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Position Description
Location Syria - Damascus
Position Status Full-time
Salary Level (Refer to the Country Salary Guidelines)
Current Team Member NA
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible.
In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions
into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.
Now, and for the future.
About the Syrian NGO Forum
The Syria NGO Forum (SNGOF) is a unified coordination and representation body that brings together 175
international and national non-governmental organizations delivering humanitarian and development
assistance across Syria. The SNGOF was established in response to the evolving political and operational
landscape following the transition in Syria in late 2024. Officially launched in September 2025, it builds on
years of experience from previous NGO coordination structures under the Whole of Syria system, particularly
the hub-level platforms that supported NGO engagement and dialogue. The Forum works to strengthen NGO
coordination, representation, and collective advocacy, amplifying NGO voices and supporting members to
deliver effective and principled assistance to communities in need.
The Forum’s core function is to support its members by providing coordination, representation, and common
positioning. Its mandate is delivered through five inter-related functions: coordination and representation,
advocacy and common positioning, knowledge exchange, promote localization, foster partnerships.
As of December 2025, the SNGOF includes 175 member organizations — 87 international NGOs and 70
national NGOs. In addition, eighteen national civil society networks and observers participate. Membership is
open to NGOs with active humanitarian or development programming inside Syria that adhere to humanitarian
principles, are registered or registering in Syria, operate ongoing programs, and maintain independence from
political or governmental influence.
Forum members are active across all regions of Syria, with operations in multiple subnational hubs. They work
across all humanitarian sectors as well as early recovery and resilience, basic services, peacebuilding, social
cohesion, governance support, and durable solutions. Members bring extensive regional and global
experience in complex crises, contributing valuable knowledge and capacity to the Syria response.
The Forum operates under a dual-chamber governance model (INGO and NNGO chambers) with joint
oversight through a Forum Board and implementation supported by a dedicated Secretariat, led by the Forum
Director. General Position Summary
The Deputy Director (DD) will lead high level workstreams, support the Secretariat, and stand in for the
Director as required to ensure continuity of operations. The position holder will be an Arabic speaker
responsible for leading the national NGO dialogue and engagement within the Syria NGO Forum, ensuring
inclusivity, coherence, and synchronization with the overall strategy of the Forum. She/he will lead the NNGO
Chamber and ensure meaningful participation of Syrian NGOs in Forum processes and strategic decision-
making. The Deputy Director will drive the Forum’s localization agenda, with a focus on equitable partnerships,
representation, and capacity strengthening. This person will also maintain close engagement with Syrian NGO
networks, national platforms, and community-based organizations, ensuring integration of local NGO voices
into national coordination and advocacy efforts, and leading on localization priorities in line with the Grand
Bargain and global commitments. The DD will also act as the Forum’s focal point on humanitarian access,
supporting members in navigating access constraints, including bureaucratic impediments, documenting
challenges, and liaising with relevant actors. Further to this, the Deputy Director will be in charged with all
donor reporting, in coordination with the Host Agency. The Deputy Director will also have a number of
secondary duties, shared with the Director and requiring full operationality and knowledge including budget
management, as well as systematic donor and UN engagement. A versatile role in a highly dynamic
environment, the role is intended to backstop the Director, remain responsive to shifting context, and
demonstrate mature leadership while able to technically support senior leadership of the Secretariat in all
areas; advocacy, access, operations and intersectoral coordination.
Representation and Coordination
• Work with the SNGOF Director and Secretariat to maintain appropriate relationships and communication
with relevant coordination stakeholders (United Nations, HCT, ISCG, HAWG, Sectors, Donors, Networks
and Platforms, etc).
• Provide advocacy support to SNGOF membership and the PAWG as required.
• Attend local or regional coordination meetings to represent access priorities and provide briefings to
external stakeholders on humanitarian access issues.
• Work with developing humanitarian access policy positions and recommendations on issues relevant to
the work of the Forum.
• Understands and disseminates the importance of neutrality and independence of SNGOF.
• Facilitate regular engagement with national and international stakeholders across the humanitarian-
development nexus.
Strategic Engagements & Governance
• In coordination with the SNGOF Director, maintain a healthy relationship with local governance
structures as required – with a focus on enhancing authorities’ knowledge of the NGO response and taking
the lead on negotiations as required to maintain humanitarian access and space to conduct humanitarian
operations.
