Grants Specialist

Expertise France (EF) is a public agency created on 1st January 2015 under the supervision of the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy and Finance with a strong inter-ministerial vocation. EF offers programme engineering and technical assistance by developing and implementing international cooperation actions worldwide. Expertise France is the French public agency for international technical assistance.

EF designs and implements cooperation projects addressing skills transfers between professionals. The agency also develops integrated offers, assembling public and private expertise in order to respond to the partner countries' needs. With a business volume of 148 million Euros, a portfolio of over 500 projects in 100 countries, and 63,000 days of expert missions every year, Expertise France promotes French and European development policy goals.

EF operates in various fields of development and institutional cooperation including safety and security reform, public health, human rights, strengthening of institutions and NGOs and governance. Carrying out large-scale, multi-stakeholder programmes, EF can ensure the cooperation between individuals, teams and institutions with very different statuses, cultures and specialties. EF has acquired a sound experience in administrative and financial management of large-scale international programmes. www.expertisefrance.fr

1. Project background

The multiple crises that have impacted Lebanon for several years have led to a serious deterioration in the standard of living of the population and increased the risks of economic, social and political instability in the country. With the start of the Syrian crisis in March 2011, more than one million people had to seek refuge in Lebanon. This influx of refugees has had significant human, social, economic and political repercussions and has weakened the structures of assistance to fragile populations. The last two years have been marked by the collapse of the economy, the October 2019 protests, the COVID-19 pandemic and the explosion of the Port of Beirut. This accelerated succession of economic and social humanitarian crises has led to a dramatic increase in poverty levels among displaced populations and vulnerable host communities.

In the spring of 2021, the World Bank estimated that the economic and financial crisis hitting Lebanon would be among the ten, and probably the three most serious crises in the world since the middle of the 19th century. The banking sector has ceased lending operations and is no longer attracting deposits, and the Lebanese pound (L.L.) continues to lose value with soaring inflation.

Local NGOs play an essential role in crisis contexts in Lebanon, through their proximity to the most vulnerable populations and their presence in the most affected areas of the country. Their activities contribute to improving access to basic services in a context of saturation of public services. They also play a key role in strengthening social cohesion in the face of the growing risk of communal tensions.

Six years after the signing of the “Grand Bargain” on aid localization, aimed at repositioning local actors at the center of humanitarian action, the role of local NGOs in the aid ecosystem in Lebanon still needs to be strengthened, and strengthening their capacities remains a major lever for the sustainability of crisis response actions in the country. Lebanese NGOs must therefore be supported in strengthening their management capacities, technical skills and sectoral specialization to assert themselves as effective and relevant actors in the response to current crises.

2. The Shabake2 project

The Shabake 2 project is part of the Peace and Resilience Fund – Minka Middle East, which aims to contribute to the response to the consequences of the Syrian crisis, and to act on the prevention and management of the protracted crisis in Lebanon. In addition, the intervention with a dynamic and mature Lebanese civil society makes it possible to concretize the French commitments of "localization of aid" within the framework of the "Grand Bargain" of the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit. The project is also a continuation of the first phase conducted by Expertise France (EF), which supported 13 local NGOs, and conducted a study on the local associative fabric and a mid-term evaluation, the conclusions of which feed into phase 2.

Following the lessons learned in Phase 1, the Shabake 2 project rebalances the objectives with increased attention to the rapid and concrete effects that NGO grants will achieve on the ground. The overall objective of the project is to strengthen social cohesion and support peace and stability by accompanying local NGOs in their key crisis management role and providing sustainable support to vulnerable host communities and Syrian refugees.

It aims to strengthen purpose-driven, technically sound and locally rooted NGOs to support their abilities in weathering the crises as they arise, gaining greater financial autonomy and contributing to Lebanon's recovery. An emergency response component, funded by the Crisis Centre (CDCS) of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), is included in the programme, which makes it possible to articulate different French emergency and development instruments as part of a comprehensive approach to support Lebanese CSOs.

