Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.
Mercy Corps seeks to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression around the world. We recognize that instances of sudden change within a country or region are rare moments to enact significant, lasting change. Mercy Corps, with its global experience working in countries undergoing major transitions, brings knowledge, expertise and strong management skills to position the agency as a partner of choice for progressive change in Syria. Mercy Corps has been operational in Syria since 2012 and is looking to expand our scope and impact by promoting governance through our work with local civil society actors and community based organizations. We empower and engage citizens by informing and mobilizing communities, and promoting civic engagement. By elevating the voices of vulnerable communities and increasing their inclusion in decision-making, we ensure governance processes are more equitable and effective, empowering communities to tackle the underlying causes of the world’s toughest challenges, working collaboratively to build secure, productive and just communities.
As an active and influential member of the Syria Extended Senior Management Team, the Area Director (AD) leads MC’s response in North West Syria from Amman with programs across Idlib and Aleppo governorates. This is a challenging, rewarding, and dynamic post that requires a proactive, detail-oriented leader who is comfortable with complexity. The AD is responsible for all aspects of program representation, leadership, management, security, and implementation in NWS, mobilizing internal and external resources to ensure quality, timely and effective programs are implemented in support of the most vulnerable and conflict affected populations. The AD must drive the North West’s transition into alignment with Mercy Corps Syria’s strategy focused on a longer term vision of resilience, recovery, and development, alongside humanitarian aid. Mercy Corps implements its program both directly and through partners, requiring travel up to 50% to Gaziantep and within the region for coordination meetings. NWS operates within a Whole of Syria (WoS) structure for strategic coherence across Mercy Corps Syria’s work, and to leverage efficiencies from centralized structures.
The Area Director works closely with the Country Office Senior Management in areas of Operations, Finance, HR, Ethics and Security, as well as subawards and advocacy/policy units to ensure that all the aspects of the program implementation under their responsibility are compliant with Mercy Corps and sectoral best practices, internal approaches, donors standards, rules and regulations. S/he ensures that the team working in North West Syria is supported to deliver at scale and achieve excellence. The Director leads on external representation for MCS with NWS audiences, and facilitates smooth working relationships between programing implementation and operation and support units. The Director will ensure the development and implementation of sustainable, multi-sector programming in the areas of WASH, Shelter, Food Security and Livelihoods, Social Cohesion/Peace and Conflict, Emergency Response, and is accountable to the communities we serve as well as donors and local stakeholders.
They are innovative and visionary leaders responsible for resourcefully directing, strategizing and planning all programming, resulting in lasting improvement in the lives of millions of Syrians in Mercy Corps areas of operation. The position will support the strategic positioning of Mercy Corps and ensure that all Mercy Corps work is planned and executed with quality, accountability and measurable impact.
The AD is a critical member of the extended senior management team and will need to combine aptitude in programs, operations, security, and compliance. The role manages several departments directly and works closely with other ESMT directors where functions are centralized. This requires skill in matrix management and a collegial approach to achieving results.
● Own the NWS operational plan and communicate a clear vision of present and future program goals and strategies to North West Syria program team members and stakeholders, translating into concrete work plans;
● Contribute to countrywide strategy roll-out and prioritize and organize actions and resources to achieve objectives set through those processes;
● Follow analysis of the Syrian crisis, with an emphasis on North West Syria region and the impact of policy, political and military changes on the context, ensuring that this analysis is recognized and incorporated in planning for both short-term humanitarian and longer-term recovery and resilience programming;
● Ensure that analytical and technical support teams are collaborating with program and other internal stakeholders effectively, adding value to the program and maintaining strategic focus;
● Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
● Ensure that program implementation is responsive to communities and partners and aligned with Mercy Corps’ principles and values;
● Work closely with the Syria Deputy Country Director, Country Director, and other senior members of the Syria program to ensure that Mercy Corps strategy is understood and guides decision-making throughout the response;
● Provide leadership to increase coordination, collaboration, communication and harmonization of Mercy Corps programming and operations inside North West Syria;
● Build consensus around a common vision of what shared success inside Syria looks like, including development and tracking of appropriate indicators;
● Build consensus around priorities to improve the delivery of assistance inside North West Syria and to make program strategies and frameworks more consistent across the response;
● Oversight to ensure programs are able to meet donor and internal obligations on scope, time and budget, including efficient coordination on common program, operational and funding issues;
● Facilitate sharing and learning across different Mercy Corps North West Syria teams to incorporate learning from the programs and other regions, in project design and management;
● Engage Syria program leadership in ongoing context analysis that enables programs and teams to adapt to significant changes in the geopolitical/conflict environment;
● Create and maintain systems to ensure efficient and transparent capture of program data for management decision-making and timely and informative internal and external reporting;
● Create and maintain systems to ensure technical coherence and promote creative programming across the programs portfolio.
