Background/IRC Summary:
The IRC has operated in Syria since 2012, providing protection, health, economic recovery, and early childhood development programs in Idleb, Aleppo, Ar-Raqqa, Hassakeh, and Deir ez-Zor, with new programs expanding into Hama, rural Damascus, and Homs. With a team of over 700 members, the IRC has established trust and strong community relationships, ensuring access and effective service delivery. It plays a significant role in Syria’s NGO, donor, and coordination forums, holding key positions and adapting to the evolving context.
With the new realities under the new government, as of December 2024, the IRC has deployed a team to Damascus to set up operations and engage in coordination structures for newly accessible areas across Syria—including parts of NES, NWS, and other previously unreachable locations in South and Central Syria, adjusting operations to maximize coverage and efficiency.
The IRC has been delivering protection programs in the northwest since 2013 and in the northeast of Syria since 2014, focusing on Protection/Rule of Law (PRoL), Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE), and Child Protection (CP). These efforts include specialized case management, PSS, protection monitoring, service mapping, and advocacy. Collaborating with partners, IRC improves access to protection services, raises community awareness, and strengthens referral pathways. Protection capacity building, community outreach, and rapid response through mobile protection teams have also been provided since 2017.
Job Overview/Summary:
As part of its Syria response, the IRC has programs to support women and girls throughout Al-Hasakeh and Ar-Raqqa governorates in Syria. The IRC provides psychosocial and case management services to women and girls throughout northeast Syria through the Women’s Listening Center and safe spaces to meet the needs of displaced women and girls, including survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). The WPE Officer will supervise and ensure the day-to-day running and management of one Women’s Listening Center, including psychosocial support (PSS) and community outreach and engagement. They are responsible for all staff, and incentive workers at the Center, and will support the Community Mobilisers to support any volunteers taken on. This position is based out of the Women’s Center, with some travel to the nearest IRC office. This position will be directly supervised by the Senior WPE Program Officer.
Responsibilities:
Staff Management and Support
Conduct a weekly scheduled team meeting for all staff at the Center to discuss programming progress, successes, challenges, quality, and areas for improvement, adaptation, or change; feedback to the Snr WPE Program Officer and put in place an action plan.Conduct regular 1 to 1 meeting with each of your direct-report staff to reflect on work, communicate clear expectations, set or review performance objectives, providing regular and timely performance feedback.Create monthly site teamwork plans with the Center team; review these on a weekly basis to check processes and adjust if vital.Conduct weekly check-in meetings with the incentive workers and volunteers to ensure they are supported in their roles and have what they need to run their activities; support recruiting these positions for the center.Ensure each month you create time for a staff care and well-being activity or initiative at your Center; Monitor overall staff care and well-being and approve and lead all leave requests to ensure adequate coverage; raise any concerns to the Snr WPE Program Officer.With technical guidance from Snr WPE Manager, provide technical support to the case management team on high-risk and/or complex, difficult cases.Review all case files with the Case Workers through GBVIMS primero and act like GBVIMS primero focal point as need base.Conduct weekly team case management meetings and individual supervision sessions with GBV Caseworkers at each site of operation.Center management
Set and supervise weekly Center activity schedules with the Center team, ensure all activities are in-line with feedback and current input from women and girls, and schedules are clearly communicated and widely disseminated in the community/camp.Ensure the center is fully equipped and has the supplies and resources it needs to run and deliver activities in the women and child spaces.Request other Center needs every three months, including hygiene and cleaning items, and by completing your center planning tool, which includes a procurement plan.Send updated center planning tools to your supervisor every month.Ensure community outreach and engagement are conducted on a daily and weekly basis in your site; Organize and set the community outreach plan with the WPE team for community mobilizers; Work closely with the WPE Senior Program Officer to ensure the appropriate selection of topics.Coordinate the assessment of women and girls for the provision of dignity kits with Case Workers and Community Mobilisers and share lists with theIP Manager . Support the organization for dignity kit distribution in the field and post-distribution monitoring.Technical Quality
Ensuring that WPE program activities are women, girl, and survivor-centered, and enforcing standard process and GBV guiding principles, flagging any concerns to the IP Manager in a timely manner.Consult with the IP Manager on all materials, information, resources and tools to be used in PSS, non-PSS activities, and community outreach, mobilization, and engagement activities to ensure they are appropriate, in line with WPE approaches and are women, girl, and survivor centered.Ensure all incentive workers and volunteers receive core WPE and GBV training and ongoing mentoring to succeed in their roles and be supported to develop.
