Syria Policy and Advocacy Manager

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

The Program / Department / Team (Program / Department Summary)

Syria Country Team

The Position(General Position Summary)

The Syria Policy and Advocacy (PA) Manager will support Mercy Corps’ efforts to ensure effective policies are implemented to allow for robust and principled humanitarian and early recovery activities in Syria. This position contributes to efforts, in collaboration with the Regional Senior Advisor – Policy & Advocacy, Syria country team members, and the agency’s global Policy and Advocacy (P&A) team, to influence policies and practices of local and international actors.

The PA Manager will contribute to achieving policy and advocacy objectives that align with the Mercy Corps Syria country strategy and related advocacy plan, in coordination with and under the supervision of the Regional Senior Advisor and Syria Country Director. They will work closely with field teams to collect evidence and stories related to Mercy Corps’ programs and liaise with different internal Mercy Corps departments including program teams, the Program Performance and Quality (PAQ) team, and the Humanitarian Access Team (HAT) to utilize all available resources and data to provide evidence to enhance Mercy Corps’ policy and advocacy objectives.

The PA Manager will write first drafts of policy-relevant documents – including talking points, case studies, and policy briefs – on needs, challenges, on-the-ground dynamics, and recommendations for use by the Mercy Corps Syria team and global P&A team.

The PA Manager will join the Regional Senior Advisor in representing Mercy Corps Syria in relevant NGO Forums for the Syria response, supporting specific collective advocacy efforts as agreed with the Regional Senior Advisor and Syria Country Director. The PA Manager will also work closely with the global P&A team, particularly helping respond to questions/requests related to providing evidence from our programs and perspective in Syria, to prepare global P&A colleagues for relevant Syria-related meetings and engagements.

Where needed, the PA Manager will assist with administrative tasks, such as note taking, to ensure meetings are documented and internal feedback to relevant Mercy Corps team members is provided in a timely manner.

Essential Responsibilities

STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION

• In collaboration with the Regional Senior Advisor and Syria Country Director, implement activities within the Syria advocacy plan and track progress towards achieving advocacy plan objectives.
• Build and maintain relationships with relevant Mercy Corps Syria teams including program teams, PAQ, and HAT to enhance linkages between PA and other teams.
• Collect information from Mercy Corps’ programs to use for policy and advocacy purposes to ensure Mercy Corps’ advocacy is informed by field-based evidence.
• Draft policy-relevant documents – including talking points, case studies, and policy briefs – on needs, challenges, on-the-ground dynamics, and recommendations for use by the Mercy Corps Syria team and global P&A team.
• Maintain an overview of major trends related to the Syria context and humanitarian response through regularly monitoring English and Arabic news sources and reading relevant analysis.
• Provide short written summaries of key articles/reports, particularly those in Arabic, to be shared with the RSA, CD, and others.
• Attend Syria-related events/webinars etc. and share notes with the RSA, CD, and others.

REPRESENTATION

• Alongside the Regional Senior Advisor, represent Mercy Corps in relevant NGO forums related to the Syria response including SIRF, NES Forum, and NWS NGO Forum as well as donor meetings and other external events.
• Liaise with and coordinate policy and advocacy work with peer agencies, particularly through relevant NGO forums.
• Provide support to Mercy Corps Syria senior leadership and global P&A team members to represent Mercy Corps Syria programs and advocacy priorities through collecting information and evidence to inform meetings and engagements.

ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS

• Ensure meetings are documented and summary notes and follow up are circulated in a timely fashion with relevant Mercy Corps stakeholders.
• Support the Regional Senior Advisor in drafting routine update emails to inform relevant Mercy Corps stakeholders about the progress towards achieving Mercy Corps’ policy and advocacy objectives.
• Provide logistical support to plan and execute external meetings and briefings including supporting relevant procurement processes.
• Provide translation between English and Arabic in meetings with field team members.
• Provide written translation of a wide range of documents for internal and external use.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Attend relevant trainings including on international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and other topics related to humanitarian action as they are provided by external stakeholders.
• Working with the RSA and CD, identify areas for professional development and seek out training opportunities, either in-house or external, particularly related to policy and advocacy.

Supervisory Responsibility

N/A

Reports Directly To: Country Director

Works Directly With: Regional Senior Advisor – Policy & Advocacy, Syria Country Director and relevant Mercy Corps Syria team members including field and Amman-based programs teams, PAQ, and HAT as well as regional media/communication staff and MC Europe and US P&A team members.

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.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• A BA/S or equivalent is required with 3-5 years’ work experience; a degree in a relevant field such as political science, human rights, humanitarian or development studies, law, or public policy preferred.
• Proven ability to communicate effectively in Arabic and English, both verbally and written is required; ability to produce policy documents is preferred.
• Knowledge of the Syria and regional context, including the Syria humanitarian response is preferred.
• Ability to work independently as well as work with teams to complete tasks with minimal supervision.
• Proven ability to work under and meet multiple deadlines.
• Ability to engage with external stakeholders including peer agencies.

Success Factors

A successful candidate will have excellent verbal and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational, and prioritization skills with an ability to effectively represent the organization and its interests to a diverse range of stakeholders, including local and international government officials, local civil society organizations, donors, other international organizations, the media, and the community. S/he should be a quick learner and will have strong analytical skills, demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines, and work independently and cooperatively with team members, have strong people skills and ability to work with diverse teams. S/he should have a strong understanding of the Syria context (contextual, programmatic, and related to the humanitarian response) and be motivated to support Mercy Corps Syria’s policy advocacy priorities and country strategy objectives.

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

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and

values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

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