Program Officer

Position Title:Program Officer (Youth Capacity Building/Training) Economic Development 
Location:Gaza Office
Duration:One Year with possibility of extension.
Department:Economic Development

Mercy Corps is a non-profit, non-governmental international humanitarian and development organization, registered in the United States and Scotland with offices in more than 40 countries around the world, including the West Bank and Gaza, where the organization has been active in implementing relief and development programs for over a decade. 
Mercy Corps ‘West Bank and Gaza’ has staff based in East Jerusalem and Gaza City offices that implement programs throughout the Palestinian territories.

Mercy Corps has implemented ICT sector development programs in Palestinian Occupied Territories since 2006, with an overall goal to contribute to the expansion and development of the knowledge-based economy in Palestine. Mercy Corps will start implementing a wider economic development program which will include many sectors with focus on utilizing ICT as a business development tool. The program is implemented in the Gaza Strip, through and in cooperation with local partners that have relevant experience in education, accelerated learning, e-content development and ICT Software development.   

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
1-Develop capacity building and training work plans for youth in the field of ICT and SME and follow-up on implementation of the activities.
2-Lead the coordination of all activities with the partner business associations, education and TVET institutions.
3-Develop the technical capacity of e-learning teams to build, design and develop e-learning systems in educational institutions.
4-Assure the proper implementation of e-content program in accordance with present training needs assessment and international consultation for e-content methodologies.
5-Foster Arabic e-content development through providing training and internships for e-content development teams.
6-Ensure the quality of career promotion guide web portal, through monitoring local partner implementation for web portal development.
7-Reinforce open source systems as viable IT solutions through developing and training core group that will work on customizing available systems to best fit Arab communities’ needs.
8-Manage well-structured training and internship programs at businesses and/or educational institutions.
9-Manage career fairs and student future planning days to support the economic development through providing solid linkages between employers and students for better employability.
10-Provide SME program with well-trained teams to improve the quality of services offered by the Palestinian ICT Companies
11-Ensure all program activities are implemented in accordance with technical and budgetary requirements including compliance with Mercy Corps and donor requirements.
12-Ensure timely implementation of the programs to the high standards delivering the highest possible quality.
13-Work cooperatively with Mercy Corps staff, local community, partner NGOs and other parties.
14-Conduct regular field visits to the educational institutions, and ensure regular coordination meetings with the partners.
15-Ensure that accurate and up-to date programmatic documentation is maintained.
16-In cooperation with the Designing & monitoring evaluation department, ensure that relevant evaluation strategies are implemented in a timely and high quality manner, and that all outcomes of activities are met.
17-Issue regular reports on project implementation/ progress to the Senior Program Manager, and prepare draft reports and other project documentation required by donors. 
18-Generating verbal and written translations of pertinent project documentation as needed/required.
19-Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
20-Other duties as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY:
Whenever applicable, the Youth Capacity Building /Training Officer will be responsible for directing the works of Program Coordinators to best meet objectives.

ACCOUNTABILITY
REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Senior Program Manager- Economic Development

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Economic development team, Admin, Finance and Procurement staff, Designing & monitoring evaluation department.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
1-University degree in business administration, Economic development, business development, ICT engineering, or any related field.
2-At least 3- years’ proved experience in working with international funded projects and/or INGOs, preferably in Youth Development Programs.
3-Understanding of the social, political, and economic context of the Palestinian territories, especially in the Gaza Strip.
4-Excellent writing skills in English and Arabic.
5-High proficiency in computer, internet, and MS office literacy.

SUCCESS FACTORS:
1-Excellent communication and coordination skills.
2-Excellent planning and administration skills. 
3-Initiative, self-reliant and cooperative. 
4-Excellent time and organizational management skills.
5-Excellent ability to work under pressure and carry out multiple tasks.

Qualified persons with disability are highly encouraged to apply.

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit a one page cover letter and their CV by e-mail to”
[email protected]  no later than Saturday, January 15, 2011.
   
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
Please indicate in the email subject; Program Officer Capacity.
No application will be accepted if the email subject is not mentioned in the email subject line.
Please apply separate application for each position you are interested in.