Cooperazione Internazionale recruits 01 Programme Manager

COOPI has operated and developed humanitarian projects in South Lebanon in the year 2003-2005 and, since 2013, COOPI has been operating in Northern Lebanon to support most basic and pressing needs of Refugees and vulnerable host communities through a multi-sector and integrated approach. COOPI assists the targeted communities mainly by providing water, sanitation and hygiene assistance, shelter support, multi-purpose cash assistance and education support.

COOPI started a 24 months Solid Waste Management Project financed by EuropeAID, titled: “SWaM Akkar. Supporting Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Jurd al-Kaytee, Akkar” whose objective is to improve and to support integrated sustainable solid waste management within the Union of Municipalities of Jurd el-Kaytee in Akkar district, Nahr al-Bared river basin by:

• Introducing a Participative Waste Management Master Plan in Jurd al-Kaytee area;
• Mitigating the Municipal solid waste pollution in all the member municipalities;
• Sensitizing the Local authorities and local community on sustainable waste management and recycling.

The programme will be implemented in collaboration of several partners, including the Union of Municipalities of Jurd al-Kaytee (UMoJK), three international partners expert in the sector, the American University of Beirut (AUB) and one local partner specialized in the sector.

Role purpose

He/she is responsible for the project’s execution, in technical, economic/financial terms, in terms of resources management on field, and in terms of internal and external reporting in compliance with COOPI and the donor’s procedures. He/she ensures the expected results attainment in budget management.

As a programme manager, he/she is responsible for identifying opportunities for the organization and for developing plans to compete for these funding opportunities compliant with the Waste Management project; executing those plans, including oversight of pre-solicitation/pre-proposal activities, as well as proposal preparation and submission; and otherwise contributing to the Organization’s external representation and internal fundraising efforts as they relate to the donors. The Programme Manager also plays a key role in liaison with local authorities and other relevant stakeholders, team leadership and security.

The project has been set-up in the first months and now, with a sufficiently clear work-plan, organizational chart, and one first amendment submitted to the donor, the first year should be accompanied by the next project manager.

Responsabilities

• Activity planning and management: in cooperation with the project staff, he/she plans and monitors the activities’ progress, in compliance with the contract signed with the donor and with COOPI and the donor’s procedures.
• Administrative and financial management: in collaboration with the Project Administrator/Administrative Coordinator he/she plans all expenditures to make. He/she regularly monitors all made expenditures. He/she supervises accounting and the project cash safe/bank account management and, where there was no dedicated staff, he/she directly manages the accounting and the project cash safe/bank accounts, making use of the instruments made available by the organization (Desy). In cooperation with the Project Administrator and in coordination with the Administrative Coordinator he/she prepares the Purchases Plan. He/she ensures the organization and donor’s procedures respect when purchasing goods and services.
• Reporting: in coordination with the Head of Mission ad with the Administrative Coordinator, he/she ensures the preparation, in compliance with the deadlines, of all financial and narrative reports – interim and final – expected by the project. He/she is responsible for the preparation of all formal communication and contract modifications requests (ex. budget modification) of the projects he manages.
• Staff Management: in coordination with the Head of Mission and in compliance with the country’s rules/laws and with the COOPI’s regulation in the country, he/she selects the local staff to be employed in projects, and manages any other project’s expatriate staff. By making use of the organization’s tools he/she evaluates the local staff employed for projects and he/she participates to the evaluation of his/her own project, upon request by his/her direct supervisor. He/she coordinates and supervises the work done by all the project staff, in compliance with the organization’s security procedures. He/she is responsible for the initial and continuous training of the local staff under his/her responsibility.
• Goods management: he/she is responsible of the correct management of all goods purchased for the project, both directly and purchased by other offices/field offices. For all goods purchased by the project he/she updates the inventory, in cooperation with the Administrative Coordinator.
• Institutional relations: in relation to the project of his/her competence, he/she communicates with the donors’  officers, the local authorities which are competent in the aspects related to the project, the project’s partners  and beneficiaries, in compliance with the organization’s guidelines.
• Waste Management Programme Developing: in relation to the Waste Management programme, he/she identifies and tracks relevant upcoming funding opportunities – through advance intelligence gathering, partner relationships, and other available resources – and informs the Regional Coordinator; Represent the organization’s business development interests at relevant meetings and events; Builds the network of the NGO (donors, institutional stakeholders, coordination and other NGHOs), and enhance connections to be aware of the gaps and humanitarian coverage in country and to develop the COOPI’s programme.
• New projects’ writing: upon request by his/her direct supervisor, and cooperating with the project staff, he/she elaborates, writes and prepares all necessary documents to present new projects, in accordance with the organization’s processes and procedures.
• Building COOPI’s Network: develops and maintains relationships with relevant stakeholders (e.g. beneficiaries, community leaders, local and national government officials, donors, UN agencies and other NGOs) and represent COOPI at relevant state level meetings (e.g. state and local government, sector-coordination and security) in order to facilitate and ensure cooperation, partnerships and to be constantly aware of the context and of the possible funding opportunities.
• Coordination: coordinate the project and COOPI interventions in Lebanon with the relevant local and international actors, using the coordination tools and participating at coordination fora (Sectors groups, LHIF, donors meeting,ect) at national and regional level.

Requirements

Essentials

• Advanced degree in Civil or Environmental Engineering or related field are preferred or equivalent work experience;
• Minimum 3 years of experience in the humanitarian field as project or programme manager or in a similar position;
• Strong project management skill;
• Working experience within an insecure environment with responsibility for security planning, monitoring and management;
• Ability to organize work efficiently and deliver assignments in a timely manner often under time constraints;
• Proficiency in written and spoken English;
• Computer literacy, with high proficiency in the use of standard office software applications (e.g. Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint);
• Valid driving license.

Soft skills

• Strong analytical and practical problem-solving skills;
• Strong supervisory abilities, and demonstrated capacity of teamwork and of coordination with relevant actors;
• Very good inter-personal and writing communication skills.

Asset

• Demonstrated experience in the field and in the sector of Solid Waste Management;
• Previous experience with EuropeAID;
• Previous experience in country or in the region;
• Knowledge of Arabic.