Wash Senior Project Officer

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. Mercy Corps has been present in the Middle East since the 1980s and currently has offices in Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Libya. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps has been running community development programs focused on promoting economic development and increased opportunity for disadvantaged communities, while responding to emergencies as they have emerged. Recently, the program portfolio has expanded in response to the massive refugee influx from Syria, including grants from UNICEF, the European Commission, Canadian and American governments, and private foundations.    The conflict that began more than four years ago in Syria has resulted in a steady increase of Syrian refugees to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.  To date, more than one million refugees have fled to Lebanon. As numbers have continued to 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.  At the same time, Mercy Corps’ programmatic focus is on mitigating social tensions between hosts and refugees, particularly over economic resources, by addressing both livelihood opportunities, conflict mitigation capacity and local government capacity.    GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:   The Senior Project Officer will advance Mercy Corps’ ongoing WASH programming in Bekaa by assisting the Project Manager in the day-to-day project implementation that focus on increasing access to safe water, sanitation services/facilities, and proper hygiene conditions and practices for Syrian refugees and Lebanese host communities. He/She will be responsible for promoting cordial working relationships with partners, communities and the Government in Bekaa. He/she will be required facilitate the overall management of WASH component including planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of high quality, innovative projects, in collaboration with the Project  Manager. This position requires very close coordination with the local partner organization implementing the WASH activities with Mercy Corps in Bekaa. Furthermore, this position will require field planning coordination and monitoring and evaluation coordination with the M&E team to ensure integrated project target achievements.     ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: Support the project manager in Bekaa by providing assistance to the team and partners in all aspects of project cycle management – design, implementation, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning - using Mercy Corps  Best Practices; Ensure quality and integrity of implementation, including adherence to technical guidelines, administrative systems, and established deadlines Monitor and coordinate the implementation of the different components of the WASH project in Bekaa Assist the project manager in preparing inception plans (kick-off phase), work plans (Gantt Chart) and regular donor progress reports. Contribute in the preparation of internal and external reports for donors, including expenditure plans. Assist in the implementation of the work plan, review achievements and constraints and provide feedback accordingly. Consult with program team and community to ensure WASH activities maximize gender mainstreaming and inclusiveness of vulnerable & disable groups; Coordinate with the project officers and assist to oversee day-to-day project implementation and prepare weekly reports to be submitted to WASH Project Manager and area Manager. Provide information and assist with the development of concept notes and proposals for WASH components; Identify and manage project dependencies and critical path. Based on this analysis, defining, following up and updating the implementation plan (Gantt Chart and follow up tools). Support in facilitating agency and donor monitoring visits; Support in establishing and maintaining proper project documentation and records, including but not limited to: needs assessments questionnaires, monitoring questionnaires, certificates of vouchers receipts, consolidated list of beneficiaries, photos etc. Participate and represent the organization in field coordination meetings as requested by the Project Manager. Conduct visits to implementation sites including refugee informal settlements (IS) and municipal facilities to verify quality and details of implementation. 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. Represent the project in absence of the project manager; Other relevant tasks as required.   Communications Work with local partner and WASH team to review existing WASH hygiene promotion and water conservation materials and advise on how to improve further, including development of new materials to increase community awareness as well as visibility. Make recommendations to improve qualitative performance of the implementing partners and monitoring implementation of these recommendations Coordinate with M&E team to gather and use existing success stories that highlight Mercy Corps’ interventions for donors. Coordinate on the ground with implementing partners, communities and other actors to avoid any duplication and facilitate cooperation. Contribute to Mercy Corps’ activities on social media. Apply and maintain Mercy Corps brand identity and parameters in all written and audio visual materials   SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: N/A REPORTS DIRECTLY TO:  WASH Project Manager WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Project Team, M&E Team, Area Manager   KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE: Bachelor’s Degree in social or natural sciences. Familiarity with the issues of water and sanitation systems in refugee informal settlements, municipal water and sanitation facilities, Minimum of 3 years’ work experience working directly for an NGO or relevant organization in Lebanon Demonstrate good expertise in hygiene promotion and behavioral change activities under emergency programs Commitment to local capacity building and the ability to engage local stakeholders in project design and implementation. Demonstrated capacity to collaborate closely with INGOs and national NGOs and CBOs. Good organizational and basic project management skills Experience working with refugees or other vulnerable population required, implementing a WASH project and conducting training is preferred. Proven understanding of Do No Harm principles and methodology with applied experience implementing projects with/for women and girls.  The applicants should have good written and verbal English and Arabic skills.  Must be computer-literate, particularly in programs such as MS Word and MS Excel.  Strong organizational and collaboration skills required, with the ability to work independently and be self-directed, as necessary.  Must work well as a member of a team, with willingness to travel throughout Lebanon, sometimes staying overnight, as the job requires.    SUCCESS FACTORS: The successful candidate will be bright, energetic, hard-working and eager to learn.  S/he will take a deep personal interest in humanitarian and development assistance.  S/he will be attentive to detail and able to carry out assigned tasks in a timely manner and according to a very high standard of quality.  S/he will be creative and flexible, but at the same time will not have any difficulty in adhering to systems and procedures.  S/he will strictly follow all protocols related to safety and security.