Executive Secretary - DSPR

Job Title and Description: Executive Secretary 

An experienced person in organizational management and programme follow-up and monitoring is sought to lead DSPR/MECC at this stage of its history. As an Executive Secretary you will be the lead person at Central Office and will have ongoing contact with Executive Directors of the five Areas that make up DSPR/MECC. You will have ongoing communication contact with Partners and Back Donors and will oversee, together with Central Office staff, proposal writing, budgetary submittals, and work progress, monitoring and reporting. You will be in direct programmatic contact with the Chairperson and Members of the Central Committee and will be in direct administrative contact with the Secretary General of MECC.  

Location – East Jerusalem – With occasional travel to Jordan, Lebanon, Galilee, West Bank and Gaza and two biennial Central Committee meetings and MECC Staff and Executive Committee meetings. Partner visits in Europe and fundraising visits in Europe and elsewhere are also anticipated.

The position is full time per legal contract and requires work on regular hours between Monday and Friday besides work from home whenever there is a need, including on weekends. (In case of part-time work, an appropriate work contract will be signed between DSPR/MECC and the chosen candidate)

DSPR/MECC

The Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) was established in the late 40’s early 50’s of the last century following the exodus of over three quarters of a million Palestinian refugees during the Arab Israeli war of 1948. Since then, the Department has been active in different geographic areas across the Middle East region with legal registration in Jordan, Lebanon, Jerusalem and the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel. DSPR/MECC reaches thousands of Palestinian refugees through vocational, health, economic and community empowerment, emergency relief and other activities. The Department has a Central Committee representing all Areas in addition to Four Members at Large representing the Four Families of Churches. The Central Office, the executive arm of the Central Committee is headquartered in East Jerusalem, and is under the auspices of the ICC, the Jerusalem and West Bank DSPR Area, with which Central Office shares the premises.  

Objectives and Responsibilities of the Executive Secretary Job

• Lead the Central Office and its Staff in ensuring that the Plans of Action of each of the Five Areas and Central Office are in line with the Strategic Plan 2022-2026 reviewed and adopted by all Areas and the Central Committee of the Department.
• Lead the Central Office and its Staff in following up on the Decisions and Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Department with respect to budget approvals, programmatic progress, monitoring of work and reports according to the Strategic Plan of the Department.
• Lead the Executive Directors of the Five Areas in ensuring that the work done, whether ongoing or in emergency situations, subscribes to the Mandate, Strategic Plan and Proposal Specifics submitted in concert between the Area/s and the Central Office Staff and based on the approval and guidelines of the Central Committee.
• Assess current partnerships and the status and history of these partnerships in order to maintain them and where needed to work on activating them, considering changing times and contexts of operation both for partners and for the Department.
• Assess the overall environment of faith based and civil society organizations and their work in the various areas of DSPR/MECC operations and study the networking potential with these organizations for the promotion of DSPR/MECC work.
• Develop a plan to ensure the organizational and financial sustainability of the Central Office.
• Relate to the Strategic Plans and assess the Working Agendas of Partners and Potential Partners to consolidation of ongoing partnerships and to seek new partnerships.
• Be on good working and programmatic coordination with the Central Committee and its Chair and Members
• Coordinate administrative work with the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Undertake annual reviews of the progress done on each of these objectives and prepare these reviews for presentations at the Biannual meetings of the Central Committee, the Executive Committee of MECC and for the Round Table and for related purposes of promoting the work of the Department.

Ongoing Responsibilities

• Ensure that the Central Office Staff are operating as a team of support for each of the Five Areas and that the staff fulfill their obligations as prescribed in their contracts.
• Periodic visits to the Areas together with related Central Office staff to assess needs, programmes and potential developments in the different fields of work.
• Call for planning meetings either face to face or virtual with the different staff members across the Department to learn of new developments pertaining to their work sectors and their potential for success and further development.
• Facilitating the visits of delegations of partners and others with the aim of sensitizing them to the work of the Department.
• Keep contact with the partners via email and other communication means to ensure ongoing smooth relationships and to personalize the partnership agreements into friendly ties.
• In cases where the Central Committee decides on seeking new partnerships or sources of funding or to consolidate ongoing partnerships to accompany those delegated from the Central Committee on visits to partners and potential partners.
• Plan and facilitate, together with Central Office staff, the holding of the biennial meetings of the Department and its Round Table with Partners.
• Prepare appropriate reports for the Central Committee meeting and for the Executive Committee and General Assembly meetings of the MECC.
• Other responsibilities mandated by the Central Committee of the Department on programmatic level.

Required Qualifications

• University degree preferably in fields directly related to Organizational Management and Planning or Social Development. Preferably holders of a PhD or an M.A.; B.A. holders cased shall be considered on the basis of their experience and eventual accumulated training session. Minimum five-year work with similar faith based and civil society organizations.
• Proven record of Strategic Planning, Proposal Writing, Report Submittals in Related Organizational work.
• Proven communication skills and timely interactions with colleagues and partners.
• Work experience as shown in the CV with refugees, displaced and migrants, especially Palestinian refugees.
• Knowledge of computer software and related web skills.
• Competence in handling financial and budgetary planning.
• Proficiency in Arabic, English and additional languages both spoken and written.
• Ability to work in complex organizational setting and to be a team leader under stressful conditions.
• Be assertive in the performance of the job and amicable in fostering a team spirit with Executive Directors of the five Areas and with the Central Committee.
• Manage well demands of both programmatic and administrative duties.
• Be able to take up the position in the East Jerusalem Central Office without impediments of travel or permit requirements.

Starting Date and Renumeration

• The Central Committee of the Department will forward its recommendation for hiring the selected candidate to the Secretary General of MECC for recommendation and then submittal to the Executive Committee of the MECC as per Bylaws of DSPR of January 1997.
• Date of start of employment is expected to be following the approval of the MECC Executive Committee in the later part of 2023.
• Renumeration will be determined together with all legal requirements and benefits, including vacation times, sickness leave and other employment details with the Central Committee and directly with ICC Jerusalem and West Bank Executive Director, responsible to the tax department and national insurance institutes in Jerusalem.

Mutual expectations and obligations between the MECC, as represented by the Secretary General and the Department, as represented by the Central Committee, and the chosen candidate will be spelled out in agreement and entered into the employment contract.