Project Officer-Beqaa (Hermel)

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: 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. All 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 humanitarian and longer-term development needs alike. A growing programmatic focus is on mitigating the emerging tensions between hosts and refugees, particularly over economic resources, by addressing both livelihood opportunities and conflict mitigation capacity. Mercy Corps will be working with communities in areas with significant tensions between Lebanese and Syrians. Mercy Corps will work with the municipality to select respected local leaders and provide them the skills to identify sources of common tensions and create plans to implement projects that will mitigate sources of tensions. Mercy Corps will then work with the municipality to select and implement projects. Furthermore, Mercy Corps will be helping municipalities to identify capacity gaps and working with them to address these gaps and thereby increase their ability to manage the refugee crisis.  GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY: The Project Officer will take a leading role in the engagement with both the communities and the municipalities, and will work with the Program Manager in all aspects of implementation. It will involve fulfilling specific deliverables outlined in the project plan, as well as strategically positioning the organization to expand the initiative. This will namely include building key relationships with the municipality and local leaders, mobilizing Lebanese and Syrian communities, coordinating between the municipality and local leaders, disseminating information, and advocating issues at the governorate level to advance local municipalities’ response to the Syrian crisis. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: Program Implementation: Support the Program Manager in planning and implementing activities to meet key deliverables based on timeline and scope agreed with the donor; In coordination with the Program Manager, liaise with key stakeholders to build Mercy Corps acceptance within local communities to facilitate program implementation, including informing the wider community actors about Mercy Corps’ programming; In coordination with the Program Manager, build relations with the Lebanese and Syrian communities, including identifying leaders; In coordination with the Program Manager, build relations with the municipality; Provide day-to-day coordination with municipality, community partners and service contractors, including administrative, financial and logistical support. Trouble shoot any administrative problems and report any challenges or bottlenecks to Program Manager; Guide the municipality’s selection of projects to implement which will mitigate tensions; Work with the municipality and private sector service providers to assess gaps in their knowledge and capacity and utilize external and internal resources alike to provide municipalities with solutions to identified gaps; Coordinate the organizing of events between municipalities, donors and central government bodies; Participate in monitoring and evaluation system design and implementation for all aspects of the program, including monitoring  program progress by developing and applying monitoring tools to inform reports to donors and key stakeholders; Prepare weekly reports to be submitted to the Program Manager. Contribute to quarterly reports and other ad hoc reports to meet donor and internal requirements; Support the Program Manager to coordinate with humanitarian and development partners including United Nations, international and local NGOs, municipalities and other stakeholders; Assist in filing and record keeping of program activities; Implement Mercy Corps’ Gender Equity policy and applies Do No Harm approaches; 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 assigned tasks, as necessary.   KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:  Experience working with any of the following: Capacity building with local and national government Peacebuiding with local communities Strong understanding of refugee issues in the current Lebanon context; Excellent knowledge of local context in Hermel Management experience preferred, with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues and ability to work with refugee and host community populations; Strong written and oral communication skills in English, including report development, writing and editing; 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;  SUCCESS FACTORS: The successful Project Officer will combine program management skills with experience in either community mobilization, municipality capacity building programming, or peacebuilding. S/he will have an ability to implement innovative programs within the current and future program structure of Mercy Corps in the country. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail and working independently are essential. Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving is essential in a complex security and political environment like Lebanon. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.