Senior Assessment Officer based in Hasakeh, Syria At IMPACT Initiatives

BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH

REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH’s purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise.

IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention.

We are currently looking for a Senior Assessment Officer to provide analysis support to the Northeast Syria NGO Forum (NES Forum), under the REACH Syria mission. The position is based in Hasakeh, Syria with frequent travel in the area.

Department: REACH Syria

Position:Senior Assessment Officer

Contract duration:12 months

Location: Hasakeh

Starting Date: ASAP

Deadline to apply: 29/01/2025

COUNTRY PROFILE

After more than a decade of conflict, as of December 2024, Syria is entering a new phase. Conditions in Syria remain volatile, marked by ongoing tensions/conflict in parts of the country, fluctuations in markets conditions, socioeconomic deterioration and ongoing drought. Evidence-based planning and programming remains paramount to ensure that humanitarian efforts and recovery response adequately meet the needs of the most vulnerable people and is tailored to different realities across communities. REACH has been conducting assessments on the humanitarian situation in Syria since 2013 and has since grown significantly as an information management actor in the response.

POSITION PROFILE

REACH is currently recruiting for a Senior Assessment Officer under the supervision of the NES Forum Head of Coordination Unit to support the NES Forum in improving and strengthening response analysis, operational coordination and mapping of gaps and needs. The NES NGO Forum was established in July 2016 as the primary coordination body for NGOs in North East Syria – as part of formalized coordination arrangements under the whole of Syria approach. The Forum has the responsibility for a number of core functions, including operational coordination, representation with external stakeholders, engagement with authorities, information management and policy and advocacy. The role of the aims at improving the overall objectives of Forum through the analysis and production of humanitarian needs and response data, with the view to improve operational coordination and gap analysis. The Analyst is a key member of the NES Forum coordination team and is in charge of handling the implementation and management of an adequate strategy for the collection and analysis of data and information sharing, needed to ensure that the NES Forum and its members are in a capacity to take well informed and data-based strategic decisions.

The Senior Assessment Officer will perform the following tasks:

IMPLEMENT RESPONSE AND GAP ANALYSIS BASED ON PARTNER DATA

• Support in analysis of 4Ws and response data to produce regular products, including intersector snapshots, area-based products and location specific gap analysis.
• Support the IM unit with collection and consolidation of response data, based on monthly reporting schedules, working on identifying ways to improve reporting.
• Work with Whole of Syria IMs as well as Sector IMs, to support efforts to improve reporting and analyse response information, in close coordination with the inter-sector working group coordinator.
• Share response information and relevant data with NES Forum members (contact list, activity reporting, operational presence, gap analysis and factsheets) at agreed frequencies.
• Facilitate the analysis of information between WG and sectors when relevant.
• Establish contact with appropriate partner agencies when basic or special needs are identified.
• Liaise with humanitarian stakeholders.

OVERSEE IM AND ANALYSIS

• Supporting the IM unit to conduct initial IM diagnoses to help identify areas and means of improvement to support the core coordination functions of the NES Forum.
• Ensure that the coordination team has access to robust systems for file storage and e-mail. Review online file repositories for NES Forum documents to facilitate file management and internal information sharing across the coordination team and the partners.
• Maintain and improve NES Forum internal and external communication system.
• Prepare NES Forum visualization and reporting templates, including reports, presentations, NES forum bulletins, dashboards and operational presence maps.
• Develop and/or operationalise or enhance NES-specific common data standards together with relevant Working Groups (WG) or sectors and promote the standards with partners.

FACILITATE STRATEGIC PLANNING

• Support the NES Forum in developing information inputs for formulation of response strategic objectives/indicators and prioritisation of activities in NES.
• Working with REACH to facilitate area-based workshop preparations, including required response analysis and defining priorities for data visualization and analysis.
• Work alongside the NES Forum IM unit and NES Sectors to coordinate efforts to develop, plan, and execute humanitarian needs assessments and the wider Multi-Sector Needs Assessment.
• Work alongside the NES Forum IM unit and NES Sectors to support development of PIN and Severity calculations, the Humanitarian Needs Overview, and the Humanitarian Response Plan.
• Ensure linkage between needs assessment and response analysis to facilitate humanitarian response prioritization (activities / geographical location / groups).

TECHNICAL GUIDANCE

• Inform and feedback on inter-sector and sector led methodologies, indicators, tools and analytical frameworks to gather primary data for operational purposes.
• Support sectors on specific, more technical, workstreams and visualization of response information
• e.g. support to winterization mapping, inputting on planned sector assessments, supporting to guide development of templates for purposes of gathering response information etc.
• Support sector working group IMOs, with capacity building and technical guidance, with the view to improve reporting and capacity for sector led analysis.

REQUIREMENTS

• Excellent academic qualifications, including a Master’s degree in relevant discipline, or an equivalent combination of relevant training and experience in humanitarian related activities in disaster or conflict situations.
• 2 years of relevant working experience in a humanitarian setting;
• Knowledge of the humanitarian community, specifically with regards to inter-agency coordination.
• Experience in the context of partnership building and consensual decision-making.
• Proven ability to conceptualize, develop, plan monitor and evaluate IM in relation to programming, as well as to teach skills and build team capacity.
• Excellent writing, communication and negotiation skills; ability to prepare clear and concise reports.
• Understanding of different data collection methodologies and their strengths and weaknesses, to be able to assess quality/reliability of secondary sources and to advice on potential areas of improvement.
• Ability to compile, triangulate and holistically analyse diverse and large datasets.
• Experience with handling confidential and sensitive data and demonstrated.
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously in a team and in the inter-agency context with colleagues from a variety of cultures and professional backgrounds.
• Data capture and analysis:
• MS Excel (Essential): Ability to create macros; Strong knowledge of statistical, conditional, and text-based functions;
• Web Design (Asset): HTML, PHP, ASP; Basic understanding of web-based applications
• Mapping (Asset): ArcGIS, QGIS, Basic understanding of geospatial data management, analysis, and map making processes
• Fluently spoken and written English is mandatory. Arabic or Kurdish an asset.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% of time at short notice within Northeast Syria, resilience, stress tolerance and work under difficult conditions.

CONDITIONS

• For this position, salary between 3,000 and 3,120 CHF monthly (before income tax), etc as well as a monthly living allowance of 300 USD*. NB – IMPACT salaries are strictly determined by our salary grid depending on the grade of the position and the level of education of staff. A location-dependent security and/or isolation adjustment is then applied as a recognition that some staff are required to work in difficult places where living and working conditions are much more difficult than elsewhere.*
• Accommodation and food provided in a guesthouse.
• Enrolment in Swiss private pension fund (Swisslife – approx. 9.975% of staff gross salary), health insurance, life insurance and repatriation assistance
• This base is not a family duty station – Accompanied status does not apply to this position.
• Flight tickets every 6 months & visa fees covered (in-country travel costs and professional expenses are fully covered)
• R&R after 2-3 months (flight ticket up to 500$ + 200$ of living allowance) if duty station allows.
• Contribution to the luggage transportation: between 20 and 100 kgs, depending on the length of the contract (+ luggage and personal property insurance)
• Annual leave of 36 days per year. Public holidays of the country of assignment. Family/compassionate leave when applicable.
• Predeparture induction – 3 days at IMPACT Initiatives’s HQ in Geneva + one week pre-departure training in ACTED HQ in Paris, including a 4-days in situ security training;
• Enrolment in IMPACT Initiatives Research Foundational Learning Programme within the first 3 months from the start of contract.
• IMPACT prioritizes the psychological safety of its staff and the health insurance provided covers, among others, up to 1000 € per year of psychosocial counselling fees