Programme Director

Position Summary:

The Programme Director will be responsible for oversight of the overall programming of Search in Lebanon. S/he will work closely and collaboratively with Country Director to ensure timely and quality implementation of all projects from a programming, grants management and finance perspective. The Programme Director will provide guidance and coaching in strategic planning to all project teams in Lebanon to ensure that all projects meet Search’s quality standards, donor expectations and budgetary constraints. The Programme Director also conducts regular engagement with all stakeholders and networking with local and international partners and donor community in Lebanon. The Programme Director will also  support the Country Director in fundraising efforts. The Programme Director will lead in reporting to donors on project successes and meeting all Search grants management indicators and objectives and key results in Lebanon programme.

The Programme Director will work with Search’s senior leadership in Lebanon and other Greater Levant Conflict Geography countries, the region and programme teams to design and implement Search strategy for Lebanon and ensuring that all projects in the country address real needs and contribute to the organisation’s conflict geography and global strategies. The position entails strategic development and management; team leadership and management; financial, operations, and administration oversight; security management; stakeholder and donor management and representation. The position requires an experienced conflict transformation, peace building or development expert, conversant with project management cycles and compliance requirements of various donors. The position holder will be a seasoned planner and experienced conflict and context analyst capable of steering various projects in the country to respond to real peace, security and conflict transformation needs. The Programme Director must have advanced diplomacy skills and capable of negotiating with challenging stakeholders. The position holder advises the Country Director on programme needs, strategies, staffing issues, local context and dynamics.

S/he will work under the direct supervision of the Country Director  and works closely with other senior managers in the country, the Levant Conflict Geography and MENA region. The position holder currently supervises, four Project  Managers and Coordinators and a Gender Adviser and will also supervise any other senior staff that may be hired for the country programme as Search portfolio grows in Lebanon. The position holder will be part of Search’s Senior Leadership Team in the country.

The position holder will more specifically have the following Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Roles and Responsibilities

Representation and coordination:

• Under guidance of the Country Director, represents Search in the country;
• Provides orientation about Search at local level and supervises all projects in the country;
• Provides strong coordination support to NGOs, partners, and national authorities through establishment of wider consultation and collaborative processes to strengthen peace architecture and transformation of conflicts in the country;
• Be Search’s media contact in the country when delegated by the Country Director ; and
• Represent Search with donors in the country in absence of Country Director.

Programme strategy, development, and planning:

• Support Country Director in implementing Search’s strategic directions in Lebanon;
• Collaborates with relevant staff in other Search offices for quality programme development and planning;
• Support Country Director in coordinating new business development, including coordinating development of concept notes and proposal; and
• Advises the Country Director on programme needs.
• Ensure project managers design project activities, building on Common Ground Approach, Community Dialogue Approach, Enduring Change Package and other methodologies and tools used in Search; 
• Ensure the quality, effectiveness and ultimately the impact of Search’s ongoing project activities;
• Analyse conflict, stabilisation and social cohesion dynamics in target communities and ensure activity design responds to and is informed by these;
• Design new activities that meet the purpose of the project, as well as fit with Search-Lebanon’s and Greater Levant strategy;
• Ensure Search’s project activities are inclusive, and conflict and gender sensitive;
• Adapt projects’ design to digital and virtual methods to ensure project continuity in times of movement restrictions due to pandemics, tensions or other factors;
• Keep abreast of Search-worldwide peacebuilding work, findings from evaluation of other countries’ projects, including lessons learnt and best practices, and use the findings to enrich project activity design;
• Regularly monitor the quality, resonance, reach, relevance of project activities by organising reflection and learning meetings (in close collaboration with the DMEL team); and
• Closely collaborate with the design, monitoring and evaluation Manager to ensure a monitoring system and monitoring and evaluation plans for the country programme are in place.

Programme oversight, quality assurance, reporting:

• Ensures proper implementation of projects based on continuous monitoring and analysis of: the most critical peace and conflict transformation needs; partner capacities; operational environment; and security issues.
• Leads Search programme and facilitates attainment of expected results in the target country in close collaboration with the Country Director;
• Ensures effective application of results-based management methodologies.
• Monitors the country’s project work-plans, effectiveness and achievement of results;
• Monitors the context regularly and draft regular context updates and steer the programme activities to meaningfully address needs in the context; and
• Ensures all donor and internal reports are submitted within internal deadlines and with expected quality

Programme Planning and Reporting

• Lead in the start-up and close-out processes and protocols for all projects in the country;
• Plan the work of the project managers, including capacity building of the team, partners and target participants;
• Ensure projects are delivered on time and with high quality;
• Ensure project activities are documented by relevant staff;
• Ensure projects  follow monthly work-plans that derive from the annual workplans;
• Ensure regular update the projects’ annual work-plan;
• Ensure that costed workplans for the project are developed and regularly updated;
• Produce project reports that are drafted in a results-based manner, ensuring high quality, consistency and completeness;
• Produce at least one well written success story from the project per quarter; and
• Take the lead in coordinating with finance teams to ensure BvA meetings are done.

