Programme Assistant

Background

Reach Alternatives (REALs: https://reals.org/en) is an international NGO with its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. In Kenya, South Sudan, and the Middle East including Türkiye, REALs runs a wide variety of field projects, ranging from community security and safety, research and training in peace and security, protection of war-affected populations, prevention of and response to gender-based violence, livelihood, to peacebuilding programmed with a strong focus on capacity-building.

The organization has been active in Türkiye since 2015 and supported Syrian and Iraqi refugees and the host community people in need.  The representative office of the organization, REALs Türkiye, was established in 2019 and is located in Istanbul. In recent years, our priority areas of work in Türkiye have included gender, social cohesion, youth empowerment, and promoting the self-reliance of Syrian and other refugees through gender-responsive protection support.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

         1. Project Operational support

• Assist the Country Representative and Project Team(s) in developing, maintaining, and monitoring project plans and schedules.
• Assist Country Representative and Project Team(s) in the implementation of the assigned projects.
• Support the REALs team and partner NGOs to ensure timely implementation of project activities and follow-up of project achievements. 
• Implement project activities such as needs assessment, meetings, training, workshops, and events in cooperation with the Project Team(s).
• Facilitate communication and coordination between REALs and project stakeholders to ensure the smooth implementation of project activities.
• Collect information, data, and statistics to support the project planning, monitoring, and evaluation, as well as ensure the safe operation of the projects. 
• Prepare drafts of necessary documents and materials such as monthly project reports, data input forms, and presentation materials.
  
  2. Financial Management
• Assist Country Representative and Project Team(s) in monitoring projects on schedule, within stated budgets, and functioning smoothly.
• Assist Country Representative and Project Team(s) in managing the project budget, including tracking billing, payments, and other financial transactions when assigned.
• Assist Country Representative and Project Team(s) in preparing financial documents such as invoices, bills, and accounts payable and receivable as well as accounting books.
  
  3. Administration and Procurement
• Manage any procurement process for the assigned projects under the supervision of the supervisor.
• Organize and maintain official documents and records by ensuring proper filing and foldering systems, both in physical and digital formats, as required.
• Conduct any translation tasks required for the project or assigned tasks (Turkish-English and vice versa). 
• Draw up minutes of meetings and follow up on important actions and decisions from meetings.
• Support the Project Team (s), ensuring that all transportation, logistics, and accommodation arrangements are prepared effectively and timely.
• Assist the supervisor in checking Turkish legal documents and preparing administrative documents submitted to Turkish authorities such as EK-4/A, EK-8 documents.
• Assist the supervisor in preparing and updating administrative formats as well as the policy of REALs Türkiye.

Education 

Required: 

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Public Administration, Economics, Finance, Human Resources, International Relations, Political Science, Social Science, or other related fields. 

Experience 

Required: 

• A minimum of two (2) years of experience in project operation or other related fields. 

Preferred: 

• Work experience with other international organizations, NGOs and/or governmental development agencies. 

• Multi-cultural environment working experience. 

• Work experience in translation and interpretation. 

Knowledge, skills, and languages 

Required: 

• Strong written and oral communication skills in both English and Turkish. 

• Well-organized, accuracy and fine attention to detail. 

• Excellent computer skills (Microsoft Office, Word, PowerPoint and Excel). 

• Ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure. 

• Practical, flexible, and creative in challenging moments. 

• Ability to produce reports and archive them in a systematic way. 

• Excellent interpersonal skills and a team player. 

• Ability to travel to the project sites in Türkiye. 

• Willingness to learn new skills in fields of own duties. 

Preferred: 

• Basic understanding of Arabic. 

Application and Contract 

Interested candidates are to send the following documents to [email protected] 

• The most recent CV in English indicates past relevant experience, as well as the candidate's contact details (phone and e-mail details) and the salary expectation. 
• Motivation letter.
• List of three (3) professional references and their contact details (name, position, phone, and e-mail details). 
• Put the reference code "2025-01" in the e-mail's subject line.

Please note that: 

*REALs will contact you only if you pass the 1st screening.  

*The job opening will be closed as soon as a candidate is selected. 

*Due to national quota regulations, this position is open to applications from Turkish citizens only.