Humanitarian Programme Coordinator

Shaping a stronger Oxfam for people living in poverty.

About Oxfam

Oxfam is a global movement of people who won’t live with the injustice of poverty. Together we save and rebuild lives in disasters. We help people build better lives for themselves. We speak out on the big issues that keep people poor, like inequality, discrimination against women and climate change. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can live without poverty.

 Our Team

The Oxfam team in Lebanon implements integrated humanitarian, development and policy interventions in line with Oxfam’s country strategy for Lebanon as relevant to the Bekaa and north Lebanon areas, including protection & governance; cash safety net/social protection and economic development/livelihoods; WASH/water governance with a focus on partnerships. The humanitarian pillar, in particular, ensures that marginalised women and men, particularly refugees from Syria, are able to have safe access to WASH, attain their rights to life, security, protection and assistance, and that they are enabled to support their own basic needs, develop their livelihoods, all in a manner that respects and maintains their dignity.

 Job Purpose

The purpose of the position of Humanitarian Coordinator is to operationalise Oxfam’s vision for Lebanon as relevant to Bekaa and north Lebanon, leading on the integration of sectors of humanitarian and development work, ensuring programme quality, community participation, good partnership relations and coordination. The position is accountable for all the programmatic, management, program development, influencing and partnership aspects of the humanitarian pillar. As a key role within the Oxfam Lebanon Country programme, the position will be based in Zahle, with regular travel to Beirut (for meetings) and to programme sites in the Bekaa and in north Lebanon. He/she will oversee effective management and relationships with relevant external stakeholders, provide oversight over projects in the humanitarian pillar, including financial and program quality oversight, lead in preparing and developing high quality proposals and concept notes for humanitarian interventions, review and approve progress and donor reports, and enhance internal and external learning and representation. In addition, the Humanitarian Coordinator will also identify new project ideas in line with the thematic area.

What We Are Looking For

We are seeking to recruit a dynamic senior humanitarian professional with experience in leading multi-sector teams, including a humanitarian program with implementation in Bekaa and North Lebanon. Prior advanced experience humanitarian programming, including WASH, programme coordination, project management, relationship-building, and programme design, and representation is a must. Knowledge of Arabic and Lebanon are preferred.

Core Details

Location:

Zahle (Bekaa region)

Internal Grade:

C1

Contract type:

Fixed Term, 1 year, renewable

This role reports to:

Matrix management

The post-holder reports to the Deputy Country Director (Programmes)

Country Director on issues related to admin, HR, finance, logistics and Security

Staff reporting to this post:

Directly line-manage the Humanitarian Programme team, 1 EFSL coordinator in Beirut, (2 humanitarian Project Managers as direct reports) in Zahle, and 1 PM in Tripoli (North Lebanon), and matrix manage one Project Manager (not humanitarian) in Zahle, one Senior MEAL Officer in Zahle, and the Senior Admin, Logistics and Security Officer in Zahle on administration issues that will be defined with CD.

Annual budget for the post:

$3 million to $5 million USD

Key relationships/interactions:

Country Director, Deputy Country Director, Project Managers, Senior MEAL Officer, Senior Admin, Logistics and Security Officer, Program Coordinator for Economic Justice, Program Coordinator for Active Citizenship and Good Governance.

Screening checks:

Screening via Refinitiv

Key Responsibilities

Management Responsibilities

• Overall management for the effective functioning of the Zahle office;
• Directly line-manage the Humanitarian Programme team, 1 EFSL coordinator in Beirut, 2 humanitarian Project Managers as direct reports in Zahle, and 1 PM in Tripoli (North Lebanon), and
• Matrix manage the following staff in the Zahle office: One Project Manager (not humanitarian), one Senior MEAL Officer, one Business Development Officer, and the Senior Admin, Logistics and Security Officer in Zahle on administration issues to be defined with CD
• Work closely with programme support departments in Beirut, ensuring financial, logistical and human resources are deployed effectively;
• Maintain an up to date understanding of the humanitarian situation in relation to Lebanon and ensure that programme teams have access to relevant, up to date information.
• Maintain an analysis of the overall context and use this to inform interventions, adjusting strategic direction and informing strategic decisions accordingly.

