Reach Deputy Country Coordinator

REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH’s purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts, supporting and working within the framework of the humanitarian reform process. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise. IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis, GIS and remote-sensing. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, which allows particularly IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention. ACTED is a French humanitarian NGO, founded in 1993, which supports vulnerable populations, affected by humanitarian crises worldwide. ACTED provides continued support to vulnerable communities by ensuring the sustainability of post-crisis interventions and engaging long-term challenges facing our target populations, in order to break the poverty cycle, foster development and reduce vulnerability to disasters. Their interventions seek to cover the multiple aspects of humanitarian and development crises through a multidisciplinary approach which is both global and local, and adapted to each context. Their 3,300 staff is committed in to responding to emergencies worldwide, to supporting recovery and rehabilitation, towards sustainable development. We are currently looking for a REACH Deputy Country Coordinator to oversee Programmes for the REACH Syria mission. The position is based in Amman, Jordan with regular travel (30%) in the region. Supervisor: REACH Country Coordinator Title: REACH Deputy Country Coordinator Location: Amman, Jordan Contract duration: 1 year Start date: ASAP

COUNTRY PROFILE

Into its tenth year of conflict, conditions in Syria remain highly volatile and marked by intense violence and limited humanitarian access. The scale, complexity, and severity of humanitarian needs in Syria extends the necessity for up to date, timely, and accurate information. Evidence-based planning and programming remains paramount to ensure that the response adequately meets the needs of the most vulnerable people and is tailored to different realities across communities and over time. However, informing operational and strategic planning remains challenging, as accessibility and security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">security issues impede systematic data collection. A lack of timely and consistent data undermines the ability of humanitarian actors to review their approach in light of the dynamic context. REACH has been conducting assessments on the humanitarian situation in Syria since 2013 and has over the years grown significantly both in size and in influence as an actor in the Syria response. Broadly speaking, REACH Syria implements assessments within four key streams: I. Monitoring of the humanitarian situation in Syria, through i) monthly assessments covering over 1,600 communities in Syria, ii) market monitoring to track prices of goods as per the survival minimum expenditure basket (SMEB), and iii) rapid assessments in times of conflict escalation or natural disasters. II. Displacement tracking, through tracking the movement of IDPs and Returnees as well as monitoring the humanitarian situation inside IDP camps and informal settlements. III. Remote sensing activities, across all thematic areas, to serve as a triangulation source and facilitate a coordinated response, including shelter counts, flood hazard assessments, camp boundary mapping, etc. IV. Technical support to clusters, for example in the form of coordination and implementation of sector and multisector assessments to inform the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO), production of thematic assessments, presentations of findings, and capacity building. For examples of REACH Syria information products, please see below: HSOS Northwest Syria regional factsheet – December 2020 Northwest Syria Flood Susceptibility and Flood Hazard Assessment – January 2021 Market Monitoring, Northwest Syria – January 2021

POSITION PROFILE

REACH is currently recruiting for a Deputy Country Coordinator (DCC) to, under the supervision of the REACH Country Coordinator, oversee the programme management of all REACH country projects. The role will involve oversight of all REACH Syria research cycles (projects), line management of and project management support to the focal points of all REACH Syria research units and teams (Research Managers and/or Senior Assessment staff), project and grants development and management, including liaison with and reporting to donors, human resource management (recruitment and staff welfare), external engagement (representation, partnership development and maintenance), strategy development, through contextual understanding both of the crisis and the coordination structure, as well as upholding team morale. The position will be based in Amman, Jordan with regular travel in the region.

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Oversight of all REACH Syria research cycles (projects) and team management · Line manage all focal points of research units and teams (Research Managers and/or Senior Assessment staff); · Ensure that focal points of research units and teams are provided the programme management training, support, and resources required to effectively and independently manage their research cycles. This includes: o regular follow-up and check-ins to project plan and identify any challenges or bottlenecks; o supporting in building and maintaining external relationships as relevant; o supporting project focal points as line-managers in developing strong and healthy teams, and maintaining staff welfare; · Oversee that research cycles and associated datasets are conducted in a timely manner, to IMPACT quality standards, and disseminated to relevant stakeholders, in line with the REACH Syria country strategy and information needs of humanitarian actors; · Review REACH Syria information products in coordination, to ensure that products are of high quality, user-friendly, and effectively inform target audiences, before being sent to IMPACT HQ for validation; · Together with the Country Coordinator, ensure that all team members and hubs are kept up-to-date on key activities, plans, and achievements; · Together with the rest of the SMT, ensuring a good work environment and taking active steps to ensure staff welfare. This will include building strong professional relationship, having good visibility of issues in teams through regular check-ins, as well as maintaining a professional and supportive tone in the office.

2. Grants development and management

· Under the supervision of the Country Coordinator and with support from project focal points, lead in the development of proposals; · Lead on donor reporting, including tracking of deadlines, delegation, and follow-up of tasks to project focal points, review, and writing of reports; · Maintain REACH Syria’s relationships with its existing donors through regular meetings to brief on project progress, key developments in the Syria context and coordination structure, findings from assessments, concerns with regards to information gaps, as well as development of new grants as needed; · Under the supervision of the Country Coordinator, support with the creation of a fundraising strategy through strengthened engagement with new donors and partners.

