Partner Engagement Officer

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS has been present in Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza (JWBG) since 1961 and currently supports programs in the sectors of humanitarian relief, livelihoods, civil society strengthening, and social justice promotion through its field offices in Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank. For further information about CRS, please visit: www.crs.org.

CRS is implementing a large-scale, multi-year project designed to strengthen civil society organizations (CSOs) in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The project will support CSOs to (a) strengthen transparency, accountability, responsiveness, and internal systems and processes, (b) increase inclusion and participation of vulnerable groups, and (c) implement projects that address social and economic development needs and encourage greater civic participation. This highly-skilled team is committed to inclusion and participation and brings a depth of experience in accompaniment and capacity building of CSOs.

Job Summary:

The Partner Engagement Officers will support implementation of the project’s rigorous capacity strengthening project activities with participating CSOs in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Your understanding of civil society, relational and service-oriented approach, and understanding of capacity strengthening will ensure that the project consistently applies best practices and constantly working towards improving the impact of the project’s benefits, especially among vulnerable groups.

جميع الحقوق محفوظة لموقع جوبس.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Coordinate, implement, and monitor project capacity strengthening activities with CSOs in your geographical region as outlined in the detailed implementation plan in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practices.
• Collect information on capacity strengthening needs and technical assistance needs of CSOs, undertaking desk review, key informant interviews, and focus groups.
• Facilitate participatory CSO capacity assessments of finance and operations systems, human resources, program quality (e.g., accountability, MEL), and inclusivity (e.g., gender and disability considerations) and collaborate with CSO to define their capacity strengthening priorities and plans. Provide corresponding institutional strengthening, capacity building and/or accompaniment to these CSOs.
• Coordinate project linkages among participating CSOs with a focus on areas such as disability inclusion, gender analysis, approaches to sustainability, and accountability best practices; identify opportunities for cross-learning among CSOs and networking.
• Use CRS tools and resources to support CSOs with project design and business development skills, key inclusion considerations, such as participatory assessments, MEAL, Feedback and Complaints Response Mechanisms, and consultative project start-up. Backstop trainings as needed.
• Monitor and report any challenges and/or gaps identified to inform adjustments to plans and implementation schedules. Assist partners in their efforts to reflect on project experiences.
• Complete project documentation for assigned activities and prepare reports per established reporting schedule. Assist with identifying information for case studies and reports on promising practices.
• Ensure CRS Safeguarding Policy & Code of Conduct and Ethics is translated to all capacity strengthening activities, project beneficiaries, and relevant community members, including mechanisms to safely make report or provide feedback; ensure compliance with this policy and immediately notify supervisor of any concerns.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Minimum of 4 years of related work experience required, including some experience with an NGO working on related themes.
• Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) required.

Required Languages – English and Arabic fluency required.

Travel Required: regular travel within Jerusalem and the West Bank required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Observation, active listening and analysis skills with ability to make sound judgment
• Excellent relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with local partners and community members

• Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities
• Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with participation and inclusion programming strongly preferred.
• Experience leading or co-leading trainings and workshops preferred.
• Experience monitoring projects and collecting relevant data preferred.
• Demonstrated community engagement skills, and experience in partner capacity strengthening would be a plus.
• Experience with ICT4D (e.g. CommCare and PowerBI) a plus.

Agency Redi Competencies (for all CRS Staff)

Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes for all staff. When demonstrated, they create

an engaging workplace, help staff achieve their best, and help CRS achieve agency goals. These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
• Acts with Integrity - Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission. Is considered honest.
•  Builds and Maintains Trust - Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.

Agency Leadership Competencies:

• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.

• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities

APPLICATION INSTUCTIONS: I Interested candidates with relevant education and work experience are invited to complete an application which addresses the positions requirements. In order to be considered for the position, candidates must submit both a CV and a cover letter, in English. Applications which fail to meet these requirements will not be considered. Applications must be submitted online at http://jobs.crsjwbg.org and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. This posting will remain open until filled, however, submission by June 1, 2023 is strongly advised.