Employability Coordinator - Youth For Tomorrow

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, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, and Iraq. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps has implemented community development programs focused on promoting economic development and increased opportunity for disadvantaged communities, while responding to emergencies as they emerged in the country.  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, and Livelihoods.  The conflict that began more than five 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 urgent basic needs, child protection as well as the psychosocial impact of the conflict and displacement.   With the support of the Government of Canada, Mercy Corps is launching the Youth for Tomorrow program, which will be implemented in Saida, Mt. Lebanon, and Tripoli.   This three-year program is part of a regional initiative by Mercy Corps, funded by the Government of Canada, in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria to build improved, evidence-based provision of psychosocial support and market-driven skills to vulnerable youth in the region.  The program will benefit from regional synergies to increase impact and will contribute to improving the evidence base for interventions of this type.   The program will engage Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese adolescent boys and girls, between the ages of 12 – 18 who are not currently enrolled in school or are at high risk of dropping out. The program will also engage young adults between the ages of 19 – 35 from among refugee and host communities to act as mentors and facilitators within the project.  Youth for Tomorrow will provide adolescents on-going psychosocial support and market-driven skill-building opportunities while building an enabling environment for young people through community engagement and provision of enhanced adolescent and youth services.      GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:   The Employability Coordinator will be responsible for building the capacity of the Mercy Corps team, partner staff and youth coaches to implement successful activities which assist youth in the target areas to gain life skills and experience which will facilitate their integration into the job market.      S/he will also  be responsible for building the capacity of MC staff, partners, and youth coaches to lead activities with adolescents in the centres, and will support them to integrate appropriate training  methodology, and provide evaluations, feedback and performance reviews to support the coaches to develop their skills. S/he will also contribute to the development of effective monitoring systems to measure the effectiveness and impact of training activities on target beneficiaries.       ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:Do This   Program Implementation and Quality:     Ensure quality implementation of program activities and alignment and progress against workplan Coordinate situational assessments with youth and partners to understand needs for life-skills training Coordinate youth-led labour market assessments with field teams, partners and youth, with support from the MC technical support team and the M and E team. Review curriculum and approaches developed under the previous program and other relevant Protection and Livelihoods programs nationally and regionally. Ensure that staff and partners are trained on all elements required to ensure successful implementation of the program activities which look to develop employability skills amongst youth Help in the recruitment of consultants and service providers to develop appropriate methodologies to encourage life-skills and improve employability of youth targeted by the program, focusing on interactive and creative methodologies, in line with the activities in the proposal Help in the identification of consultants, service providers or partners to build the business and entrepreneurship skills of youth Review the activities developed by consultants to ensure it is at the appropriate level for coaches and adolescents, and that it is appropriately sequenced, and provide feedback Work with partners to coordinate trainings, meetings and schedules with each respective community centre   Capacity Building Train MC staff and CBO partners and coaches in proposed life skills and employability curricula, and provide ongoing coaching and feedback to ensure the quality of activities Provide day-to-day support and coordination for training activities under the program with local partners and consultants, YFT staff and team, coaches, including administrative, financial and logistical support. Trouble shoot any administrative problems and report any challenges or bottlenecks to the YFT technical advisor;     Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Work with the M and E coordinator to develop a framework for monitoring of all life-skills and employability interventions;  Work with the monitoring and evaluation coordinator and the YFT team to ensure that program monitoring effectively captures the impact of YFT interventions    Coordination Support the Program Manager and Technical Advisor to coordinate with humanitarian and development partners including United Nations, international and local NGOs, municipalities and other stakeholders; as required    Other Commitment to implementation of Mercy Corps’ Program Management Minimum Standards (PM@MC) to ensure all project planning and documentation is completed in timely manner; Ensure interventions adhere to Mercy Corps’ Gender Equity Policy and Do No Harm strategies; Participate in internal office coordination and planning meetings and workshops; Other assigned tasks, as necessary. Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and not jeopardize its humanitarian mission;     SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: N/A   ACCOUNTABILITY: REPORTS DIRECTLY TO:  Youth for Tomorrow Deputy Program Manager WORKS DIRECTLY WITH:  Program Manager and YFT team, Operations, Finance, and HR department, M&E Coordinator for YFT, Subgrant Management Team and YFT grants and compliance officer, YFT partner organisations, Consultants and Youth Coaches     KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:  BA/S or equivalent in social work, social sciences, human rights, or other relevant field preferred; Extensive experience with youth and civil society organisations Extensive experience in designing and implementing youth life-skills development programming in Lebanon, with a focus on building the employability skills of youth Familiarity with Child Protection System strengthening approaches, Sphere Project’s Humanitarian Charter and Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Pyramid preferred Protection related programs experience preferred; Experience in community mobilization preferred; Understanding of refugee issues in the current Lebanon context; Understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues and ability to work with refugee and host community populations; Written and oral communication skills in Arabic and English, 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;     SUCCESS FACTORS: A successful candidate will have the ability to work closely with a diverse team of individuals in a highly fluid work and security environment with a capacity to spark innovative approaches to programming and inspire groups to collaborate closely to implement high-quality programs. S/he will have proven experience working effectively and respectfully with host country government and other authorities as well as NGO and CBO representatives. S/he will have a record of accomplishment that demonstrates attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, and successfully meeting programmatic deadlines, as well as anticipating program need. Sensitivity to multi-cultural international development work and a commitment to working with community members to create safe, nurturing places for youth that foster greater inclusion in the community and productive livelihoods. The ability to solve problems creatively, juggle multiple priorities under tight deadlines, and diplomatically manage unexpected and sudden events affecting program operations is essential.