Project Coordinator

Background

Violence against women is not only heavily present in non-media sources, but also in media. The active portrayal of this violence on screens, including films, television talk shows, and popular programming such as drama television series, normalizes and glamorizes a culture of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). This dynamic is prevalent across the Middle East and can also be found in Lebanon.

Media is one of the main channels through which public opinion is formed; it is responsible for not only bringing attention to the issues facing women but also for influencing public opinion about these issues and more specifically VAWG. The role of media in defining and reinforcing social norms is significant in Lebanon. However, this culture and normalization of VAWG can be challenged. In Lebanon, media producers, scriptwriters and other professionals in the television and film industry are well-positioned to change the portrayal of women as empowered and resilient. Minor shifts in narratives of television programming and films’ scripts may open the door to broader changes in attitudes and perceptions, leading to an enabling environment for women to be able to discuss violence openly, better understand pathways for reporting violence, and engage an audience of millions in a social shift on public discourses on VAWG.

Project Description

Toward a Gender Equitable Society is a project that is being implemented by ABAAD – Resource Center for Gender Equality (ABAAD) as the lead organization in partnership with Search. With Search’s commitment to gender equality and to changing perceptions of VAWG, and through its role in this project, it aims to strengthen the capacity of television professionals and film students to produce programming and films that tackle the complexities of VAWG, support and normalize reporting mechanisms and reduce stigma around survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV). 

The media component of the project will provide 1) capacity building for writers and producers on Media for Social Change and 2) support to popular TV productions and film students to include nuanced storylines related to gender and violence in their media outputs. The change will be measured in relation to viewers’ perceptions of these issues. Search’s role in the project will embed sustainable capacities directly within the high-profile screenwriters and through Lebanon’s top film schools, creating a generation of media professionals who are able to ask key questions about gender and violence and produce nuanced popular narratives. 

Position Summary

Search seeks a professional, motivated, creative, and well-organised Project Coordinator. This position holder will coordinate various activities under one of Search’s flagship projects. S/he will ensure that assigned project activities are properly implemented and Search methodologies are effectively employed across activities. S/he may supervise other staff that may be assigned to them.  S/he will ensure a positive and productive team spirit and with the Project Manager and Programme Director, ensure that the staff, consultants, or affiliates under her/his supervision are qualified and meet the expectations of the organisation.

The position holder will be responsible for designing Search’s activities and implementation approach in such a way that it creates lasting change towards peace, social cohesion, mutual understanding, and contributes to changing attitudes towards violence and conflicts, and challenges stereotypes.  The Project Coordinator will ensure the quality and relevance of existing project activities and will design new high-quality and relevant activities that respond to the context. The Project Coordinator will also be involved in supporting studies, evaluations, and documenting success stories that measure the change triggered by Search’s activities. In close collaboration with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning staff, s/he will support the monitoring and evaluation activities related to the project.

The Project Coordinator is expected to support the Project Manager and Programme Director planning and facilitating team retreats, reflection meetings, and capacity building for the project team members.

The Project Coordinator must support the Project Manager in ensuring that activities are well planned and implemented in a manner that complies with Search’s start-up and close-out protocols and financial health of the project is ensured through regular costed works plans and budget versus actual analyses. The project manager must also ensure quality narrative reporting of project activities.

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

 Roles and Responsibilities

 1.   Activity Design and Implementation

• Design the project’s 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 GBV and VAWG, 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 strategy;
•  Ensure Search’s project activities are inclusive, and conflict and gender-sensitive;
• Adapt activity 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, the relevance of project activities by organising reflection and learning meetings (in close collaboration with the MEAL team);
• Closely collaborate with the MEAL team to ensure a monitoring system and monitoring and evaluation plan and system for the project;
• Participate in the design of new programs and projects to ensure that your learning from ongoing activities informs the design of new projects;
• Participate in project launch, mid-term reviews and close-out workshop; and
• Support the strategy and mission of Search in Lebanon, the region, and globally.

 2. Project Planning and Reporting

• Plan the work of the project team, including capacity building of the team, partners, and target participants;
• Ensure activities are delivered on time and with high quality;
•  Ensure activities are documented by relevant staff;
• Develop and follow project’s monthly work-plans that derive from the annual workplans;
• Develop and regularly update the project’s annual work-plan;
• Ensure that costed workplans for the project are developed and regularly updated;
• Produce activity and 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; 
• Take the lead in coordinating with finance teams to ensure BvA meetings are done.

3.  Team Management and Supervision

• Support the Project Manager in the hiring process for consultants, staff (temporary and full time) when needed, to ensure human resources meet the needs of the project;
• Supervise, guide, evaluate the team members (when hired), ensuring a high team spirit and excellent atmosphere;
• Set objectives and performance plans with your team and regularly evaluate staff performance in a collaborative and inclusive manner, providing regular and honest feedback;
• Provide technical leadership and oversight to project staff;
• Ensure the welfare of volunteers, champions, and other affiliates of the project is taken care of in line with agreements set with them;
•  Lead by example in your team 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
• Available to provide cover for other Project Managers or senior roles on an interim basis.

 4.  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 project;
• Support the Project Manager in managing the partnership agreements with youths, media practitioners, 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;
• Support the Project Manager and Programme Director in developing 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;
•  Supporting the Project Manager in ensure Search has a key role in reinforcing the partner’s capacity to deliver appropriate services (this can be removed as much has been mentioned about capacity building).

 As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.

Required Profile

 Education

• Bachelor’ degree in Gender Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Development, Political Science, International Affairs, Social Sciences or another relevant field (Master’s Degree preferred);
• Additional education or training on gender, conflict management, media for peacebuilding, communication for social change would be a strong asset.

Experience:

Essential

•  At least 3 in gender, development, peacebuilding, or humanitarian work;
• At least 1 year of experience should be at an officer or  coordinator level;
• Significant experience designing and conducting project activities;
• Experience with the use of project management tools such as Gantt 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;
• Understanding of strategic communications and the role of media and communications for peacebuilding and prevention of SGBV.

Desirable:

• Experience working in gender and conflict resolution settings;
• Experience working in a non-profit or similar environment;
• Experience in 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;
• Proficiency in written and spoken English and Arabic.

  Other Relevant Requirements

• Understand opportunities in key Lebanon communities and context and requirements for gender and peacebuilding interventions;
• Written and verbal communications skills including the ability to synthesize 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 the capacity to adapt to a multi-cultural context, and tolerance and respect to issues related to gender, religion, race, and nationality;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism and solves problems in collaborative ways.