About ACTED
Acted is committed to immediate humanitarian relief to support those in urgent need and protect people’s dignity, while co-creating longer term opportunities for sustainable growth and fulfilling people’s potential. Acted endeavours to respond to humanitarian crises and build resilience; promote inclusive and sustainable growth; co-construct effective governance and support the building of civil society worldwide by investing in people and their potential. The commitment of ACTED and that if our teams is guided by 4 core values: (1) Responsibility: we ensure the efficient and responsible delivery of humanitarian aid with the means and the resources that have been entrusted to us. (2) Impact: we are committed to having the most sustainable impact for the communities and the people with whom we engage. (3) Enterprising spirit: we are enterprising and engage in our work with a spirit that creates value and overcomes challenges. (4) Inspiration: we strive to inspire all those around us through our vision, values, approaches, choices, practice, actions, and advocacy.
Greening strategy:
Acted’s greening strategy aims to tackle environmental degradation and climate change while meeting the needs of the most vulnerable who are often those most affected by the deepening environmental crisis. Each Acted employee will adhere to these principles through key green programming responsibilities:
- Contribute towards the adherence and development of the greening strategy plan.
- Explore innovative green programming opportunities and/or solutions within your realm of responsibilities and roles.
- Encouraging and promoting environmental safeguarding processes and environmental programming standards in accordance with SOPs and technical guideline notes
Acted PSEAH Policy:
The Project Development Officer has the responsibility to adhere to the PSEAH Policy (Protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment). And has the obligation to complete all mandatory trainings related to the Code of Conduct and the PSEA policy and report any safeguarding concern such as breaches of organisational policies or codes of conduct according to Acted’s procedures. The Project Development Officer carries out work duties in a way that does not harm children, vulnerable adults or other staff or volunteers.
Location: Damascus – Syria
Start Date: ASAP
Duration Of the Contract: 6 Months – Renewable
Job Purpose:
The Project Development Officer (PDO) contributes to the development of project proposals in line with Acted’s global and in-country programme strategy, and ensures proper grant management, incl. timely reporting of Acted’s and partners’ project achievements to donors. In doing so, the PDO facilitates internal communication and coordination with relevant departments and partners, whilst also contributing to Acted’s external communication strategy.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Contribute to the funding of Acted’s programming strategy.
2. Ensure good donor relations through proper, qualitative and timely grant management.
3. Facilitate internal coordination and communication with partners.
4. Raise Acted’s profile and credibility with external stakeholders by communicating a positive image of Acted’s activities and engagements in the country.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES :
1. Fundraising
1.1 Context Analysis
a) Analyse the country’s socio-economic situation, (donor) trends, needs and gaps.
b) Regularly conduct stakeholder analysis, in particular who does what and where (3W).
1.2 Fundraising and proposal development
a) Identify funding opportunities.
b) Contribute to the identification of potential relevant international and/or local partners (private sector partners, national and international NGOs, think tanks, academia, etc.) to be included in proposals.
c) Liaise with MEAL to contribute to the ToRs of assessments to be conducted for proposal development and to request their input in the log frame development (esp. formulation of SMART indicators);
d) Contribute to the development of fundraising documents (be it expression of Interests/ Concept Notes/ Proposals) in line with Acted country strategy and donor requirements and in close collaboration with Acted HQ GMU (Grant Management Unit) and finance.
e) Liaise with Area Coordinators, Project Managers and Technical Coordinators to ensure that proposals are relevant and technically sound.
f) Integrate learning from previous interventions (e.g. lessons learnt and best practices) into new proposals
g) Involve FLATS teams in the development of fundraising documents, particularly finance for the budget and logistics in case of specific donor procurement rules.
1.3 Contracting
a) Contribute to addressing in a timely manner all comments by donors on proposals in liaison with relevant staff in country and Acted HQ GMU and finance.
b) Read thoroughly all contracts before signature, seeking Acted HQ GMU and finance advice when required.
2. Grant Management
2.1. Contract follow-up:
a) Ensure that contractual obligations (including visibility requirements) and reporting deadlines are known and met by Programme, MEAL and FLATS team.
b) When any issue is identified in meeting deliverables in the given timeframe and budget, inform relevant staff in country and seek Acted HQ Program Department advice on potential solutions that would meet donor rules.