Programme Oversight on Humanitarian Program

• Support the implementation of Oxfam’s humanitarian program in Lebanon – including ensuring coherence, standardized approaches, programme quality and good partnerships with local civil society, across the humanitarian programme and in line with the Country Strategy;
• Lead the Humanitarian Programme team (direct reports are two humanitarian Project Managers in Zahle and one humanitarian Project Manager in Tripoli), ensuring implementation of Oxfam’s performance management policies and procedures;
• Ensure humanitarian/resilience projects are delivered on time and on budget;
• Support team and partner risk analysis related to programme activities before and during implementation and provide strategic steer on amending activities and approaches where necessary;
• Support the humanitarian team and partners in developing and applying appropriate monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) approaches in relation to Oxfam’s humanitarian work in Lebanon;
• Support Project Managers in ensuring that Oxfam meets all contractual obligations and that all donor reports are submitted on time to the Funding Department and are of high quality;
• Support humanitarian teams on HR issues, such as in developing ToRs and job descriptions and advice/ input on relevant recruitments;
• Support the development and implementation of national programme evaluations, learning events and specific programme related research activities;
• Support the humanitarian programme team and partners in mainstreaming gender throughout Oxfam Lebanon’s humanitarian work;
• Support in identifying capacity building needs and opportunities for Oxfam staff and local partner organisations, and support the development and implementation of capacity building plans.

Programme Design and Strategy for Humanitarian Program

• Lead on humanitarian programme design and proposal development for projects that fall under the humanitarian pillar of work;
• Lead on the identification of new humanitarian partners in Oxfam’s areas of implementation;
• Lead the further elaboration of a comprehensive Humanitarian Programme and Resilience Strategy for Oxfam in Lebanon, with a strong partnership approach. This includes further defining the strategy, designing approaches, actively identifying and engaging with key partners and supporting programme teams and partners in developing funding proposals and reviewing and revising current projects to meet changing needs and requirements;
• Take ownership of emergency response planning and implementation, and ensure appropriate contingency plans and related preparedness and mitigation strategies are in place and updates, to ensure Oxfam’s humanitarian mandate is met;
• Provide specialist humanitarian and resilience advice and support the implementation of Oxfam’s humanitarian programme interventions and approaches in Lebanon;
• Participate in country planning, strategy development and reviews.

Representation & Influencing for Humanitarian Program

• Represent Oxfam externally in relevant UN/(I)NGO or government fora; develop alliances with organisations and other relevant stakeholders working on humanitarian programming, with a view to enhancing coordination, and adopting complementary approaches including active participation in relevant coordination and planning mechanisms, and supporting field staff in field-level coordination and in sector working groups;
• Engage with local authorities and other relevant stakeholders as need be to ensure smooth operational work
• In collaboration with relevant Policy Advisor(s), support research activities and provide advice so that influencing and advocacy work is based on sound research and programmatic evidence;
• Support advocacy and campaigning on humanitarian issues, including analysis, surveys, assessments and support to the development of policy products as required. This includes ensuring linkages to relevant Global Campaigns.
• In collaboration with other Programme coordinators, Policy Unit and Programme Managers, work to integrate programmes and policy to ensure that programmes are working towards achieving same aims and leveraging impact in line with Oxfam’s country strategy Lebanon.

Other

• 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

Skills, Experience & Knowledge

Essential

• Experience working in Lebanon or on the Syria crisis
• Experience in leading and managing multi-sectoral teams working in a fast-paced and dynamic working environment;
• At least 5 years of experience managing humanitarian programmes, with an understanding of relevant issues, especially in a protracted crisis setting, with strong experience/ knowledge of WASH and protection in particular;
• A proven record of effective partnership and people management skills with strong competencies in team management and partnership building;
• Proven humanitarian programme oversight and project management skills, including planning, monitoring, evaluation, budgeting, financial management, and report preparation;
• Experience in leading on proposal development for humanitarian programs, engaging staff in project design and leveraging lessons learned;
• Sound knowledge of the social, economic and political context in Lebanon;
• Proven ability to analyse complex environments at local and national level, monitor changes and translate into appropriate strategic planning;
• Ability to work flexibly and under pressure on fast changing priorities;
• Ability to travel to project areas;
• Good time management skills;
• Excellent communicator with proven ability to build relationships with a variety of stakeholders;
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills in English and the ability to relate to people from all backgrounds.

Desirable

• Good spoken Arabic
• Knowledge of Lebanese civil society (especially those working on humanitarian issues) is preferred.

Key Attributes and behavioural competencies

• 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 Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible;
• Behavioural competencies: Decisiveness, influencing, relationship-building, systems thinking, vision setting;

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.