Jordan: Syria Response Director

Jul 13, 2015 | Norwegian Refugee Council
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The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental, humanitarian organization with 60 years of experience in helping to create a safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced people. NRC advocates for the rights of displaced populations and offers assistance within the shelter, education, emergency food security, legal assistance, and water,sanitation and hygiene sectors. 

The Norwegian Refugee Council has approximately 5000 committed and competent employees involved in projects across four continents. In addition, NRC runs one of the world’s largest standby rosters -NORCAP, with 650 professionals, ready to be deployed on 72 hours notice when a crisis occurs 

BACKGROUND 

The Syrian Crisis is well into its fifth year, but the level and intensity of conflict in the country remains high. Humanitarian and protection needs are results of the effects of ongoing conflict in a complex emergency situation, in which displacement is both massive and widespread. According to UN OCHA, 12.2 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance inside of Syria and millions have been forced to flee the country. 4.8 million people live in areas to which humanitarian access is either non-existent or irregular. Approximately 7.6 million people are IDPs, most of whom have sought refuge with host families and in abandoned or unfinished buildings. Elsewhere, they reside in tents or makeshift accommodation in informal settlements and camps. 

The collapse of some areas of industry, along with the emergence of a warped and exploitative war economy, have generated massive livelihoods needs and add further strain to people’s ability to be resilient to future crises. The conflict has also resulted in the reduced availability of basic household items and sharp increases in market prices as a result. 

Access to Education has been particularly badly affected. As a direct impact of the conflict, between 2.1 and 2.4 million school-aged children are either attending school irregularly or are currently out-of-school, according to UNICEF. This is around one half of all children between the ages of 6 and 17. Some of them have been out for two to three years with little prospect of return. 

NRC’s response to the complex challenges of the operating environments in Syria is to focus its resources upon continually strengthening the effectiveness of humanitarian operations through work done directly with its staff and through partnership with local actors.

NRC IN THE MIDDLE EAST REGION 

NRC’s Syria Response is part of NRC’s Middle East Regional Office (NRC MERO), based in Amman, Jordan, which also provides support to interventions in Palestine, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. NRC has over 1500 staff in the Middle East that has assisted over a million displaced people in 2014 alone. 

JOB PURPOSE

As outlined above, NRC Syria’s Response activities are expanding in response to the massive needs in the country. The Syria Response Director will be responsible for both consolidating ongoing activities and for ensuring NRC continues to respond to emerging crises. S/he will have the overall responsibility for development and management of programs and staff. 

Job description

GENERIC RESPONSIBILITIES 

  • National representation; 
  • Development and execution of Syria Response strategy; 
  • Overall responsible for all activities, personnel and the Syria Response; management team (SMT); 
  • Safety and security of all staff;
  • Syria Response-level advocacy;
  • Responsible for overall resource allocation, mobilization and control;
  • Responsible for cost efficiency; 
  • Ensure adequate Syria Response structures and systems; 
  • Learning, training and development for all staff, including a strategy for national staff development; 
  • Adherence to NRC policies.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES 

  • Representing NRC ‘s Syria Response with a diverse range of governmental, humanitarian and communal stakeholders; 
  • Development and execution of Syria Response strategy in support of NRC’s Middle East regional strategy; 
  • Overall responsible for all activities, personnel and the Syria Response Senior Management Team (SMT); 
  • Oversee the development of NRC’s partnership programme; 
  • Coordinate and manage staff working from multiple locations for NRC's Syria response; 
  • Working with the Syria Response Security Advisor, ensure that NRC’s safety policy and procedures are adhered to; 
  • Lead the strategy development and implementation of the Syria Response-level advocacy and its harmonization with regional and global strategies; 
  • Oversee the development of support systems and procedures to ensure effective resource allocation, mobilization and control; 
  • Ensure the growth and diversification of NRC’s programme response in Syria; 
  • Syria Response Director reports to the Regional Director in the Middle East; Regional Office.

Qualifications

  • Minimum 7 years’ experience from working as a leader of humanitarian organizations; 
  • Strong leadership skills and proven profile; 
  • Fluency in English, both written and verbal; 
  • Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts; 
  • Higher Degree in relevant subject; 
  • Documented/proven ability to lead sizable, multi-donor-funded humanitarian operations; 
  • Knowledge of the context in Syria and Middle East; 
  • Experience managing both direct and remote programme modalities; 
  • Knowledge of Arabic is an asset; 
  • Experience of advocacy work in complex humanitarian emergencies with conflicting stakeholder interests; 
  • Experience of structuring growing programmes and operations;

Personal qualities

  • You are able to think strategically; 
  • You are able to handle Insecure environments; 
  • You are able to empower and build trust; 
  • You are able to Influence.

We offer

  • Commencement: A.S.A.P 
  • Contract period: 24 months 
  • Salary/benefits: According to NRC’s general directions 
  • Duty station: Amman, Jordan (TBD) with regular travel to KRG in Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Syria. 
  • Approved health certificate will be requested before contract start 

Application procedures and CV registration: 

  • Please note that you are required to enter the GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION for all your previous positions while registering your CV. There is no specific field for this information in our CV form, but you can use the "Company name" field for BOTH company and location 
  • NRC may be required to verify the identity of its partners and to check that its partners have not been involved in illegal activities. NRC reserves the right to use electronic screening tools for this purpose.