The Aga Khan Foundation in Syria seeks to employ Term-Based Project Assistants – Road to Resilience Project period of ten months for its office in Tartous.

Road to Resilience Project aims to improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers and communities in rural areas in Tartous by increasing their resilience to climate change and enhancing Home micro-farming productivity through establishing kitchen gardens, provision of quality agriculture inputs, technical assistance, adopting and scaling up regenerative farming practices.

Under the supervision of the Project Officer and in close collaboration with Community Engagement Officers, the Project Assistant is responsible for supporting the project team with the development of filed-reality informed project work plans, implementation of project interventions, capacity development of partner CBO/LNGOs and project beneficiaries through training, testing, adaptation and scaling up of innovations and best practices and approaches. The incumbent will report directly to the Project Officer.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide inputs in the development and/or revision of project detail Annual Work Plan (AWP) based on local context and beneficiaries needs analysis and application of participatory and exclusive community development approaches and tools, such as Human Centred Design (HCD) and PRA.
• Implement the project activities with project beneficiaries and local partner organizations in accordance with the approved AWP, project documents and guidance of the Project Officer.
• Work and support the project beneficiaries to adopt, implement and scale up best practices and innovations.
• In coordination with the Community Engagement team, select the beneficiaries using gender-sensitive criteria and implementation of project interventions related to enabling the LNGOs/CBOs to identify and address their priority needs.
• In collaboration with the Community Engagement Officer, build partnership and trust with implementing partners, CBOs/LNGOs and local government agencies.
• Support the Project Officer with managing the work of the project partners through monthly planning and performance tracking, monitoring, and regular meetings to ensure tasks are executed on time, within the allocated budget and according and procedures.
• Under supervision of the Project Officer and in close coordination with the Operation team, provide logistic support and assistance in the identification of specifications, development of the purchase orders, procurement, delivery and distribution of agriculture inputs, materials and equipment.
• In collaboration with the Community Engagement Officer, participate in the process of training needs assessment of the Community Groups and partner CBOs/LNGOs and provide support with the implementation of the capacity building plan (trainings, workshop, exposure visits), and provide the beneficiaries with technical training and mentoring.
• Support and directly contribute to planning and conducting various project-related events in the target areas.
• Document and share the progress, learnings, challenges, barriers, and other information with the Project Officer and relevant AKF team members.
• Support the project team in conducting the key value chain studies in the project target areas.
• Support the implementation of project MERL activities, including planning and execution of base-line/end-line assessments, surveys, evaluations and other data & information collection in the target areas.
• Contribute to development of project progress reports by providing evidence-based narrative information, data and analysis. Provide periodic (monthly, monthly, quarterly, annual, and ad-hoc) progress reports to Project Officer.

• The applicant must have a university degree in Agriculture, Agriculture Economics, Agribusiness or other related fields.
• Two years of prior professional experience in the implementation of agriculture theme, especially in regenerative farming practices, horticulture, vegetable services and climate resilience-building projects.
• Good knowledge of the project target areas, specifically agriculture and livestock sectors development, potential and challenge.
• Good knowledge and skills in project planning, implementation and monitoring.
• Knowledge and understanding of gender equality principles and integration in project planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
• Good understanding of climate change and principles of climate resilience building of the communities
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in Arabic language, knowledge of English language will be an asset.
• Excellent negotiation, teamwork, and communication skills.