Senior Project Officer

Shaping a stronger Oxfam for people living in poverty.

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

Oxfam in Lebanon is responding to the Beirut explosion with a two-phased response; first line emergency aid for the first 3-6 months, aimed at the most vulnerable groups in the city such as LGBTQ communities, refugees, migrant workers, GBV survivors and the extreme poor. This phase will be followed by recovery and rehabilitation work, with strong civil society and advocacy components, and support to micro small businesses (SMEs) and Social Enterprises (SEs), for the remaining 9 – 12 months. The response will be largely implemented through partners.

Job Purpose

The Senior Project Officer position will lead on and is accountable for all the activities that will be implemented with the Social Enterprises and MSEs in Beirut of the project funded by the Quebec humanitarian Coalition to support the recovery of the local economy. He/she will work with service providers in charge of financial and non-financial support towards the selected Social Enterprises and MSEs. In addition, the officer will support partner’s activities and their monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting and representation. The Officer will assist in responding to capacity building needs and budget planning, in collaboration with the Project Manager.

The post-holder is expected to work closely with the Economic Justice programme team

Core Details: 

Location: Beirut

Internal Grade: D1

Job Family: Programme

This role reports to: Project Manager with a matrix management line to the Economic Justice Programme Manager.

Staff reporting to this post: None

Annual budget  for the post: None

Key relationships/interactions:

Human Rights and Economic Justice Coordinator, Economic Justice Program Manager, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Coordinator, Gender Advisor, Research and Policy Advisor, Funding Coordinator, Grants Manager, Research and Policy Advisor

Screening checks:

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

Key Responsibilities

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, partners and relevant stakeholders;
• Lead, together with the partners, on the outreach activities to ensure that the community, business development organisations, and MSEs are well-informed about project objectives and activities;
• Continuously liaise with the coaches and the business development organisations coaches to ensure quality implementation of the non-financial support;
• Support the PM in the execution of all the activities related to the financial support to MSEs 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);
• Participate to the selection process of the social enterprises that will receive financial and non-financial support (this activity is led by one partner);
• Support the PM to ensure that donor contractual requirements are fulfilled;
• 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;
• Carry out regular monitoring field visits to project locations and to target enterprises and individuals;
• 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 the EJ Programme Manager and other team members;
• Work with consultants (e.g. trainers, coaches), business development organisation, and MSEs 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

• Support the PM on project partnership relations and day-to-day communication;
• Support partners in planning, implementing, and monitoring project activities;

External representation

• 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

Person specification

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.

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, development studies or equivalent experience
• Understanding and knowledge of economic development and recovery principles in an urban and rural context
• Minimum 2 years of experience in international humanitarian/development work, specifically in programmes in the livelihood sector.
• Knowledge of the business environment in Lebanon and demonstrated experience in field work.
• Project cycle management experience, including work planning, budgeting, reporting, and monitoring & evaluation
• Understanding of the gendered dynamics of labour relations, and linkages to decent work
• Ability to work closely with different stakeholders, including business, business development organisations, and financial institutions in Lebanon.
• Diplomacy, tact and negotiating skills.
• Good 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.

Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults and beneficiaries with whom Oxfam GB engages. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organisation.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. Oxfam GB also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.  In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.

We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organisation and encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply