Project/Operations Manager

Make a Difference with The Makhad Trust!

Position: Project/Operations Manager (Part-time)

Location: UK-based with travel to South Sinai, Egypt

About Us: The Makhad Trust is a UK registered charity dedicated to sustaining the environment and natural heritage of the Bedouin tribes in the Sinai Mountains and Desert in Egypt. Our focus on supporting them is by renewing access to water and supporting traditional lifestyles. The Bedouin are a marginalised community, who are barred from many forms of employment yet receive little or no help from Egyptian authorities. A 15+ year drought dried up wells, then collapse of the tourism industry in 2013 bought unemployment, and huge floods have filled in wells. Access to drinking water is difficult. The Trust gives support through restoration of wells for drinking and growing food, and building small dams, and small projects such as beekeeping training, herb growing and carpentry training. Restored wells provide drinking water and ability to grow crops for eating, promoting health and well being, and for income.

About the Role: This unique UK based dual role combines fundraising and administration in the UK with practical project initiatives in Sinai, Egypt. You will be instrumental in transforming lives by ensuring access to clean water and supporting sustainable livelihoods in a unique way by both supporting Sinai Trust in office operationally and directly in the field. The successful candidate will be travelling to Sinai for 2 weeks 4 times per year and will involve visiting ongoing well restorations, assessing new wells for restoration, cataloguing the costs by the well owner, and paying the well owner for the work done. Some of these will be easier to access, given their proximity to nearby roads compared to others which require a 3 hour walk into the high mountains to reach with steep mountainside journeys with no visible paths so the successful candidate will need to be mountain fit. Through these journeys you will be accompanied by our Sinai manager who is a Bedouin from the local town and will act as a guide and provide local knowledge. 

Key Responsibilities:

Office-Based Impact:

• • Apply for funding and liaise with funders.

• • Write reports, keep records, and track income and expenditure.

• • Update spreadsheets and plan journeys.

• • Engage with stakeholders to communicate the impact of our projects.

Field-Based Impact:

• • Travel to Sinai four times a year for two-week periods.

• • Visit ongoing well restorations and assess new wells for restoration.

• • Catalogue costs and pay well owners for completed work. Log information about restoration at well sites and enter data into spreadsheets.

• • Navigate rugged landscapes, including high mountains and steep paths, to reach remote wells.

• • Visit and support various small projects facilitated by the Trust.

About You:

• Proficient with Numbers/Excel spreadsheets and able to write reports, funding applications, and newsletters.
• Good at planning, risk management, and practical tasks.
• Numerate, self-directed, and comfortable working and traveling alone.
• Understanding of different cultural norms and not risk-averse.
• Mountain fit, experienced in trekking and camping, and sure-footed.
• A team player with good leadership skills, self-reliant, adaptable, and able to replan on the go.
• Trustworthy, honest, tactful, and diplomatic.
• Curious, eager to learn, and knows when to seek advice.
• Able to work in the summer heat of Egypt.
• Equipped with a laptop for record-keeping and preferably an iPad for field reports.

How to Apply: Send your CV with two references (one work reference and one character reference) Via Quick apply. Possible candidates will be called for an interview in the New Year. Confirmation of the selected candidate will be made after participation in a Sinai Journey in the Spring if the application is approved.