● Utilize program data for management decision-making and timely and informative internal and external reporting;
● In coordination with Syria Country Director, Deputy Country Director and other senior leadership, engage in strong regional-level representation with donors, international and local NGOs and networks;
● Participate in shaping policy positions and advocacy messages pertaining to the overall humanitarian situation inside North Syria.
● Ensure all programs align with MC standards and WoS systems.
● Lead a positive culture that prompts debate, creativity, accountability, ownership and teamwork.
● Promote high performance and excellence within a healthy work/life dynamic.
● Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence;
● Promote accountability, communicate expectations and provide constructive feedback via regular team meetings, conversations, and performance reviews;
● Supervise, hire and orient new team members as necessary;
● Provide team members with information, tools and other resources to improve performance and reach objectives;
● Contribute to country team-building efforts, help team members identify problem-solving options and ensure the integration of all team members into relevant decision-making processes.
● Recognize the high level of donor scrutiny imposed on Syrian programming and ensure continuing effective, transparent and responsive compliance mechanisms are in place;
● Maintain oversight of overall program budgets ensuring appropriate allocation of resources to meet program objectives;
● Lead on monthly and quarterly financial analysis and forecasting with the finance team.
● Ensure adequate technical, analytical and administrative support for programs;
● Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations.
● Represent Mercy Corps to peer agencies, partners and donors or government bodies on behalf of the North West Syria team for a wide variety of stakeholders to influence positive change in line with Mercy Corps values
● Represent Mercy Corps programs with national and international media as appropriate;
● Represent Mercy Corps in the NWS NGO Forum
● Maintain productive relationships with internal and external constituents such as partners, local NGOs and civil society organizations and academic institutions;
● Anticipate program needs, understand donor priorities, and contribute to shaping donor views on the evolving context and its impact on civilians in North West Syria;
● Explore, evaluate and present innovative funding opportunities that support program objectives;
● Ensure that Mercy Corps maintain a high degree of risk awareness and impartiality;
● Respect and understand differing cultural and ethnic differences and nuances and have the ability to navigate between them, recognizing the complexities involved;
● Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, sub-grantees, donors, governments and other stakeholders.
● Maintain oversight of access provisions to ensure Mercy Corps’ continued ability to access our most vulnerable and hard-to-reach participants;
● Regularly review the Humanitarian Access Team and other Advisors’ analysis of security and its outlook in Syria and Turkey and ensure that planning is consistent with them;
● Line manage the NWS security team ensuring timely security information is disseminated to team members;
● Own the NWS security management plan and ensure implementation at all levels of operations
● Ensure that security equipment and capacity building for team members is adequately reflected in all budgets and proposals;
● Coordinate with the Safety & Security Manager, Country Director and Deputy Country Director on crucial events, high-risk periods, incident reporting and any security policy changes;
● Accountable for ensuring compliance with all security procedures and policies in NWS;
● Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.
● As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.
To project participants: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our participants and communities we serve, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
Reports Directly to: Deputy Country Director
Works Directly With: Syria Leadership Team, NWS-focused Grants Manager, Subawards team, Program Performance and Quality Manager and Director, Technical Advisors (Technical Support Unit), HAT Team, Country Administration Support units (Finance, Operations, HR), Safety & Security Manager (WoS), Partnerships Director and peer ESMT Directors.
This vacancy is archived.