Egypt Project Assistant

Location: Egypt, nationwide

Duration: 4 days/ week for till January 2027

We are looking for an assistant to support our programme that works to secure the human rights of minorities in Egypt. The post holder may also contribute to developing new programmes in Egypt as well as more generally in the MENA region.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Assist the implementation of MRG Egypt programme’s activities within the objectives set by the Program Coordinator and Head of MENA.
• Liaise with civil society organizations and assist in the establishment of partnerships with them and in building their institutional capacity.
• Contribute to gathering baseline data on different minority communities.
• Help organize and attend meetings, roundtable events, advocacy meetings and training sessions where appropriate.
• Assist with reviewing grantees’ financial reports and supporting documents (collect, sort, check) 
• Contribute to drafting contracts, outsourcing tenders and arrange services
• Coordinate travel arrangements, including visas, liaise with embassies, write letters of recommendation, secure competitive insurance cover, liaise with travel agencies.
• Translate emails, documents, applications, and reports from Arabic to English and English to Arabic.
• Gather, maintain and use a contacts database or mechanisms to ensure that information about the project, calls for proposals, publications and advocacy materials etc reach as wide as possible an audience across the MENA region.
• Support Finance with documentation related to payments (e.g. partner contracts, payment requests).
• Collaborates with the organizations based in Egypt and expands the reach of MRG’s network.

General   

Maintains an awareness of MRG’s security guidelines, including those on digital security and data protection, and follows these when carrying out the work, as well as any other precautions as determined by line manager. Reports any information that signals a change in the risk profile of MRG’s activities to a relevant manager. Undertakes such other tasks as may reasonably be requested by the Head of MENA and Programmes Coordinator from time to time. Attend staff and departmental meetings. Contributes to the evaluation of MRG activities and publications. Covers for absent staff on related work as necessary.    

   
Confidential information   

Responsible for maintaining confidentiality as the job holder will be entitled to a very high level of access to confidential information pertaining to MRG’s strategies, detailed financial information, and also access to sensitive external information which may impact on MRG’s activities. Is aware that maintaining confidentiality requires following such digital security and data protection guidelines as determined by MRG.

   
Degree of supervision   

The job holder will be expected to report to the Programme Coordinator, any variation from agreed plans and schedules, and to report regularly on the programme and projects’ progress.   

   
Working conditions   

The job holder will be working remotely. The job will involve some travel, essential to the implementation of the programme’s activities; this will be approximately 1-2 weeks per year, where the management team deems it safe to do so. The job holder is required to maintain the pace of work which may at times be high and will need to manage several tasks simultaneously.

The post holder should be aware that the work may involve a level of risk.  Activities carried out may be unpopular with authorities or sections of society.  The post holder will need to display a high awareness of risk and be able to work to mitigate those risks (with support from line manager, where needed.) The work will involve the handling of high-risk data in a high-risk setting. Must at all times display the necessary due diligence and precaution and report any concerns or incidents to line manager.

What we are looking for

Essential

• A university degree in a relevant field (political science, sociology, anthropology, social sciences, communication, culture studies etc.).
• At least 2 years’ experience in an administrative or logistical support role for local or/ and international organization.
• Experience in working with civil society organisations in Egypt.  
• Demonstrable exceptional organizational and logistics skills.
• Fluent written and spoken English and Arabic
• Experience and ability to work on own initiative and unsupervised during sustained periods where the programme coordinator is travelling/working from different location.
• Demonstrable knowledge of human rights and gender issues
• Ability to manage several tasks simultaneously, organise and prioritise own work and meet deadlines.
• Good letter writing skills; and ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.
• Very good numeracy skills, attention to detail.
• Experience of working in an NGO environment.
• Commitment to the work, aims and objectives of MRG.
• Enthusiastic about working in a multicultural environment.
• Committed to gender equity and equal opportunities and to protecting and promoting minority rights.  
• Good interpersonal skills and experience of long-distance teamwork.
• Experience of working in complex security environments including following (and at times contributing to the development of) guidance on digital security and data protection.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, including following guidance on digital security and data protection

Desirable

• Experience in work on projects related to enhancing tolerance respect for diversity and pluralism as well as on intersectional discrimination issues
• Experience working with minority groups and indigenous people in Egypt.
• Experience in sub-granting procedures and standards  
• Experience in working with smaller, grassroot civil society organisations.