Livelihood & Resilience Coordinator

About Oxfam

Oxfam is a global movement of people who won’t live with the injustice of poverty. Together we save and rebuild lives in disasters. We help people build better lives for themselves. We speak out on the big issues that keep people poor, like inequality, discrimination against women and climate change. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can live without poverty.

Oxfam GB is a member of the international confederation Oxfam.

Iraq Context

Oxfam has been working in Iraq since the 1990s with both an expanding and contracting presence. In 2014, Oxfam established its first office in Kalar when the conflict with ISIS began and the country was thrown into a new humanitarian crisis, in an already fragile context. In 2021, Oxfam is amongst the largest NGOs operating in the country, with nine offices and almost 200 employees and an annual budget of 20 million USD.

Oxfam in Iraq 2021-2026 country strategy articulates around 3 Goals:

• Humanitarian Response: We envision all Iraqis who are conflict-affected and/or disaster-affected to have access to essential life-saving support in a timely, effective, accessible and appropriate manner.
• Governance: We envision all Iraqis to have equal access to services and opportunities for all people, whereby equal distribution and control of resources and meaningful participation can build resilient and sustainable solutions for the future.
• Equality: We envision an equitable and just society where Iraqis in all their diversity, live free from violence, enjoy ownership and control of resources and participate in decision-making processes across all spheres.

Recognizing that Iraq is a fragile country prone to man-made and natural disasters, Oxfam in Iraq aims at continuing responding to humanitarian needs and offering durable solutions to internally displaced people, while supporting all Iraqis to recover sustainable and equitable access to basic services and income generating activities. As a feminist organization, Oxfam aims to strengthen the women’s empowerment movement by supporting Women’s Rights Organisations, with a focus on the Women, Peace and Security agenda, the prevention and response to Gender Based Violence and Women Economic Empowerment.

In order to achieve the above, Oxfam work aims to integrate the following key sectors together for every intervention in a given location:

• Water Sanitation and Hygiene
• Emergency Food Security and Vulnerable Livelihoods
• Protection & Social Cohesion
• Gender Justice & Women Rights

Supporting local leadership and transformative partnerships, influencing decision-makers to address the root causes of poverty and inequality, ensuring women’s rights are at the center of everything we do, integrating the impact of climate change in our programming, promoting innovative ways to address the challenges of humanitarian and development work are among the key approaches to Oxfam in Iraq.

Job Purpose

The Livelihoods and Resilience Coordinator will provide overall leadership and technical oversight to the EFSVL team across the whole of Iraq. The role will support the transition of Oxfam programming from humanitarian and emergency assistance to recovery and development interventions. The job holder will coordinate with other technical leads (WASH, Gender Justice, Protection) and with Program Managers in the field to design and implement integrated programming and ensure the quality of interventions.

Job Responsibilities

Strategy & Programme Quality

• Guide the implementation of EFSVL related outcomes of Oxfam Country Strategy
• Review regularly the EFSVL related outcomes of Oxfam Country Strategy to propose adaptation to changes in needs and context.
• Coordinate with country team and Oxfam’s regional and HQ technical advisors to implement, monitor, and adjust the EFSVL related outcomes of Oxfam Country Strategy.
• Ensure new projects’ objectives are in line with Oxfam Country Strategy, in view of the transition from humanitarian to development programming.
• Explore opportunities of innovative EFSVL programming models through desk review and in country researches, including but not limited to climate change programming, sustainable water resources management, women economic empowerment, resilience, private sector partnership, and suggest/pilot innovative interventions in Iraq.
• Develop and/or review tools and approaches for tracking the implementation for EFSVL activities to ensure that possible problems affecting the quality of programmes are flagged and resolved in due time.
• Review existing tools, identify adjustments needed, develop new tools in view of the transition of the EFSVL programming from humanitarian to development.
• Support Market and Cash-based programming adaptation to resilience and development interventions, ensuring harmonization and coordination standard, maintaining Oxfam relevance in the sector.
• Provide technical support on developing new assessments and MEAL tools (including Market and Value Chain Assessments) to ensure that relevant information is being collected by the team to inform strategy and implementation, ensure accountability and learning as well as quality donor reporting.
• Ensure mainstreamed quality standards are embedded into EFSVL programming, in close coordination with other sectors especially Gender, Protection and MEAL.
• Support the implementation of evaluations of EFSVL interventions, in coordination with the MEAL team.
• Ensure that “lessons learned” from the EFSVL interventions are documented, become a team asset and are used to influence policies and future programme.

