Back Country Director - West Bank/Gaza

COMPANY DESCRIPTION:

Founded in 1951, Amideast is a leading American nonprofit organization engaged in international education, training, and development activities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). We believe that self-forged, fulfilled lives lead to understanding, mutual respect, and a more peaceful, productive world.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:

The Country Director will serve as Amideast’s senior representative in the West Bank/Gaza (WB/G), fostering positive relationships with host country government officials, key clients, partners, and donors; and overseeing the delivery of all Amideast’s programs and services to ensure consistency, quality, and a focus on client requirements. The incumbent will be responsible for managing all aspects of operations for Amideast in the WB/G, sustaining the existing program portfolio, and determining a strategy for the expansion of offerings and activities. The incumbent must be an assertive self-starter who possesses strong diplomatic and entrepreneurial skills.

Overall responsibilities for this position entail managing office operations, ensuring the financial integrity of the field office, recruiting and training staff, and developing a diverse portfolio of programs and services which includes educational advising and testing services for students and professionals, scholarship and exchange program services for a variety of sponsors, institutional capacity building initiatives, and professional training services, including basic management skills, workforce development skills, English language courses, and test preparation programs.

Amideast WB/G has its main office in Ramallah, and branch offices in Gaza, East Jerusalem, Nablus, and Hebron. The incumbent will be responsible for traveling to the branch offices on a regular basis and for ensuring the financial sustainability of all WB/G offices.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Specific responsibilities for this Country Director position include, but are not limited to, the following:

Strategy and Business Growth

· Sets the strategic direction for the sustainability of existing core lines of business and for the development of new opportunities to ensure continued growth amongst our various offices.

· Leads all business development activities for Amideast by identifying opportunities in the corporate, governmental, and educational sectors.

· In coordination with headquarters, develops and writes proposals and prepares budgets for submission to potential clients, donors, and sponsors.

· Maintains client, donor, and partner relationships to position Amideast for new business opportunities.

Program Management

· Coordinates all programs and technical activities in the field office and supervises staff and a core team of teachers and trainers that support and implement programs.

· Ensures that strategies are in place to monitor and to evaluate all programs and technical activities that the Amideast WB/G field office implements.

· Ensures that all required technical and financial reports are submitted to clients and donors in a complete and timely manner.

· Oversees the preparation and submission to headquarters of required reports including accurate statistics on field office activities.

· Remains current on changes within the education and corporate training industries through publications and continuing education.

· Prepares briefings on educational, training, and economic developments in the WB/G and in the MENA region.

Human Resource Management

· Directs the continued development of Amideast human resources including setting strategies for hiring, staff development, promotion, salary and job classification structures, and formal staff training and orientation.

· Develops and coordinates personnel policies and procedures in conjunction with the Senior Director of Human Resources at headquarters.

· Creates a learning culture within Amideast WB/G and acts as a mentor to staff for on-the-job growth.

Financial Management and Administration

· Develops an annual plan and budget inclusive of new business development strategies. Oversees the programmatic and financial implementation and monitoring of the plan and budget targets, and the creation of contingency options.

· Administers, coordinates, and monitors the office’s fiscal affairs in accordance with prescribed policies and procedures, and ensures timely and accurate financial reporting to Amideast Headquarters. Functions include overseeing operating, capital, and contract budgets; cash management; foreign exchange; monthly accounting; procurement; and contract management.

· Ensures maximum resource utilization to place the field office in a positive, productive, and sustainable financial situation.

· Negotiates lease agreements for all office facilities, manages the establishment and/or build-out of new office facilities, and tracks key dates regarding lease renewals and end dates.

· Ensures compliance with host country laws related to financial and human resource matters.

· Ensures that health and safety, security, anti-fraud, and risk management policies and procedures are in place at the field office facilities.

Communications

· Directs marketing activities for all Amideast products and services designed for general and specific audiences.

· Oversees the creation of all print, online, and social media marketing literature and information in compliance with the organization’s branding policies and client/donor requirements.

External Relations

· Participates in fundraising, public relations, and outreach activities.

· Represents Amideast through active membership in professional business and education associations, and at conferences, meetings, and workshops.

· Projects a qualified appearance and cooperative attitude and maintains high standards of ethics and confidentiality to ensure the professional representation of Amideast at all times.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS:

Required

· A Master’s degree in Business Administration, Education, Middle East studies, or a relevant field

· A minimum of 10 years of management experience, including the oversight of staff, projects, and facilities

· Demonstrated business development experience, including project design, proposal development and writing, and budgeting

· Demonstrated experience in marketing educational, professional skills, and workforce development training programs and services via traditional and social media platforms

· Demonstrated financial management skills

· An intermediate level of spoken and written proficiency in Arabic

· Demonstrated entrepreneurial skills

· Exemplary writing, speaking, and presentation skills

· In-depth knowledge of the US higher education system

· In-depth knowledge of the WB/G education system

· A minimum of 5 years of work experience in the MENA region

· Strong organizational, supervisory, and interpersonal skills

· An ability to balance sensitive political and cultural issues and to develop a broad base of working relationships

· Proficiency in Microsoft Office productivity tools, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Preferred

· An advanced level of spoken and written proficiency in Arabic**

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The incumbent in this position will work in a professional office environment and will utilize the following equipment when working from the main office based in Ramallah or temporary remote home office as may be required for COVID-19.

· Computer (laptop or desktop)

· Printer/Photocopier/Scanner/Fax

· Telephone

· Other (Specify if any)

Up to 40% business travel may be needed to support program activities as needed.

The physical demands and work environment that have been described is representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

This position description is an overview of the major functions and requirements of this position. This document is not intended to be an exhaustive list encompassing every duty and requirement of the position; the Employee’s Manager may assign other duties as related or as otherwise deemed appropriate and necessary within the general scope, without the need for additional compensation.