East Europe Foundation Moldova is hiring a Program Officer

Duration of contract: Temporary position, 12 months, maternity leave replacement

Start date of employment: 17 September 2018 (tentatively)

Supervisor: Director of Programs

Background

East Europe Foundation (EEF) is a non-profit, non-political organization established as a foundation, in accordance with the Law on Foundations and other laws of the Republic of Moldova. EEF was registered on November 3, 2009 and started its main operations on June 1, 2010. EEF goal is to build democratic systems in Moldova, empower Moldovan citizens and foster sustainable development through education, technical assistance and grant programs that promote civil society development, strengthen media, enhance good governance and build economic prosperity.

EEF is the successor organization of Eurasia Foundation in Moldova and continues its rich legacy of promoting democracy, civil society development and the growth of a market economy in Moldova.

EEF Strategy for 2017 - 2020 is funded by the Government of Sweden, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the European Union, UN Women and other donors.

From the programmatic view, the EEF Strategy consists of two inter-related programs with corresponding components conducive to their implementation.

The civil and political and democratic governance program strives to create opportunities to exercise democratic influence through NGO platforms and think tanks actively providing evidence-based input into targeted public policies and engagement of national authorities in designing institutional mechanisms of interaction with civil society.

The second program, social and economic rights and sustainable community development, advances rights and the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in communities through local NGOs, actively mobilising people to (i) constructively engage with duty bearers, (ii) oversee local authorities’ performance, (iii) define and addressing most stringent community needs.

The incumbent will mainly work to implement the project “Local civil society contributes to economic and social development in Moldova”, funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Government of Sweden. The project is implemented by East Europe Foundation in partnership with Centre Partnership for Development, European Business Association, Help Age International and centre for Innovation and Social Development.

The project aims to contribute to sustainable economic and social development in Moldova through active involvement of civil society and other socio-economic actors with due consideration of Association Agreement and DCFTA. It focuses on 4 main objectives: (1) Support Labour Law reforms by ensuring an inclusive labour market through advocacy, training and coaching of CSOs, SMEs and final beneficiaries; (2) Improve business environment by promoting self-employment and entrepreneurship, including social entrepreneurship; (3) Promote new economic opportunities linked to DCFTA by supporting the modernization of SMEs and enhancing export capacities of Moldovan private sector; and (4) Advocate for a proper implementation of the Association Agreement and DCFTA by monitoring and evaluating DCFTA-related national strategies and Action Plans.

The most important tool in this action is the financial support to third parties (1.5 mln. EUR - sub-granting to grass-roots NGOs) in the following fields: (1) Civil society advocacy groups (5 grants); (2) Support to create local partnerships (5 grants); (3) Create Regional Business Support Hubs (6 grants); (4) Create social enterprises (15 grants); and (5) Support youth-led entrepreneurship funds (10 grants). 

Depending on the general workload of EEF staff and diversification of its program portfolio, tasks related to other EEF programs and projects could be assigned to the incumbent.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Manage all day-to-day programmatic and operational activities of the project, ensure close coordination of project activities with all stakeholders and provide guidance to partners; 
• Organize all operating activities under the project, with the support of the program assistant;
• Coordinate project activities of/with the project partners;
• Organise regular Project Steering Committee Meetings of the project;
• Liaise and maintain close coordination with all stakeholders including national and local public authorities, NGOs and initiative groups, media, donors, development partners;
• Draft annual work plans on the implementation of the project;
• Perform pre-award due diligence, site visits and post-award monitoring of grantees with Grants Manager, according to EEF policies and procedures;
• Organize and coordinate Expert Panels and/or Advisory Board related to grants awards;
• Prepare Acceptance Memoranda on the sub-grants proposals to be funded by EEF;
• Monitor the activity of grantees and provide guidance during the implementation of their initiatives;
• Review narrative reports submitted by grantees;
• Compile internal reports on the implementation of the project and draft reports to donors;
• Elaborate terms of reference for project procurements;
• Participate in press conferences, trainings, workshops, round table discussions and other outreach activities;
• Follow the EEF policies and procedures and donor requirements in the implementation of all activities;
• Perform other duties that are essential for the quality implementation of activities.

Skills and qualifications:

• Bachelor Degree in social sciences, human rights, law, economics or other relevant field (a Masters’ Degree will be an asset);   
• At least two years of experience with project management. Experience with sub-grants management will be an asset;
• Proven reporting writing skills;
• Ability to undertake regular field visits to rural communities;
• Advocacy and monitoring experience and skills;
• Skills in partnership development and management;
• Ability to work in a team environment with self-sufficiency and self-motivation;
• Fluency in oral and written Romanian, Russian and English;
• Proven commitment to the core human rights principle of equality and non-discrimination.

Application procedure:

Interested candidates must submit the following documents:

1. Motivation letter;

2. Curriculum vitae of the applicant, including details of three reference persons.

The application package shall be submitted via email to: concurs@eef.md with the text „Program Officer”  in the subject line, by September 2nd, 2018.

For additional information about East Europe Foundation please visit the following web site: www.eef.md.

Only selected candidates will be contacted. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

EEF provides equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy, sex, age, disability, opinion, political view or any other status.