Monitoring and Reporting
Submit a weekly bullet point report (with no case data) to the IP Manager to ensure they can keep up to date with your activities and raise any challenges or concerns immediately.Ensure that information and case files are carefully and safely stored in the center in line with data protection protocols and raise concerns to the IP Manager as needed.Other duties and responsibilities
Complete attendance sheets for relevant activities and contribute to monthly activity reports, according to guidance provided by the Women’s Center Officer, and supply information on a weekly basis to the Women’s Center Officer in line with deadlines.Maintain positive coordination and relationships with partners and other sector staff.Minimum Qualifications:
Required Experience/qualification/Skills:
Education: University degree preferably in humanities, social sciences, sociology, psychology, education, or equivalent experience in a relevant field Work Experience: 2-4 years` program experience, preferably working with conflict-affected Women Protection and Empowerment or GBV programs. from which minimum 1 year in a supervisory role Basic computer skills and familiarity with Word/Excel Previous experience in an emergency or conflict-afflicted setting is requiredDemonstrated Skills and Competencies:
Demonstrated interest, enthusiasm, and commitment to working with women and girls, and their rights, safety, empowerment, and improving their access to resources and services.Strong understanding of basic counseling and psychosocial support concepts; previous training and experience in these areas strongly preferred.Comfortable speaking about sensitive topics in an honest, professional, and thoughtful mannerExcellent communication skills and confident interpersonal interactionAbility to always maintain confidentiality and respect for clients. Basic computer skills and familiarity with Word/ExcelA commitment to IRC’s mission, vision, values, and IRC Way – Professional Code of Conduct.Credible written, presentation, and verbal communication skills; ability to convey information optimally and proven experience providing training and staff development.Validated a sense of professional discretion, integrity, and ability to handle sophisticated situations subtly and to effective resolution.Excellent management and communication skills and a solid ability to promote harmonious/cohesive collaboration, in a cross-cultural context.Validated ability to plan long-term, organize priorities and work under administrative and programmatic pressures with detail orientation and professional patience.Highly collaborative and resourceful; ability to establish positive working relationships with senior-level management and all other partners to improve collaboration and productivity.Curiosity, a desire to continually learn and develop, and a sense of humor are a must.Analytical ability in creating effective solutions to sophisticated matters while adhering to labor laws and internal policies.Language/Travel:
Arabic and English are required, while Kurdish will be added as an advantage.Travel: 100% in the WPE center in Raqqa 100% as well as attending workshops and meetingsKey Working Relationships:
Position Reports to: IP Manager Position directly supervises IP Manager
Indirect Reporting (If applicable): 6 staff
Key Internal Contacts: All internal staff
Key External Contacts:
Professional Standards: IRC staff must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Global Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability and Equality. In accordance with these values, IRC operates and carries out policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti-Workplace Harassment, Respect at Work Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.
Returning National Candidates: We strongly encourage national or returning national candidates to apply for this position. If you are a citizen of the Country in which this position is based and are currently located outside of your home country and possess over two years of international work experience, the Middle East Region has introduced an attractive remuneration package. The package includes competitive compensation, return flight to post, shipping allowance, temporary housing and a relocation allowance. Certain restrictions may apply. IRC strives to attract, motivate and retain qualified national staff in our programs.
Accountability to Clients: IRC staff must adhere to the commitment of contributing to the sustainability and development of its (CR) Client Responsiveness Mechanisms, preserving the culture of prioritizing the needs of our clients and affected communities by systematically listening to their perspectives and using their feedback to make programmatic decisions and give them greater influence over program design and delivery.
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Standard of Professional Conduct:The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.