• Lead strategic planning and execution of the Forum’s workplan under the supervision of the Forum Board.
• Facilitate governance processes, including General Assembly and Chamber Assemblies, ensuring
transparency and inclusivity. • Provide strategic oversight to technical workstreams and thematic groups, ensuring alignment with
Forum priorities.
• Responsible for the identification and realization of new key workstreams as required, in response to the
evolving humanitarian situation, and as identified of relevance to the Forum membership.
• Increase SNGOF participation and support to specific task forces and working groups, as well as increased
support to specific sectors, if necessary.
Access & Advocacy
• Participation and representation in coordination meetings relating to humanitarian access, convened by
both humanitarian and non-humanitarian counterparts, including regular meetings conducted by local
authority offices, as required.
• Coordinate with the OCHA Humanitarian Access Working Group (HAWG), as necessary on an ad hoc basis.
• Support on workstreams related to the monitoring, analysis and maintenance of humanitarian access for
NGOs in Syria, including the bi-annual Access Severity Analysis led by OCHA Regional Office for the Middle
East and North Africa (ROMENA); and design/oversight of Humanitarian Access Strategy.
• Support joint policy and advocacy initiatives on key humanitarian and development issues together
with the Policy and Advocacy Manager.
• Support development and endorsement of joint positioning papers, policy briefs, and public
statements.
Reporting (internal & external)
• Provide regular reporting on meetings, discussions, and external engagement with authorities, which can
be disseminated to a wider audience, including Forum members.
• Lead on development and dissemination of humanitarian context & policy updates.
• Provide inputs and support to the drafting of ad hoc and regular reports.
• Responsible for donor budget (BVA) reporting through Host Agency systems.
• Responsible for donor narrative reporting through Host Agency reporting systems.
Supervisory Responsibility
Admin & Membership Officer, Consultants if relevant.
Accountability
Reports Directly To: SNGOF Director
Accountable to: SNGOF Membership and the SNGOF Board. Administratively to the Host Agency Team
Lead/Country Director.
Works Directly With: SNGOF Secretariat, SNGOF Members; Coordination counterparts; United
Nations; Authorities.
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our
program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal
partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
MA or equivalent in international human rights law, humanitarian studies, or similar qualification
required.
• Significant NGO-specific coordination experience is essential for this role. Can be combined with a
minimum of 7 years of programmatic/operational field experience in NGOs and/or UN (OCHA).
• Preference for previous Syria experience. Familiarity with the previous Whole of Syria structure
preferred.
• Demonstrated success working effectively and respectfully with host country government, INGO, NGO
partners, UN, Civ-Mil, and other stakeholders in complex, ongoing, chronic and acute conflict
environments.
• Proven understanding of international humanitarian response architecture, including
cluster/coordination mechanisms, humanitarian reform and action, and funding mechanisms.
• Dedication to the core humanitarian standard and clear understanding of the application of humanitarian
principles in conflict settings.
• Understanding International Humanitarian Law is essential. With experience interpreting/explaining
international humanitarian law to non-humanitarian partners.
• Experience with remote program management/coordination contexts is important.
• Demonstrated experience in coordination and/or lead advocacy roles, preferably within formal
coordination structures and/or advocacy consortia.
• Successful and proven negotiation, communication, and organizational skills.
• Successful track record of leading medium-sized teams to success, effective budget management, and
success working with dual supervisory groups.
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse stakeholder base in a sensitive environment.
• Operational experience preferred, with IT systems, budget, and reporting experience.
• Fluent speaking and writing in Arabic and English; knowledge of Kurdish an asset.
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the
communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that
further their personal and/or professional growth and development
Team Engagement and Effectiveness
Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals
with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex
challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is
valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work. We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to
learning, improving, and growing together.
HOW TO APPLY:
Interested candidates can follow the link below to fill in their information and attach CVs not later than July
28, 2026:
Syria NGO Forum Deputy Director - Damascus
Organization reserves the right to accept or reject any or all CV(s) without assigning any reason.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the interview.
نصيحة لحمايتك
ننصح بقراءة طريقة التقديم بعناية و التقيد بتعليمات التقدم للوظائف و المناقصات.