Project Officer – Connect, Defend, Act!

Region: West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory

Office: Work from home

Hours: Part-time – 20 hours per week

Application deadline: June 2, 2024

Job context

With support from NORAD, Hivos is implementing a 5-year project called ‘Connect, Defend, Act!’. To respond to the issue of shrinking civic space and amplify civil society-led action, the “Connect, Defend, Act!” (CDA) project will support civil society actors in Colombia, Indonesia, Malawi and the occupied Palestinian territory in their efforts to defend and expand civic space through three strategic objectives:

• By promoting coalition building among diverse civil society actors, including human rights defenders, rightsholder-led civil society organizations and independent media actors, grounded in civil society-led evidence gathering and knowledge production, and facilitated by context-specific communities of action.
• By contributing to safe and inclusive digital civic spaces for sustained collaboration and action among civil society actors through localized holistic digital security capacity strengthening, knowledge production and active referral to digital protection providers.
• By increasing civil society actors’ flexibility to rapidly respond to changes in civic space through organizational capacity strengthening and the provision of strategic funding for sustainable action.

The project aims to strategically support relevant actors within civil society whose work actively contributes to civic space from the perspective of different sectors and interests, while particularly including groups who are marginalized within civil society, such as women, youth, People with Disabilities, Indigenous People and others.

• Region: MENA
• Scope: occupied Palestinian territory
• Reports to: Project Manager, dotted line to MENA Regional Director
• Location: West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory
• Hours: Part-time (20 hours per week from 9 am – 5 pm range: 2.5 days or preferably, 5 hours per day from Monday to Thursday), from Jan 2026 – fulltime.
• Work modality: work from home
• Availability: As soon as possible
• Application deadline: 2 June 2024

Purpose of the role

The Project Officer will provide technical advice, assistance and capacity building under the Connect, Defend, Act! Project and support planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting at country and regional level.

Responsibilities

The key responsibilities of the role include:

Project coordination:

• Oversee the day-to-day implementation of project activities in alignment with project goals and objectives.
• Facilitate the formation and strengthening of coalitions among diverse Civil Society Actors, including Human Rights Defenders, rights holder-led organizations, and independent media actors.
• Support the development and implementation of digital security initiatives to enhance the safety and resilience of Civil Society Actors in online spaces.
• Provide support to Civil Society Actors in enhancing their organizational capacity, including governance structures, financial management, and strategic planning.
• Assist in the identification and allocation of strategic funding to support sustainable action by Civil Society Actors, ensuring alignment with project goals and priorities.
• Contribute to the production of evidence-based knowledge products, including research reports, policy briefs, and case studies, to inform advocacy efforts and decision-making.
• Facilitate community engagement and participation in project activities, ensuring the inclusion of marginalized groups such as women, youth, PWDs, and Indigenous People.
• Provide active referral and support to Civil Society Actors in accessing digital protection resources and services, including digital security tools and training.
• Conduct ongoing analysis of the socio-political context in project locations to inform strategic decision-making and adaptation of project approaches.
• Ensure project activities are implemented in a conflict-sensitive manner, taking into account the local context and dynamics to minimize potential harm and maximize positive impact.
• Integrate gender and inclusive considerations and mainstream equality principles throughout project activities to promote inclusivity and address gender-based inequalities. Provide specialist technical assistance and advice to support the development and implementation of the Connect, Defend, Act! Project.
• Ensure all reports are of high quality and completed in a timely manner.
• Support the Project Manager with the planning and implementation of project activities including setting annual and / or periodic workplans budgets and activity schedules
• Ensure that all activities are in line with the funding agreement and comply with donor and Hivos requirements.
• Ensure that activities are well linked to the project log frame and budget for ease of reference and reporting.
• Provide support with the budgeting for activities and provide budget execution reports when required.
• Prepare terms of references and/or specifications for project requests for quotations (RFQs) and proposals (RFPs) in line with Hivos policies and processes
• Ensure compliance with organizational policies, donor regulations, and project guidelines throughout the implementation process.

Stakeholder engagement, technical assistance, advice and support to CDA partners:

• Identify key stakeholders and local civil society organizations with which to engage.
• Promote and represent the CDA project with key stakeholders.
• Provide technical assistance, advice and support to stakeholders to build capacity in safeguarding and engagement.
• Support the capacity building of Civil Society Actors through training sessions, workshops, and knowledge sharing initiatives.
• Coordinate with project partners, stakeholders, and beneficiaries to ensure smooth implementation and collaboration.
• Identify potential risks and challenges to project implementation and work with the project team to develop mitigation strategies, in coordination with management.

Networking & CDA regional learning network support and management:

• Manage and coordinate regional network meetings and program partner learning exchanges
• Represent CDA at national, regional and international forums.
• Engage in working groups, task forces and other technical committees.

Monitoring and evaluation, learning and support:

• Ensure accurate and timely documentation of project activities, including reports, meeting minutes, and other relevant documentation.
• Contribute to the monitoring and evaluation of project activities, including data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Ensure that the project risk management plan is monitored and updated on a timely basis
• Maintain all project disaggregated data collated through trainings/workshops/meetings for analysis and reporting purposes
• Support the identification of impact stories for communication products.

Other tasks:

• Collaborate with other technical units across Hivos.
• Supports fundraising efforts and other non-program related tasks as may be requested.
• Regularly attend non-project MENA and global meetings as requested.
• Other tasks as requested by Project Manager and Regional Director.

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree in in political studies, development, social sciences, program management or a related discipline
• Minimum of 5 years relevant project management/coordination experience, preferable with an international or donor organization.
• At least 5 years of experience working with Civil Society Actors and knowledge of civic space issues in occupied Palestinian territory
• Demonstrated capacity to interact with various stakeholders and facilitate linkages between organisations.
• Excellent interpersonal and representational skills with experience in building and maintaining effective working relationships with a range of different individuals and organisations.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English & Arabic, with strong writing ability at a project donor reporting level.
• Proven record of accomplishment in coordination and partnership building with donors, governments, development partners and civil society.
• Demonstrated understanding and knowledge of oPt cultural values and international human rights principles and standards.
• Applied knowledge of national, regional and international human rights, gender and social inclusion, and youth development frameworks and development challenges in the region.
• Willingness and able to travel if required.
• Job & behavioral skills: able to navigate cultural, political and religious sensitivities; strong team player; positive attitude; organized; takes initiative; strong interpersonal & communication skills; can work independently & collaboratively with diverse teams & partners; excellent organizational and time-management skills, handling competing priorities and meeting deadlines; trustworthy and reliable; and work requires minimal review.

What we offer

We offer a stimulating work environment in a professional international organization with very dedicated staff. We offer a 1-year contract based on local labor conditions, with remuneration commensurate with the experience and expertise. Contract renewable depending on performance.