The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization that has supported democratic institutions and practices in every region of the world for more than three decades.

Since its founding in 1983, NDI and its local partners have worked to establish and strengthen political and civic organizations, safeguard elections, and promote citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. To read more about the organization visit our website www.ndi.org

 Context:

The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) is seeking candidates for the position of a Civil Society Program Assistant for a duration of one year, starting in October 2020. Position is based in Tunis. The civil society program aims at supporting local civil society partners in engaging in the political process and monitoring the performance of elected officials. NDI also supports civil society work with citizens, municipal elected officials, political party branches and MPs, to help make policies more responsive to citizens’ needs and priorities. Besides providing institutional support, NDI gathers through its work institutional knowledge about its partners and their environment, and continuously builds on this knowledge to improve its programs. 

NDI’s civil society program works on strengthening civil society and local communities’ involvement in the policy process, by engaging with elected officials and political parties’ representatives to help them deliver concrete improvements to citizens’ lives. Strategies include awarding grants to civil society organizations, developing CSOs’ technical capacities, convening meetings and consultations with elected officials, conducting regular qualitative opinion research; and more.  In this role, the Civil Society Program Assistant performs and coordinates programmatic and administrative tasks for the team. 

Key responsibilities:

More specifically, under close supervision of the program director and the civil society coordinator, the Civil Society program assistant will: 

Administrative:     

• Provide administrative and logistical support to the program activities such as coordinating meetings, convenings; making travel and other logistical arrangements; and taking on other tasks as needed
• Process consultant contracts and expanse reports as needed
• Maintain document filing system
• Liaise with the Sub Grants Accountant and administrative team as needed

Programmatic and grants management

Support the coordination of the Civil Society portfolio as needed. This may include:

• Supports “due diligence” in reviews of grant proposals and applicant organizations, and the overall selection process of sugrantees;
• Assist the civil society coordinator with tracking grantee work and outcomes, including reviewing grant reports, participating in meetings with grantees, and reading and tracking partner updates, and communicating with partners as needed; 
• Help in designing and organizing major events under the program (trainings, consultations, working sessions, focus group research, etc);
• Assist the team in the project reporting, including monthly reports, political updates, success stories and post for NDI’s Facebook page and other outlets, and data collection, collation and analysis;
• Translate useful material from Arabic to French and/or English;
• Participate in all other tasks that can contribute to the realization and success of the program, and conduct research to support program implementation;
• Support planning processes such as strategic discussions, evaluation and development of new strategic plans; 

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field
• Master’s degree an asset
• At least two years of relevant experience in program administration, logistical and financial support, and non-profit organizations. Previous experience in project management is a plus
• Excellent organizational and analytical skills are mandatory for this position
• Good understanding of civil society, decentralization, and political landscape in Tunisia
• Excellent inter-personal and communication skills 
• Excellent language skills in English, Arabic and French. Ability to produce high quality reports in English is a must
• Ability to multi-task, work well under pressure to meet deadlines and work autonomously and in a team
• Demonstrated willingness to learn and be open to new ideas
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Windows and Office as well as Google applications
• Ability to travel extensively within Tunisia and flexibility in terms of unusual working hours (weekends + holidays)
• Not a member nor a supporter of a political group, and has the capacity to work within a multiparty setting