Project Lead EU Innovation & Entrepreneurship

About SPARK

SPARK develops higher education and entrepreneurship to empower young, ambitious people to lead their fragile and conflict-affected societies into prosperity. SPARK is a dynamic and growing, international not-for-profit development organisation with 100+ staff members, in more than 14 offices around the world. SPARK supports refugees in the Middle-East by providing them with scholarships in universities and higher education institutions in the region. SPARK also supports young entrepreneurs in fragile states, to start or grow their own businesses.

SPARK is launching a new regional programme funded by the European Commission. Aimed at strengthening the local start-up ecosystems and its actors in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Tunisia in order to support innovation, employment and economic growth.

The project lead will be responsible for overall managing and leading the programme implementation in all four countries in close coordination with country managers and SPARK’s regional team. In addition, s/he will bring together the different stakeholders including private, public and civic sector representatives as well as experts and beneficiaries to ensure effective and efficient intervention of the Programme.

The responsibilities and tasks include, but are not limited to:

• Be the main focal point for stakeholder management including maintaining relations with the donor, partners, and beneficiaries;
• Develop a project implementation plan, in coordination with the partners and SPARK’s Technical Expert Team, follow-up on the implementation, and ensure the timely completion of project activities;
• Ensure that project implementation is in accordance with SPARK and donor regulations and procedures, including oversight of procurement and financial processes and monitoring related implementation.
• Oversee project management and operations related to the activity, including budget and program planning and implementation.
• Work with technical experts and overall project team to develop Work Plans, monthly and quarterly progress reports, manage projects, set realistic priorities, and plan for the successful implementation of activities.
• Collaborate and support with technical staff and local and international experts to achieve goals and ensure completion of programs on schedule and within budget.
• Monitor project achievements and timely submission of progress reports in alignment with donor requirements and M&E templates;
• Oversee the quality of the project activities, such as the design of the training courses and their content, and ensure that the best value is being provided to the project beneficiaries, in collaboration with the partners and SPARK’s in-house experts;
• Budget management of the project;
• Closely coordinate with other project leads to facilitate synergy between the different regional projects under SPARK’s regional ‘jobs’ programme;
• Provide inputs for regional reporting and acquisition upon request;
• Ensure compliance with SPARK’s policies and procedures;
• Promote SPARK’s values;
• Other tasks as required.

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• Advanced level degree in economic development, business studies or a related discipline,
• Minimum of 7-10 years of relevant work experience in project management for international organizations, or 5 years of experience in project management combined with 3-5 years’ relevant private sector experience,
• Proven experience in successfully managing large scale regional programmes across a range of locations, including responsibilities in budget management, donor reporting and team management,
• Experience in building partnerships between private sector companies, public bodies and NGOs,
• Strong experience liaising with local governments and multi-level stakeholders on economic development issues and advocacy,
• Proven experience in managing of multi-cultural teams across various locations,
• Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills,
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic (fluency in French will be considered an asset),
• Experience with EU funded projects including a leading role in donor relations and reporting will be considered an asset,
• Private sector experience and/or experience working directly with business networks and accelerators are preferred,
• Ability and willingness to travel internationally.

SPARK Offers

• A challenging and exciting position in an international environment;
• Remuneration based on experience;
• Full-time contract 40h/per week;
• Training opportunities.

How to apply?

If you are interested, please apply with your motivation letter and your CV (both in English) on https://vacancy.spark-online.org/Tab1/LoadProfileFromVacancy/368  (Apply Button) until 13 February 2022. Please, with your application send to us three references (phone number and email) which we can contact in the selection process.

All applications will be assessed on rolling basis; interviews can, therefore, take place before the application deadline. However, due to the large volume of applications we receive, we cannot respond to every applicant. There may be a delay between the deadline and the moment we contact selected applicants.

If you have not received a reply we regret to inform that we have continued with other candidates.