Team Management and Supervision

• Lead the hiring process for consultants, staff (temporary and full time) when needed, to ensure human resources meet the needs of the programme;
• Supervise, guide, evaluate the team members (when hired), ensuring a high team spirit and excellent atmosphere
• Set objectives and performance plans with the programme team and regularly evaluate staff performance in a collaborative and inclusive manner, providing regular and honest feedback;
• Provide technical leadership and oversight to programme staff;
• Ensure the welfare of volunteers, champions, and other affiliates of the programme is taken care of in line with agreements set with them;
• Lead by example in the programme teams in terms of compliance with Search policies, that include but not limited to Code of Conduct, Partnership Policy, Child Protection Policy, Conflict of Interest Policy, among others;
• Ensure team issues and grievances are resolved in a collaborative manner; and
• Be ready to provide cover for Project Managers or senior roles on an interim basis as needed.

Relationship with Stakeholders

• Maintain a network of participants, stakeholders and influencers at the local and national and level and a contact database relevant to the country programme;
• Support Project Managers in the management of partnership agreements with champions, project partners, volunteers etc. Keeping track of contracts and their end dates, ensuring timely renewal of agreements and keeping track of support provided to each partner;
• Develop and maintain proactive, positive and professional relationships with consortium partners, civil society organisations, international organisations, UN agencies, media outlets, ministries, local authorities and local communities;
• Build connections between local community peacebuilding activities to ensure project activities are locally driven; and
• Ensure Search has a key role in reinforcing partner’s capacity to deliver appropriate services.

Competencies:

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrate integrity and promote Search values and ethical standards;
• Promote the vision, mission, and strategic objectives of Search;
• Demonstrate capacity to adapt to a multi-cultural context, and tolerance and respect to issues related to gender, religion, race and nationality;
• Expertise in developing concept notes and proposal for different donors; and
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism and solves problems in collaborative ways

Functional competencies:

• Knowledge of and exposure to a wide range peace; conflict transformation; human rights, governance  and development-related, and humanitarian issues;
• Analytical capacity, including ability to analyse and articulate peace, human security and conflict issues;
• Ability to identify issues and to use sound judgment in applying technical expertise to resolve a wide range of problems;
• Good knowledge of Lebanon, including the political, economic and social dimensions;
• Ability to work under extreme pressure in a highly stressful environment;
• Willingness to keep abreast of new developments in the field;
• Excellent communication (spoken and written) skills, including the ability to draft/edit a variety of written reports and communications and to articulate ideas in a clear, concise style;
• Ability to plan own work, manage conflicting priorities and work under pressure of tight and conflicting deadlines;
• Ability to review and analyse and interpret financial reports, budget versus actuals, financial projections and procurement documentation;
• Fully proficient computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications; and
• Very good interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations

Required qualifications and experience:

Education:

• Master’s degree in peace building, conflict, security studies, political or social science, international studies, public administration, development studies and experience in a related area; or
• Bachelor's degree and at least ten years’ experience.

Experience:

• Minimum six years of progressively responsible professional experience in peace, conflict transformation, governance, civil society strengthening. 10 years of experience required if holding a Bachelor's degree;
• Experience in reviewing  financial reports;
• Experience in managing security of teams; and
• Experience in setting performance objectives of teams and leading a team.

Languages:

• Fluency in oral and written English;
• Good knowledge of Arabic (will be desirable), a willingness to learn Arabic, a must.

Experience:

Essential

• At least five years in development, peacebuilding or humanitarian work;
• At least three years’ experience should be at a managerial level;
• Significant experience designing and conducting project activities;
• Experience with use of project management tools such as Gannt charts, logical frameworks matrices, work breakdown structure, critical path analysis among others;
• Experience in designing, planning and facilitating community dialogues, round tables, town hall meetings etc, in-person and virtually (online);
• Track record in delivering effective quality project activities.
• Experience working with local Lebanese and refugee communities. 

 Desirable:

• Experience working in a conflict resolution setting
• Experience working in a non-profit or similar environment
• Experience of partnership building, with experience of influencing stakeholders and establishing and maintaining strong partnerships;
• An excellent planner with deep knowledge and experience of project management tools and processes (project planning, workplans, budget planning, etc.)
• Organisational skills and attention to detail;
• Excellent use of Excel, excellent writing and analytical skills
• Well organised, dynamic and creative
• Excellent comprehension of the principles of conflict, conflict transformation and the role of media in peacebuilding
• A team leader, with a strong capacity to motivate oneself and others and build a team spirit; 
• Ability to work under pressure and in challenging environments
• Flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances
• Willingness to travel regularly to Search’s field offices

 Other Relevant Requirements

• Understand opportunities in Lebanon communities and context and requirements for peacebuilding interventions;
• Written and verbal communications skills including the ability to synthesise complicated policy issues into digestible and implementable project activities;
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment and strong interpersonal skills;
• Commitment to Search’s aims and a clear understanding of the links between policy, lobbying, campaigning and social cohesion and peacebuilding work and of how policy change can be achieved through effective advocacy;
• Ability to responding flexibly to opportunities and requests sometimes with little notice;
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a rapidly changing environment;
• Demonstrate capacity to adapt to a multi-cultural context, and tolerance and respect to issues related to gender, religion, race and nationality; and
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism and solves problems in collaborative ways