Assistant Project Manager

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. The agency pursues its mission through emergency relief services, sustainable community development, civil society and economic development initiatives. Mercy Corps has been present in the Middle East since the 1980s and currently has offices in Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps promotes economic development and increased opportunity for marginalized communities while responding to emergencies as they have emerged. Until recently Mercy Corps’ focus has focused on bolstering civil society and give voice to under-represented groups through the empowerment of young leaders. In 2012, the program portfolio shifted in response to the massive refugee influx from Syria and Mercy Corps in Lebanon has solidified its emergency response programming while integrating longer-term development programming by focusing on key sectors: Protection, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Governance and Conflict Resolution, and Livelihoods. The conflict that began more than three years ago in Syria has resulted in a steady increase in Syrian refugees to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. To date, more than one million refugees have fled to Lebanon, and the numbers continue to mount. Most refugees who have entered Lebanon are staying with host families or in rented accommodation. As numbers rapidly increase, humanitarian conditions are deteriorating. The burden on host communities and the financial and emotional stress on refugees and their hosts is tremendous. Mercy Corps is responding to these needs by addressing urgent basic needs, child protection as well as the psychosocial impact of the conflict and displacement. In this perspective, the overall objective of the Governance and Conflict Resolution Program is to empower vulnerable communities and municipalities to de-escalate conflict and mitigate tensions caused by the Syrian crisis. GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY: The Assistant Project Manager will provide support to the Program Manager in all aspects of implementing the program to ensure that it meets its key deliverables on-time and within budget. He/she will closely work with local partner organizations to ensure accountability to Mercy Corps’ policies and donor rules and regulations, as well as other local actors including municipalities and service providers. He/she will support in many of the administrative, financial, and operational logistics of the program, as well as the drafting of reports, outreach material, standard operating procedures, among other programmatic documentation. The Assistant Project Manager will provide support to the field teams by following up on tasks, assignments, ensuring quality, and that targets are met. Moreover, he/she will handle administrative tasks, as well as support with meetings, trainings, work-plans, procurement and cash projection plans, filing and documentation, as well as other tasks as to ensure accountability to Mercy Corps’ policies and donor rules and regulations. The Assistant Project Manager will work closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation teams to ensure that the regular monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the project activities and tracking progress based on indicators. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: • Support the Program Manager in all operations related to the project implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting; • Prepare weekly updates and monthly progress reports, including challenges and recommendations; • Support Program Manager in implementing activities, organizing meetings, community engagement, and awareness raising/information dissemination events; • Support the Program Manager on finalizing Quarterly and monthly reports to meet donor and internal requirements; • Ensure all activities are conflict sensitive, and apply Do No Harm standards to ensure activities do not have detrimental effects on vulnerable communities; • Participate in internal office coordination and planning meetings and workshops; • Handle all financial, administrative, procurement, and logistical tasks such as issuing Payment Requests, Procurement Plans, Budgeting, and working with the field teams to compile an updated monthly procurement and cash projection plan; • Conduct filing and ensure all documentation is recorded, saved, and filed based on MC minimum standards; • Draft contracts and Terms of Reference, and ensure they are updated and on-file; • Support and participate in monitoring and evaluation system design and implementation for all aspects of the project, including monitoring program progress by developing and applying monitoring tools to inform reports to donors and key stakeholders; • Support the Program Manager in the monitoring and evaluation of partners; • Provide day-to-day support and coordination with local partners and service contractors, including administrative, financial and logistical support. Trouble shoot any administrative problems and report any challenges to Program Manager; • Organize local organizational training sessions and support to improve the organizational and technical capacity of local partners; • Coordinate with partner CBOs and field teams on ensuring the process to reach minimal standards, working with the field teams in data collection; • Oversee and provide guidance to Field Officers, CBOs staff, partners, and other MC staff as needed and in relation to finances, operations, and M&E; • Participate in developing data collection tools in collaboration with the M&E team, and provide training where necessary; • Coordinate in collaboration with the M&E department on the tools used to measure the impact of the project; • Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission; • Other duties as assigned. Organizational Learning As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve - we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves. ACCOUNTABILITY: REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Program Manager WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Programs, Projects, Field teams, Operations, Finance, and M&E Teams KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE: • BA/S or equivalent in conflict resolution studies, development studies, social work, social sciences, human rights, or other relevant field required, MA preferred; • At least 3-4 years of experience performing required tasks in grants management and budgeting; • Very strong written and oral communication skills in both English and Arabic (Arabic is strongly required), including report development, writing and editing; • Demonstrated skills in data collection and database management, organized, and able to handle many responsibilities simultaneously; • Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office applications including Excel and Word; • Strong management skills, with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues and ability to work with refugee and host community populations; • Experience working with local communities; • Understanding of community dynamics preferred, but not required; • Strong understanding of refugee issues in the current Lebanon context; • Mature, responsible, and diplomatic in their interactions with others; • Ability to work independently with limited supervision, as well as part of a team; • Positive, respectful attitude and collaborative approach to problem solving; • Demonstrated attention to detail; ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently as well as cooperatively with team members; • Significant knowledge and understanding of the current political, economic, cultural and historical context of Lebanon preferred; • Ability and willingness to travel regularly to the field. SUCCESS FACTORS:  Ability to work under pressure, independently, and with limited supervision;  Diplomatic, creative, flexible, and energetic, hard-working, and eager to learn;  Strong commitment to the communities, and to teamwork and accountability;  Deep commitment and interest in development and humanitarian principles and values;  Able to carry out assigned tasks in a timely manner and according to a very high standard of quality;  Willingness to learn new skills and methodologies;  Demonstrated organizational skills;  Demonstrated creative problem-solving skills;  Security, political and cultural aware;  Ability to multi-task while meeting several pressing deadlines;  Pays attention to detail and is meticulous, thorough, and results-oriented