Project Officer

Region: MENA

Scope: occupied Palestinian territory

Reports to: CDA Project Manager and SharaKa Project Manager

Location: West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory

Hours: Full-time (36 hours/4.5 days per week), Monday to Friday

Availability: As soon as possible

Application deadline: October 1st 2024

In order to be considered for this position you should be  legally able to work in the West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory.

Job context

With support from NORAD, Hivos is implementing a 5-year project called ‘Connect, Defend, Act!’. To respond to the issue of shrinking civic space and amplify civil society-led action, the “Connect, Defend, Act!” (CDA) project will support civil society actors in Colombia, Indonesia, Malawi and the occupied Palestinian territory in their efforts to defend and expand civic space through three strategic objectives:

• By promoting coalition building among diverse civil society actors, including human rights defenders, rightsholder-led civil society organizations and independent media actors, grounded in civil society-led evidence gathering and knowledge production, and facilitated by context-specific communities of action.
• By contributing to safe and inclusive digital civic spaces for sustained collaboration and action among civil society actors through localized holistic digital security capacity strengthening, knowledge production and active referral to digital protection providers.
• By increasing civil society actors’ flexibility to rapidly respond to changes in civic space through organizational capacity strengthening and the provision of strategic funding for sustainable action.

The project aims to strategically support relevant actors within civil society whose work actively contributes to civic space from the perspective of different sectors and interests, while particularly including groups who are marginalized within civil society, such as women, youth, People with Disabilities, Indigenous People and others.

Hivos is also implementing ‘SharaKa for Inclusive Climate Action’. The 3-year project aims to increase the ability of civil society and citizens in Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Palestine (oPt) to safely and meaningfully influence and co-create just inclusive, and rights-based climate actions. The project is being implemented by a consortium led by Hivos, in partnership with Internews, the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI) and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), in close collaboration with local climate CSOs and independent media outlets and actors. The project focuses on three interlinked strategic objectives:

• Empower diverse Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Natural Resources Defenders (NRDs), and media outlets and actors to influence, co-create and contribute to inclusive climate policies at national, regional and global levels.
• Enhance the capacity of media outlets and actors to provide credible, inclusive and engaging information on climate issues.
• Provide access to safety and security mechanisms, networks and coordinated alliances to CSOs, NRDs and media, enabling them to inform decision making and ensure accountability from decision-makers

Purpose of the role

The Project Officer will provide technical advice, assistance, capacity building under both Connect, Defend, Act!, and SharaKa – for Inclusive Climate Action projects and support planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting at country and regional levels.

Responsibilities

Project Coordination:

• Oversees the day-to-day implementation of both projects’ activities in the oPt in alignment with projects' goals and objectives.
• Facilitates the formation and strengthening of coalitions among diverse Civil Society Actors, including Human Rights Defenders, rights holder-led organizations, and independent media actors.
• Supports the development and implementation of digital security initiatives to enhance the safety and resilience of Civil Society Actors in online spaces.
• Provides support to Civil Society Actors in enhancing their organizational capacity, including governance structures, financial management, and strategic planning.
• Assists in the identification and allocation of strategic funding to support sustainable action by Civil Society Actors, ensuring alignment with project goals and priorities.
• Contributes to the production of evidence-based knowledge products, including research reports, policy briefs, and case studies, to inform advocacy efforts and decision-making.
• Facilitates community engagement and participation in project activities, ensuring the inclusion of marginalized groups such as women, youth, PWDs, and Indigenous People.
• Integrates gender and inclusive considerations and mainstream equality principles throughout project activities to promote inclusivity and address gender-based inequalities.
• Provides active referral and support to Civil Society Actors in accessing digital protection resources and services, including digital security tools and training.
• Conducts ongoing analysis of the socio-political context in project locations to inform strategic decision-making and adaptation of project approaches.
• Ensures project activities are implemented in a conflict-sensitive manner, taking into account the local context and dynamics to minimize potential harm and maximize positive impact.
• Facilitates periodic meetings with SharaKa oPt climate justice platform core members.
• Follow-ups with project partners’ activities and provide needed support if required.
• Conducts regular in-person and/or online meetings with partners and other stakeholders in support of monitoring project progress and risk mitigation
• Follow-ups with hired consultants and researchers

Project Planning, Reporting & Compliance:

• Ensures accurate, timely and high quality documentation of project activities, including reports, meeting minutes, and other relevant documentation.

