Community Outreach, Deputy Director External Projects

Saint Andrew’s Refugee Services, Cairo

Vacancy: Community Outreach, Deputy Director External Projects **

Founded in 1979, St Andrew’s Refugee Services (StARS) is a refugee service provider in central Cairo that works to enhance the quality of life for refugees and vulnerable migrants through five departments: community outreach, education, unaccompanied children and youth, legal, and psychosocial services. We provide high-quality services meeting the unaddressed needs of refugees, and we provide a safe and inclusive space for displaced people to come together as a community. We work for refugees, with refugees, to make rights recognition a reality.

StARS’ Mission: Driven by a commitment to justice and fairness, StARS works as displaced people and for

displaced people to respect human dignity and enhance quality of life.

StARS’ Vision: Displaced people lead in the creation and implementation of responses to different forms of

migration to establish safe, just, welcoming, and inclusive communities globally.

We serve people from many places, including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria

and Yemen.

Department Description: Outreach

The Outreach Department serves many purposes in maintaining contacts with both individual community members as well as the diverse array of community-based organizations (CBOs) in the Greater Cairo area to improve refugee services in Egypt overall. The Outreach team is the main and central body for any new contact or visit, with staff members fully knowledgeable of the services provided by StARS in order to represent the organization as a whole. Outreach also improves coordination between StARS departments and programs, especially when nurturing relationships with the same organization. Outreach collects vital data on each CBO in the community and assesses the CBOs’ needs and through coordination with other StARS’ programs, or through collaboration with other service providers, decide what actions should be taken to meet the CBOs needs.

Sub-program description: External Projects

The External Projects Program (EPP) is a sub-program of the Community Outreach Department and works largely in capacity building with the management of CBOs in order to support changes in and/or expansion of their services. The EPP is connected directly with StARS’ long-term goals of supporting the leadership and self-sufficiency of refugee communities and having their voices represented to major INGOs and embassies.

Role

Under the supervision of the Outreach Director (OD), the CO Deputy Director External Projects (DD EP) is responsible for the day-to-day management of the EPP and is tasked with engaging the management team of CBOs of different nationalities in capacity building efforts so that they may grow in capacity and influence, as well as supporting the Community Outreach team. The DD EP supports all CBO engagement efforts with a focus on CBO self-sufficiency and transferring skills and knowledge in a culturally-sensitive manner that considers the strengths and vulnerabilities of refugee community leaders. Additionally, the DD EP is in charge of supervision of the External Projects Officers (EPO), the Gender Equality Officer, as well as the Fundraising Manager, as their work supports institutional capacity building at different levels. The DD EP must maintain strong coordination and collaboration with the African Nations Outreach Coordinator, the Syrian and Yemeni Outreach Coordinator, and other management team members across the Department.

The DD EP is responsible for running an Intensive Capacity Building Program that provides training to CBOs, designing, implementing, and coordinating workshops for CBOs on a variety of topics related to organizational management, as well as providing one-on-one individualized support to CBOs, particularly in relation to grant writing. In addition to the Intensive Capacity Building Program, the DD EP oversees Introductory Capacity Building workshop series to newly mapped CBOs, and other CBOs that Community Outreach works closely with. The DD EP is involved in multiple long-term Community Outreach projects through implementing capacity building activities, and leads on project reporting for two Department projects. This involves: collecting report contributions across the department, coordinating data collection and compiling a first draft of the report. The DDEP also works closely with the CO Deputy Director to help manage and support other department-wide project implementation. The DD EP additionally collaborates with the OD and DD on the strategic vision, reporting, and M&E for the Department.

Responsibilities

All duties are carried out under the supervision of the Outreach Director of StARS.

Outreach

· Maintain a strong working knowledge of refugee populations and CBOs in the Greater Cairo area, as well as stay up-to-date on changes among communities/CBOs

· Maintain a strong working knowledge of best practices for community outreach, ensuring that the work of the program is strategic, culturally respectful, and designed towards community self-sufficiency

· Maintain a strong working knowledge of StARS services across all five departments

· Analyze the CBO profiles done by CO sub-programs and discuss which actions are of highest priority and within the program’s capacity

· Oversee the completion of supplementary management profiles for CBOs to have accurate data on each CBO’s capacity

Supervisory role:

· Provide direct supervision to the following COD staff: External Project team, Gender Equality Officer, and Fundraising Manager

· Provide indirect support to CO Programs Officer, CO Policy and Advocacy Officer, in particular within the Department as it relates to project implementation

· Gender Equality Officer – support with: internal and external capacity building trainings on gender, gender equality, gender mainstreaming, coordinating within the department on project activities, and conducting internal reviews with CBOs on institutional support and reviewing governance-specific documents and systems in place (i.e. CBO staff handbooks, operational and strategic plans, among others)

· Fundraising Manager – support with: reviewing capacity building trainings on fundraising and resource mobilization and assessments, overseeing CBO grant applications and reviewing reports on grants.

