Institutional Cooperation Coordinator_Municipal know-how for host communities in the Middle East’ Programme

Job Profile

Institutional Cooperation Coordinator_Municipal know-how for host communities in the Middle East’ Programme

A. Required qualifications, competences and experience
Qualifications

• University degree (MA, PhD) in an area that is related to the project/programme objectives, such as international development studies, international administration, social sciences or engineering with a focus on local development and local governance

Professional experience

• At least 7 years’ professional experience in a comparable position
• Experience in coordinating and advising international and multi-actors projects focusing on local development/local governance in Lebanon and/or the Middle East region
• Experience in institutional coordination, e.g. coordinating with governmental institutions (ministries, embassies)
• Experience in working with/at and advising municipalities/host communities in Lebanon and inter-municipal cooperation is an asset
• Experience in working with German or European donors and development actors is an asset

Other knowledge, additional competences

• Fluency in Arabic and English (both written and spoken), ideally good knowledge of German

Sectoral competence and experience

• sectoral competences in governmental institutions and their coordination mechanisms
• sectoral competences in municipal structures/local development/local governance in Lebanon and/or the Middle East region
• sectoral competences in regional security and safety
• good knowledge of (international) donors and projects targeting host communities in Lebanon and recent trends/ priorities local development/local governance
• good documentation skills
• good working knowledge of ITC technologies (related software, phone, fax, email, the internet) and computer applications (e.g. MS Office)
• willingness to travel within Lebanon regularly and abroad
• willingness to upskill as required by the tasks to be performed – corresponding measures are agreed with management

Social interaction skills

• Strong cooperation, formal communication, networking and organisational competence
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, attention to detail
• Individual initiative and pro-active work attitude
• Ability to keep confidentiality;

B. Responsibilities
The position holder is responsible for:

• implementing daily operational aspects in regard to institutional cooperation/security aspects related to the Lebanon component of the programme “Municipal know-how for host communities in the Middle East”, implemented by Engagement Global/Service Agency Communities in One World (commissioner)
• maintaining of a good and regularly flow of communication and information between the commissioner, all project partners in Lebanon, involved governmental and non-governmental institutions, counterparts and relevant GIZ projects
• providing advisory, technical and logistic support for the relevant area with requirements of the commissioner
• processing technical aspects and further developing the area of responsibility in accordance with the specified quality standards
• ensuring that the project office runs smoothly

In this context, the position holder fulfils the following tasks:

Tasks

Institutional coordination
The position holder:

• acts as institutional project focal point in Lebanon. In this capacity, he/she channels communication and is contact person for the relevant Lebanese ministries and other Lebanese governmental institutions
• acts as project focal point for the German embassy and BMZ. In this capacity, he/she channels communication, monitors and updates on project status, coordinates visa processes of Lebanese municipalities, channels and coordinates requests of German municipalities to the embassy
• closely coordinates and helps creating synergies with other (international) development projects implemented on the local level/supporting host municipalities in Lebanon
• closely coordinates and helps creating synergies with other GIZ programmes focusing on local development and local governance in Lebanon/the Middle East
• coordinates and assists in preparing, conducting, evaluating and documenting direct project activities of Engagement Global in Lebanon or activities that are directly linked to his/her area of responsibility (such as trainings or delegation visits, network meetings, forums, workshops)
• ensures knowledge management: collects, processes and distributes relevant information, monitors communication and interaction between government institutions other institutions through field analyses, direct dialogue, participation in meetings and seminars etc.
• is responsible for controlling expenses for activities related to GIZ coordination desk in accordance with the prevailing provisions
• coordinates the use of office and transport capacities in accordance with the agreement on the use of facilities at the relevant office location

Security
The position holder:

• closely coordinates with the GIZ Risk Management Officer (RMO) in Lebanon
• monitors developments on the local level in Lebanon in regard to security and safety aspects
• monitors the German-Lebanese partnership projects in regard to security and safety aspects
• in coordination with the other project partner in Beirut and the RMO, assists Lebanese municipalities in drafting security concepts for their bilateral partnership projects and relevant activities
• regularly updates Engagement Global on relevant security developments in Lebanon and the partner municipalities
• acts as focal point for German municipalities in regard to security aspects

Networking, Monitoring and Communication
The position holder:

• regularly consults and reports to GIZ portfolio manager/cluster coordinator and the project team in Germany (commissioning party) on all project activities
• regularly consults with the second project partner in Beirut
• maintains close communication with coordination desks in other partner countries of the project (such as Jordan and/or Turkey)
• in cooperation with the second partner organisation in Beirut, assists Lebanese municipalities, national and international advisers as well as German municipal experts in carrying out their work when linked to his/her area of responsibility (e.g. visa processes, security notes, communication with governmental institutions)

Other duties/additional tasks
The position holder:

• performs other duties and tasks at the request of management

Information on Project: Municipal know-how for host communities in the Middle East’ Programme

The project has been launched in 2016 by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung – BMZ) with the objective to promote cooperative partnerships between the host communities in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, and German municipalities. The aim is further to facilitate a peer-to-peer exchange between participating municipalities and to strengthen host municipalities in the region. The focus lies on professional exchange and constructive cooperation between the partner municipalities, for the joint development of local solutions.

The partnerships component of the project is designed to establish and promote bilateral project partnerships between municipalities in Germany, and municipalities in the three partner countries. This component is implemented by Engagement Global/Service Agency Communities in One World.

Funding instruments (“Quick starter packages”) are available to support the initiation and implementation of the bilateral partnership projects. The Service Agency’s cooperation partners, which are at the same time the entities eligible to apply for support, are German municipalities which, together with their partner municipalities, develop and implement the municipal projects. The topics addressed by the project will be based on the needs of the partner municipalities.

Next to the financial support of partnership projects, the Service Agency together with its local partners supports and advises the project partnerships continuously, and organizes various networking platforms for sharing experiences and lessons learned as part of the project (nationally, bilaterally and regionally). To support the work of the project partnerships in the partner countries, coordination desks have been set up in-country, in close cooperation with ongoing measures of German development cooperation. These serve as project contact points for municipalities and local partners. As well as German development cooperation actors, the programme will also seek close cooperation and exchange with multilateral actors and ongoing programmes in the partner countries that are working in the field of strengthening receiving municipalities and local development cooperation.

For Lebanon, an Institutional Cooperation Coordinator based at GIZ office will be recruited to facilitate institutional relations in the project between governmental institutions, the local implementing partner and participating municipalities.

For more information on the project, please visit: https://www.initiative-middle-east.com/en/home.html