Turkey: Project Manager, AfMENA Team – Turkey

Organization: Adam Smith International
Country: Turkey
Closing date: 24 Oct 2014

Job title: Project Manager, AfMENA Team – Turkey

Vacancy type Permanent position

Location Turkey - Istanbul

Service areas(s) Afghanistan Middle East North Africa Team

About the Afghanistan Middle East North Africa Team

We have been highly active in the region since 1998, when we helped to set up the Office of the President for the then Palestinian National Authority. In the intervening 15 years we provided 11 years of legal and communications support to the PLO for its final status negotiations, helped to establish centre of government structure in Iraq, raised Afghan annual tax revenues by over $2bn, distributed $1.6bn to get public services following the collapse of the Gaddafi regime, piloted service delivery mechanisms in war torn Syria and helped to support entrepreneurs across all countries going through the Arab Spring.

We are at the cutting edge of development approaches in this complex and dynamic region. We are building capacity at the institutions at the centre of government in Iraq, implementing a mentoring programme for entrepreneurs across the region, building demand side accountability in Libya, designing private sector development interventions in Yemen and pioneering approaches to supporting emerging local governance structures in Syria.

About the role

The AfMENA team is delivering a major project in Syria to support the development of local governance within opposition controlled and contested areas of the country (Tamkeen). The project has offices in both Gaziantep (Southern Turkey) and Amman. The project has been running since November 2013 and will finish in November 2015 and has a budget of £10m.

The job holder would need to be eligible to work in UK and committed to be seconded to Istanbul by mid-to-late October and work for our Turkish company for few years.

Specific responsibilities include:

· Contracting and management of key staff on Tamkeen project;

· Close liaison with Team Leaders on work planning and risk management;

· Reporting to clients on project verbally and where needed in written formats (monthly, quarterly);

· Management of budgets ensuring that the project stays within resource envelopes and that forecasting is accurate and timely;

· Liaison with operations managers in Gaziantep and Amman;

· Regular reporting to Project Director/Regional Director on progress of the project;

· Oversight of the team leader performance and co-operation with them on any performance issues related to their staff;

· Management of fiduciary risks related to grants to communities and stakeholders in Syria and oversight of security risks related to field officers;

· Development of a body of material related to lessons learnt and active involvement in communicating the successes within the donor community;

· Identification of any new business opportunities available either through expansion of the project or development of new projects.

About you

Adam Smith International seeks the following skills and experience:

· A postgraduate degree in economics, political science, international development, business management, or other relevant field from a top-tier university;

· A minimum of 2 years work experience in development preferably in a conflict affected environment, consulting or a relevant field;

· A demonstrated interest in economic development, particularly in developing countries;

· Good understanding of the Middle East and the Syria conflict;

· Excellent numerical ability with a focus on financial awareness and ability;

· Commercial acumen;

· Demonstrated experience of using initiative, client-orientation, risk taking, and working in complex and time-pressured contexts;

· Outstanding written and spoken English. Arabic skills would be desirable;

· Enthusiasm, flexibility and a strong attention to detail;

· Excellent communication to high level stakeholders, inter-personal, and team-working skills.

· You must be eligible to work in the UK.

How to apply:

Heard Enough? Ready to Apply?

We would love to hear from you. Please submit a CV (no more than 3 pages) and short cover letter to recruitment@adamsmithinternational.com with a subject line of “Project Manager, AfMENA - Turkey”. You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this position. Shortlisted applicants only will be contacted. Thank you for your consideration.