Programme Development and Implementation

• Conduct technical review of the new program opportunities, provide recommendations in terms of their relevance to Oxfam Country Strategy, including review of risks, value addition, existing capacities and other strategic links both internal across sectors and externally with relevant stakeholders.
• Provide technical input to the development of concept notes and proposals, including drafting detailed activity description, logic framework, Theory Of Change and MEAL plans.
• Provide technical review to operational/progress reports and donor reports.
• Support Programme Managers and EFSVL team to unpack projects results related to EFSVL into detailed activities and implementation plans.
• Oversee the quality and the timeliness of the implementation of the EFSVL programming for the regular programme and potential emergency responses.
• Ensure timely technical support to teams in the field in developing appropriate approaches to sustainable livelihoods, providing input, support, and regular follow-up.
• Coordinate the identification and recruitment of consultants and supervise their work to ensure quality of deliverable as well as their alignment to the project objectives.
• Review program monitoring and evaluation results, provide recommendation and technical support to Programme Managers and provide necessary back-stopping and/or distance management as required.

Team Management and Capacity Building

• Support the recruitment of EFSVL staff as required.
• Ensure performance management of staff reporting to this position and contribute to performance management of staff under matrix management, according to the Oxfam standards and procedures.
• Provide temporary cover (gap-filling) for technical vacancies in the field when needed.
• Design and deliver induction on EFSVL programming to new staff.
• In close coordination with the Partnership Manager and Programme Managers, support in identifying capacity building needs for Oxfam and implementing partners’ staff, identify training opportunities and/or deliver training, particularly in view of the transition of the EFSVL programming.
• Ensure regular learning and knowledge sharing opportunities for EFSVL staff, including and not limited to participation to Project Reviews, After Action Reviews, Internal technical discussions, peer to peer visits/experience sharing, regular EFSVL team meeting, mapping of staff specific expertise and field of interest to be linked with program needs and capacity building plans.
• Provide mentoring/coaching to Oxfam’s and partners EFSVL teams in the field.

External Representation, Coordination and Influencing

• Ensure active representation of Oxfam in relevant working groups, sector clusters and consortia, keep Oxfam in a leading position in the relevant coordination fora, both at National and at Local (governorate and district) levels.
• Share regularly relevant information form external Coordination fora with Line management and CMT+ team.
• Collaborate and provide technical support to the Policy and Advocacy team for Livelihood and Resilience related work;
• Attend meeting with donors, partners and authorities as required.
• Disseminate actively Oxfam learning and best practices with relevant stakeholders, including Government bodies, donors, UN agencies, other NGOs, and other key stakeholders.
• Contribute to the design, review and implementation of EFSVL related outcome of Oxfam Iraq Influencing strategy.

Qualifications & Preferred Skills

Education

• Qualification in Development, Economics, Agriculture or any related field. The experience could substitute for a formal qualification, but not vice versa.

Experience

• Previous working experience with international non-profit organizations in development settings.
• Minimum 5 years in similar positions, including a variety of livelihoods interventions, i.e., cash-based assistance, vocational training and business grants, sustainable and resilient livelihoods, value chain revitalization, women economic empowerment, market assessments and market-based programming, etc.
• Experience of working in the humanitarian, development, resilience, peacebuilding nexus, ideally in conflict and climate-change affected settings.
• Previous experience in the Middle East is a plus;

Key Attributes

• Development oriented knowledge of EFSVL programming.
• Strong analysis skills and strategic thinking to support the transition of a program from humanitarian to durable solutions and development approaches.
• Interpersonal skills to establish and maintain effective working relations with multicultural and diverse teams, including working with partner organisations and government institutions
• Experience of capacity building of field staff (with or without line management responsibility), including the ability to effectively advice and support field staff using methods such as mentoring, coaching, shadowing, demonstration, accompaniment, training, written advice, verbal advice, research and development.
• Strong communication and documentation skills including the ability to document case studies, write guidelines, and develop and communicate standard operating procedures relevant to each context, project and operating environment.
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines.
• Ability and willingness to travel in country to support field teams.
• Experience and commitment to promote equity, gender justice and diversity.
• Attention to detail and critical analysis.
• Strong English Language skills.