Recovery Programme Section Head (m/f/d)

Task description: The SRTF was established for the financing of reconstruction activities to rebuild the country and alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people as a result of the ongoing conflict. The SRTF was created to provide the international community with a vehicle to offer financial support to the National Coalition for responding to the needs of the Syrian people. The Management Unit (MU) was established to manage the Fund and its allocations to projects addressing reconstruction, recovery, and stabilisation to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people.

General: Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Operations (COO), the PSH is responsible for providing operational and administrative leadership across the technical programme of the MU of the SRTF incl. the Recovery Programme, the Procurement, and Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) sections, stakeholder networking, and organisational management of the day-to-day operations.

Key responsibilities of the Recovery Programme Section Head include but are not limited to the following:
Programme Management

• Provide direction in the organisational structure of the recovery programme to achieve a results-based operation and timely delivery of assigned tasks;
• Promote effective management, coordination, good communication, and guidance so that best practices in staff engagement are achieved at all stages of the projects' cycle;
• Set the criteria for project identification, planning, implementation methodology, monitoring & evaluation, reporting, and ensure that such are applied for all projects;
• Collaborate with the Programme's technical staff, the Project Managers (PMs), and contribute in preparing the Project Concept Notes (PCN) and Project Concept Proposals (PCP) in consultation with Implementing Entities (IEs) and project stakeholders;
• Support PMs with the project concept assessment, IEs capacity appraisal, and situation analysis which have direct impact on the projects' viability;
• Oversee the efforts and contributions of the PMs in the preparation of the Project Evaluation Score Card (PESC), and coordinate the timely preparation of PCNs and/or PCPs for submission, discussion and approval by the COO and the DG;
• Provide the necessary guidance and support to IEs, through the assigned PM, in the collection and elaboration of the necessary data and information for the project proposal preparation;
• Provide guidance on good environmental practices and mitigation measures with regards to the environmental impact during the implementation stage;
• Select and assign competent Field Coordination Officer(s) for the project implementation and monitoring;
• Keep the COO fully informed of all significant activities and issues related to the technical sectors performance, field implementation, and project inputs delivery.

Administrative Management

• Identify critical capacity requirements of the workforce in the technical sectors and recommend necessary steps to the COO, addressing the needs and strengthening of the recovery programme team in order to achieve set objectives;
• Ensure the application of guidelines and procedures with regards to the Operations and Procurement Manual by the recovery programme team;
• Prepare and manage all recovery programme project closures for review and endorsement by the COO prior to submission by the DG to the MC for approval as stipulated in the Operations Manual (OM);
• Verify and channel all requests for administrative, logistical, operational, and other support needs and report all incidents related to security and issues of programme concern to the COO;
• Provide direction and leadership in advocating SRTF's procurement diligence on bidding processes incl. tenders approval and all required clarifications, addendums, etc.;
• Provide meaningful support to the PMs of the technical sectors and ensure that all programming works, financial and administrative matters are managed transparently, expediently, and effectively, and in line with the established SRTF rules & regulations;
• Ensure the integrity of the internal control and (risk) management systems and report needs on required amendments to the COO for information prior to the submission by the DG for approval, as stipulated in the OM and the Framework Agreement (FA);
• Ensure oversight and support of the work of the monitoring & evaluation functions established by the SRTF, i.e. the Independent
• Monitoring Agent, by providing all requested information and documentation and by facilitating visits to project sites to verify assets, eligibility issues, performance, and impact;
• Support the work of the ombudsperson by providing information pertaining to operational issues raised with the ombudsperson by IEs or other SRTF stakeholders;
• Establish and maintain liaison with the IEs, stakeholders, regional partners, and entities with whom the SRTF is collaborating;

Reporting

• Prepare and submit project status and deliverables for active projects in all sectors to be included in the overall PS reporting for newsletters and the MUs quarterly report;
• Contribute to the reports' preparation on key project activities, issues and required action points, as per reporting schedule of SRTF;
• Adhere to the MUs' regulations on security and confidentiality.

Minimum qualifications

• Advanced university degree in engineering, technical and/or management related disciplines; Professional accreditation from a renowned engineering and/or management institution is a preferred qualification;
• Minimum 20 years' professional experience in international reconstruction and development with preferably 10 years of work assignments in conflict affected and in-transition countries;
• Minimum 10 years' experience must be in projects that included but were not limited to infrastructure, utility services rehabilitation, and capacity building of implementing partners in both rural and urban settings;
• Experience in infrastructure design supervision and implementation are highly desirable;
• Computer literacy in basic software applications (Microsoft office, MS Project, etc.);
• Excellent proficiency in English is required; Proficiency or working knowledge of Arabic and any of the regional languages is highly desirable.

Management

• Knowledge and understanding of risk factors associated with the project implementation under the ongoing conflict;
• Expertise in planning, management and mobilisation of resources in project delivery;
• Capacity to select and introduce performance standards, project progress monitoring and support in accordance with agreed-upon quality assurance and timeframe;
• Ability to communicate, motivate, delegate and coordinate team staff and meet tight schedule for project implementation and deliverables under complex developments and varied cultural context;
• Demonstrate trust and confidence in team-work and provide guidance for achieving sustainable results.

Soft skills

• Practical knowledge and in depth understanding of conflicts and political forces in the region;
• Professionalism, integrity, and commitment to assigned responsibilities;
• Understanding and sound judgement in multi-cultural work space;
• Versatile capacity in dealing with events and situations of challenging physical environment;
• Good communication skills and ability to represent the Organisation (if requested) in order to report or negotiate on SRTF’s programme.