Syrian Arab Republic: Humanitarian Programme Director Cordaid Syria

CORDAID

Cordaid believes in a world without poverty and exclusion. We strive for just and sustainable societies where every person counts. We stand for knowledge and talent sharing between North and South, between farmers and businesses, between activists and policymakers. Where poverty, conflict and exclusion divide societies, we connect people and communities. We stand for professionalism, expertise and solidarity across borders. We aim at maximizing our social impact and contributing to systemic change. We operate where natural disasters strike, where conflicts tear up communities and where lack of opportunities and service delivery keep families in extreme poverty.

Cordaid is one of the leading CSO’s in the Netherlands, working in fragile contexts on Health, Resilience, Economic opportunities, Humanitarian aid and Security & Justice. Apart from our work abroad we also contribute to new forms of job creation and social innovation in The Netherlands.

Cordaid is a member of the international Catholic networks Caritas and CIDSE and we are active in worldwide civil society networks. We work in around 30 countries in Africa, Middle East and Asia.

For its Humanitarian Aid programme in Syria, Cordaid is inviting applications for the positon of

Humanitarian Programme Director (rep. notice)

Introduction

Cordaid has been working in Syria since the start of the crisis. Its programme focuses on several intervention areas, including food security and NFIs. Cordaid manages and supports this programme largely from its country office in Iraq, with other staff and local implementing partners in project areas. Currently Cordaid Humanitarian unit is implementing Food Security and Shelter & NFI projects

To address the plight of the large number of IDPs, returnees and their host community, the on-going violence and other humanitarian emergencies related to natural and man-made disasters, Cordaid together with local and international NGO partners is involved in Humanitarian programme development, programme implementation, monitoring and capacity building in Syria.

Position and responsibility

The Humanitarian Programme Director (HPD) is responsible for designing, expanding, coordinating, managing and monitoring Cordaid’s humanitarian aid programme in Syria. He/she will link and develop programmes with future Cordaid programmes in Syria such as Health and Security & Justice, will coordinate with partners of the Dutch Relief Alliance Syria Joint Response and will support the capacity building of local partner organizations.

The HPD will report to the Cordaid Regional MENA Director and liaises closely with the Humanitarian team in the region and relevant technical officers of the Humanitarian Aid unit at Cordaid HO in The Hague. The HPD will also cooperate closely with the Programme Managers in Health and Security & Justice of Cordaid in Head Office (HO).

General objective of the posting

• Establish new programmes and support programme development and strategic position of Cordaid on Humanitarian Aid (HA);
• Ensure quality implementation and develop and establish strong MEAL in every project including specific quality indicators;
• Provide (strategic) leadership to the Cordaid HA team and its partners in Syria;
• Support capacity development of selected local partner organizations in the areas of HA;
• Link where possible with other (future) Cordaid programmes in country, develop new initiatives jointly and or using their structure, network, expertise etc;
• Contribute to Cordaid Syria’s contingency planning and that of partners including preparedness;
• Lead and monitor the implementation of the Cordaid Syria Joint Response and co-ordinate with other Dutch Relief Alliance (DRA) Syria Joint Response partners in Syria;
• Develop consortia and identify, develop and support new HA projects;
• Acquisition, networking, representation and coordination within the Syria and International network, International NGO community, UN agencies and UN clusters, and potential back donors (ECHO, EC, Netherlands Embassy & Foreign Affairs, UN agencies and Private funds, amongst others)
• Any other responsibilities that can reasonably be asked from the HPC position.

Specific objectives

Programme development and strategic positioning:

• Explore opportunities and threats for the Cordaid HA programme in Syria as well as the strengths and weaknesses of Cordaid herein;
• Explore potential local and international partner organization to cooperate with in Cordaid HA Programme;
• Actively contribute towards the design and updating of Country Strategic Plans and Annual Work Plans.

Identify, Develop and Support Proposals and Projects:

• Carry out and lead assessments and prepare quality assessment reports;
• Develop consortia;
• Develop project proposals (narrative, logframe, budget, workplan) for ECHO, EC, DFID, and OCHA and/or other donors on HA priority sectors in line with Country Strategic Plans;
• Develop MEAL and other quality tools, and implement them in current programmes;
• Support and cooperate with local and international partners in developing their proposals (narrative, work plan, budget, logframe) and implement their funded projects for HA, using project cycle management tools;
• Support project development to strengthen and build upon linking HA with Livelihood projects, and possible other projects (e.g. Health, Security & Justice));
• Responsible for planning, evaluation and audits (with support of financial experts) as foreseen per grant contract;
• Regular visits to project sites to monitor progress of projects funded by Cordaid and back donors;
• Responsible for reporting to Cordaid HO and others based on partner reports and visits.

Capacity Development on HA and Disaster Preparedness (DP):

• Help organize and facilitate trainings for staff of local partner organizations in the areas of emergency preparedness & response, based on International Humanitarian Standards.
• Provide technical assistance on HA and DP and accompany/backstop staff of local partner organizations to enable long-term skills-transfer;
• Improve learning, linking and coordination between partner organizations, key stake holders ( local government, institutional donors, etc.) to strengthen networks and establish contingency plans;
• Support documentation of human interest stories, lessons learned, best practices and strategic opportunities related to Cordaid and partners’ programmes and projects.

Networking, Representation and Acquisition:

• Establish excellent working relations with Caritas organisations and network in country. Caritas Syria in particular;
• Identify and establish contacts with relevant organizations and stakeholders as strategic to Cordaid’s HA interventions in Syria;
• Explore added value of Cordaid and promote Cordaid’s interests within relevant clusters;
• Explore potential areas for collaboration and mobilize opportunities and resources;
• Provide regular humanitarian situation updates and ensure issues calling for intervention of the Cordaid Humanitarian Aid team are reported in a timely manner;
• Represent Cordaid’s HA programme in relevant UN and other humanitarian coordination / thematic cluster meetings.

Qualifications

· Relevant education in Humanitarian Aid and related development studies;

· At least 5 years proven experience with analysing, developing, managing and monitoring emergency response programs and participatory needs assessments;

· Proven experience with developing, establishing, managing and monitoring emergency response programmes;

· Proven experience establishing MEAL and quality indicators in projects;

· Strong proposal writing skills (ECHO, EC, UN, etc.);

· Experience in assessing needs for and/or delivering HA training;

· Experience in building capacity and backstopping local partners in conflict-affected states, preferably in Syria;

· Experience with cash based interventions and shelter projects;

· Experience in training local partners in DP and preparing contingency plans with them is an asset

· Strong (financial) project management, analytical and problem-solving skills;

· Experience of working with internationally-funded programmes, including coordination, reporting and monitoring according to different donor templates (e.g. ECHO, EC, DFID, OCHA);

· Previous work experience in and knowledge of Syria socio-political environment is a must;

· Be diplomatic, culturally sensitive and result-oriented;

· Understanding of the Caritas network;

· Experience in working in security sensitive environment in complex (post)conflict situations;

· Excellent English language writing and communication skills.

Specifics of station

The Humanitarian Programme Director will be based in Damascus. Movement in country is limited.

The safety and security situation in Syria remains volatile, but is constantly monitored by Cordaid and appropriate policies are in place. Pending security, the successful candidate will have to travel regularly to the field (rural Damascus and (rural) Aleppo) for project monitoring and for consultation and coordination meetings.

This is a non-accompanied posting

Contract information

The contract period is for 6 months starting as soon as possible, with the possibility to extend for a longer period. We offer a Cordaid contract with a competitive salary and a benefit package which includes R&R, a comprehensive insurance cover, social security and pension contribution, a holiday allowance, 13^th month, hardship allowance and cost of living allowance (if applicable).

Further information & how to apply

Applications including a motivation letter and extensive CV in English, including the contact details of at least three professional references, should be forwarded on attn. of mr. Habib Rajeh before 10 may 2018.

An assessment might be part of the procedure.

Please note that we accept applications through our website only: https://www.cordaid.org/en/vacancies/international/?cd_job_id=94653