Job Announcement: Director, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at PartnersGlobal

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May 14, 2019
Job Announcement: Director, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at PartnersGlobal

Job Announcement: Director, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at PartnersGlobal

By : Jadaliyya Reports

Job Description


Position Title:              Director, Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Organization:              PartnersGlobal
Reports to:                  President
Location:                     Washington, DC

Organizational Background


PartnersGlobal (Partners), established in 1989, is an international, non-governmental organization committed to promoting transparent and accountable governance by strengthening civil society organizations and encouraging a culture of change and conflict management worldwide. Partners specializes in organizational development and social entrepreneurship, having provided the seed capital and technical assistance to establish 21 independent, local Centers throughout the world. Together, these Centers comprise the Partners Network. The Partners Network includes over 240 skilled professionals working to advance democratic governance and conflict transformation worldwide. There are currently four Partners Centers in the MENA region, Partners Jordan (established in 2005), Partners Yemen (established in 2009), Partners Iraq and Partners Lebanon (both established in 2018).

Partners believes in the power of participatory decision-making, collaboration, and consensus-building as the fundamentals of an inclusive and democratic society, and we promote the development of these skills in all aspects of our work. In the MENA region in particular, we support civil society and marginalized populations to apply these skills to: local peacebuilding; reconciliation and transitional justice; human rights protection; youth and women’s empowerment; and, preventing violent extremism.  The global Partners team includes process experts, facilitators, and trainers who apply those process skills to achieve concrete results in a wide array of fields, such as the rule of law, access to justice, security sector reform, and sustainable natural resource management.

The Position


Primary Responsibilities: We are hiring a Director to lead the MENA team, based in our Washington D.C. office, together with the teams in Yemen and Iraq to oversee program implementation, lead new business development and fundraising, develop strategic communications to raise the profile of Partners work and disseminate the results, nurture positive relationships with donors and peer organizations, represent the organization externally at events, conferences and workshops, provide support to the growth and development of the Partners Centers and lead field assignments as needed.  Experience working in MENA is essential and an ability to speak Arabic is required. 

The Director is part of the organization’s Senior Leadership Team and serves an integral part of strategic and policy decisions that help shape the way the organization operates, grows and develops.

We are looking for a seasoned international development professional with experience managing teams and programs in complex environments with multiple donors; we need a person with deep knowledge of and connections to the region; with a vision for the peacebuilding and democracy-building needs facing MENA; and, with the practical skills to make that vision a reality by building on the recent period of growth in our MENA portfolio. We have invested in the establishment of two new Partners Centers, in Iraq and in Lebanon in the past year who are starting up with a diverse focus on women peace and security, women’s labor rights, and arts for peace. Therefore, the new MENA director must have experience supporting local civil society’s organizational development and sustainability. We also have a very large program portfolio in Yemen, working closely with our Partners Yemen colleagues throughout the country. Experience managing teams in the field and bridging the realities of headquarters’ functions with the lived experience in the field is important; background of working in conflict affected environments is important. In addition, we have several current programs and opportunities for expansion in the Gulf. The successful candidate will be able to incorporate a regional perspective and facilitate collaboration amongst the regional Partners Network, as well as see connections to global trends and ensure the MENA region is fully participating and represented in the activities of our global network. The Director would lead the process of scoping and exploring regional growth of the Network and future Center investments.   

PartnersGlobal seeks candidates with a strong background in: 

  • Middle East and North Africa: with deep knowledge of the region and experience working and living in MENA, with credibility to oversee our current program portfolio and to lead the development of new initiatives and programming
  • Program Management: conversant in donor terminology, mechanics, and requirements. This knowledge should include specific knowledge of budgets, human resources, strategic communications, work-planning, and monitoring and evaluation.  We are looking for an international development leader who combines technical expertise with proven management skills.
  • Peacebuilding/Democracy Building/International Development: to design and implement innovative approaches to meet donors and program requirements, focusing on applying PartnersGlobal core methodologies, such as Cooperative Advocacy, NGO Organizational Development, Social Entrepreneurship, Conflict Resolution, Mediation & Facilitation, Coalition-building, and Civic Participation. We are also looking for relevant expertise in one or more of our core areas of focus, such as Good Governance, Peacebuilding, Civil Society Development, Human Rights and Social Inclusion.
  • Business Development: to lead efforts to secure funding from USG donors, other bilateral and multi-lateral donors, and private foundations.
  • Networking and relationship-building: possesses strong abilities to form and maintain positive, strategic relationships with a variety of key stakeholders including donors, peer organizations, staff from Partners Centers, and colleagues within the DC office.
  • Team Leadership: a track recording in leading and managing effective teams in person and remotely.

