Catholic Relief Services

Egypt

Job Description

Position Title: Project Manager

Project: Livelihood Service Initiative: Economic Self-Reliance for Refugees in Egypt

Location: Cairo

Reports to: Head of Programming
Supervisory Responsibilities: 1 Project Officer and 4 Social Counselors

Compensation Band: 3

Background

CRS/Egypt country program began in 1956 at the invitation of the Egyptian president Nasser to provide 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. Currently, CRS/Egypt focuses on refugee assistance, livelihoods, and strengthening of civil society through capacity building and interfaith action. A Management Quality unit supports the programming department in developing and maintaining the highest level of processes and outputs.

CRS is implementing a Livelihood Service Initiative (LSI) focused on refugees in Egypt that will provide support to 500 job seekers and entrepreneurs through a variety of economic services, including: individual economic assessments; training; job matching and apprenticeship; micro-finance linkages; and protection and business advice. The exact “map” of services will differ for each individual and will be established through an individual economic assessment. The LSI will provide services in a decentralized manner through outreach to refugee community-based organizations (CBOs). In 2013, the LSI will be a pilot project that should be carefully managed, studied, and documented for possible growth or scale in 2014 and beyond.

Job Summary

The Project Manager (PM)will assume responsibility for the operation of the LSI. Under the supervision and guidance of the Head of Programming(HOP) and in close cooperation with other staff working on this project, the Project Manager will be responsible for project-related planning and implementation, timely and accurate reporting to the HOP and donor, and representation to governmental and nongovernmental organizations. The Project Manager will organize and oversee the implementation of the project, providing technical support to staff and working groups. The Project Manager will work as part of the project management team led by the Head of Programming, maintaining relationships with the other program staff and fostering linkages and mutual benefit where possible. The PM will work to build a successful pilot program that can be studied and scaled-up in future years.

Specific Responsibilities

Project Management

  1. Provide strategic and technical leadership to the project team as it relates to the planning, implementation, and monitoring & evaluation of the project, with a particular emphasis on implementing the protection activities of the project and on documenting successes, challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities from this pilot initiative.
  2. Ensure that the project is managed on time, within budget, and exceeding project targets in terms of quantity and quality, in full coordination and collaboration with UNHCR and other refugee service providers.
  3. Advise management about issues affecting project implementation, or key local issues affecting future project developments, particularly as it relates to risks for the country program (financial, reputational, etc.) or the quality of services received by targeted beneficiaries.
  4. Build a strong referral network among refugee service providers, a refugee community outreach system, a training and job placement program, and a monitoring and compliant mechanism – among other systems – that can be tested, studied, and scaled.
  5. Manage contracts with service providers to ensure high-quality life skills training for the population of concern.

Personnel Management

  1. Build the capacities of and provide day-to-day supervision and coaching to at least four social counselors from the refugee community who will work within their community to assess livelihoods needs, make referrals, and monitor the services of the program.
  2. Administer the contracts of the social counselors including inspection of work, completion of services, and improvements to quality, as needed.
  3. Supervise and coach at least one Project Officer responsible for implementation of project activities in accordance with CRS’ performance management system.
  4. Ensure issues of protection are routinely by all staff and issues of concern analyzed and acted upon.

Representation & Communication

  1. Manage relationships and intensive communication efforts with relevant stakeholders in the implementation of the project, particularly with other refugee service providers and UNHCR.
  2. Participate in information sharing and transferring skills and knowledge with other CRS/Egypt staff as well as other refugee service providers or other CRS offices.
  3. Write technical reports, human interest pieces/success stories, lessons learned, and other communications materials to promote the project and illustrate the impact.
  4. Serve as a key representative of the project within CRS and externally with private businesses, trade unions, training organizations, donors, service providers, and the like.
  5. Effectively manage professional relationships with small to large scale businesses for job placement

Key Working Relationships

Supervisory: OneProject Officer (staff) and four social counselors (contractors) from the refugee community

Internal: Country Representative, Head of Programming, Chief of Party for CRS’ other livelihoods initiatives, CRS/Egypt Admin, Finance, and other Programming staff, Regional Technical Advisors.

External: Refugee service providers, UNHCR, local and international organizations, private businesses and training organizations, community leaders and other local actors.

Position Requirements and Qualifications

Professional Qualifications

  1. Minimum of five years work experience in development and/or emergency programs;
  2. Demonstrated ability to manage a team and achieve results;
  3. Previous experience working with refugees in Egypt a strong plus;
  4. Excellent writing and communication skills in both English and Arabic
  5. Strong cross-cultural skills and experience working with people from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds;
  6. Demonstrated capacities to establish and maintain strong, collaborative working relationships with donors, government officials, local organizations, communities and other stakeholders and to mediate conflict when necessary;
  7. Proven ability to multi-task and meet deadlines;
  8. Must be able to work independently and represent CRS;
  9. Proficiency in computer applications (MS Word, Excel);
  10. Able to travel within Egypt (approximately 20%).

Education

Education: B.Sc. from a reputable Faculty-University. Significant work experience in a directly related field will be considered in lieu of graduate degree. Master degree is an asset.

Personal Competencies

  • Ability to transfer knowledge and skills formally and informally to diverse audiences; desire and ability to mentor staff;
  • Demonstrated strengths in relationship management; able to work with diverse groups of people in multicultural, team-oriented environment;
  • Skilled in influencing and obtaining cooperation of individuals;
  • Able to manage relationships to achieve results;
  • Diplomacy, tact and negotiation skills;
  • Self-motivated and able to work without close supervision;
  • Able to prioritize work, multi-task, and meet deadlines;

Physical Requirements/Environment

The Project Manger is based in Cairo with a normal office environment. Travel to other parts of Egypt – particularly Alexandria – may take place once per month with occasional travel within Cairo for meetings (approximately 20%).