Senior Livelihood Officer - Phase 2 (Economic Self-Reliance)

We are looking for a highly qualified Senior Livelihood Officer for our program Livelihood Phase 2 - (Economic Self-Reliance) in Antakya- Hatay, Turkey.

Who are we?

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental and non-profit organization, founded in 1956, that works in more than 35 countries around the world. DRC has been operating in Turkey since early 2013, working with by and large with non-camp Syrian refugees and affected host communities. DRC is committed to basic humanitarian principles; including impartiality and neutrality, and offers the highest standards of accountability to the people it serves. The overall objective for DRC in Turkey is the protection and promotion of durable solutions to displacement affected populations on the basis of humanitarian principles and human rights with more immediate objectives focusing both on the immediate subsistence needs, protection and self-reliance support as well as a more long term focus on capacity building. In Turkey, DRC works partially through partners, also providing intensive capacity building support, while also conducting direct implementation.

About the job

The overall objective for DRC in Turkey is the protection and promotion of durable solutions to displacement affected populations on the basis of humanitarian principles and human rights with more immediate objectives focusing both on the immediate subsistence needs, protection and self-reliance support as well as a more long-term focus on social cohesion and resilience building. DRC works with beneficiary communities and individuals to prevent and reduce protection threats, and build resilience.

The objective of the Livelihood Program is to develop and strengthen capacities and self-reliance of vulnerable Syrian refugees and host community to reduce their socio-economic vulnerabilities. The activities include: 1) Counselling, transferrable-skills trainings and one-to-one coaching to provide beneficiaries with the information, skills and resources needed to develop more resilient livelihood strategies; 2) Vocational skills training to improve and/or diversify vulnerable peoples’ skillsets so they can pursue livelihood opportunities that increase their ability to adapt and cope with shocks.; 3) Productive asset support and small business grants to motivated beneficiaries to start income-generating activities. Small business management trainings will be carried out in view of building the capacity of local entrepreneurs in developing their networks, skills and business plans. Selected business plans showing an economic viability and profitability will be provided in/kind support on a matching basis to support the startup and/or expansion of the home based business or middle size enterprises.

The Senior Livelihoods Officer – Phase 2 (Economic Self-Reliance) develops the strategy to increase the beneficiaries’ economic self-reliance, identifies and manages the relationships with external service providers through which technical and vocational skills trainings are provided, works in close cooperation with the market mapping and analysis unit to map Turkish and Syrian SMEs and potential employers for beneficiaries (job referrals), provides regular and tailored technical and operational guidance to the implementing partners to ensure quality implementation and oversees daily activities to ensure expected results and targets are met. The Senior Livelihoods Officer – Phase 2 plays an essential role in building the capacity of the implementing partners’ staff and in ensuring smooth coordination between DRC and its implementing partners.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Senior Livelihood Officer will have the following duties and responsibilities:

Overall Responsibilities

General Programming & operations (60%)

• Provide oversight of all Phase 2 activities taking place
• Develop the strategy for economic self-reliance (counselling and provision of high range of technical and vocational skills, on-the-job trainings, job referrals and linkage with private sectors)
• Map, identify and develop relationships with relevant external service providers providing technical and vocational skills trainings
• Maintain and manage the relationships with the external service providers and communicate all relevant information to the implementing partners in a structured and timely manner
• Follow-up the budget for relevant budget lines, with the support of the coordinator
• Manage the contracts with and payments to the external services providers
• Analyse at all times the changing needs amongst Syrians and refugee groups to ensure DRC provides relevant activities
• Analyse and identify new approaches for technical and vocational skill trainings and job referrals (including StepUp web-based platform and mobile applications for job matching) to ensure implementation is relevant to the needs of beneficiaries
• Identify the need for assessments as well as focus group discussions with beneficiaries and support the team of the implementing partner in undertaking them
• Participate in facilitating and coordinating activities within the team and with other DRC’s departments

  Coordination (20%)

• Proactively seek for new partnerships for technical and vocational skills training and job referral opportunities
• Work in close cooperation with the market mapping and analysis unit to map Turkish and Syrian SMEs and potential employers for beneficiaries (job referrals)
• Promote and ensure at all times a pragmatic and efficient dialogue as well as networking with local institutions and authorities, private Institutes, workshops, national and international NGOs, etc.
• Coordinate with the rest of DRC Turkey team whenever needed

  Monitoring & Evaluation (10%)

• Provide regular reporting on indicators, achievements and challenges related to the project in close coordination with the implementing partner
• Facilitate the qualitative and quantitative monitoring of the project through team meetings, focus group, post-assistance visits, regular reporting and any other monitoring tools.
• Participate in the internal evaluation of the programme.

  Representation (10%)

• If requested by the Livelihoods Coordinator or the Livelihoods Manager, represent DRC in livelihoods working groups and interagency planning workshops.

  Other

• Any other duties as agreed with the Livelihoods Programme Coordinator and Area Manager

  About you

  Essential Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in business administration, marketing, economics or other relevant field
• High-level of knowledge and practice with Word, Excel, Outlook, etc. required.

  Essential Experiences:

• Experience working in the field (preferably experience from Southern Turkey)
• Experience with market mapping & analysis
• Experience engaging with the private sector

  Preferred Qualification:

• Project Management (including budget / contract management)
• Project monitoring (including reporting and data management)

  Preferred Experience:

• Understanding of the rights and protection issues of refugees, children and women - experience working with Syrian refugees is an advantage
• An understanding of humanitarian/civil society issues in Turkey and the region

Required Skills and Competencies

• Willingness to relocate to south/south-eastern Turkey, and to travel within and between provinces
• Turkish speaker
• Proven analytical and writing skills
• Proven communication, interpersonal, representation, negotiation, promotion and diplomacy skills
• Ability to establish and maintain good working relationships in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment
• Ability to provide capacity building support to members of a different organization
• Flexible, enthusiastic and willing to learn from others
• Strong initiative and self-motivated
• Ability to multi-task and cope with competing demands under tight deadlines

  Language Skills:

• Fluency in Turkish and English, both written and verbal.  Arabic is an asset.

  Characteristics:

• Strong collaboration with other Senior Livelihood Officers in all bases
• Close interactions with implementing partners’ staff daily
• Key responsibilities in terms of quality control and technical guidance

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’ five core competencies: 

Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.

Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.

Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.

Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.

Demonstrating integrity: You act in line with our vision and values.

We offer

DRC will offer the successful applicant a 6 months contract, renewable dependent on both funding and performance. You must be available to start work from 01.02.2018 and be willing and able to work in Antakya-Hatay.

We offer a fair compensation package depending on your qualification and experiences as well as additional allowances such as relocation allowance and living allowances, if applicable. DRC Turkey is income tax exempted.

Application process

Interested? Then apply for this position by clicking on the apply button. 

All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages). Both must be in the same language as this vacancy note. CV only applications will not be considered.

If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please contact recruitment@drc-turkey.org  

Applications close 21.01.2018. The interviews are expected to take place within 2 weeks after the application close date.

Need further information?

For more details on this position please contact HR Team at recruitment@drc-turkey.org.

Please note that applications sent directly to HR Team will not be considered.

For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website www.drc.ngo