Job objective
This description defines the project manager’s responsibility for managing the entire project cycle, achieving results within the scope, budget and approved schedule, while ensuring construction quality, family safety and clear occupancy rights.
The project manager leads the implementation team and coordinates with the ministry, authorities, service providers, and support departments in Watan to ensure the delivery of safe and occupable housing.
It continues to refer families to education, health, protection, and livelihood services; supplementary assistance remains contingent on partner commitments and funding availability.
Tasks and responsibilities
Project management and planning
Develop a detailed implementation plan linking outputs, activities, schedule, budget, and responsibilities; update monthly and weekly plans, and monitor critical paths.
Leading the stages of site confirmation and agreements, design and approval, procurement and verification of households, construction and services, handover, follow-up and defect repair
Managing project scope, changes, and activity delays; proposing corrective actions and submitting changes that require administrative or donor approval before implementation.
Distributing team tasks, setting performance goals, supervising and evaluating staff, and organizing regular progress meetings with engineers, contractors, and support departments.
Confirmation of locations and government coordination
•Following up on the documentation of land allocation, its suitability for use, and the necessary agreements with the Ministry and relevant authorities before construction begins
Leading site assessments in collaboration with specialists, including safety, soil conditions, hazards, potential for connecting to services, and easy access to schools, health, markets, and transportation.
Coordinating the preparation and approval of designs, specifications, bills of quantities, and licenses with the Ministry’s engineers and the Watan team, in accordance with the approved Syrian technical requirements.
- Complete the review of occupancy arrangements with the relevant authorities and legal counsel; and document the rights, duration, costs, responsibilities, and dispute resolution mechanism before families move in.
Construction, Quality and Safety Management
- Adopting a quality control plan within the authorized scope and monitoring its implementation by qualified engineers, including material inspection, testing, and work acceptance criteria before concealment.
- Monitoring contractor performance and completion rates compared to contracts and plans, verifying the handling of non-conforming work, and maintaining records of inspections, visits, and corrective action decisions.
- Ensuring compliance with occupational safety requirements and protecting surrounding families and communities, reporting incidents immediately according to procedures, and suspending affected work in the event of an imminent danger in coordination with the responsible authorities.
- If explosive remnants are suspected, work in the affected area must be stopped and the matter referred to the competent authorities; work must not be resumed until safety is confirmed.
- Monitoring the completion, connection, and testing of water, sewage, electricity, drainage, and safe access; and not recommending the occupancy of any unit before its readiness is proven and fundamental defects are addressed.
Budget, procurement and contracts management
- Managing the budget in coordination with finance, reviewing expenditures, commitments, forecasts, and cash flows monthly, interpreting deviations, and proposing corrections.
- Prepare a procurement plan linked to the schedule, and coordinate technical documents, requests, and technical evaluation with engineering and procurement, in accordance with competition, transparency, national policies, and donor requirements.
- Monitoring the implementation of contracts, delays, guarantees, retentions, and change orders, within the approved powers and procedures.
- Review payment requests based on quantities and work verified by engineers and contractual documents; and submit them for financial approval without exceeding the separation between request, verification, approval, and disbursement.
Tasks and responsibilities follow-up
Family selection, protection, and accountability
- Coordinate the government records verification plan with the MEAL team, and ensure independent verification of 100% of the proposed households before approving the beneficiary list according to the approved approval mechanism.
- To provide the necessary resources and time to address inconsistencies, verify eligibility, and prevent duplication; and to safeguard the independence of MEAL results and not override or modify them without documented evidence and procedures.
- Maintaining the confidentiality of the selection process and not making a public announcement or opening applications during the verification and selection process, while informing families individually that the assessment does not represent a promise of assistance.
- Ensuring informed consent to data collection, sharing, and transfer, and explaining the site, services, occupancy rights, and expected costs in understandable language.
- Ensuring secure, confidential and accessible complaint channels, and following up on project-related complaints with MEAL; and referring protection, child protection, and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse cases according to the relevant national pathways.
- Protecting family data and restricting access to it to authorized personnel; and not using children’s images or family data in reports or communications without the necessary consents and procedures.
