Senior Project Coordinator- Jordan

**Senior Project Coordinator- Jordan

Position: Senior Project Coordinator

Location: Amman – Jordan with the possibility of travel to other governorates and countries

Application Deadline: May 10th

Duration: 12 months with possibility of extension

Start Date: As soon as possible

SPARK has recently launched a new regional programme (ENI) funded by the European Commission. Aimed at strengthening the local start-up ecosystems and its actors in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Tunisia in order to support innovation, employment and economic growth.
As part of this programme SPARK is hiring a Project Coordinator, who will lead the implementation of the Lebanon components of the ENI programme. Working directly with partners on the delivery of the capacity building, SME support and advocacy activities. Supporting the expansion of the Lebanon portfolio. Taking the lead on additional SME and job creation projects as assigned. Additional programmes and components will be added as SPARK’s Reporting to the Jordan Country Manager.

Main Tasks and Responsibilities

The responsibilities and tasks include, but are not limited to:

• Manage and implement the ENI programme in Jordan;

• Responsible for representation and stakeholder management relevant to the ENI programme (in coordination with other regional and in-country staff);

• Responsible for planning and reporting ENI Jordan;

• Provide inputs for acquisition to support programme development and expansion of SPARK’s Jordan portfolio;

• Scouting of new local partners in Jordan for the identified SPARK strategy pillars, green, digital and women’s empowerment

• Lead the implementation of other/new programmes in Jordan as assigned.

• Contribute to the design of innovative start-up/scale-up activities with the country team and selected partners;

• Work directly with assigned partners to support design and start of activities (spend an estimated 2 days per week at partner’s offices to work with implementation teams);

• Support the country team to expand on private-sector networks and database of relevant business development service providers, including strengthening relations with the chambers of commerce, business associations, business incubators, accelerators, and support networks to foster partnerships and enhance support services provided,

• Support partners to map local business development services providers, and capacity building needs,

• Identify ‘innovative’ partners and business approaches with high growth potential in the four countries of implementation, with a specific focus on digitalization, ‘green’ entrepreneurship, and ‘social’ entrepreneurship,

• Reviewing and updating SPARK activities over the course of implementation to align and update in accordance with new trends and sector developments,

• Support partners with the selection of beneficiaries and development of selection tools,

• Contribute to stakeholder and coordination meetings,

• Provide technical input and feedback on progress reports and impact evaluation reports as well as project proposals,

• Other tasks as required.

Preferred Experience & Skill Requirements:

• Advanced university degree in business administration, international business, economic development, education, and or relevant field.

• Minimum of 5-7 years of relevant work experience in project management for international organizations, or 3 years of experience in project management combined with 3-5 years’ relevant private sector experience,

• Proven experience in project management including budget management and donor reporting;

• Experience in building partnerships between private sector companies, public bodies and NGOs,

• Start-up experience and/or experience in business coaching and training including the development of materials and toolkits.

• A background working on entrepreneurship and/or supporting or working for business support centres would be considered a strong asset,

• Experience working for/with business incubators and accelerators in one or more of the implementation countries.

• Experience working across different locations, cultures, and contexts.

• Experience with EU funded projects will be considered an asset,

• Private sector experience and/or experience working directly with business networks and accelerators is preferred,

• Experience relevant to cross-cutting areas such as gender, social inclusion, and youth

• Demonstrated ability to lead a diverse team on activities of similar scale (similar budget size, staff size, scope of activities, etc.)

• Ability to work well with others and to develop and maintain compatibility among project staff, subcontractors, consultants, and recipients of assistance.

• Experience with refugees and youth in Jordan, particularly in relation to business development and employment creation, considered a strong plus

• Experience with multi-donor programme implementation and team management

• development issues.

• Good understanding of political environment and operational space in Jordan

• Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills.

• Experience with agile project management.

• Ability and willingness to travel internationally.

• Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills.

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic.

SPARK Offers

• A challenging and exciting position in an international environment;

• Remuneration based on experience

• Full-time contract 40h/per week;

• Training opportunities.

About SPARK

• SPARK develops higher education and entrepreneurship to empower young, ambitious people to lead their fragile and conflict-affected societies into prosperity. SPARK is a dynamic and growing, international not-for-profit development organization with 100+ staff members, in more than 14 offices around the world. SPARK supports refugees in the Middle East by providing them with scholarships in universities and higher education institutions in the region. SPARK also supports young entrepreneurs in fragile states, to start or grow their own businesses.

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