Senior Project Officer –Higher Education 328 views0 applications

Catholic Relief Services

Europe/Middle East and Central Asia Region

JOB DESCRIPTION

Position Title: Senior Project Officer –Higher Education

Department: Higher Education

Compensation Band: Band: 8

Reports to: Education Program Manager

Country/Location: Egypt – Maadi Office

Background

The CRS Egypt country program began in 1956 at the invitation of the Egyptian president Nasser by providing relief assistance to the victims of the Suez War. Over the following few decades, CRS Egypt moved from large-scale food relief to long-term poverty alleviation and development programs. CRS Egypt works in a wide variety of areas within the development field.

Currently, CRS Egypt has three main programs: the livelihoods program, interfaith peacebuilding program and the education assistance program for refugees. Projects under these programs range from the provision of technical assistance and capacity building to partners, and promoting peace and tolerance, to educational grants for refugees, and the protection of children who are victims of trafficking. Additional programming includes Emergency Preparedness and Response projects that arise as need be. A regional Management Quality unit assists the country program support department in developing and maintaining the highest level of operations standards.

CRS Egypt currently holds a main office in Cairo, and a sub-office in Maadi.

As part of the education program, DAFI Scholarship Program aims at supporting the enrolment of refugees’ students in Egyptian universities through four-year scholarship opportunities. Accordingly, the program provides cash grant paid monthly upon enrolment and regular attendance. This grant is dedicated to cover the tuition fees, clothes allowance, and books and also to cover travelling expenses from the student’s town of normal residency to the university allowing them to study and contributing in maximizing their protection space. CRS, got awarded by the UNHCR to run the DAFI project and to be the main link between all partners and beneficiaries participating in the project (i.e. universities of concern, UNHCR, The German Embassy, the students and their parents) assuring all components of the project are being taken care of and assuring the communication between all the parties.

Job Summary:

As a lead for the Higher Education team, you will facilitate the achievement of project objectives through coordinating and reporting on all project activities and providing technical guidance and advice to staff and partners advancing Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) work serving refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt. Your coordination and relationship management skills will ensure that the project for which you are responsible applies best practices and constantly works towards improving the impact of its benefits to those we serve.

In the same way, the Higher Education Senior Project Officer will lead all the higher education project activities as community awareness meetings, scholars’ selection process, students’ case management process, cash disbursement process, data verification for cash disbursement, language programs, capacity building activities for students, and others.

Job Responsibilities:

· Organize and lead the implementation of all assigned project activities as outlined in the detailed implementation plan in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practices.

· Ensure learning properly accompanies project activities throughout the project cycle. Support accountability through coordinating project evaluation activities and guiding partners in their efforts to reflect on project experiences. Analyze implementation challenges and report any inconsistencies and/or gaps to inform adjustments to plans and implementation schedules.

· Coordinate and oversee working relationships with all local project stakeholders and serve as the liaison between them and the project team to mobilize local actors and promote project activities and impact.

· Supervise and perform ad-hoc inspections of various processes and resources at project sites to ensure timely project activities implementation and adherence to established process standards and procedures. Ensure proper tracking of resource use for project activities through periodic budget reviews and follow-up with and assistance to implementing partner.

· Support and coordinate capacity building and technical support activities to ensure assigned project activities are implemented per project guidelines and standards.

· Coordinate provision of any logistical and administrative support to staff and partners.

· Ensure project documentation for assigned activities is complete with all required documents and is filed per agency and donor requirements. Assist with preparation of trends analysis reports and documentation of case studies and promising practices

· Effectively manage talent and supervise. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching, strategically tailor individual development plans, contribute to the recruitment process of project staff, and complete performance management for direct reports.

· Support accountability through coordinating project evaluation activities and assisting project team members and partners in efforts to collect and analyze project data per specified mechanisms and tools. Collaborate with project team and local partner(s) (if applicable) to prepare reports per established reporting schedule.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Support:

· Supports compliance with agency and donor MEAL requirements

· Provides input to MEAL system design and review discussions

· Contributes to simple analyses and reflective discussions on ongoing monitoring data

· Contributes initial findings and implementation-based insights to project discussions

Typical Background, Experience & Requirements:

Education and Experience

· Bachelor’s Degree required. Degree in International Relations or in the field of Education would be a plus.

· Minimum of 4 years of work experience in project support. Experience in the field of Education and for an NGO would be a plus.

· Additional education may substitute for some experience.

· Experience in participatory action planning, community/stakeholder engagement and project implementation.

· Experience monitoring projects and collecting relevant data.

· Staff supervision experience.

· Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

Personal Skills

· Observation, active listening and analysis skills with ability to make sound judgment

· Good relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with local partners and community members

· Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities

· Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented

Required/Desired Foreign Language: Excellent command in English and Arabic.

Travel Required: Job requires travel to field (defined as outside of Cairo metropolitan area), Upper and Lower Egypt, to implement and assist partners and follow up projects (approximately 20%). More frequent travel required to sites within Cairo metropolitan area.

Key Working Relationships:

Supervisory: Case Workers – Higher Education and Field Officer – Higher Education

Internal: All education team members, Education Program Administration Team, and CRS support functions (finance, procurement, IT, HR and Admin).

External: Community Members, Ministry of Education in Egypt, donor representatives and donor Implementing Partners.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

· Trusting Relationships

· Professional Growth

· Partnership

· Accountability

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

Equal Opportunity Employer