Primary Responsibilities

  • Serve as the Regional Program Director for MENA programs supervising the MENA team (currently 4-5 staff) and legal affiliates in Yemen and Iraq.
  • Work with regional Partners Network members in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen to ensure their organizational success, including seeking out new business development opportunities to secure programs for regional cooperation.
  • Take a leadership role in designing new programs and initiatives in the MENA region. Oversee professional management of current portfolio.
  • Provide project management oversight and coaching to colleagues on the MENA team to ensure staff have the necessary technical and project management skills for our programs to be implemented professionally, in compliance with donor requirements, and with impact in the communities we serve.
  • Bring experience and connections with US Government and other relevant funders with a focus on the MENA region. Cultivate relationships with non-US donors and foundations
  • Represent Partners in an effective manner at appropriate professional meetings with peer organizations, political and civic leaders, donors, supporters and the foreign policy community.
  • Oversee the development and execution of strategic communications designed to raise the profile of Partners' work and disseminate the results of the MENA portfolio.
  • Use own professional networks to raise the profile of the work of Partners and position us for strategic partnerships and new program opportunities.  
  • Coordinate with our other Regional Directors in D.C. and the affiliated Partners Centers in other parts of the world to ensure the sharing of program approaches, ideas and explore opportunities for global collaboration.
  • Oversee negotiations with project partners and contracting organizations.
  • Oversee the staff billability and budget management of the MENA portfolio to make sure the projections for the Fiscal Year are met.
  • Conduct country assessments in the region as appropriate to design expansion plans for new Partners Center investments.
  • Expected travel to the region 20-35% of the year.
  • Fulfill other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements
 

Professional Background

  • Minimum 10-12 years of experience in program management in the areas of peacebuilding, democracy-building or broader international development, ideally with part of the experience working overseas in the MENA region. Minimum 5 years of supervisory/management experience.
  • Professional background and experience working on the MENA region required.
  • Relevant advanced degree required (International Relations, Development Studies, Conflict Resolution, Political Science, Public Administration, African Studies).
  • A track record of creating and sustaining strategic partnerships, supporting local civil society, nurturing donor relationships, and negotiating agreements with donors, prime contractors, and project partners.
  • Demonstrated knowledge and competency in one or more of Partners’ program areas (e.g. organizational development, conflict resolution, civil society, good governance, human rights and inclusive societies).
  • A strong relevant professional network upon which to draw for partnerships and expertise.

Management Experience

  • At least 5 years of experience in leading and managing effective teams.
  • Demonstrated ability to coach and mentor junior staff.
  • Experience developing and implementing strategic plans in the region.
  • Good financial management background, preparation and oversight of program budgets, tracking staff billability and meeting spending targets.
     

Skills and Competences:

  • Must be a team player with a high level of interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity, with the soft leadership ability to corral the talents and focus of a broad network of colleagues globally. Must be comfortable working in a fast-paced work environment.
  • Demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit with background in fund-raising, including donor development, proposal writing, and formulation of project budgets.
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills with ability to express complex ideas clearly, analyze, problem-solve, manage, and prioritize work in the context of multiple priorities.
  • Ability and willingness to travel internationally.
  • Experience with and ability to fulfill short-term field assignments.
  • Proven record of writing winning proposals for U.S. government and other relevant donors.
  • High level of interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity to effectively interact with U.S. and foreign national staff and civil society, government and the private sector actors.
  • Fluency in Arabic required.
  • Legal status to work in the U.S. is required.
  • Optimistic energy, flexibility and creativity a must!

Salary: Commensurate with experience.

Application: 

Please submit a cover letter and resume by email only to jobs@partnersglobal.org. Please indicate in the email subject line the position for which you are applying. No telephone calls, please. We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled. We encourage potential candidates to apply as soon as possible as we hope to make a hiring decision quickly.  

PartnersGlobal embraces diversity, welcoming individuals of all ethnicities, genders, and orientations to apply.
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Feb 16, 2011 Lebanon
Jadaliyya Reports By :
Jadaliyya Reports

Past is Present: Settler Colonialism Matters!

