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.
Department Summary
The war in Syria continues; more than 11 million people have been displaced from their homes and the number relying on humanitarian assistance continues to grow. With a large and complex portfolio of work across the country, Mercy Corps has established itself as an analytical, strategic and flexible responder, adapting continually to shifting front lines and operational realities to respond effectively and efficiently through multiple modalities with teams inside Syria and working cross-border from neighboring countries. Mercy Corps has a large and diverse portfolio of work and a substantial team that works in multiple languages across multiple locations, many of which are managed remotely.
Mercy Corps has been meeting the needs of conflict-affected communities from Syria since 2012, with a focus on interventions in humanitarian and recovery programming. With funding from a range of donors, Mercy Corps works together with vulnerable families and communities in Syria focusing on Emergency, Livelihood and Social Cohesion sectors to promote positive coping strategies and address basic needs.
General Position Summary
The Syria Risk & Security Director (RSD) will work with the Syria hubs to ensure that organizational security policies and procedures are responsive to the context, adequate and known to staff, and advise on operational security processes and procedures in close coordination with security and program teams. This position must maintain an acute awareness of the context and all threats as they relate to Mercy Corps operations. The RSD is expected to understand all Mercy Corps Syria program activities across all operational areas.
The RSD will work with the Country Director, Deputy Country Director and Director of Program in each program location to ensure that the country program adheres to and exceeds compliance with the Global Safety and Security Minimum Standards. The RSD will technically manage all security personnel for programming in Syria to include staff members based in Northwest and Northeast Syria, as well as Lebanon and Jordan (the latter two in collaboration with the Security Focal Points of those respective countries). The RSD is also the Chair of the country Risk Management Committee, and responsible for ensuring review and processing of internal products related to MC Syria’s risk threshold and maintaining the country risk register. The RSD also partners with the Country Director in review of visibility and publications, as well as incidents and investigations in-country, from a risk and security perspective.
The RSD is based in the regional office in Amman, but is responsible for quality control and of security management for all Syria programs including all cross-border and in-country activities. This position will require extensive travel to insecure locations and for extended periods to provide support.
This person is expected to have a strong understanding of program management, logistical capacities and humanitarian values. S/he is expected to apply these and other leadership qualities across the Mercy Corps Syria team. S/he will advise the Country Director on safety and security risk, operational security measures, and the safety and security aspects of incident management. The RSD will document, train, and implement security management planning, while also designing, facilitating, and providing training programs, briefings (written and presented) to staff, technical advice and support for improved assessments and program planning.
Essential Job Responsibilities
General Position Responsibilities
- Keep informed and abreast of evolutions in the conflict – political, security, and economic situations in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, and Iraq as relates to the current conflict. This includes an understanding of the situation outside of the programmatic area in Syria for Mercy Corps.
- Have a thorough understanding of humanitarian needs and our agency programmatic capacity.
- Maintain close coordination with Mercy Corps Syria hub-level Security Focal Points, Director of Programs and Deputy Country Director, and provide assistance for security and access matters when needed.
- Undertake regular field visits in order to meet with team members and gain an independent assessment of the situation and to look for solutions and any mitigating measures needed to protect staff and assets in Mercy Corps Syria’s operational areas.
- Works closely with hubs/programs to ensure efficient contingency/scenario plans are in place and ensure they are up to date and reflect contemporary realities of the operational environment.
- Technical (matrix) management of all security leads/staff for Mercy Corps Syria in coordination/cooperation with Area Director and hub leads. Provide quality control over all their work.
- Provide the Regional Safety & Security Advisor with critical analysis of the conflict situation throughout the country and emerging trends, patterns and recommendations on meeting mitigating safety and security threat and risk to Mercy Corps staff and operations.
- Accountable for ensuring adequate budgeting for security costs across all hubs in coordination with security leads and hub Directors. Identification of areas of need and solutions to address such.
- Responsible for providing critical recommendations to the management of all Syria programs including the designation of Go/No-Go areas, location risk ratings and agency posture, acceptable levels of operational security risk and risk mitigation measures.
Operational Safety and Security
- The RSD is responsible for leading the development and update of all security procedures including standard operating procedures (SOPs) contingency plans (CPs), guidelines, planning for staff safety and operational security for all Syria hubs.
- Ensure the security management systems are tailored to the needs of each hub/program but also productively consistent across the Country Program.
- Evaluate, review and update the security management plans (SMPs), SOPs, CPs on a regular basis.
- Support and where needed lead the security risk assessment process for hubs/programs.
- Review all security risk assessments (SRA) in line with Mercy Corps Syria’s review and approval matrix for safety and security documentation.
- Ensure that security risk assessments are carried out for all new and existing Mercy Corps Syria operating areas. This includes macro and micro assessments, prior to any program activities in new areas of intervention.
- Undertake routine reviews to ensure quality statistics, mapping and planning.
- Monitor passive and active tracking systems for staff in program areas.
- Manage incident management and tracking platforms for the Whole of Syria (WoS).
- Provide and implement best possible solutions for use of equipment to facilitate communication between staff, including here proposing safe alternative means of communication and equipment.
- Conduct trainings and ensure briefings are given to all staff. Ensure that hub security leads are providing security briefings for new hire staff and refreshers briefs for all staff.
Security Incident Reporting
- Accountable for ensuring all security related incidents are reported from hubs and the incident management system and incident log are updated.
- Ensures the incident log and reporting system is updated in real-time to allow thorough planning and analysis. Facilitate lessons learned in cooperation with other departments after key incidents or learning opportunities.
