Youth in Sport Program Officer

 

Position Title:Youth in Sport Program Officer
Position Type:     Regular Employment -full Time
Location:Gaza Office
Duration:Nine months and half
Department:Youth in Sport Program

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:
Mercy Corps (MC) is a non-profit, non-aligned, secular non-governmental (NGO) humanitarian relief 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 nearly a decade.  Mercy Corps ‘West Bank and Gaza’ has staff based in East Jerusalem, Ramallah and Gaza City offices that implement programs throughout the Palestinian territories.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:
Mercy Corps has implemented sport programs in Gaza since 2009 with funding from a range of donors. Mercy Corps new youth in sport program, an integral part of the broader Palestinian Community Assistance Program funded by USAID, Mercy Corps youth in sports program, aims to improve mental, social and physical development of adolescents (12-18 yrs. old) and Youth with Disability (YWD) through engaging them in psycho-social sport-based activities that build their life skills. Also, YIS enhances the capacities of local CBOs/SCs to implement youth development programs.

The Program Officer will work directly with the Program Manager to ensure timely coordination between community organizations and other local stakeholder groups for effective implementation of the program and to perform the essential job functions including all necessary actions of supervisory responsibilities.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
-Developing YIS activities’ work plans, and follows up implementation of ongoing project activities.
-Responsible for updating projects’ records including plans, success stories, participants’ session records, filling system, activities’ terms of reference, and reports.
-Ensure and maintain proper procurement documentation and standard forms preparation for program activities.
-Ensure all program activities are implemented in accordance with technical and budgetary requirements including compliance with Mercy Corps and USAID requirements.
-Assure high quality and professional implementation of Moving Forward sessions in the Local CBOs according to the Moving Forward standards.
-Responsible for maintaining a professional working environment, effective and cooperative partnerships between MC team and CBOs partners.
-Leads coordination of all activities with the partner sports clubs and youth-oriented CBOs.
-Lead the selection of sports clubs and youth-oriented CBOs to participate in the project.
-Overview and assure beneficiaries selection process for YIS activities
-Identifies, in coordination with the sports clubs and CBOs, relevant sports activities in the Gaza Strip.
-Ensure sports events and tournaments are organized in coordination with sports clubs and CBOs in a high quality manner ensuring work plans and timelines are followed. 
-Works with sport clubs and CBOs to select youth in Gaza to be trained in Mercy Corps Gaza-specific curriculum to teach life, cooperation and conflict management skills.
-Assist in the development of a Gaza-specific curriculum for use by the sports clubs and CBOs, drawing from the Moving Forward curriculum which uses participatory sport-based methodologies to teach life, cooperation, and team building.
-Regularly conducts field visits to the project sites to monitor ongoing work as well as performance of Mercy Corps staff, and CBOs staff as required.
-Coordinates and manages Project Coordinators and provides any necessary administrative or programmatic support to the team.
-Generate verbal and written translations of pertinent project documentation as needed/required.
-Participates in relevant (external and internal) project evaluations and/or needs assessments.
-In cooperation with Mercy Corps’ Designing & monitoring evaluation department, ensure using appropriate evaluation and monitoring tools for YIS activities.
-Responsible for ensuring proper conducting and collection of baseline date as well as end line data collection in line with the established evaluation strategy.
-Regularly reports on project implementation/ progress to Program Manager.
-Liaises and coordinates with other Mercy Corps departments as needed.
-Performance of work beyond normal office hours as required, without additional compensation.
-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.
-Any other duties as required by the Program Manager or Program Director.


SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY:
The Program Officer is responsible for directing the works of the Project Coordinators.

ACCOUNTABILITY
REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Program Manager
WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: YIS Program staff, Other Program Officers, Program Director, Human Resources, Logistics, Finance, Procurement, Compliance, DM&E department, as well as staff in other programs as needed.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
-University degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Project Management, or other relevant technical field
-At least 3 years’ experience working in the NGO sector in the Palestinian territories
-Strong understanding of the social, political, and economic context of Palestinian territories and specifically the Gaza strip
-Demonstrated experience of planning, information management, or similar organizational knowledge.
-Excellent administration and communications skills.
-Excellent writing skills in English and Arabic.
-Strong initiative, self-reliance and cooperative
-Proficiency in MS Office

SUCCESS FACTORS:
-Excellent communication and coordination skills, with strong personality.
-Excellent planning and administration skills.
-Initiative, self-reliant and cooperative.
-Excellent time and organizational management skills.
-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

no later than Thursday, May 31, 2012.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Please indicate in the email subject; Youth in Sport Program Officer.
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.