Country Lead: Egypt

Country Lead: Egypt
Project Overview and Role:
The Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE) is a ‎6-year and €‎114 million
programme funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that aims to
create a prosperous future for ‎200,000 young women and men in the Middle East,
North Africa, Sahel & West Africa and Horn of Africa regions. The Fund will be
supporting initiatives in ‎23 focus countries that will offer youth, in
particular young women, opportunities for work that is demand-driven and
productive, offering a stable income and safe working conditions, and that is
contributing to their personal development and social protection.

Private sector, civil society and knowledge institutions have been invited to
submit proposals geared to scalable solutions for creating more and better
jobs and income generating opportunities for youth. Solutions will in
particular focus on an integrated approach that addresses the shortcomings on
the demand side (jobs) and supply side (skills) and bridging the mismatch
between these two in the labour market.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
The Country Lead will be responsible for representing the Challenge Fund for
Youth Employment in Egypt and acting as the primary point of contact for the
Fund 's Implementing Partners (IPs). The Country Lead will act as 'critical
friend' of the Ips: they will closely monitor IP's project performance and
also discuss any emerging issues with the IP in an open and transparent
manner.

The portfolio in Egypt is expected to consist of about ‎15-‎20 Implementing
Partners. The Country Lead will ensure that IPs are compliant with the Fund's
delivery guidelines. This includes monitoring progress of the Implementing
Partners' projects, and supporting Implementing Partners with technical and
financial reporting, providing strategic guidance, mobilizing technical
assistance (TA), and any other needs that may arise.

The Country Lead will be part of the fund delivery team working closely with
the Fund Management team and Technical Assistance team. The Country Lead is
supported by the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team, Financial
Management team, and the Communications team.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities


The responsibilities and duties of the Country Lead include the following:

Strategic Planning, Project and Relationship Management:
*
Lead the development of the annual country delivery action plan and lay the
strategic priorities for the country.
* Lead the implementation of the country delivery plan following the timely planning as per the country workplan.
* Orchestrate and customize the support received from the central team in a way that maximizes efficiency and ensures that it is not one size fits all support.
* Represent CFYE in-country by overseeing the delivery of projects and serve as the first point of contact for IPs during the project life cycle.
* Take the lead in in-country project operations and management including strategic advisory and periodic review of progress against project targets, due diligence improvement plan, risk management and oversight of projects' spending against budgets.
* Coordinate the contracting of IPs and realisation of any required Contract Amendments.
Reporting and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL):
*
Coordinate and chair the quarterly progress review meetings with each
Implementing Partner (IP), and document minutes, observations, and
reflections, including external conditions and local external factors relevant
to project implementation.
* Provide guidance to the in-country MEL advisor in realizing the Data validation process to promote high quality data collection.
* Support partners to monitor and evaluate the impact of their projects in accordance with the CFYE MEL system, and validate documentation tied to Outputs and Outcomes for disbursements.
* Work with MEL Manager and other relevant team members to analyse portfolio-level data to draw key insights, emerging trends, and lessons, and communicate these in a clear and relevant way internally and externally.

Technical Assistance Delivery and Management:
*
Supervise the TA planning to the IP's: coordinate creation of the TA
assignment (SoW), requesting approval from central team.
* Support the recruitment and on-boarding of the TA provider. In the case of volunteers, work closely with the in-country local VSO country coordinator.
* Monitor TA delivery to IPs on a needs-based basis and report on a quarterly basis on the progress of ongoing TA delivery.
* Identify any common pain-points in the employment ecosystem, and work with the delivery team to design system-level interventions that can resolve those.

Communications, Marketing and Outreach:
*
Provide regular updates on progress and highlights from the portfolio, in
weekly CFYE meeting, monthly newsletter and annual report.
* Participate in calls and relevant conferences or events within or related to their country or region to exchange relevant programme learnings.
* Maintain the relationship with the Netherlands Embassy, represent CFYE in meetings and events organised by NL or other network partners.

Financial Planning & Reporting:
*
Manage Egypt Country Budget in accordance to the agreed-upon country action
plan, and in compliance with Palladium policies and procedures.
* Guide and facilitate IPs in preparing financial information and supporting documents as part of quarterly and annual internal reviews or external project audits, as requested by the Fund's Central Team.
* Liaise with the IPs and Finance team on invoicing and contractual payment processes;
* Alert the Finance Manager at HQ when issues arise in relation to financial management that require a response from the fund management team.

Level of Effort and Reporting:

The level of effort for this role will be full-time fixed employment,
initially for ‎1 year with the possibility for extension.

The Country Lead will report to CFYE 's Deputy Team Leader. However, they will
need to work and coordinate closely with the Fund Management Team and
Technical Assistance Team in addition to other members of the Challenge Fund
Team.

Required Qualifications:
* Strong business acumen and understanding of business support to private sector entities.
* Strong Project Management skills including Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning experience.
* Strong affinity with youth empowerment, gender and social inclusion, and decent work.
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
* Good organisational and planning skills, and sound problem-solving and decision-making skills.
* Flexibility to work in a non-office setup or from implementing partners ' premises
* Ability to work autonomously, and as part of a remote central team

Minimum Requirements:
*
Must have the right-to-work in Egypt and is based in Cairo.
* Relevant academic qualifications in a related field such as business administration, economics, HRM or finance.
* Proven experience with project management and performing related strategic and administrative tasks.
* Relevant technical work experience in one of the following areas; youth employment, private sector development, and/or business consulting.
All submissions must be in English.
Company Overview:
About Palladium - Palladium is a global leader in the design,
development and delivery of Positive Impact - the intentional creation of
enduring social and economic value. We work with governments, businesses, and
investors to solve the world's most pressing challenges. With a team of more
than ‎3,000 employees operating in ‎90 plus countries and a global network of
over ‎35,000 experts, we help improve economies, societies and, most
importantly, people's lives.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding
equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome
applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to
drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome
and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job
applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their
background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited
to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression,
religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran,
marital or Indigenous status.
Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a
disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other
circumstance, please email our team at [email protected] and
we will be in touch to discuss.
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by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with
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All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process
including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence
process.