Partnerships, reporting, and risk management
- Managing operational coordination with HCI, the Ministry, authorities and service providers, representing the project within the mandate, and maintaining meeting minutes, decisions and commitments.
- Updating the risk register, procedures and responsibilities; and monitoring risks related to land, occupancy, permits, inflation, weather, contractor performance, service delays and community tensions.
- Prepare monthly internal reports and donor reports as per the agreement, including actual and financial performance, quality, families, risks and corrective actions, in coordination with Finance and MEAL.
- Coordinate referrals and agreements with education, health, protection, and livelihoods partners, and document confirmed commitments; and refrain from making promises of unfunded assistance or introducing additional activities without the necessary approvals.
Project delivery, follow-up, and closure
- Coordinating the inspection of all units and services, lists of defects and their treatment, handover reports, occupancy documents and voluntary handover to families.
- Agreeing on the management and maintenance of shared spaces and services and their costs with the relevant authorities and residents, and providing guidelines for safe use and reporting of malfunctions.
- Implementing post-occupancy follow-up with MEAL and engineering, including continuity of residence, access to services, satisfaction, complaints and repair of defects during the contractual period.
- Complete the project’s technical, financial, and contractual files, final implementation documents, tests, and guarantees, and prepare the final report, lessons learned, and a handover plan for any remaining obligations.
Limits of authority and accountability
The incumbent manages day-to-day execution, directs the team, and monitors contractors within the approved mandate. Technical approval and signing of works remain the responsibility of authorized engineers, while financial and contractual approvals and final family selection remain in accordance with the Watan Authority Matrix. The manager is not obligated to make any substantial changes to the scope, budget, duration, occupancy rights, or additional funding without the relevant approvals. Obstacles and decisions exceeding the incumbent’s authority are to be escalated to the Project Manager in a timely manner.
Expected outputs and performance standards
- A comprehensive start-up and implementation plan, including schedule, budget, procurement plan, responsibility matrix, and risk register, to be completed within the first month of operation and updated periodically.
- A site readiness file for each location prior to construction, including land allocation, agreements, assessments, designs, quantities, licenses, and service responsibilities.
- Documented monthly progress reports linking financial achievements to expenditures and commitments, with tracking of deviations and corrective actions; and timely donor reports.
- A list of 100 approved families after independent MEAL verification of all proposed families, resolution of discrepancies, and documentation of their informed consent and data confidentiality.
- Delivery of 100 units within the approved scope, budget, and schedule, with inspection records for each unit, essential services operational, and documented occupancy rights prior to move-in.
- A handover and closure file including handover reports, tests, warranties, maintenance and follow-up plan, defect log and its correction, and final report.
Required qualifications and experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering or Architecture; relevant postgraduate studies or project management certifications are an added advantage.
- At least 7 years of practical experience in construction, housing, or shelter projects, including at least 3 years in project management involving teams, budgets, and contractors.
- Proven experience in managing a donor-funded project cycle, including planning, budgeting, procurement, contracts, and reporting; experience in permanent construction and infrastructure connection is required.
- Ability to review designs, specifications, bills of quantities, implementation programs, and payment certificates, and to manage quality and safety in cooperation with specialists.
- Knowledge of the Syrian context and experience working with authorities, service providers, and displaced communities; and an understanding of occupancy rights, protection, accountability, and data protection issues.
- Proficiency in Arabic, and a professional level in English that allows for preparing reports and communicating with partners.
- Proficiency in Excel, Word, and scheduling software such as MS Project or equivalent, and the ability to read blueprints and use construction tracking tools; familiarity with AutoCAD is preferred.
- Ability to travel regularly to project sites in Idlib and work in the field in accordance with security and safety arrangements
Professional skills and commitments
Leading teams, negotiating, solving problems, making evidence-based decisions, prioritizing tasks, communicating effectively with various stakeholders, maintaining integrity, and managing conflicts of interest. The incumbent is committed to the organization’s code of conduct, policies, and procedures, humanitarian principles, non-discrimination, child protection, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, combating fraud, and reporting violations through approved channels.
How to apply
Join our exceptional team and make a tangible difference in communities by leading successful strategies.
Early applications will be reviewed, and shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews.
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