Lebanon: Country Manager Lebanon

SPARK develops higher education and entrepreneurship, so that young ambitious people are empowered to lead their post-conflict society into prosperity. SPARK is a dynamic and growing not-for-profit development organisation with over 100 staff members that helps young entrepreneurs to start or grow their own businesses. SPARK helps displaced youth to access higher education in conflict areas. Moreover, SPARK assists post-secondary education institutions to reform their curricula to better meet the needs of the labour markets. Based in Amsterdam, SPARK has offices in among others Abidjan, Amman, Beirut, Belgrade, Bujumbura, Gaziantep, Erbil, Hargeisa, Juba, Kigali, Mitrovica, Monrovia, Ramallah, Sanaa and Tunis.

Country Manager position

The country manager will be responsible for the coordination of programme activities related to the one program currently being implemented in Lebanon. SPARK’s HES programme which aims to support Syrian and Palestinian refugees to enjoy access to higher education and to become community, business and national leaders of the future.

Main tasks and responsibilities

• Manage HR for the country office (Beirut) and coordinate, support, train and coach field staff in Lebanon;
• Overall management, reporting and implementation of activities related to the HES programme;
• Ensure harmonisation and learning at programmes and projects level between SPARK’s programmes, local partner’s projects, programmes of other NGOs and government agencies;
• Being the Legal Representative of SPARK in Lebanon and maintaining contacts with the relevant authorities;
• Project development and acquisition including identification of project development opportunities for SPARK, contextual analysis and assessment of the entrepreneurial landscape, and donor communication;
• Provide organisational and logistical support for other missions and ongoing activities in the region;
• Work closely with partner organisations and maintain partner relations;
• Reporting to donors including finances and M&E;
• Facilitate and represent SPARK at multi-stakeholder platforms meetings and promote SPARK visibility in Lebanon;
• Other tasks as required.

Requirements and skills

• Proven track record of managing a team;
• Educational background related to entrepreneurship and/or programme management;
• Must be Lebanese National.
• Minimum of 5 years working experience in a similar position, level and environment;
• Relevant experience working in Middle-East, previous experience in Lebanon is an advantage
• Knowledge of/or experience in international development, preferably working with entrepreneurship or agri-business projects;
• Thorough knowledge of the political and economic situation in the region;
• Proven organisational skills and the ability to work independently;
• Accurate, structured and precise;
• Flexible and responsible;
• Fluent in Arabic and English. regional language skills are an asset;
• Strong writing and reporting skills;
• Proven track record of managing multiple projects and stakeholders;
• Good communication and social skills and the ability to work in a multicultural setting.

SPARK offers

· Remuneration according to relevant work experience;

· Salary range between 2.500 - 3.250 USD gross per month;

· Full-time contract for 12 months with possibility of extension.

We are looking for candidates who can start as soon as possible.

To apply:

If you are interested, please send your letter of motivation (max 1 page) and your CV (in English) to vacancy@spark-online.org with Reference: Country Manager Lebanon no later than Sunday 1^st of October 00.00 CET. Incomplete applications or applications received after the deadline will be rejected without any consideration.

Applications received will be reviewed instantly and selection of candidates might take place before the deadline.

Due to a large volume of applicants, we cannot respond to every applicant. After the deadline for application we will screen all applications invite selected applicants for the first round of interviews. There may be a delay between the deadline and the moment we contact selected applicants.

For questions about the vacancy, please send an email to vacancy@spark-online.org with reference Country Manager Lebanon or contact at or+31 20 753 0311