Senior Project Officer

About Oxfam

Oxfam is a global community who believe poverty isn’t inevitable. It’s an injustice that can be overcome. We are shop volunteers, women’s right activists, marathon runners, aid workers, coffee farmers, street fundraisers, goat herders, policy experts, campaigners, water engineers and more. And we won’t stop until everyone can live life without poverty for good.

Oxfam GB is a member of the international confederation Oxfam.

Our Team

The ACGG program aims to support women and men, particularly youth, to exercise civil and political rights, to influence decision-making and support more accountable, effective governance particularly in relation to respect for fundamental rights, access to services, resource distribution and gender equity.Oxfam in Lebanon is increasingly working at local, national and international levels to “ensure that women and men are protected and empowered to enjoy their basic rights and access services enabling them to live in dignity within a more equitable society.” To achieve this vision, Oxfam in Lebanon implements activities under three main programmatic pillars, including Active Citizenship and Good Governance (ACGG), and Economic Justice (EJ)

Th EJ program aims to empower women and men, especially youth, to cope with the effects of economic poverty, and have greater access to and control over productive economic resources for sustainable poverty reduction.

The Senior Project Officer (SPO) will be part of Oxfam’s ACGG team. S/he will work an integrated ACGG/EJ project that will promote decent work and sustainable business development in Bekaa, Lebanon.

Job Purpose

The proposed project aims to contribute to a decent and economically sustainable business environment for displacement-affected populations in Bekaa, Lebanon. The project includes three clusters of activities: 1) empower a local network of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to influence practices and policies related to decent work, 2) convene an informal network of private business development organizations and professionals with strong decent work capacities in Bekaa, and 3) improve working conditions and accessible decent job opportunities in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Bekaa.  Oxfam will implement a project titled “Promotion of Decent Work and Sustainable Business Development in Bekaa, Lebanon.”

The SPO position will lead and is accountable for all the activities that will be implemented with the business development organisations and MSMEs in Bekaa. As a key role within the Oxfam Lebanon Country ACGG team, the position will be based in Zahle, Bekaa, with regular travel to Beirut to attend meetings.

Core Details

Location:

Zahle, Bekaa, Lebanon

Internal Grade:

D1

Job Family:

Programme

Contract type:

One year – renewable based on performance

This role reports to:

Project Manager (PM)

Staff reporting to this post:

None

Annual budget          for the post:

None

Key relationships/interactions:

Project Manager, Active Citizenship and Good Governance Coordinator, Economic Justice Coordinator, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Coordinator, Gender Advisor, Research and Policy Advisor, Funding Coordinator, Grants Manager.

Screening checks:

All successful candidates will be screened through Retinitis World-Check One to comply with counter terrorism and financial sanctions regulations.

Key Responsibilities

Lead on the day-to-day field activity implementation through the development of workplans, and daily communication with project team and relevant field-based stakeholders;

Project Cycle Management & Programme Quality

• Lead on the day-to-day field activity implementation through the development of workplans, and daily communication with project team and relevant field-based stakeholders;
• Lead on the community outreach activities to ensure that the community, business development organisations, and MSMEs are well-informed about project objectives and activities;
• Lead on the mapping of business development organisation and MSMEs in Bekaa;
• Lead on the organisation of convening meetings between the relevant field-level stakeholders in Bekaa;
• Organise and follow-up on the capacity development trainings for the business development organisations and the technical provided to businesses in Bekaa;
• Continuously liaise with the coaches and the business development organisations coaches to ensure quality implementation;
• Support the PM in the execution of all the activities related to the sub-granting component of the project (launching of the call, development of the evaluation criteria, coordinate with the external evaluation committee, communicate the results, develop contracts with the sub-grantees, and follow-up on the programmatic implementation and spending of sub-grants);
• Support the PM to ensure that donor contractual requirements are fulfilled with reference to the General and Technical conditions of the Grant Agreement and internal regulations, throughout the entire project period;
• Support the PM in preparing progress reports for the donor in collaboration with partners, technical coordinators, funding coordinator and support teams, while ensuring that narrative reporting meets Oxfam and the donor’s requirements;
• Report verbally and in writing to the PM on a regular basis on programme progress;
• Support the PM to ensure that risk management and contingency planning are included at all stages of the programmes;
• Support the PM to ensure that the intervention is based on a rights-based approach and mainstreams gender.