3. Operational oversight (financial, logistical, staff capacity, team structure)

· Together with the Country Coordinator, support the REACH Operations Support Manager in budget follow- up, mainly through expense forecasting together with focal points of research units and teams; · Follow established processes to manage operational spending, particularly staff allocation tables and enumerator allocation tracking sheets. This will include seeking to improve processes and also identify opportunities for strategic expansion of projects and coverage; · Support with training focal points of research units and teams how to conduct expense forecasting and to engage in budget follow up; · Together with the FLATs team ensure logistics, financial, administration, security, and HR processes have been appropriately implemented and coordinated with the relevant ACTED departments; · Together with the focal points, identify and address capacity issues across focal points of research units and teams and put in place mitigation measures should capacity issues arise.

4. Human Resource Management (recruitment and staff welfare)

· Together with the Country Coordinator, identify needs for staff recruitment; · Drafting of ToRs together with the SMT, liaison with HR at IMPACT Headquarters, conducting interviews, or supporting focal points to conduct strong interviews; · Together with the Country Coordinator, ensure that appraisals, contract renewals, and recruitments is done in timely manner to minimize gaps on the team; · Conduct regular check-ins with focal points of research units and teams, as well as with those managed by project focal points, to identify skills and interests on the team, as well as issues influencing team welfare; · Together with the Country Coordinator, maintain team morale, a strong team spirit, and monitor staff welfare.

5. External engagement (donor engagement, external representation, advocacy, partnership development and maintenance)

· Under the supervision of the Country Coordinator, ensure that REACH Syria maintains its strong relationships and position as a key information actor in the Syria response through regular engagement with representatives within the Syrian coordination structure, key NGO forums, and other IM actors; · Together with the Country Coordinator and project focal points when relevant, identify, develop and maintain partnerships with relevant actors, such as other donors, OCHA, and representatives of relevant NGO forums; · Support the Country Coordinator in REACH Syria advocacy work; largely revolving around raising awareness of key findings with regards to the humanitarian situation in Syria and situating these within wider conversations in the Syria response, in order to ensure that key findings are heard and used to inform response strategies and implementation, and that the response is based on reliable information; · Represent REACH and present findings at relevant key platforms/meetings.

6. Support in the development and implementation of the REACH Syria Strategy

· Closely follow the social, economic, and political situation in Syria as well as humanitarian coordination developments and key issues in the Syrian humanitarian response; · Together with the rest of the SMT, regularly review REACH information products for relevance, user- friendliness, effectiveness, timeliness and to ensure that they sufficiently inform the target audience; · Together with the Country Coordinator, lead on strategy development and implementation across research units, through conversations with external actors, context monitoring, and conversations with focal points; · Ensure that focal points of research units/teams are trained and able to situate their projects within the wider Syria context and support them in thinking strategically about their project.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The REACH DCC will maintain the strictest confidentiality on all data collected and related processes. He/she will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of any information and data belonging to IMPACT and its partners, or collected during his/her assignment with IMPACT.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO COMMUNITIES AND BENEFICIARIES

The staff member is responsible for ensuring that all relations with the communities we work are conducted in a respectful and consultative manner. Due attention must be paid to ensuring that communities are adequately consulted and informed about REACH programme objectives, activities, beneficiary selection criteria, and methodologies. This is the responsibility of every REACH staff member.

REQUIREMENTS

· Excellent academic qualifications, including a Master degree in relevant discipline required; · At least 5 years of relevant working experience in humanitarian, development or related settings, including at least 2,5 years in a programme management role; · Excellent team management, coordination, organisational and planning skills required, including ability to manage large workloads, oversee multiple teams and effectively meet deadlines, through an excellent ability to multi-task and prioritise; · Experience with external engagement (donors, partners and other key stakeholders) required; · Familiarity with the humanitarian coordination system required; · Excellent communication and drafting skills required for effective reporting; · Understanding of processes involved in conducting assessments required; · Excellent analytical skills required; · Experience managing multiple budgets required; · Ability to work independently and manage people remotely required; · Demonstrable ability to work under pressure and meet competing deadlines required; · Solution-oriented, flexible, and open-minded, including ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment required; · Good understanding of the Syrian context - past experience in the region is desirable; · Fluency in English required; · A sense of curiosity, the drive to improve the humanitarian sector, and ability to see the big picture.

CONDITIONS

• Salary defined by the IMPACT salary grid; educational level, expertise, hardship, security, and performance are considered for pay bonus
• Additional monthly living allowance
• Free food and lodging provided at the organisation’s guesthouse/or housing allowance (depending on contract length and country of assignment)
• Transportation costs covered, including additional return ticket + luggage allowance
• Accompanied Status provided.
• Provision of medical, life, and repatriation insurance + retirement package