We Lead – Project Officer

Region: MENA

Office: Beirut, Lebanon OR Amman, Jordan

Hours: 36

Application deadline: July 20, 2021

Period: 2021- 2025, starting with one-year contract.

State Date: ASAP

JOB CONTEXT

We Lead is a new, inspiring, innovative and far-reaching program aiming to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRH-R) of young women from four specific groups: that live with HIV, that have a disability, that identify as lesbian, bisexual, trans or intersex, and that are affected by displacement. The program truly puts these young women rightsholders in the driving seat, while supporting them to impactful and sustainably advocate for their SRH-R.

The program will be implemented in nine countries in Africa, the Middle East and Central America. The We Lead consortium consists of six civil society organizations (Positive Vibes, Restless Development, Marsa, FEMNET, the Central American Women’s Fund, Hivos). The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also part of the partnership. Hivos is the lead party.

The We Lead program supports young women’s’ groups and organizations. We connect these rightsholders with one another in local Communities of Action (CoAs) and support and coach them, so that they are better able to advocate for, claim, protect, and promote their SRH-R. For a start, they will localise the overarching We Lead Theory of Change. A local CoA-facilitator will guide the CoAs. We Lead supports with funding (through an innovative participatory grantmaking mechanism) and capacity strengthening and coaching initiatives.

The program started on January 1st, 2021. The five-year program is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under the SRHR Partnership Fund, and has a budget of EUR 40, 7 million.

Main goal of the job

The project officer (PO) supports the setting up and functioning of the CoAs, as well as the development, approval and implementation of organisational level and joint project proposals, and ensures these processes are developed in line with agreed procedures. She/he/they ensures contracts with local organizations are signed and checks on progress and deliverables.

She/he/they is responsible for upholding We Lead values and principles and translating them into practice. The PO coordinates the delivery of sound country level narrative plans and reports, that visualise activities and results of local organizations, joint CoA-activities and Hivos. These contribute to the overarching We Lead plans and reports. In doing so, s/he/they will closely work together with the Hivos program manager, finance officer, program assistant, the DMEL officer, linking and learning specialist, as well as with the CoA facilitator, amongst others.

She/he/they participates in the regional team and plays an active role in coordinating activities in the field of capacity strengthening, lobby and advocacy, learning, etc. with consortium partners and local organizations, as well as with the relevant Hivos staff. Next to that, the PO will share progress and results of the program to both the global program management team as well as Hivos colleagues in other countries and global office, in addition to key regional colleagues. She/he/they is also responsible for the preparation of stories and content for website, media and other channels and the organization of internal and external events. The PO will assist the Design, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (DMEL) officer in outcome harvesting, narrative assessment and other reporting needed. At the regional hub level, s/he/they will also work with the regional director, finance manager, and to support fundraising efforts, business development managers, amongst others.

RESPONSIBILITIES

RESULT AREASRESULT DESCRIPTION

Program designo   Supports the CoAs in developing their localized ToC, plans and (in coordination with the financial officer) budget, in line with guidelines

o   Supports and guides local organizations in the development of their individual or joint plans and proposals for SRH-R lobby and advocacy, and including activities on capacity strengthening.

o    Contributes to the development of Hivos’ overarching We Lead planning, and particularly to the design of innovative elements of the program, in particular the functioning of the CoAs, as well as the design of a participatory grantmaking mechanism.

Implementation of work planso   Realizes successful implementation in accordance with the specific goals, working methods and budgets of the projects.

o   Supports and guides local organizations in the development of their individual or joint plans and proposals.

o   Participates in participatory grantmaking mechanisms.

o   Ensures contracts with local organizations and host organizations are established.

o    Coordinates with CoAs, with consortium members and with Hivos’ staff around capacity strengthening and advocacy activities.

o   Ensures Hivos’ own activities are implemented according to plan.

Monitoring & controlo   Monitors progress towards established goals in CoAs, and in the organizational level or joint project plans, and flags in the Hivos overarching management team when problems arise.

o   Relates progress to the overarching We Lead plans.

Coordination and collaborationo   Throughout the process of project design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, the PO plays a proactive role in coordinating with the CoA facilitator, with the organizations that participate in the CoA, with the host organization, with consortium members and with the regional and global Hivos team.

o   Actively contributes to and supports activities at the national and regional level, such as research, advocacy campaigns, learning events, etc.

Sharing, learning, and quality improvemento   Identifies, analyses and highlights success and good practices, as well as potential risks and problems.

o   Proposes solutions for identified problems and follows-up on those.

o   Contributes to identifying and sharing positive stories.

o   Collaborates with the CoAs, the consortium members, and Hivos’ capacity strengthening officer, in the design and realization of exchange and learning events.

o   Contributes to reflection and learning on both the national and regional level, as well as on the wider programmatic level.

REQUIREMENTS

This is a senior position for nationals or residents of the concerned country:

Relevant degree, and academic level of working and thinking.

Minimum of four to five years of relevant working experience.

Work experience in working with civil society, in project design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and working in international teams.

Expertise in working on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRH-R) or with one or several of the rightsholder groups.

Keen on ensuring ownership by local organizations, and in finding innovative and creative solutions to realize goals.

Work experience in an international environment, working with diverse groups of people.

Able to work in complex organizational structures with regional and program teams

Flexible attitude, creative, supports Hivos’ and We Leads values, has a progressive and positive view on SRH-R and the leadership of rightsholders.

Demonstrates high level of professionalism, entrepreneurial and result oriented, flexible, well-organized, reliable, independent, decisive and strong team player with excellent communication and social interaction skills.

Sense of humor, brings good energy and positive vibes, & dynamic to the team

Excellent verbal and writing skills in Arabic and English. Candidates who are not fully fluent in Arabic will not be considered

We particularly welcome applications of young women and/or persons that belongs to one or the rightsholder groups.  

https://hivos.org/vacancy/we-lead-project-officer/