Freelance Program Coordinator

Position Title : Freelance Program Coordinator
Position Type : Regular Employment -Full Time
Location : Gaza Office
Duration : One Year
Department : Program

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: -

Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG) is Gaza’s leading co-working space, tech education hub, and startup accelerator, run by Mercy Corps, a nonprofit international relief and development organization with programs in the occupied Palestinian territories since the 1980s. Mercy Corps founded GSG in partnership with Google.org in 2011. We bring together online freelancers, outsourcers, and startup founders together under one roof to share ideas, best practices, code, and build brighter futures through the power of the internet. Gaza Sky Geeks’ overarching goal is to build an internationally competitive technology ecosystem in Gaza through online freelancing, outsourcing, and startups.
Beginning in 2017, GSG will be launching new programming to support outsourcing/freelancing/distance work opportunities for skilled but unemployed Gazans. Mercy Corps has recently received funding from the Coca Cola Foundation and National Beverage Company to advance this work through GSG. The program, titled Empowering Sustainable Communities in Gaza Strip will create sustainable access to clean drinking water in Maghazi Camp and support linking unemployed Gazans to income generating opportunities through online freelancing.
The objective of this program is to create income and jobs for youth through online freelancing in areas such as software development, graphic design, translation, and other skilled work serving clients abroad. The program is comprised of ‘training of trainers’ sessions; development of undergraduate freelance curriculum for university professors; freelancing ecosystem mapping; facilitating and/or leading technical trainings; providing mentoring to cohorts of freelancers in 10 week cycles; upgrading an online education portal called the Freelancers Online Academy; organizing freelancing boot camps.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY: -

Through Mercy Corps, Gaza Sky Geeks will hire a Freelance Program Coordinator to successfully implement the online freelancing education and mentorship activities funded by Coca-Cola funded and other matching donors, as described above. This individual will work under the guidance of Mercy Corps’ ICT Program Manager in Gaza and in consultation with a multi-disciplinary GSG team, including frequent consultation with GSG’s Program Director. A successful project coordinator will work effectively and expediently with a diverse group of team members within Mercy Corps and GSG, as well as with external partners, consultants, freelance mentors and program participants. He or she will be responsible for execution of program activities, program outreach, and program outcomes. This role will reside within the Gaza Sky Geeks program structure and be identified as Gaza Sky Geeks personnel, and accordingly must represent him or herself according to GSG’s professional standards and guidelines.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: -

- Contribute significantly in the design and implementation of assessments and interventions of the Mercy Corps / GSG freelancing program.
- Support program manager in the implementation, supervision, monitoring, communication, coordination, evaluation, documentation and logistics of the various activities that comprise the freelancing program assuring high quality of delivery.
- Develop and maintain effective relationships and lines of communication with relevant external stakeholders; liaise and coordinate activities closely with relevant GSG and MC team members.
- Supervise and mentor at least one group of freelancers per freelance mentorship cohort of the project.
- Manage coordination meetings with partners, mentors and trainers, sub-grantees, contractors, beneficiaries or any relevant institutions or individuals.
- Contribute to project planning and to deliver on project goals on-time and on-budget;
- Create and maintain project documentation throughout the project lifecycle, through maintaining complete and current activity archives (paper and electronic) in accordance with the Mercy Corps requirements.
- Create and maintain the project beneficiaries backup database and work closely with the program manager, Sr. MEL officer and relevant GSG team members to develop and maintain structured mechanism for freelancers career progression and performance follow-up
- Contribute to the development and refinement of the freelancing curriculum throughout the life of the project.
- Manage community outreach and networking events in coordination with the project manager, GSG, and MC teams
- Coordinate regular mentor meetings, networking, and training schedules
- Support donor reporting activities through data collection and precise follow-up on project implementation progress
- Ensure that all work is carried out in full compliance with the policies of Mercy Corps and GSG, and the donor.
- In accordance with a monitoring plan, carry out and fully document program activities, data gathering, and verification of attendance, and related tasks.
- Prepare Purchase Requests (PRs) and other contracts management / payments documents. Verify documentation required for contracts management and payments.
- Support the program manager in the setting up the project promotion and PR strategy
- Gather reporting information, including photographs of activities, photos and photo consent forms, and success stories for promotions. Support in dissemination of information, materials and other productions related to the project
- Participate fully in professional development, and conduct yourself in a manner which brings credit to Gaza Sky Geeks as a member of the Palestinian private sector and Mercy Corps and its humanitarian and developmental mission.
- Other duties as assigned. Work beyond office hours may be required, without additional compensation.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: Freelancing Mentors, Volunteers and Interns.

ACCOUNTABILITY: -

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Online Freelancing Program Manager
WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: GSG team, liaison with MEL, and relevant MC and GSG senior management.

QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

- University degree in ICT, engineering, graphic design or any other related field, with a demonstrated record of interest and contemporary knowledge in his/her field.
- At least 2 years of proven work experience as a successful online freelancer on a major online freelancing platform in which work is conducted in English. Profiles will be evaluated online.
- At least 1 year of work experience as online freelance mentor for new freelancers.
- Strong understanding of the social, political, and economic context of the Gaza Strip.
- Excellent writing skills in both English and Arabic.
- Proficiency in MS Office, Slack, Google products (Drive, Sheets, Docs). GSG does not use email internally. We use Slack.
- Willingness to work outside of normal business hours as required;

SUCCESS FACTORS:

- Ability to work in a flat, fast paced environment with others who are passionate about supporting Gaza’s technology ecosystem
- Comfort with uncertainty and change—GSG is a small program but growing rapidly. Just like our program, we seek staff who are adaptable and pitch in on what needs to be done.
- Strong listening abilities in order to understand the needs of Gaza’s freelancing community and GSG’s tech community
- Superb attention to detail
- Positive attitude and passion for your work
- Proactive, get-stuff-done mentality that always prioritizes outcomes, not just inputs
- Excellent written and oral communication skills;
- Strong interpersonal, conflict resolution and negotiation skills;
- Excellent time and organizational management skills;
- Up to date knowledge of technical and industry developments.
- Excellent ability to work under pressure and carry out multiple tasks simultaneously.

Interested candidates are encouraged to:

- Complete the online application on the following link
 

Online Application

- Following the completion of the above online application submit your CV to the following email address :
 

[email protected]
 

- Please complete your application and submit your CV no later than Thursday, 23 February 2017
- Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

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