- Update the Country Director and Regional Safety & Security Advisor in real-time of any security related incident(s).
- During serious or critical incident management be an active member on the Mercy Corps Syria incident management team (IMT).
Country Risk Assessment, Management & Mitigation
- In coordination with country management teams and program managers, maintain the country-level Risk Register to identify key risks and document strategies to mitigate these risks. Manage the quarterly update process and ensure communication of action plans.
- Chair the Risk Management Committee and review the role of the RMC within risk management.
- In support of Crisis Analysis – Syria, participate in CA Risk Assessments and review of CA products.
- Ensure all strategic and operational threats and risks for the country program are captured and treated.
- As a result of the identified risks coordinate with internal or external resources to conduct in-person/remote training for relevant parties. Support the risk holder by ensuring the SMT is aware of the resources required in mitigation measures, the progress and challenges.
- Institutionalize operational risk management for the country program through defining threat, risk, risk transfer and risk sharing.
- Standardize tools across the country program and put in a central location for ease of use.
- Strengthen security risk management capacity in programs. In coordination with DCD, CA-SYR, Area Directors and Program Directors, support development of risk management plans for programs directly and through partners, ensuring minimum standards are met in partner programs.
- Develop guidance, tools and training as required. In coordination with relevant departments develop tools where gaps are identified and facilitate a clean roll-out of any risk management procedures.
Humanitarian Access
- Assist DoPs and hub security leads with humanitarian access needs including the development of access and exit strategies.
- Feed into proposal development for access related matters in coordination with program and security leads.
Communication and Coordination
- Serve as a member of the Senior Management Team, contributing to bi-monthly meetings for strategic planning, country oversight and management topics with a safety, security and risk management and mitigation lens.
- Responsible for connecting the right managers with relevant analysis and data required for high-level decision making and will develop/maintain a network of trusted sources to enhance this capability.
- Represent Mercy Corps with attendance at interagency security coordination meetings on behalf of Mercy Corps.
- Responsible for developing a comprehensive weekly operational access and security update to the Extended Senior Management Team
- Engage in inter-agency coordination in security; ensure ongoing Mercy Corps field-level coordination in the NGO community.
Other
- Adapt security strategies in remote management settings.
- Effectively represent, promote and protect Mercy Corps’ mandate for independence, impartiality, and neutrality.
- Any other duties which are not listed but are essential to the safety and security for Mercy Corps staff, property/material, and reputation.
Organizational Learning
As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve – we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.
Accountability to Beneficiaries
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: Northwest Security Officer and Northeast Senior Security Coordinator, with technical dotted line to Partnerships Risk and Safety Coordinator
ACCOUNTABILITY:
REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Country Director, Syria
WORKS DIRECTLY WITH:Directors of Programmes, Security Focal Points, Program Managers, Operational Management, Regional Security Advisor.
COLLABORATES WITH: Mercy Corps Syria Team Members, Mercy Corps Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon Security Focal Points.
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field: (BA/BSc or equivalent Military College) in relevant field; or equivalent work experience: security qualification or advanced security management training.
- Advanced level of understanding with the philosophy and mode of operation of NGOs.
- Minimum of 3 years field based experience in complex and insecure settings and preferably a conflict environment. Preferably, in more than one country with large teams of staff.
- Proven written and analytical skills (sample may be requested).
- Experience in liaising with civilian, police and military government authorities and international institutions.
- Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and mentoring.
- Willingness to work and travel frequently in often difficult and insecure environments.
- Proven experience remotely managing staff in a matrix management environment.
- Competency in Internet and Microsoft Office systems including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and other database/mapping systems.
- Fluency in English, both written and spoken.
- Knowledge and understanding of Syria and the Middle East Region is essential.
- Ability to speak Arabic is an asset.
- Formal training qualifications (HEAT, K&R, Personal Security, First Aid, Train a Trainer etc).
SUCCESS FACTORS
A successful candidate will have strong leadership, managerial, and risk analysis/mitigation skills. They will be a great listener and will willingly learn from the wealth of knowledge and experience of their security team. A successful candidate will be able to build strong relationships, built on mutual respect and social awareness. They will be invested in the potential, development, and performance of their team members and will seek to strengthen the security of the country program by developing the abilities of the security team.
A successful candidate will be able to identify and communicate security trends at a local and regional level. They will demonstrate the ability to multitask, meet deadlines, and process information in a timely manner to enable efficient and effective responses to contextual changes and challenges. They will be able to tailor their risk appetite to align with that of the Country Director, as the risk holder, and the Regional Security Advisor, as the technical security lead for the region. They will be able to live and work closely with a diverse team of individuals in a highly intense and fluid work and security environment and be willing to travel regularly to Mercy Corps field offices and project sites. The candidate will ensure a high degree of professionalism and neutrality when it comes to implementing the response.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
This position is based in Amman, Jordan and is currently an accompanied position. Housing is individual accommodation with unlimited freedom of movement beyond the house/office. Staff will have access to medical, electricity, water, etc. This position requires (50% of time) of travel to field offices, some in insecure environments. Although neighboring countries continue to experience political unrest, Jordan has been a stable monarchy for over 30 years and the destination preference for many people from the Middle East to relax or gain access to available services. In recent years, events unfolding in Syria and Iraq have increased local concerns over the continued stability of Jordan but to date there have been no major incidents. In order to gain the right to work via a work-based residency in Jordan, the successful candidate will have to undergo a blood test for HIV/AIDs. This test is a Jordanian Government requirement which Mercy Corps must comply with.
Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.