Deputy Country Director for Programs

Deputy Country Director for Programs

Solidarites International

Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic (Syria)

About the job

General objective:

The Deputy Country Director Programs supports the Country Director in setting up and monitoring operations. He/she is responsible for supervising and coordinating Solidarités programs in the country of assignment.

In close collaboration with the Country Director (CD) and the DCD Support, the DCDP’s prime objectives are to provide leadership and management of the strategic programming and implementation (including MEAL) according to SI global and mission strategies and frameworks. The DCDP is in charge of overseeing the strengthening of SI’s program positioning and profile externally (coordination bodies, local stakeholders, donors), with a strong attention to ensure cross-cutting issues are mainstreamed.

The DCDP ensures the internal coherence between program activities and harmonization between operational hubs, as well as he/she is responsible for ensuring that programs are driven by needs, based on evidence, adaptable to contextual changes and conflict sensitive, monitored closely and resourced appropriately.

Based in Damascus with regular visits in project locations, the DCD is part of SI Syria Senior Management Team, and has direct line-management of the Technical Coordinators (WaSH & Infrastructure Coordinator and MEAL coordinators) and Grants and Partnership coordinator.

The main challenges:

• New structure and transition period which will request some flexibility while setting up the new communication channels;
• Large-scale mission (financial budget, HR volume), with numerous interlocutors at coordination and field level;
• Recent context change leading to the adjustment of the programming (towards early recovery).

Priorities for the 2/3 first months:

• Continue to support the development of activities’ portfolio with objectives of timeliness, integration and internal/external compliance in mind, in alignment with the Country Strategy for 2025-2026;
• To monitor the development of the mission based on the findings of the humanitarian needs assessments to secure continuity of operations and access to the areas of intervention;
• Support strategic decision-making for future mission development.

Security constraints:

• Instable context, uncertainties about humanitarian space and funding.

Your profile

DIPLOMAS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a related field (Humanitarian Assistance and Programming; International Studies, international Affairs). Previous experience in Middle East (recommended);
• Experience in the humanitarian sector: 3-4 years;
• Experience on a similar position: 3-4 years.

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

• Substantial experience in a senior management position in an overseas NGO environment, ideally in both emergency and developmental contexts;
• Previous experience in strategy development;
• Experience in leading program development across multiple bases, multi-sector with multiple donors, preferably with knowledge of using contextual understanding and evidence to strategically guide the mission’s development with regards to programs;
• Experience of managing large teams in multiple locations with various challenges;
• Experience of budget management;
• Experience of establishing strong working relationships with colleagues from different functions and cultures;
• Experience in Donor relations (ECHO, OFDA, UN, CDCS, EuropeAid; others desirable in view of donors’ portfolio diversification (GAC, DFID…);
• Previous experience in Middle East highly desirable;
• Previous experience with SI is an asset.

TRANSVERSAL SKILLS:

• Extensive knowledge about project cycle management and monitoring tools;
• Extensive knowledge of humanitarian programming, in emergency and development context;
• An ability to reflect on and learn from own performance and the performance of the program; and to act upon that learning;
• An ability to analyze information quickly and accurately;
• Good problem solving skills in day to day and crisis situations;
• A flexible approach to managing and prioritizing a high workload and multiple tasks with tight deadlines;
• Confident and proficient in the use of MS Office, Excel;
• Extensive report writing skills in English;
• Strong representation/public relation skills;
• Highly diplomatic with excellent political awareness and understanding;
• Demonstrate personal and professional integrity in all interactions;
• Highly sensitive to a Humanitarian needs-based programming approach;
• Strong oral and written communication skills;
• Be prepared to travel to implementation sites and regional, global meetings as required;
• Capacity to deal with many different issues, programs, sectors, to self- update and learn very quickly from a highly and constantly evolving environment.

LANGUAGES:

• English (fluent – mandatory);
• Knowledge of Arabic is an asset;
• Knowledge of French is an asset.

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