Project Officer - North Africa

Location: Tunis, Tunisia
Contract type: Permanent preferred but will consider 12 months fixed term.
Time commitment: Full time
Languages: Fluent in English and Arabic.
Job reference: TUN-DA002

To apply:

Please email recruitment@aktisstrategy.com with your CV and cover letter in English. In the cover letter please state the job you are applying for and the job reference (Project Officer North Africa - TUN-RW002) and where you saw the job advertised (reliefweb)

The organisation

Aktis Strategy is an organisation led by some of the world’s foremost consultant practitioners in problem-solving for fragile and conflict-affected countries. With knowledge and expertise across the spectrum of security sector reform, governance, justice/rule of law, conflict management and countering extremism, Aktis specialises in devising, managing and evaluating complex programmes to address challenging political and institutional problems. From organisational change projects with the security forces in fragile states, complex governance reform and transition programmes, to advanced analytical programmes, Aktis personnel have demonstrated their excellence at delivering innovative management consultancy support in some of the most challenging situations. Recent field operations have been conducted in Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan and Tunisia. More information is available at the Aktis website, www.aktisstrategy.com.

This person will be based initially in Tunis and be part of Aktis’ North Africa regional team. This team has been operating out of Tunisia since late 2013 and Aktis is now registered in Tunisia as Aktis Maghreb. During this period, Aktis has built a team of 16 fulltime staff dedicated to project work focused on reforming the Tunisian security sector and supporting conflict management efforts in Libya. The staff combine international and local experience and understanding: the majority are Tunisian. Our technical delivery is led by native Arabic speakers and former security ministry officials with international consulting skills.

The role

Aktis is recruiting a Project Officer to support our growing project portfolio in North Africa, in particular in Libya. The successful applicant will take up a trusted position in the company with the opportunity to help shape the future direction of Aktis in North Africa and further afield as it continues to grow.

The role will have two main areas of focus in the first 12 months, evenly split in terms of time allocated:

1. To assist with project administration and coordination of a new 12 month local governance project in Libya – “Towards zones of stability; building municipality governance in Libya”. The programme will initially focus on one municipality in Libya and will employ a community-driven approach to community safety, security and governance that connects with national institutions to spread stability. There is potential for the project to receive further funding and work in additional municipalities
2. To pursue new opportunities in Libya though increasing knowledge and networks, managing donor relations with the international community working on Libya (currently based in Tunis), helping develop the pipeline of opportunities in Libya and coordinating and contributing to the design new bids (which this person is likely to subsequently work on).

Should this person be hired as permanent Aktis staff they will also be supported to focus on their personal development and to join one of Aktis’ functional or technical practice areas that operate across all the regions.

Key responsibilites include:

Project Management Support (PO)

Planning, implementation, budgeting and team administration on the Libyan Zones of Stability project:

• Contribute to workplanning and allocation of resources on quarterly, monthly and weekly basis – working with Team Leader;
• M&E and Reporting - Supporting and consolidating M&E and overseeing planning and delivery of project technical internal and external reporting;
• Lead project administrator- Responsible for all administrative tasks including scheduling, note taking, making sure all project files are up to date online and in hard copy form;
• Contributing to logistics, planning and delivery of project activities including training and workshops;
• Contributing to programme risk on a monthly basis;
• Responsible for updating project information on Salesforce and project online presence
• Liaising with donors and other partners (e.g. beneficiary and other implementers);
• Working with the Tunis Office Manager, Project Coordinator, and local Libyan partner to ensure all logistics are in place to deliver the activities;
• Using and ensuring compliance with Aktis operational and administrative processes and procedures (code of conduct, HSS, templates, information systems)

Consulting: Technical advisory and consultancy support to clients & counterparts:

• This person will be expected to contribute to the delivery of designated activities. The exact contribution will depend on the successful candidate’s experience and language skills and be agreed with the team leader. This is likely to include helping develop presentation materials, research, developing technical methodologies and the facilitation of activities (often training or coaching)

Business Development(BD): BD, client and counterpart engagement:

• Contributing to the implementation of the Aktis Libya country strategy:
• Supporting strategic pursuit and opportunity leads and actively converting them into contracted work in Libya;
• Supporting the development of new leads and generating new revenue sources, new clients and new partnerships in Libya;
• Maintaining an active network of contacts;
• Providing administrative support to BD enterprises;
• Liaising with the Aktis’ functional areas of expertise (Governance, Security and Justice; Conflict Mitigation and Peacebuilding; Countering Violent Extremism; and Research Monitoring & Evaluation) as well as the central Client Engagement Team;
• Reporting progress against the Libya strategy; Supporting specific pursuits and bids through:
• Coordinating technical inputs and pursuit/bid plans;
• Providing administrative support to identifying and managing associates;
• Quality assurance and formatting of tender and proposal submissions;
• Budget preparation

Knowledge: Research & development (R&D), innovation and thought leadership

• This competency area concerns our approach to “practice areas”, “expertise hubs”, “product innovation” and “thought leadership” in our business. Should this person be hired as staff we will look to align them to one of these practice areas depending on their interest and experience

Key skills and experience:

The successful candidate will have:

• Minimum of three (3) years post-qualification experience in the international development space, ideally with a focus on community-based security and justice;
• A proven track record of successfully working on projects for international donors;
• Strong administrative skills. Please do not apply if you are not interested in, or able to do administrative tasks. This includes using Excel, Powerpoint, Word and Outlook.
• Interest in coordinating and contributing to the design of technical and commercial sections of proposals/bids;
• Experience in working in the Middle East and North Africa region (knowledge of the Libyan context is a strong advantage)
• Worked in multinational project teams;
• Minimum Bachelors’ degree in relevant field such as International Development, Humanities, Politics, Law, Business Management, Languages or Translation, gained from a reputable, quality university
• English (full working proficiency);
• Arabic (full working proficiency)
• Willingness to be located initially from Tunis and travel, security situation permitting, to Libya

Personal attributes and skills

We are looking for someone to join the team who:

• Is enthusiastic about taking on a challenging, fast-paced role in an expanding company;
• Is a person who gains the trust and respect of his/her colleagues, has the highest level of integrity, is a team player and provides leadership to his/her reports.
• Has a professional attitude;
• Is highly organised and possesses strong time management skills and a proven ability to multitask;
• Has effective communication and inter-personal skills;
• Is a self-starter who strives for excellence, takes the initiative, and naturally sees opportunities for change and improvement.

HOW TO APPLY:

To apply:

Please email recruitment@aktisstrategy.com with your CV and cover letter in English. In the cover letter please state the job you are applying for and the job reference (Project Officer North Africa - TUN-RW002) and where you saw the job advertised (reliefweb)