Syria Youth Initiative Programme Manager At Danish Red Cross

Can you manage and provide strong technical guidance to a youth & livelihoods programme in Syria?

Danish Red Cross (DRC) has been present in Syria since 2006 and our primary partnership is with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC). SARC bears a primary role in supporting the most vulnerable people affected by conflict, across the frontlines and in hard-to-reach areas. Danish Red Cross is supporting SARC in becoming an effective and efficient organisation in the delivery of relief, healthcare, psychosocial support, and resilience programme services to the Syrian population and in becoming a strong humanitarian, civil society actor in a post-war setting.

DRC has started the implementation of a humanitarian programme titled ‘Syria Youth Initiative – Preparing Youth in Syria for Employment, Entrepreneurship & Education’ as per 1^st January 2021. The programme is funded by the NOVO Nordisk Foundation and has a duration of 3 years as of January 2021.

The programme will be jointly implemented in partnership between the Danish Red Cross, the Danish Red Cross Youth, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the Palestine Red Crescent Society Syria Branch. The programme aims at improving the well-being and skills for a sustainable economic income and further education for displaced, returned and host community children and youth in Deir ez Zor, Aleppo, Rural Damascus and Homs. This is ultimately expected to impact the resilience of vulnerable children and youth in Syria and contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals.

The programme will support young people to gradually develop skills and competences ranging from personal and inter-personal psychosocial skills to technical, entrepreneurial competencies with the end goal for each participant to become self-reliant by gaining employment, pursuing further education or starting a small business. Throughout the skills development process, the project will run community-based activities, recreational activities for youth, and awareness-raising sessions on healthy lifestyles for and by youth. This ensures that youth feel connected to, supported by and engaged in their communities and own health. All are important enablers to improve their well-being and skills.

The project builds on Danish Red Cross’ extensive experience of working with conflict affected and displaced children and youth. It is rooted in the practice of Psychosocial Support, which is a core technical expertise of DRC and a key element of the DRC response in Syria. The programme provides a unique access to remote and fragile locations in Syria through the reputational credibility and community networks and centres of Syrian Arab Red Crescent and Palestine Red Crescent Society Syria Branch.

The programme will take place alongside and learn from other Novo Nordisk Foundation’s supported projects in the Middle East, particularly, the “Future Opportunities for Displaced Youth in Iraq” project that aims at adapting and testing the Life Skills approach.

Overall, the Programme Manager will be responsible for the successful start-up and implementation of the full programme management cycle. As the budget holder of the programme, the delegate is expected to have a strong involvement in the financial management of the programme. The delegate will also facilitate coordination with SARC and other relevant stakeholders on the Programme and ensure all donor requirements are met.

Key focus areas for the incoming delegate will be to:

• Manage the programme and provide strong, technical guidance to SARC counterparts from various technical departments.
• Ensure high quality programme effectiveness, quality assurance (QA) and the compliance with regulations of DRC.
• Maintain a detailed overview of programme progress and contribute to the unified M&E framework to monitor results.
• Conduct needs assessment and develop the programme inception report by August 2021.
• Ensure fruitful donor relations, incl. taking a lead in the relationship with the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
• Ensure solid and productive relations with the Host National Society (HNS), Red Cross & Red Crescent Partner National Societies (PNS).
• Coordination with and support the DRC Country Team particularly in terms of compliance and project Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (PMEAL).
• Closely monitor, assess, analyse and manage risks associated with the programme.

The Programme Manager reports directly to the DRC Country Manager (CM) who retains the overall responsibility for the management of DRC’s project portfolio in Syria.

We have high expectations and to succeed in the position, we expect that you have:

• Strong and proven programme management experience is a prerequisite and preferably extensive experience implementing Youth and Livelihoods programmes.
• Ability to work multi-disciplinary.
• A relevant education within social sciences and/or economics is preferable but not a demand.
• A minimum of 6 years of relevant work experience from the humanitarian sector.
• Solid analytical skills and strong project cycle and financial management capacity.
• Ability to manage a consortium and able to steer processes in a difficult operational environment.
• Excellent communication, diplomatic and networking skills.
• Ability to work independently and structured and your solid planning and organisational skills make you autonomous and effective on a daily basis.
• Good cultural understanding and the ability to work in a challenging multicultural environment is essential.
• Excellent English speaking and writing capabilities. Arabic will be a strong advantage.
• Proven ability to live and work for long periods under restricted conditions within a conflict-affected environment, and you can handle stressful situations.
• Proven experience in the capacity-building of local partners, ideally of Red Cross/Red Crescent National Societies and local branches, and in the Middle East, will be an advantage.

Employment Conditions

The ideal starting date is ideally not later than 1^st May 2021 and the length of the contract is 24 months with the possibility of extension. The salary including all allowances and pension payment will be between DKK 42,600 and 45,000 per month, depending on qualifications and experience.

The duty station is Damascus. This is a non-family duty station with a paid 5-day Rest & Relaxation break permitted after every 8 weeks in-country – COVID-19 permitting. Travelling to project areas within Syria is expected to the extent that the security situation permits and under current circumstances.