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Position Title         : Mentorship Intern        

Position Type         : Internship, Full Time

Location                : Mercy Corps Gaza Office

Duration               : Six months

 ABOUT MERCY CORPS

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have a long-term impact.

ABOUT GAZA SKY GEEKS

Gaza Sky Geeks, established in 2011 by Mercy Corps with support from Google is Palestine’s leading tech hub that trains, nurtures, and supports emerging tech talent with the goal of creating a sustainable and inclusive digital job market in Palestine.  With 10 years of experience training globally recognized tech talent, Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG) has served over 23,000 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, 45% women, through training programs, workshops, and events.

In support of our mission, GSG has cultivated a network of over 300 international mentors who provide remote and in-person mentorship to our startup teams, coders, and freelancers. We also have a vibrant network of individual supporters, donors, and GSG champions around the world.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

We are looking for a dynamic and personable team member to assist our in-person and remote mentor recruitment, onboarding, and management processes to support all of GSG’s program verticals. You are a team player who is skilled at optimizing logistical processes - everything from initiating permit applications to supporting the mentorship coordinator interview, select, and oversee mentors during their time in Gaza or while working remotely with our community members. You will also be contributing and supporting the process of conducting follow-up with mentors after their engagement with us. You have an analytical approach that helps you understand the specific needs of our community of developers, freelancers, and entrepreneurs and use these insights to facilitate meaningful matches between mentors and our program participants. You are a self-starter who can see beyond the routine tasks of your job and can independently lead new initiatives to strengthen our mentorship program.

This role supports one of GSG’s most important externally facing positions. It requires superb attention to detail, excellent English abilities, a high level of emotional intelligence, excellent cross-cultural understanding (particularly of international perceptions of Gaza), proactive attitude, and high levels energy and enthusiasm. It is an excellent opportunity to build your network of professional contacts in the international technology and entrepreneurship sectors-- contacts that will provide long term value to you while at GSG and beyond.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Support in the delivery of mentorship activities

• Work closely with the mentorship assistant on implementing the mentorship activities within the tech education and community functions.
• Follow up with mentors throughout the implementation of the different programs to share relevant documents and updates to ensure that the communication between the vertical’s team and the mentors is clear.
• Collect feedback from mentors and community members on their mentorship engagements and provide feedback to the mentorship team on progress of GSG program participants, their engagement with mentors, and recommendations on courses of action to take to improve their abilities.
• Support the Mentorship Assistant in the logistics of international mentors’ visits, including coordinating for transportation, mentors’ tours, team dinners, to follow up thank-you emails, etc.
• Support the execution of international mentor visits; logistics and preparation, including providing feedback to mentors on workshop presentations and mentoring sessions while in Gaza.

Administrative responsibilities

• Support Mentorship Assistant and Gaza MEL manager in data collection, regular reporting, and evaluation for the mentorship process.
• Ensure that the mentorship database is up-to-date and ensure that there is a report out of key metrics related to the department.
• Collaborate with the marketing team to prepare and implement a promotion plan for mentorship, both to recruit new mentors from MENA and globally and enhance the awareness of the value of mentorship among community members.
• Support the mentorship assistant in running mentor activities with the aim of building and strengthening strategic relationships
• Ensure that documentation related to mentorship is always updated. All workshops and materials are added to the digital library, and all photos and videos are added to the shared drive as well as maintaining GSG’s physical library inside Gaza Sky Geeks.
• Manage international mentor program logistics for selected mentors coming to Gaza including supporting travel logistics, ensuring travel documents are submitted, and providing on-the-ground scheduling and support
• Maintain a digital content library with all mentors’ decks and presentations, as well as source high quality content online for the GSG library. Maintain GSG’s physical library inside Gaza Sky Geeks. 

Supervisory Responsibility: none

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Business Development Officer

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Tech Education team, Community & Marketing team, Business Development team, MEL team, procurement.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO PARTICIPANTS AND STAKEHOLDERS

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field projects.

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QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

1. University degree preferably in computer science, computer engineering, information technology or any other related field.
2. Up to date knowledge of technical and IT industry developments is preferable.
3. Impeccable writing skills in English and Arabic (as demonstrated by a writing and email samples) with the ability to draft various forms of content to diverse audiences and conveying the GSG brand with creativity and professionalism
4. Precise attention to detail in managing logistics and schedules for calls, meetings, and movements inside and outside of Gaza
5. Organizational Skills, this person must have experience running activities or events
6. Strong relationship management skills and emotional intelligence with a customer service attitude to ensure positive, beneficial experience of visiting mentors
7. Experience working or studying abroad and/or experience interacting with internationals in a professional setting is a plus
8. Excellent ability to work under pressure and carry out multiple tasks simultaneously, with a strong interest in learning about technology and entrepreneurship
9. Proficiency MS Office, Slack, Google products (Drive, Sheets, Docs), and Hubspot. GSG does not use email internally. We use Slack.
10. Willingness to work outside of normal business hours as required, especially evenings and weekends when mentors are visiting or preparing to enter Gaza.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

1. Ability to work in a flat, fast paced environment with others who are passionate about supporting Gaza’s technology ecosystem
2. Comfort with uncertainty and change—GSG is a small program but growing rapidly. Just like our program, we seek staff who are adaptable and pitch in on what needs to be done-- even if not a part of one’s regular job description.
3. Strong listening abilities to understand the needs of GSG’s tech community
4. Superb attention to detail and ability to produce error free work
5. Positive attitude, passion for your work, and high energy levels
6. Proactive, get-stuff-done mentality that always prioritizes outcomes, not just inputs
7. Excellent written and oral communication skills;
8. Strong interpersonal, conflict resolution and negotiation skills;
9. Excellent time and organizational management skills;
10. Excellent ability to work under pressure and carry out multiple tasks simultaneously.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient, and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.