Program Manager Humanitarian Aid, Cordaid, Syria

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.

Cordaid is looking for a Program Manager Humanitarian Aid in Syria

Introduction

Being an operational and field-based organization Cordaid recognizes the valuable work and appreciates the support of many local NGOs, their extensive networks, knowledge of communities at the grass-roots to work jointly to address dire humanitarian crises as the one we are now facing in the Middle East, where the Syrian conflict and its spillover into Iraq and the region have posed a major challenge to the overstretched international humanitarian aid system.

The strategic directions are defined as follows: 

• Vulnerability: prioritizing women’s empowerment, risk reduction, emergency preparedness and early recovery.
• Protecting conflict-affected populations: civilians in armed conflicts, international humanitarian law, and gender-based violence, sustainable and durable solutions for IDPs and hosting communities, peace and justice.
• Co-ordinated, principled and informed humanitarian action: member role of the DRA (Dutch Relief Alliance) Syria, full adherence to the IHL (International Humanitarian Law) and principles.
• Cordaid strategy policy and priorities for the region are tailor made to meet local needs. 

Position and responsibility

The Middle East portfolio is overseen by the Cordaid office in Erbil, Iraq/KRG in close collaboration with the Humanitarian Aid unit in The Hague. The Program Manager Humaniarian Aid will report to the Country Director Iraq.

General objective of the posting

The object of the position is to support Cordaid´s humanitarian portfolio in Syria, with an emphasis on program development and design, monitoring, supervising and managing the existing interventions, establishing coordination mechanisms, contributing to the Cordaid´s strategy in full coordination with the partners and Cordaid´s Head Office.

Specific objectives

The specific objectives of Cordaid’s strategy for the Middle East are: 

• To save and protect lives; 
• To alleviate suffering and promote the dignity and rights of civilians in crisis situations; promote reconciliation;
• To initiate recovery; 
• To build resilience and 
• To prevent future crises by breaking the cycle between crises and vulnerability and working on the long term stabilization by integrating the work on resilience at the early stages of the humanitarian crisis response.

Tasks & Responsibilities

• Administration: Provide support to Cordaid´s CO and partners in all the needs related to the proper justification of the financial expenses or other related document. 
• Programs and Fundraising: Develop and design new and innovative approaches to humanitarian aid. Develop project proposals to be submitted to donors to ensure program continuation. Improve the effectiveness of on-going projects, follow-up of the activities, networking with the NGO network, together with the donor agencies, UN Agencies and other humanitarian/ development actors. Be responsible for the visibility of the implemented projects, undergoing M&E tasks and writing project proposals. Supervise the humanitarian programme for Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries: Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. 
• Reporting: Define and manage the implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems to measure the effectiveness of the project and to identify areas of improvement - Manage the daily reporting and distribution of information together with the partners. Create and disseminate monthly program reports to both HQ and Country Office in Erbil, Iraq.
• Partnerships: Manage partnership with the existing partners- especially Caritas Syria. Push for greater institutional capacity of the partners, encouraging regular collaboration with other programs implemented by the existing clusters, UN Agencies and international NGOs - Manage relationships with and accountability from local implementing partners and contractors - Attend relevant coordination meetings organized by the UN and NGOs - Perform any other duty as might be assigned by the Country Director in Erbil.

Qualifications

• Academic degree in development/humanitarian aid studies or other related field;
• At least 7 years proven experience with developing, managing and monitoring humanitarian aid programmes;
• Excellent English language writing and communication skills are required, Arab and French are an asset;
• Experience in humanitarian strategy and program development;  
• Experience in humanitarian PCM and capacity building;
• Experience with maintaining donor relations and policies in particular ECHO, UN funding mechanisms, CAP and cluster approach;
• Proven to be successful in obtaining funding;
• Experience with using relevant humanitarian international standards such as sphere, CHS;. 
• Experience in working with local NGOs and other structures at local or regional level, preferably with communities in conflict-affected states;
• Knowledge of Middle East and/or Syria’s socio- political environment is an asset;
• Experience in working with the Caritas network is an asset;
• Be diplomatic, culturally sensitive and result-oriented;
• Track record in dealing with safety and security policies and working in conflict and post conflict context;
• Self-driven, pro-active and initiative;
• Strong interpersonal skills and professional maturity.

Specifics of station

This is a non-accompanied posting