National Rural Sociologist at Near East Foundation

Near East Foundation (NEF)

Title: National Rural Sociologist

Reports to: International Team Leader

Location: Anbar Governorate, Iraq

Travel: Frequent travel to project sites

Position contingent on funding. The anticipated start date is November 1, 2021.

The Near East Foundation (NEF) is seeking candidates for a National Rural Sociologist for an anticipated GIZ development program focused on agricultural livelihoods, conflict, and economic development.

NEF is a non-profit international development organization that has supported livelihoods recovery and community-based economic development in the Middle East, Africa, and Caucasus since 1915. NEF draws on local teams, experience, and partnerships in these regions to create community-led solutions to improve livelihoods and local governance among conflict and crisis-affected groups, while maintaining neutrality and ensuring inclusiveness in our approach. Working through a network of country offices and local partners, NEF currently has operations in ten countries: Armenia, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Mali, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, South Sudan, and Syria. Our programs are organized around three themes: Inclusive Economic Development, Climate-resilient Development, and Stabilization and Peacebuilding.

Position Description

The National Rural Sociologist is a key member of the Near East Foundation team in Iraq. The National Rural Sociologist will be responsible for mapping and monitoring the livelihood strategies and networks of the target groups for a development project that seeks to improve agricultural income in Anbar Governorate.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for mapping and monitoring the livelihood strategies and networks of the target groups;
• Maintaining contact with relevant community leaders in the targeted communities;
• Mainstreaming peace building- and gender-related content in the trainings offered by the project;
• Assisting in the co-ordination and implementation of trainings whenever required;
• Lead the design and implementation of community-based surveys, assessments, and evaluations;
• Engage in strategic planning, design of outreach, communication and interventions, participate in the design and execution of training programs, monitoring and evaluation, organization of community management groups, and reporting;
• Approaches for project outreach and community-level mobilization and planning will be under the direction of the Rural Sociologist;
• Coordinate project activities with local and national representatives as well as community leaders;
• Prepare and provide timely and quality completion of all program technical deliverables and reports (including quarterly, annual, and M&E reports) in accordance with the agreement and GIZ guidelines;
• Work on an interdisciplinary team and collaborate closely with professionals from natural, technical and social sciences sectors.

Qualifications

• University degree (bachelor’s/master’s) in rural sociology, anthropology or related field;
• 5 years of professional experience in community-based rural development and/or participatory processes;
• 3 years of professional experience in social research or field studies/rural appraisals;
• 5 years of experience working on DC projects;
• Master proficiency in Arabic (C2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages);
• Upper Intermediate proficiency in English (B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages);
• Experience and high level of skills in facilitating groups in participatory problem solving;
• Ability to pass a comprehensive pre-employment background check.