Country Director Syria

YOUR MISSION Your Responsibilities   * Lead and coordinate the development of both solicited and unsolicited high-quality project proposals and funding applications, ensuring compliance with donor requirements and alignment with program objectives.  * Lead the development of new programme interventions, in close consultation with external partners, ensuring continuous readiness to respond to new funding opportunities.  * Lead on the development and implementation of a CO fundraising strategy. Stay updated on fundraising trends, donor priorities, and industry best practices in order to adapt and refine the fundraising strategy.  * Ensure coherence, relevance and effectiveness of War Child’s overall Syria/Jordan response programme, in accordance with humanitarian and sector-specific standards as well as War Child’s mandate and strategy.  * In close collaboration with the Technical Advisors, oversee the design and implementation of CO thematic strategies and scaling plans  * With support from TAs and MEAL Manager, lead the development and implementation of program quality standards, guidelines, and tools to ensure high-quality program delivery across all technical areas.  * Oversee the provision of technical assistance and capacity development in the areas of Education, CP/CSG and MHPSS to War Child’s programmes and partners.  * With support from the RMG Manager, Build and maintain relationships with existing and potential donors, UN agencies and other relevant stakeholders, cultivating donor stewardship and engagement; Maintain a donor liaison tracker to track and manage interactions with donors, including communication, meetings, and donor relationship management.  * Maintain strong relationships with donors, partners, and other stakeholders, representing the organization in relevant forums and advocating for program quality and development priorities.  * .Effectively represent War Child in relevant coordination forums and network bodies, such has Head of Programmes community, positioning War Child as a partner of choice.  * Maintain positive and effective relationships with War Child’s partners and actively contribute to localisation initiatives and capacity development efforts.  * Lead and support the development of external-facing products conveying the nature, quality, relevance and added value of War Child’s programming in Syria/Jordan.   * Lead the PQD department which comprises of the Resource Mobilisation & Grants, MEAL and PQ units, including direct line management, mentoring, support, staff welfare and performance management for up to 5 direct reports.  * Work closely with other department heads and hub managers to actively contribute to positive interdepartmental relationships and dynamics.  * Serve as a member of the Country Management Team, contributing to strategy development and high-level planning, problem-solving and decision-making.  * Deputise for the Country Director as and when needed.  YOUR PROFILE * Relevant academic degree.  * Minimum five years of senior management experience in the humanitarian/development sector, preferably including international experience.  * Demonstrated experience in writing project proposals for a wide range of donors.  * Experience with running, supporting and/or managing programmes in conflict-affected or other complex environments, including activities in at least two of the following areas: Education, Child Protection and Mental Health & Psychosocial Support for children and their caregivers.  * Knowledge of – and affinity with – programmes designed to enhance the psychosocial well-being of children in humanitarian/development contexts.  * Proven track-record of working in partnership with local/national response actors.  * Sound knowledge of monitoring, evaluation, accountability & learning methodologies, tools and systems in the humanitarian sector.  * Understanding of the Syria context and its complexities considered an asset.  * Excellent English written and verbal communication skills are essential. Arabic language skills will be considered a major asset in the selection process. * Persuasion and motivation skills, ability to convince and mobilise others.  * A successful track record in initiating, cultivating relations with – and securing support from – a wide range of institutional donors.  * Strong networking skills; ability to maintain good working relationships with partners, donors and other external as well as internal stakeholders in a sensitive environment.  * Solid analytical and problem-solving skills.  * Ability to manage a varied, fluid and demanding workload and meet deadlines.  WHAT WE OFFER War Child Alliance (WCA) is a dynamic organization. We try to keep an informal ambiance within our office, with a lot of room for creativity, inspiration and self-initiative from employees. We practice what we preach: dynamic, innovative, integrity focused, and a drive to reach the highest possible results against the lowest possible costs. War Child offers a challenging job in an inspiring workplace. We offer a challenging and rewarding role within an inspiring and motivated team, supported by a strong and professional regional and global organisation, including close collaboration with colleagues in the Netherlands. The successful candidate will receive a fair and competitive salary, comprehensive secondary benefits, and opportunities for professional growth and learning. CONTRACT DETAILS * Location: Damasucus, Syria * Contract type: International candidates will be offered an expat package. * Contract duration: One-year contract, with the intention to extend to an open-ended contract subject to mutual agreement and satisfactory performance. * Working hours: Full-time, 40 hours per week * Duty station: Unaccompanied position This position is based in Damascus and is open to national, regional, and international candidates. National and regional candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

YOUR MISSION MAIN PURPOSE The MHPSS Lead provides strategic and thematic leadership for War Child’s MHPSS work and its relate to a specific portfolio of  Evidence‑Based Methods (EBMs). The role is accountable for the vision, quality, coherence, innovation, external positioning and continuous improvement in their thematic area and on their assigned EBM portfolio. It ensures alignment with organisational strategy, the Partnership Journey Framework, internal quality standards, sectoral standards, frameworks and humanitarian best practice.     The role has oversight of an assigned EBM portfolio and its related partner onboarding journeys, thematic quality assurance and adaptive learning processes, while line managing thematic coordinators and guiding thematic coordinators. and specialists.   POSITION IN WAR CHILD ALLIANCE  Reports to (Solid/Management):   Director Quality & Impact  Reports to (Dotted/Functional):   n/a  Department:  Quality & Impact  Unit:  Technical / MHPSS Cluster  Supervises (list direct reports / roles):  Estimated 2-4 Senior Cluster Specialist(s) (Operational) Scope:   Country Programme / Alliance Shared Services  CORE RESPONSIBILITIES  * Provide strategic leadership and vision in their thematic area of work, liaising with other thematic Leads where relevant. This includes driving development and use of thematic strategies, translating sectoral trends, evidence and standards into organizational direction and identifying emerging risks and opportunities in their thematic domain across relevant contexts and conflict phases.   * Shepherd the EBMs in their portfolio across the Partnership Journey, ensuring coherence, quality, learning and alignment with War Child’s Care System and organisational priorities, and effectively engaging with other departments, such as Partnerships & Programme Management, Research & Development, Engagement, Operations, etc, as well as teams in their own department (Humanitarian and MEAL) to ensure high quality deliverables * Provide thematic authority and quality assurance to War Child’s work, particularly around the consistent application of programme quality standards during the EBM Cycle (the formative, development, feasibility and effectiveness phases of the Partnership Journey), aligning with internal frameworks, sector standards and the Core Humanitarian Standard. * Maintain strategic oversight of assigned thematic and EBM portfolios, influencing allocation of resources and ensuring prioritization and coherence on implementation, scaling, learning and adaptation across relevant contexts/clusters and with other thematic areas, leads, and their portfolios. * Maintain strategic oversight of organizational capacity in the assigned EBM portfolio, including strategic thinking on capacity development and maintenance, and advising on prioritization and resource allocation. * Drive continuous learning, adaptation and improvement of EBMs, using evidence, quality data and learning agendas to inform decisions. This includes leading and/or facilitating development and execution of learning agendas, as well as documenting and/or compiling lessons learned across clusters/projects/partners. * Lead or contribute to relevant thematic and/or EBM learning activities, task teams, working groups and/or Communities of Practice, ensuring effective collaboration, delivery and shared learning. * Lead and manage thematic Coordinators within the assigned EBM portfolio, providing direction, mentorship, performance oversight and professional development, as well as ensuring appropriate ways of working and matrix management with other relevant roles, teams or departments. * Provide authoritative thematic leadership to partners, country teams and global colleagues, strengthening programme design, implementation and evidence use in all relevant context, including emergency responses. * Represent and build up the profile and reputation of War Child's EBM Care System Portfolio and thematic expertise externally in global fora, strengthening sector engagement, inter‑agency collaboration and organisational credibility, and contributing to shaping policy and sector discourse. This includes establishing a vision and strategy for external representation influencing together with the appropriate teams and colleagues.    Each staff member is responsible for contributing to creating a culture committed to our mission, vision, internal safeguarding standards, JEDI ((Social) Justice Equity Diversity Inclusion) principles and the CHS (Core Humanitarian Standard) framework and are expected to actively promote this in their work.    These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the role.    ROLE-SPECIFIC OR CONTEXT RESPONSIBILITIES  * Acts as primary internal and external thematic focal point for an assigned EBM portfolio. * Lead the development, refinement and socialisation of strategies, policies, SOPs, tools and guidance related to the thematic area. * Lead on thematic components of EBMs Partnership Packages and standard resources, providing content, inputs and advice in an effective manner and liaising with relevant teams and roles in this process.  * Ensure EBM alignment with internal programming quality standards and sectoral thematic standards.  * Contribute to mainstreaming safeguarding, accountability and participation standards within EBM guidance and tools, working closely with safeguarding and accountability and participation experts. * Contribute with strategic thinking and collaborate with War Child staff and partners in support of an integrated approach to education, child protection and MHPSS within our Care System, as well as programming that accounts for sound MEAL practices and for cross-cutting issues, such as localisation, climate change, etc. * Advise on the technical/thematic components of partnership agreements related to the EBMs in their assigned portfolio. * Support scalable learning approaches (e.g. blended learning, training pools, ToT/ToF models), driving development of EBM learning trajectories and ensuring appropriate thematic/EBM content is provided to L&D experts. * Contribute to onboarding process, including thematic and/or EBM training and mentoring to staff and/or partners where appropriate. * Supports operationalization and implementation MEAL processes within their thematic area, including integration of Quality of Care indicators across EBMs. * Contribute to knowledge and information management processes and deliverables, including content provision to communication materials, websites, newsletters, etc. * Lead thematic inputs into organizational processes such as development and delivery of strategies, annual plans, etc at team, departmental and organisational levels. * Collaborate closely with teams in their department (MEAL and Humanitarian) and with other relevant departments such as R&D, Partnerships, Engagement and Operations. YOUR PROFILE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, EXPERIENCE  Education * Relevant academic background in the thematic area (MHPSS) or a closely related field. Experience * Relevant experience in the thematic area, including in humanitarian or post‑conflict contexts. * Demonstrated experience leading thematic portfolios or thematic streams. * Experience working with partners on programme co‑creation and delivery. * Proven experience in programme design, needs assessments, learning cycles and quality assurance. * Experience developing methods, tools, guidelines, training materials and toolkits. * Experience facilitating trainings, workshops and communities of practice. * People management or matrix leadership experience. * Portfolio or programme coordination experience. Languages * Fluency in English is required for this role.  * Additional languages may be useful depending on stakeholder groups and organisational context, for example Arabic, Dari, French, Spanish, or Ukrainian (Technical) Knowledge * Strong understanding of quality standards, evidence‑based programming and MEAL integration. * Knowledge of cross‑sectoral integration (Education, Child Protection, MHPSS). * Understanding of localisation, accountability and participation principles. * Familiarity with digital collaboration and learning tools (e.g. Mural, Miro, SharePoint, MS Teams). WHAT WE OFFER Eligibility: This vacancy is open to internal candidates only. Location: We operate in a global context, with team members based across multiple countries. War Child currently works in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Colombia, DR Congo, Germany, Jordan, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territory, South Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Uganda, Ukraine (registration in progress), and Yemen. We also have offices in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Preference is given to candidates who reside in one of these locations and hold valid work authorisation. War Child does not provide relocation support. Type of contract: This is a locally contracted position. Salary and secondary employment conditions are aligned with the applicable in-country salary scale, and local terms and conditions will apply. HOW TO APPLY Qualified candidates are encouraged to submit their applications (CV and motivation letter in English) by 10-July-2026. We are reviewing submissions on a rolling basis, so early applications are strongly recommended. ________________________________________________________________________________ By submitting your application you certify that all of the statements made in your application are true, complete, and correct and are made in good faith. You understand that falsifying, misrepresenting or intentionally withholding information will be grounds for rejection of your application or withdrawal of any offer of appointment or, if an appointment offer has been accepted, this will be ground for employment sanctions, such as, but not limited to, instant dismissal. In addition, you understand that you need to submit a Criminal Record Certificate and that, if you fail to submit it, no employment relationship can be established. Disclaimer * Only applications received via our website are processed. * If we appoint a suitable candidate before the given closing date, we reserve the right to remove the vacancy from our website before that date. In such a case, any responses received after that time are not processed. * It could be that during our selection process the closing date for the vacancy is extended. If so, and you have not yet heard from us, your application will remain active.