Project Officer

United Cities Lebanon/ Technical Office for Lebanese Municipalities (www.bt-villes.org)

United Cities Lebanon / BTVL leads the network of Lebanese local authorities that are members of the world organization United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) (www.uclg.org). This organization aims at promoting the principles of local democracy, partnership and solidarity between cities, in particular by supporting decentralized cooperation programs and by mobilizing funding and technical support for the implementation of the international actions of its members.

The Technical Office of Lebanese Cities (BTVL) is in charge of assisting municipalities on the technical and institutional levels, with an aim to promote elected officials and municipal agents’ capacity building, design and implement development projects, and strengthen their international relations.

Project: Assessing Unions of Municipalities for local economic development

Lebanon is currently crumbling under the impact of a financial, economic, social and health crisis which threatens to a large extent the livelihoods of its population. Recent studies show that the effects of this multi-dimensional crisis have been colossal on the daily lives of the citizens and the private sector. Indeed, the poverty rate in the country doubled in 2020 to reach 55%, against 28% in 2019. In addition, the explosion of the port of Beirut, which caused significant human damage, lead to tremendous losses estimated at about $ 7-10 billion. This terrible economic and social reality requires the active participation of all the actors who are supposed to play a role in economic development and recovery. Lebanese local authorities, namely municipalities and federations of municipalities, hold the the responsibility of promoting and planning local economic development.

In this context, United Cities Lebanon is implementing the “Project for Assessing unions of municipalities for local economic development”. This project is funded by the European Union through its regional trust fund mobilized in response to the Syrian crisis, the European Madad Fund, and implemented jointly by UN-Habitat and UNDP.

The objective of this project is to help three federations of municipalities in assessing their potential for local economic development (LED). Specifically, the project will mobilize LED stakeholders and encourage them to undertake an assessment of economic structure and of LED governance systems in their respective areas. The assessment of the economic structure will help identify constraints and opportunities that affect the economic development of federations and pave the way for raising concrete recommendations on how to lead LED initiatives. This assessment of governance systems will also make it possible to understand the regulatory and institutional frameworks governing local economic development, as well as the existing financial and human capacities to undertake a strategic development effort.

Position – General task:

The project officer will be in charge of the implementation of the project for Assessing unions of municipalities for local economic development.

Specific tasks:

- Planning the actions to be implemented in accordance with the project proposals that were approved by the donor and with the financing agreements.

- Site visits to deepen the knowledge of the local economic fabric and develop relationships with key partners in the territory of the concerned three federations of municipalities.

- Identifying the actors and institutional partners involved in the field of economic development on the territory of the three federations of municipalities and designing the mapping of the local economic development actors in the territories concerned.

- Carrying out a diagnosis of the governance system of the three federations of municipalities.

- Documentary research needed for the preparation and completion of the assessment.

- Organizing and implementing the actions necessary for the successful completion of the project on the territory of the three federations of municipalities: research, interviews, meetings, missions, training, technical workshops, seminars, etc. in coordination with local economic development players.

- Accompanying and supporting a team of experts responsible for assessing the economic system of the three federations.

- Participating in the drafting of the assessment of local economic development in the three federations of municipalities.

- Participating in meetings, missions, trainings and events, taking notes and writing reports.

- Contributing to the drafting of a political advocacy document to improve the governance of federations of municipalities in the field of local economic development.

- Project monitoring and, if necessary, proposals for technical or financial amendments.

- Preparing technical reports for the donors.

- Preparing regular financial statements for the project.

- Preparing the financial reports of the project, and presenting them to the donor.

- Handling the communication of the project (presentation notes and brochures, website, Facebook, newsletter, etc.).

- Providing support for tasks of general interest for United Cities Lebanon/BTVL.

Supervision:

- The person filling this position will be supervised by a project manager with whom he/she will work in close coordination. The project manager will validate the planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and justification of the actions and the project overall.

- During the entire duration of his/her mission, the project officer will have to maintain a very good relationship with the entire team of United Cities Lebanon/ BTVL.

Education, experience and skills required

• Education: Bac + 5 in political science, economics, land management, urban planning, or equivalent.

• At least 5 years of experience in a similar position.

• Project management skills.

• Very good knowledge of the Lebanese municipal environment and context.

• Very good knowledge of the local economic development sector.

• Excellent oral and written language skills in Arabic and English. French is a plus.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office is essential.

• Organizational skills: must be methodical, pragmatic and rigorous.

• Communication skills.

• Interpersonal skills: must know how to work with a team and ensure professional discretion.

Work conditions:

- One-year fixed-term contract (including 3 months of trial).

- Location: Offices of United Cities Lebanon/ BTVL in Beirut (Ras el Nabeh district, near the French Embassy) from March 2021 to November 2021.

- Working hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

- The salary will depend on skills and level of experience.

- Interested persons are requested to send their CV and a cover letter in English to: [email protected]