Development Manager

SAWA for Development and Aid is a Civil Society Organization founded initially as a spontaneous initiative in December 2011 to respond to the arrival of the first 40 Syrian families displaced from Syria into the North of Lebanon.
This initiative then grew to include individual activists, locals and internationals, who worked together (literally meaning ‘SAWA’ in Arabic) to share their knowledge and exchange their experiences in order to support Syrians, internally displaced or refugees in neighboring countries, united by their belief in their right to live in dignity, freedom, and to be active individuals in their communities and wherever they are.
SAWA sees itself as part and parcel of the society, and that it is on a continuous learning journey based on a participatory relationship at all levels with the communities that it works with, whether host or displaced, as well as with local and international partners.
SAWA believes that humanitarian, developmental, and civic work has to always strive to achieve social justice, and so it aims to work with individuals and communities through holistic interventions towards a society based on democracy, pluralism, and the values of citizenship and human rights. 

Objective of the Role:

The Development Manager’s primary objective is to execute the vision and mission of SAWA through the proactive planning and development of core activities, while aiming at advanced levels of sustainable social impact. As such, s/he gets involved in all programs in order to provide new strategies as well as leadership actions towards growth perspectives, including stakeholders’ management as well as communication developments that shall enhance the organization’s global awareness. The Development Manager will also work with other department heads to establish project milestones and work to complete projects effectively and within the budget.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

•    Provide an enhanced vision to the organization by assisting the Director and staff with strategy planning, implementation, and development.
•    Propose organizational planning that would address long term sustainability and greater social impact by developing the needed actions for growing SAWA’s awareness and international referencing.
•    Provide vision and oversight for the innovation and technology needs within the organization.
•    Provide recommendations in Financial and Programmatic planning.  
•    Establish a communication strategy, system, and guidelines for internal and external interactions.  
•    Propose and implement an archive system including a communication plan and risk management data-base.
•    Oversee the advocacy plans and communication strategy including printed, web-based, social media, preparation of the Annual Report, and summarizing progress on short and long-term plans.
•    Oversee concept notes, project ideas, and proposals by assembling information including project sector, objectives/outcomes/deliverables, implementation, methods, timetable, staffing, budget, standards of performance, and evaluation.
•    Revise and edit drafts of the concept notes and proposals.
•    Meet proposal deadlines by setting up priorities and target dates for information gathering, writing, reviewing, and approval.
•    Monitor the contractual implementation of grants and oversee the operational performance of related programs.
•    Assist in developing growth strategies for the current programs.
•    Represent SAWA at relevant meetings and assist in hosting key donor visits.

Competencies and Skills:

•    Good understanding of monitoring and managing donor contracts preferably at an international level.
•    Self-motivated and able to work alone, while also good as working with a team.
•    Able to manage large a heavy workload and to deal with competing demand from various quarters.
•    Verbal communications and inter-personal skills including the ability to communicate clearly and assertively with a wide range of people from different cultures.
•    Able to communicate technical issues to non-technical colleagues. 
•    Influencing and negotiation skills including the ability to represent SAWA at external meetings.
•    Writing and editing skills including the ability to present information in a coherent manner.
•    Work as part of a team to manage and develop relationships both internally and externally.
•    Knowledge of international donor funding environment, including reporting requirements, trends, procedures and priorities.
•    Strong commitment to the aims and objectives of SAWA.
•    Manage the handling and assigning of daily tasks of the departments under his/her supervision.
•    Hold regular meetings with all departments to ensure open communication and expectations throughout a project.
•    Actively seek to resolve any concerns while adhering to SAWA’s policies and Code of Conduct.