People Management and Collaboration

• Report regularly and in writing to the PM, and work closely with both the ACGG and EJ Coordinators and other team members;
• Work with consultants (e.g. trainers, coaches), business development organisation, and MSMEs in implementing different components of the project;
• Participate in the monthly Project Quality meetings to promote best practices and their application to the project;
• Support in any MEAL activities required at field and office level;
• Work closely with the HR, finance, and logistics teams;
• Ensure the physical welfare and well-being of team members directly assigned to the project.

Partner Relations Management

• Lead on the day-to-day communication with consultants, business development organisations, and MSMEs in Bekaa;
• Support the PM in planning, implementing, and monitoring project activities;

External representation

• Serve as primary project representative at the field level;
• Attend Livelihoods/Social Stability/Basic Assistance external working groups and meetings in Bekaa on a regular basis and share any information relevant to the context/sector;
• Attend internal meetings in Bekaa related to the projects under which the Livelihoods activities are implemented, and provide update when necessary;
• Attend trainings, workshops, roundtables, etc. on topics related to the projects as needed;
• Support Policy/MEAL/Funding, etc when they visit the field.

Your commitment to Oxfam

• Required to adhere to Oxfam’s principles and values as well as the promotion of gender justice and women's rights
• Understanding of and commitment to adhere to equity, diversity, gender, child safety and staff health and wellbeing principles

Note to candidates: Shortlisted candidates will be assessed on our organisational values and attributes at the interview stage. The successful candidate(s) will be expected to adhere to our code of conduct. We encourage candidates to read and understand our code of conduct here.

Person Specification

Key Organisational Attributes

• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and gender issues, as well as the commitment to equal opportunities.
• Ability to demonstrate an openness and willingness to learn about the application of gender/gender mainstreaming, women’s rights, and diversity for all aspects of development work.
• Commitment to undertake Oxfam’s safeguarding training and adherence of relevant policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible

Organisational Values

• Accountability – Our purpose-driven, results-focused approach means we take responsibility for our actions and hold ourselves accountable. We believe that others should also be held accountable for their actions
• Empowerment – Our approach means that everyone involved with Oxfam, from our staff and supporters to people living in poverty, should feel they can make change happen
• Inclusiveness – We are open to everyone and embrace diversity. We believe everyone has a contribution to make, regardless of visible and invisible differences

Oxfam Leadership Competencies

• Decisiveness: We are comfortable to make transparent decisions and to adapt decision making modes to the context and needs.                                                                    
• Humility: We put ‘we’ before ‘me’ and place an emphasis on the power of the collective, nurture the team and play to the strengths of each individual. We are not concerned with hierarchical power, and we engage with, trust and value the knowledge and expertise of others across all levels of the organization.                                                                                                           
• Relationship Building: We understand the importance of building relationship, within and outside the organization. We have the ability to engage with traditional and non-traditional stakeholders in ways that lead to increased impact for the organization.                                       
• Listening: We are good listeners who can see where deeper levels of thoughts and tacit assumptions differ. Our messages to others are clear, and consider different preferences.               
• Mutual Accountability: We can explain our decisions and how we have taken them based on our organizational values.  We are ready to be held to account for what we do and how we behave, as we are also holding others to account in a consistent manner.                           
• Self-Awareness: We are able to develop a high degree of self-awareness around our own strengths and weaknesses and our impact on others. Our self-awareness enables us to moderate and self-regulate our behaviors to control and channel our impulses for good purposes.

Essential - Experience, Knowledge, Qualifications & Competencies

• A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline such as economics and business development                                                                                                                 
• Understanding and knowledge of economic development and recovery principles in an urban and rural context                                                                                                              
• 3 years of experience in international humanitarian/development work, specifically in managing programmes in the livelihood sector and decent work.                                                                 
• Extensive knowledge of the business environment in Bekaa and demonstrated experience in field work.                                                                                                                                    
• Project cycle management experience, including work planning, reporting, and monitoring & evaluation
• Ability to work closely with different stakeholders, including business, business development organisations, and financial institutions in Lebanon.                                                                           
• Previous experience in organising meetings and networking events in Bekaa                         
• Demonstrable understanding of the gendered dynamics of labour relations, and linkages to decent work                                                                                                                                   
• Diplomacy, tact and negotiating skills.                                                                         
• Excellent interpersonal, influencing and communication skills.                                   
• Proven team spirit and leadership with the ability to work independently as required.          
• Excellent English and Arabic language verbal and writing skills are essential.