2.2. Reporting:
a) Participate in and take minutes of kick-off and close out meetings for each project
b) Write quality narrative reports, reflecting the progress and status of projects in a transparent, timely and professional manner, in liaison with Acted HQ GMU and finance, which will contribute ultimately to steady cash inflow.
c) Work in close relation with MEAL to incorporate MEAL data (incl. data on input, process, output, outcome and impact indicators, lessons learnt and best practices) in reports and review M&E reports from MEAL.
d) Liaise with FLATS teams when preparing reports, especially with finance to ensure greater coherence between financial and narrative reports by crosschecking the matching of data in the narrative and financial reports.
e) Contribute to the monthly update of the Reporting Follow Up (RFU) and ensure smooth and regular communication with Acted HQ GMU.
f) Ensure ad hoc requests from donors are addressed in liaison with the CD, programme and support teams;
g) Serve as a focal point for national and internation partners to ensure smooth grants management of all projects involving partners.
2.3. Partner Follow-up:
a) Liaise with partners when required to develop relevant grant agreements in close coordination with Acted HQ GMU and finance.
b) Ensure partners report to Acted in a timely and qualitative manner as per the requirements of the grant agreement.
3. Management and Internal Coordination
3.1 Internal Coordination and Communication
a) Facilitate interdepartmental communication and information sharing from the Base to the Area, Capital, and even up to the regional and HQ offices by taking minutes of the various Acted coordination meetings
b) Ensure these meeting minutes are sent monthly to HQ.
c) Keep Acted HQ GMU and finance updated on latest developments, opportunities and challenges so that GMU can best advice on the way forward.
3.2 Filing
a) File properly contractual project documents both in hard and soft copies.
b) Update regularly the Resource Centre at the office with appropriate and relevant external and internal resources.
4. External Communication & Visibility
4.1 Visual Communication Outputs:
Contribute to Acted external communication strategy by feeding regularly Acted HQ Communication Department with updates and content on operations, including pictures, articles, flash news, success and human-interest stories, and more
4.2 Social Media
Build Acted’s social media standing and output with regular, high-quality social media posts highlighting Acted’s operations and projects in Syria, with a focus on beneficiary impact.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
• % success rate of proposals.
• % of proposals submitted in a timely manner.
• % of reports submitted in a timely manner [for final reports by Acted internal reporting deadline].
• Regular and timely holding of internal coordination meetings and submission of minutes/reports.
• Number of internal and/or external articles/news/videos, etc. published about Acted mission during the past 6/12 months.
QUALIFICATIONS
• Bachelor’s degree or higher, ideally in a relevant field such as social sciences or development.
• Experience and knowledge of Grants Management and Fundraising for NGOs, including project reports and proposals for institutional donors (minimum 1 year experience)
• Strong report-writing skills and attention to details.
• Strong ability to produce visual information and communication products, including but not limited to factsheets, capacity statements, presentations, social media posts, and more.
• Ability to effectively liaise with and coordinate multiple stakeholders, including internal teams, partners, and HQ .
• Experience working on the Syrian context .
• Proficient in written and spoken English and Arabic.
• Highly organised, detail-oriented, and able to prioritise tasks to meet deadlines.
• Able to communicate complex information clearly, with excellent interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability to handle multiple competing priorities and handle busy periods.
• Excellent MS Word, PPT, and Excel skills.
How to apply
Interested and qualified applicants should apply by filling out the application form through this link
Project Development Officer – Fill in form
Only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
By applying for this position, you certify that all the details of your current application, are true to the best of your background and knowledge. You accept the legal mentions of www.acted.org and authorize the automated processing of your personal data by ACTED for recruitment, HR management and administrative compliance control purposes, in accordance with European regulations for the protection of personal data.(http://www.acted.org/)
ACTED is committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse in the framework of its programs in Syria. The successful candidate will be required to adhere to ACTED Code of conduct and ACTED Global Policies, especially regarding the protection of children and the protection against sexual exploitation and abuse. A rigorous reference and background checks will be undertaken, and information will be requested from previous employers about any disciplinary action of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and/or sexual harassment during employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.
ACTED is committed to gender equity and to have a balanced and diverse workforce. ACTED strongly encourages qualified women, persons with disabilities, and persons from under-represented groups to apply for the position.
ACTED offers a variety of arrangements that enable women to excel in their careers, including flexible working hours for work-life balance, maternity leave, and career coaching.
ACTED never uses external recruitment agencies and recruitment is always free of charge.
The necessity of ensuring the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity, with proper attention to promoting diversity, is the most important concern in the recruitment and employment of staff at ACTED.
Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision, or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided.
ACTED reserves the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.