standards (e.g. Sphere)
5. Solid communication and presentation skills, especially in writing.
6. Ability to work independently, with minimal supervision, and to cope with time pressure.
7. Sound experience with modern technology, modern management tools.
8. Flexibility and readiness to take on additional tasks, ranging from representation in cluster meetings to document filing.
9. Experience in CTP is an asset.

4) Language and Other Requirements
1. Excellent written and spoken English and Arabic is required.
2. Permission to work in Lebanon.
3. Willingness to frequently travel to the field (50%)

Duty Station: Beirut/Lebanon
Travel: Frequent travel within Lebanon
Reports to: Programme Manager Livelihoods and Relief Lebanon
Expected Start Date: ASAP
Duration: 12 months with possible extension
Expected Workload: Full time