• Supports the Project Manager with the planning and implementation of project activities including setting annual and / or periodic workplans budgets and activity schedules

• Ensures that all activities are in line with the funding agreement and comply with donor and Hivos requirements.

• Ensures that activities are well linked to the project logframe and budget for ease of reference and reporting.

• Provides support with the budgeting for activities and provide budget execution reports when required.

• Prepares terms of references and/or specifications for project requests for quotations (RFQs) and proposals (RFPs) in line with Hivos policies and processes

• Ensures compliance with organizational policies, donor regulations, and project guidelines throughout the implementation process.

Stakeholder engagement, technical assistance, advice and support to CDA and SharaKa partners:

• Identifies key stakeholders and local civil society organizations with which to engage.

• Promotes and represent the CDA and SharaKa projects with key stakeholders.

• Provides technical assistance, advice and support to stakeholders to build capacity in safeguarding and engagement.

• Supports the capacity building of Civil Society Actors through training sessions, workshops, and knowledge sharing initiatives.

• Coordinates with project partners, stakeholders, and beneficiaries to ensure smooth implementation and collaboration.

• Identifies potential risks and challenges to project implementation and work with the project team to develop mitigation strategies, in coordination with management.

• Supports SharaKa partners in the planning for and logistics of country dialogue sessions and roundtable discussions.

• Supports local organizations in occupied Palestinian territory in grant management and implementation.

• Participates in the selection of the oPt members of the Climate CSO platform

• Coordinates with key internal and external stakeholders to deliver digital safety and security trainings to partners and project participant, including rapid response networks and referral mechanisms.

Networking & CDA regional learning network support and management:

• Manages and coordinate regional network meetings and program partner learning exchanges
• Represents CDA at national, regional and international forums.
• Engages in working groups, task forces and other technical committees.

Monitoring and evaluation & learning:

• Contributes to the monitoring and evaluation of project activities, including data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Ensures that the project risk management plan is monitored and updated on a timely basis
• Maintains all project disaggregated data collated through trainings/workshops/meetings for analysis and reporting purposes
• Supports the identification of impact stories for communication products.

Other tasks:

• Collaborates with other technical units across Hivos.
• Supports fundraising efforts and other non-program related tasks as may be requested.
• Regularly attends non-project MENA and global meetings as requested.
• Other tasks as requested by line managers, and Regional Director.

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree in in political studies, development, social sciences, program management or a related discipline

• Minimum of 5 years relevant project management/coordination experience, preferable with an international or donor organization.

• At least 5 years of experience working with Civil Society Actors and knowledge of civic space issues in occupied Palestinian territory required, with experience working with Climate Justice organizations desirable

• Demonstrated capacity to interact with various stakeholders and facilitate linkages between organisations.

• Excellent interpersonal and representational skills with experience in building and maintaining effective working relationships with a range of different individuals and organisations.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English & Arabic, with strong writing ability at a project donor reporting level.

• Proven record of accomplishment in coordination and partnership building with donors, governments, development partners and civil society.

• Demonstrated understanding and knowledge of oPt cultural values and international human rights principles and standards.

• Applied knowledge of national, regional and international human rights, gender and social inclusion, and youth development frameworks and development challenges in the region.

• Willingness and able to travel if required.

• Job & behavioral skills: able to navigate cultural, political and religious sensitivities; strong team player; positive attitude; organized; takes initiative; strong interpersonal & communication skills; can work independently & collaboratively with diverse teams & partners; excellent organizational and time-management skills, handling competing priorities and meeting deadlines; trustworthy and reliable; and work requires minimal review.

What we offer

We offer a stimulating work environment in a professional international organization with very dedicated staff.  We offer a 1-year contract based on local labor conditions, with remuneration commensurate with the experience and expertise. Contract renewable depending on performance.