Project Assistant

Location: Beirut, Lebanon

Hours per week:  36 hours per week (4.5 days)

Start date: ASAP

Reporting to: Regional Director, MENA

Deadline: 2 April 2024

ABOUT HIVOS 

Hivos is an international development organization guided by humanist values. Together with citizens and their organizations, we aim to contribute towards just, inclusive and life sustaining societies where people have equal access to opportunities, rights and resources. We work in partnership with others in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America on three impact areas: Civic Rights in a Digital Age; Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Climate Justice. Our approach is solution driven, and we build wider movements for change by amplifying and connecting voices.

In the MENA region, Hivos’ largest portfolio falls under the climate justice impact area.   For more information about Hivos’ strategy and impact areas, refer to the following link: https://hivos.org/document/strategic-compass-2021-2024-concise-version/

Main goal of the position

The Project Assistant (PA) has a wide array of tasks involved with assisting program and finance teams that can include the provision of financial-administrative support, logistics support to events and meetings, procurement, maintenance of project files (both hard and soft copy), office management, note-taking, etc. The PA is expected to be committed to the values and principles defined by Hivos.

Program Administrative Support

• Enters Information: in charge of entering program-related financial and other data and processing it into standard systems.
• Monitors reporting schedules and requirements, contract end dates, etc.
• Manages the documentation (financial, administrative and technical), archiving and distribution of documents in the nextcloud platform, as well as the follow-up on the updates of the subprojects and respective documentation in the Hivos project management system (All Solutions).
• The PA provides administrative support as needed in implementation, monitoring and evaluation, in collaboration with the rest of the team and shares possible synergies.
• Create and modify documents e.g. invoices, reports, memos, letters etc. using word processing, spreadsheet, database and/or other presentation using Microsoft Office.
• Assist in preparation and dissemination of contracts for partners and consultants created on Hivos program management system (All Solutions).
• Collect & compile data for consideration and presentation
• Provide administrative support to teams in regards to grants program monitoring, evaluation and learning.
• Ensures before processing of project payments, all necessary deliverables with supporting documentation have been provided and filed.
• Working closely with the Program/Project Managers and responsible technical leads to organize overall team meetings such as staff meetings, annual planning and reflection meetings, annual team building, events, etc.
• Ensure timely external communication and support in relationships with partner, consultants or external facilitators, providing expertise to the program.
• Manages the office cleaner.

Office Finance Administration & Operations

• Manages Lebanon office petty cash, collects and uploads supporting documentation in line with petty cash rules, with guidance from the Regional Finance Manager (RFM).
• Has the FIN I function on AllSolutions to enter correct financial data related to expenses incurred, with guidance from the Regional Finance Manager.
• Ensure office-related payments are made on time, including any tax-related payments via bank or post office.
• Liaise closely with RFM to ensure legal and financial compliance with the necessary local regulations and undertake necessary tasks as requested.
• Maintains logistical and administrative activities and corresponding systems for internal and external communication, & fulfills information requirements.
• Performs a variety of logistics tasks such as organising travel (flight, hotel, etc), including pick- up and drop-off from and to airport for visitors.
• Coordinates with Regional Director to organize and keeps track of meetings (minutes and tracking of agreed action items), maintains department agenda and planning, and organises periodic and one-off events & meetings.
• Monitors, & manage and improve the efficiency of support services such as IT via an external consultant

Procurement Support

• Leads or supports in procuring of goods & services in Lebanon, and in line with our procurement procedures, and ensures proper documentation is collected and filed.
• Any other duties as assigned by the Regional Director.

REQUIREMENTS

This is a local position for legal residents of Lebanon:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a relevant field, such as administration, accounting, etc.
• At least 4 years of administrative and logistics experience, preferably with an international organization and non-profit entity.
• Experience in donor, program & legal compliance.
• Verbal and written fluency in English & Arabic.
• Strong advantage: experience in the wider MENA region
• Mandatory behavior skills: open & transparent; high integrity; collaborative, positive attitude, team player.
• Mandatory job skills: highly structured and organized; multi-tasker; able to meet deadlines; ability to prioritize competing priorities; strong communication; flexible; ability to manage heavy workload and stress, relationship building and negotiation.
• Legally have the right to work in Lebanon without any support from Hivos (at the time of application deadline).

Hivos reserves the right to close the position before the application deadline if a suitable candidate is identified. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply as early as possible.