Intensive Capacity Building:

· Facilitate a series of intensive capacity building trainings to CBO leaders on a variety of topics for institutional and governance support (including: reporting, monitoring and evaluation, strategic planning). Trainings often occur each month to different cohorts of CBOs

· Support CBOs in implementing the theoretical trainings more practically (e.g. supporting CBOs in developing and/or strengthening internal systems and documents)

· Oversee the application and implementation of CBO-led grant applications

· Design reporting structures, oversee reporting process, and provide feedback to CBOs on reports.

· Coordinate with CO Finance Officer and Fundraising Manager regarding financial reporting on CBOs grants

· Support CBOs in designing sustainability plans towards the conclusion of their project

· Attend, and often lead, monthly meetings with CBOs who are under different CO projects

· Other duties as assigned by Community Outreach Director

Workshops:

· Oversee planning and implementation of Introductory Capacity Building Workshop Series for CBO management staff with EPP team.**

· Develop new training materials and/or coordinate with other relevant Department team members, based on CBOs’ needs. This should be assessed through a variety of methods: meetings, online surveys, and/or focus group discussions when possible.**

Individualized- support to CBOs:

· Provide individualized support to CBOs based on specific needs or items written in their post workshop series action plans **

· In particular, work with Fundraising Manager to provide support on project design and external grant proposal writing for CBOs**

Communication

· Provide regular feedback to the OD on all actions related to CBO management capacity building**

· Maintain strong communication with Outreach Coordinators to ensure efficient running of the Outreach Department and utilize their key understanding of target communities**

· Maintain strong communication across StARS programs with focal points, balancing CBOs’ needs for their expertise with consideration of staff members’ schedules**

· Maintain strong communication with the management of CBOs, maintaining proper cultural awareness and lack of bias**

Administrative

· Conduct research on projects, opportunities, trainings, or any other beneficial activities in Cairo relevant to CBOs’ needs

· Provide significant contributions to donor reports that relate to the program, explaining program activities successes and challenges and connecting them to the Department’s long-term plan and strategy

· Maintain organized, comprehensive information on the program’s design and implementation

· Supervise the EPP team with a focus on maintaining proper running of the program as well as providing opportunities for professional development and participatory planning

Community Outreach Department support

· When overseeing the direct engagement of the Outreach team with CBOs, ensures the focus is on both helping

the CBO achieve goals in the short term and providing the theory and skills necessary to independently achieve

these goals in the long term

· Provide technical support to the Outreach staff members

· Revise the strategy of Outreach in response to the changing needs of refugees and operational context, and

participate in annual work planning and strategic planning

· Promote self-care, peer-support and team building among Outreach staff and volunteers

· Assist CO Director with external communication with donors

· Assist Community Outreach Deputy Director in project implementation and follow-up

· Compile and finalize reports according to OD requests

· Look for potential future funding and conference opportunities to discuss and promote Community

Outreach’s work with researchers, policy makers and organizations working in the field,

particularly in the field of capacity building

· Other duties as assigned by Community Outreach Director

Essential Requirements

· Fluent English-speaking skills and advanced English writing skills, as the position requires advanced knowledge of professional and academic English for report writing

· At least two years of experience working with refugees or other vulnerable populations

· Strong project management experience

· Strong experience in providing workshops, conducting trainings, and leading groups, with excellent facilitation skills

· Experience working within a participatory ideology, as well as actively transferring theoretical material in a practical way, highly desired

· Strong communication skills across different cultural backgrounds, with a particular focus on diplomatic communication with communities

· Ability to form strong partnerships among a variety of stakeholders, from grassroots communities to international organizations and donors

· Knowledge of and belief in models of empowerment and participation, with understanding of the deep, involved, and difficult work needed to truly implement such models

· Flexibility and creativity, especially in dealing with a community context with high security concerns and few available financial and material resources

· Motivation to assess project design and effectiveness, with desire to contribute to the strategic vision of the Department

· Proven ability to prioritize workload and multi-task

Preferred Requirements:

· M.A. in a relevant field (social sciences, development, international relations, migration studies)

· Experience working with or for community-based organizations and knowledge of the Cairo context an advantage

· Advanced skills in the following areas highly desired: organizational management, project management, report writing, M&E, project design, proposal writing, financial management, advocacy, staff supervision, and communication styles and strategies

Working Hours: The CO Deputy Director External Projects is expected to be at work for 40 hours per week, between the hours of 9:00am and 5:00pm, from Sunday to Thursday. Longer hours, evening and weekend work are sometimes necessary. Work will be conducted both in StARS premises and also in refugee communities and centers.

Salary: 13,000 EGP/ month, rising to 14,000 EGP/ month following successful completion of three-month probationary period, with 4,020 EGP/ year medical allowance and 100 EGP/month saving scheme contribution upon completion of probationary period.

Benefits: All StARS official benefit policies as stipulated in StARS Staff Handbook Guidelines.**

Closing date for applications: 1 June 2021 Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis

Anticipated Starting date: 1 July 2021

This position is subject to a three-month probationary period, at which time the employee’s performance will be reviewed and probation may be extended.

To Apply: Send a Cover Letter and your CV with two references to [email protected] using the subject line “CO Deputy Director External Projects”

Note: Only short-listed applicants will be contacted for an interview within one week after the deadline.