On 5-6 March 2011, the Palestine Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London will hold its seventh annual conference, "Past is Present: Settler Colonialism in Palestine." This year`s conference aims to understand Zionism as a settler colonial project which has, for more than a century, subjected Palestine and Palestinians to a structural and violent form of destruction, dispossession, land appropriation and erasure in the pursuit of a new Jewish Israeli society. By organizing this conference, we hope to reclaim and revive the settler colonial paradigm and to outline its potential to inform and guide political strategy and mobilization.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is often described as unique and exceptional with little resemblance to other historical or ongoing colonial conflicts. Yet, for Zionism, like other settler colonial projects such as the British colonization of Ireland or European settlement of North America, South Africa or Australia, the imperative is to control the land and its resources -- and to displace the original inhabitants. Indeed, as conference keynote speaker Patrick Wolfe, one of the foremost scholars on settler colonialism and professor at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia, argues, "the logic of this project, a sustained institutional tendency to eliminate the Indigenous population, informs a range of historical practices that might otherwise appear distinct--invasion is a structure not an event."[i]

Therefore, the classification of the Zionist movement as a settler colonial project, and the Israeli state as its manifestation, is not merely intended as a statement on the historical origins of Israel, nor as a rhetorical or polemical device. Rather, the aim is to highlight Zionism`s structural continuities and the ideology which informs Israeli policies and practices in Palestine and toward Palestinians everywhere. Thus, the Nakba -- whether viewed as a spontaneous, violent episode in war, or the implementation of a preconceived master plan -- should be understood as both the precondition for the creation of Israel and the logical outcome of Zionist settlement in Palestine.

Moreover, it is this same logic that sustains the continuation of the Nakba today. As remarked by Benny Morris, “had he [David Ben Gurion] carried out full expulsion--rather than partial--he would have stabilised the State of Israel for generations.”[ii] Yet, plagued by an “instability”--defined by the very existence of the Palestinian nation--Israel continues its daily state practices in its quest to fulfill Zionism’s logic to maximize the amount of land under its control with the minimum number of Palestinians on it. These practices take a painful array of manifestations: aerial and maritime bombardment, massacre and invasion, house demolitions, land theft, identity card confiscation, racist laws and loyalty tests, the wall, the siege on Gaza, cultural appropriation, and the dependence on willing (or unwilling) native collaboration and security arrangements, all with the continued support and backing of imperial power. 

Despite these enduring practices however, the settler colonial paradigm has largely fallen into disuse. As a paradigm, it once served as a primary ideological and political framework for all Palestinian political factions and trends, and informed the intellectual work of committed academics and revolutionary scholars, both Palestinians and Jews.

The conference thus asks where and why the settler colonial paradigm was lost, both in scholarship on Palestine and in politics; how do current analyses and theoretical trends that have arisen in its place address present and historical realities? While acknowledging the creativity of these new interpretations, we must nonetheless ask: when exactly did Palestinian natives find themselves in a "post-colonial" condition? When did the ongoing struggle over land become a "post-conflict" situation? When did Israel become a "post-Zionist" society? And when did the fortification of Palestinian ghettos and reservations become "state-building"?

In outlining settler colonialism as a central paradigm from which to understand Palestine, this conference re-invigorates it as a tool by which to analyze the present situation. In doing so, it contests solutions which accommodate Zionism, and more significantly, builds settler colonialism as a political analysis that can embolden and inform a strategy of active, mutual, and principled Palestinian alignment with the Arab struggle for self-determination, and indigenous struggles in the US, Latin America, Oceania, and elsewhere.

Such an alignment would expand the tools available to Palestinians and their solidarity movement, and reconnect the struggle to its own history of anti-colonial internationalism. At its core, this internationalism asserts that the Palestinian struggle against Zionist settler colonialism can only be won when it is embedded within, and empowered by, the broader Arab movement for emancipation and the indigenous, anti-racist and anti-colonial movement--from Arizona to Auckland.

SOAS Palestine Society invites everyone to join us at what promises to be a significant intervention in Palestine activism and scholarship.

For over 30 years, SOAS Palestine Society has heightened awareness and understanding of the Palestinian people, their rights, culture, and struggle for self-determination, amongst students, faculty, staff, and the broader public. SOAS Palestine society aims to continuously push the frontiers of discourse in an effort to make provocative arguments and to stimulate debate and organizing for justice in Palestine through relevant conferences, and events ranging from the intellectual and political impact of Edward Said`s life and work (2004), international law and the Palestine question (2005), the economy of Palestine and its occupation (2006), the one state (2007), 60 Years of Nakba, 60 Years of Resistance (2009), and most recently, the Left in Palestine (2010).

For more information on the SOAS Palestine Society 7th annual conference, Past is Present: Settler Colonialism in Palestine: www.soaspalsoc.org

SOAS Palestine Society Organizing Collective is a group of committed students that has undertaken to organize annual academic conferences on Palestine since 2003.

 

[i] Patrick Wolfe, Settler Colonialism and the Transformation of Anthropology: The Politics and Poetics of an Ethnographic Event, Cassell, London, p. 163

[ii] Interview with Benny Morris, Survival of the Fittest, Haaretz, 9. January 2004, http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/art.php?aid=5412