The project is structured around three components:

1. Enable NGOs to be trusted partners in the implementation of vulnerability reduction projects and thematic actions
2. Support local NGOs in their efforts to respond effectively to ongoing emergencies and crises in Lebanon
3. Strengthen the technical and organizational capacities and the economic model of partner NGOs for a better localization of aid for the benefit of vulnerable populations.

3. Job Description / Assignment

The main role of the Grants Specialist (GS) is to oversee the planification, implementation and closure of the Shabake project components related to NGO partner development and emergency grants (Components 1 and 2). Working under the authority of the Shabake Project Manager (PM) of Expertise France in Lebanon, the GS will be supervising a team of 3 Grants Officers (GO) who in turn are liaising with 7 Field Facilitators posted throughout Lebanon in areas of grants implementation. The grants team will also be supported by 2 Finance Assistants. This set-up is necessary to maintain equitable and quality relationships with the NGO partners and ensure the achievement of targets of both the NGO partners and the overall Shabake 2 project objectives.

The position is based in Beirut, within the Expertise France Lebanon coordination office.

Responsibility 1: Operations

• Along with the PM, prepare the planification of the components 1 and 2 of Shabake throughout the project cycle
• Along with the PM, lead the call for proposal/tenders’ preparation and participate in the selection process in coordination with the legal department and EF headquarters in Paris.
• Finalize all documents and annexes when the selection is concluded for Shabake NGO partners (DOA, logframe, budget etc…) in close collaboration with the Grants officers, M&E and Grants Finance focal points.
• Manage the team of GOs in supporting NGO partners in developing their workplans, procurement plans, financial forecasting, and activity planning for each of their interventions.
• Support the GOs where needed in troubleshooting and finding solutions for any challenges related to the NGO partner grants that may arise.
• Make sure that any major project updates/information needed are shared with partners in due time.

Responsibility 2: Coordination

• Report to the PM regularly any context and activity updates related to the implementation of all grants, communicate challenges and discuss solutions
• Collaborate with the PM and relevant departments in all planned external evaluations and audits.
• Organize in cooperation with the GOs information sessions with NGO partners about the Shabake 2 project, grant guidelines and reporting requirements and lead on relative parts within the sessions.
• Oversee all NGO partners operations in coordination with the GOs on the ground, including community meetings and situation analysis meetings that will be taking place among Shabake NGO partners during project implementation.

Responsibility 3: Finance, Logistics and Administrative support

• Responsible for the overall financial management of the 2 grants components, in collaboration with the PM
• Monitor and support the use of grants management tools such as budget versus actuals (BvAs), cashflow and forecasting, activity, and procurement planning in collaboration with relevant units to ensure timely implementation of activities and to monitor expenditure.
• Ensure with the team that logistical, administrative, and financial procedures linked to project implementation are followed according to EF requirements.
• Follow up and ensure that all administrative documents related to project implementation are up to date and stored.
• Review, organize and support the Grants Finance focal points to review and organize partners financial spending, forecasts, BvAs, and implementation of all partner finance monitoring tools.

Responsibility 4: Reporting

• Produce proper and timely financial and narrative internal and contribute to donor reporting in compliance with reporting requirements.
• Make sure with the project team that the NGOs partners issue timely qualitative reporting (both narrative and financial)
• Review with the team and validate with the PM all data/reports from the NGOs s and ensure the accuracy of data/reports;
• Oversee the internal monthly/quarterly information updates from the GO team summing up monthly/quarterly achievements and planned activities with.
• Support in the documentation of best practices, challenges, lesson learning and recommendations of project activities.

4. Technical Skills, Experience & Knowledge

Education level

University degree in Management, Political Science, Social Sciences, or related field

Qualifications

• 7 to 10 years in project management and NGOs/ CSOs work experience, including small and medium sized organizations (experience in emergency response is a plus). 
• Strong knowledge of NGOs financial reporting requirements (work experience on finance is an asset).
• Excellent Knowledge of the Lebanese civil society, and the Lebanese aid ecosystem in general
• Fluency in English and Arabic (written and spoken). Excellent command in French is a plus.
• Excellent computer skills: MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook).
• Excellent communication and reporting skills.
• Strong relationship skills and the ability to work effectively with local stakeholders.
• Proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented.
• Previous experience work experience for international agencies would be an asset.