Programme Officer Lebanon, Education - Caritas Switzerland

Backround

Caritas Switzerland (CACH) prevents, combats and alleviates poverty worldwide in more than 30 countries. With its projects in development cooperation, it works in the areas of food security, water, climate protection, disaster risk reduction, migration as well as education for children and adults. It provides emergency relief in response to disasters and protracted crises. In response to the crisis in Syria, CACH has been engaged in relief activities together with its partners since in July 2012. CACH is currently supporting projects in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Vis-à-vis the steadily increasing funding gap of the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan and national response plans, CACH has extended its engagement in the region focusing on relief, education and livelihood, managed from its regional office in Beirut/Lebanon. CACH activities are implemented exclusively through partners with local presence and are focusing both on refugees and host communities.

Purpose

This position aims at contributing to the effective implementation of CACH’s programme in Lebanon focusing on the education sector. Core aspects of the position relate to supporting the Programme Coordinator and the local implementing partners in all aspects of project cycle management, as well as the setting up of new education projects with a focus on monitoring, reporting, project development and providing technical assistance to partners. Additional duties range from assisting the Programme Coordinator in administrative tasks to liaising with partners, other organizations working in a similar field and with related donors and other stakeholders.

Albeit a full staff of and reporting to CACH, he/she will work under the umbrella of Caritas Lebanon. He/she will be based at CACH’s regional office in Beirut, Lebanon, with travels within Lebanon.

Key Responsibilities

1) Project set-up and implementation

1. Assist in tasks related to setting up new projects in Lebanon. This includes drafting of implementation plans, facilitating inception workshops, and assisting the local partner(s) in the effective start-up of projects.
2. Assist in conducting related needs assessments, summarizing and processing relevant data, preparing contracts, etc.
3. Support the supervisor in mobilization and mapping of resources such as studies, methodologies, reports, and experts.
4. Assist local partners in preparing regular work plans.
5. Contribute to timely and accurate implementation of the project activities with supporting documentation and provide problem-solving solutions and actions in collaboration with implementing partners where needed.
6. Support the partners in high quality and timely internal reporting
7. Compile on-time reports for assigned projects in line with donor requirements and internal CACH regulations and in accordance with reporting schedule; submit reports to the supervisor.
8. Promote CACH experiences in the fields of Education
9. Carry out other tasks assigned by the supervisor.

2) Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)

1. Conduct regular project visits within Lebanon to monitor progress and quality of activities and provide structured feedback.
2. Tracking assigned project progress, status and implementation quality (including field trips as necessary) based on the project work plans.
3. Ensure CACH M&E regulations are adhered to.
4. Assist in preparing new tools and templates and revise existing ones related to ensuring high standards of M&E (e.g. progress, quality, relevance and impact monitoring) in cooperation with the managers.
5. Assist in the provision of necessary training to local staff and implementing partners on M&E and related tools and templates
6. Assist in preparing M&E plans and assist local implementing partners in setting up M&E structures.
7. Assist in the identification of best practices and map lessons learned; formulate and share lessons learned and best practices with the supervisor.
8. Assist in the review of project financial and narrative reports and the monitoring of project expenses.
9. Carry out other tasks assigned by the supervisor.

3) Coordination and Partnership Management

1. Contribute actively to maintain a strong working relationship with partners and keep the Programme Coordinator informed of all partnership developments.

4) Administrative support
1. Carry out all the logistical and administrative tasks required for the CACH sub-office in the country including small purchases, reservations, preparations for visitors, and other related tasks as requested by the supervisor.

5) Other tasks

1. Support the Programme Coordinator in the revision of the project following lessons learnt

Competencies and Qualifications

1) Education
University degree in Education, Humanitarian or Development Studies, Social Work or a related field.

2) Professional Experience
1. Minimum of four (4) years of experience in a similar position preferably in Lebanon. Prior experience in Education and Humanitarian Work is a strong asset.
2. Sound understanding of the context and the refugee situation.

3) Skills and Competencies
1. Highly organized, good capacity of analysis and synthesis, and attention to coherence and detail.
2. Strong inter-personal skills, patience and persistence, if required.
3. Strong motivation to work in close partnership with national partners
4. Sound understanding of humanitarian standards (e.g. Sphere)
5. Solid communication and presentation skills, especially in writing.
6. Ability to work independently, with minimal supervision and to cope with time pressure.
7. Sound experience with modern technology, modern management tools.
8. Flexibility and readiness to take on additional tasks, ranging from representation in cluster meetings to document filing.

4) Language and Other Requirements
1. Excellent written and spoken English and Arabic are required.
2. Permission to work in Lebanon.
3. Willingness to frequently travel to the field (up to 50%)

Duty Station: Beirut/Lebanon
Travel: Frequent travel within Lebanon
Reports to: Programme Coordiantor Lebanon
Expected Start Date: ASAP
Duration: 12 months with possible extension
Expected Workload: Full time