Positive Youth Development Project Officer

Job Title: Positive Youth Development Project Officer
Reports to: Positive Youth Development Senior Project Officer
Department: Shared Future
Salary Grade: 7
About CRS
Catholic Relief Services 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’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.
CRS Iraq is supporting conflict-affected people to live in dignity through the provision of critical relief items, upgrades to shelter conditions and improved access to water and sanitation facilities, educational and psychosocial (PSS) support for children, and livelihoods support.
About Shared Future
Enabling Durable Solutions for a Cohesive and Diverse Kirkuk and Ninewa Plains, or by its shorter name Shared Future, is a 7.25-year project launched in June 2018. In Phase I and II, the project implemented social cohesion and livelihoods programing, to support families returning to the Ninewa Plains with durable returns, after years of displacement caused by the rise and fall of the Islamic State (IS). In Phase III, Shared Future will expand geographically into Kirkuk to support youth livelihoods. This phase of the project will also emphasize a positive youth development approach in both Ninewa and Kirkuk, engaging emerging adults and late adolescents (14-17s), to expand reach to younger youth. This approach seeks to create an environment where youth can achieve their full potential and contribute to the development of their communities and, in turn, durable solutions.
Job Summary: As a member of the Positive Youth Development team in Kirkuk governorate, the Project Officer (PO) will coordinate and deliver the provision of various educational and recreational activities and support to late adolescents and emerging adults across Kirkuk City and Hawija as part of the USAID-funded Shared Future project. Under guidance and supervision of the Positive Youth Development Senior Project Officer, the PO will work closely with youth ambassadors, field staff and other community actors to identify, select, and support project participants in reaching their full potential. The PO will engage with parents, siblings and other key stakeholders to improve youths’ enabling environment. The PO will have a detailed understanding of the local dynamics in Kirkuk and will leverage this awareness to support impactful programming. The PO will monitor and report on all positive youth development (PYD) activities in support of CRS’ work serving the poor and vulnerable and will ensure that the project consistently applies youth engagement best practices, and constantly works towards improving the impact of its benefits.
Roles and Key Responsibilities:
• Support the coordination and implementation of all assigned PYD activities in Kirkuk and Hawija as outlined in the detailed implementation plan in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practices.
• Manage the development, progress, and implementation of youth club and summer camp activities across Kirkuk governorate.
• Oversee the conducting of educational and recreational sessions and workshops with late adolescents and emerging adults from various tribal, religious, and/or ethnic backgrounds.
• Provide specialized project administrative support, prepare transactional documents related to project operations processes and facilitate the coordination of transaction processing (e.g., purchasing project materials, submission of requisition forms, advance requests, payment requests, hard copies to finance, etc.)
• Serve as focal point for day-to-day communication and coordination with schools, local community/youth club staff, youth ambassadors, parents, and other relevant PYD actors in the project locations.
• Support with reviewing, editing and translation of positive youth development curricula and resources, standard operating procedures, and other project documents, 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.
• Support accountability through coordinating project evaluation activities and assisting partners in their efforts to collect and analyze project data per specified mechanisms and tools. Collaborate with local partner staff, as needed, to support preparation of reports per established reporting schedule.
• Collect information on staff capacity needs and technical assistance needs of partners and monitor capacity building and technical support activities to ensure effective impact.
• Complete project documentation for assigned activities. Assist with identifying information for case studies and reports on promising practices.
• Provide inputs for the timely preparation of high-quality donor reports, quarterly performance indicator tracking tables, baseline and final evaluation reports, as well as other reports or communications pieces, as needed/required by the local government, donors, the region or headquarters.
• Effectively manage and coordinate the work of youth ambassadors and other field workers in project locations. Manage team dynamics and well-being within the PYD field implementation team and provide ongoing coaching and support to field staff and partners, as needed.
• Compile and manage data, perform data entry and data verification in relation to project administration processes (e.g., various contact lists, distribution data, beneficiary and key informant information, service mapping, etc.)
• Support travel and logistics arrangements for staff and visitors. Schedule and coordinate appointments. Provide logistical and communication support to event planning activities.
• Support implementation of property management processes, such as property receipt and distribution, property labeling, physical counts, etc.

Basic Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree required. Degrees in the field of International Development or Social Work will be considered an advantage.
• Minimum of 3 years of work experience with NGOs in Iraq; at least 1 year of experience working directly on youth issues.
Required Languages – Fluency in spoken and written English and Arabic is required. Knowledge of Assyrian,
Shabaki, Turkmen, or Kurdish is a plus.
Travel – The position is based in Kirkuk, with up to 60% travel to field locations, as feasible. Frequent travel for workshops and trainings in Erbil.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
• Observation, active listening and analysis skills with ability to make sound judgment
• Good relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with local partners and community members
• Attention to detail, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities
• Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented
Preferred Qualifications
• Experience in youth work, participatory action planning, and community engagement in Kirkuk City and/or Hawija.
• Experience organizing and/or facilitating activities, workshops and trainings with youth and parents.
• Experience monitoring projects and collecting relevant data preferred.
• Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• Knowledge of PSS principles, youth engagement best practices and positive youth development concepts are a plus.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
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.
• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship
Supervisory Responsibilities: Up to 3 Youth Ambassadors (part-time field workers)
Key Working Relationships:
Internal: Shared Future Project Director; Peacebuilding Program Manager; Positive Youth Development Project Manager; Positive Youth Development Senior Project Officer; Livelihoods Program Manager; MEAL Program Manager; Head of Programming; Positive Youth Development Project Officers in Ninewa and Kirkuk; Shared Future Operations staff; Procurement and Finance staff.
External: project partners; other operational partners and colleague organizations; local
government; UN agencies and relevant sector leads
***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Please submit your CV as a PDF, other formats rather than PDF will consider corrupted and will lead to a neglected application. You can apply via the link below:

https://crsiraqcareers.crs.org/job?id=215