Advocacy and Communications Officer At Syria Civil Defense (White Helmets)

About Syria Civil Defence / The White Helmets

The Syria Civil Defence (SCD), also known as The White Helmets, is a grassroots, community-driven initiative established in response to the Syrian crisis. We are from the people and for the people, committed to doing whatever we can, wherever we can, for as long as we can, to protect and alleviate the suffering of civilians, regardless of their identity or background.

Our organization currently comprises more than 3,000 volunteers and staff operating through community-based centers and specialized teams, including 39 women’s centers, supported by management and coordination offices across Syria and overseas.

We provide critical services in comprehensive programs under three business lines:

Emergency response: pillar includes women’s centers, emergency medical services, search and rescue operations, firefighting, and more.

Community resilience: encompassing early recovery and mine action programs, climate change adaptation, and localization and community empowerment.

Human Rights and Peace Building: Includes evidence collection and archiving, investigation support and case building, and advocacy and research

All services are delivered in adherence to international humanitarian standards, ensuring neutrality, independence, equality, and impartiality.

Further information about us can be found at www.whitehelmets.org

SCOPE OF WORK

The Advocacy and Communications Officer will support the White Helmets to coordinate advocacy activities internally and with external partners, and support the implementation of the organisation’s international advocacy strategy.

The position holder will be the main point of contact inside Syria for advocacy activities, having the responsibility for scheduling meetings, ensuring the availability of leadership and relevant technical staff members for meetings, supporting with the preparation of talking points and ensuring a constant flow of information from the field to the international advocacy team about SCD’s operations on the ground.

They will work under the supervision of the Advocacy and Communications Manager and engage in activities across the humanitarian and transitional justice sectors, focusing on building relationships with international stakeholders, such as government and UN representatives, and with civil society organisations inside Syria.

The Advocacy and Communications Officer will be expected to plan and participate in advocacy meetings, roundtables or other events with a variety of stakeholders, including governments, parliaments, UN, NGO and think tanks.

They will also provide support to senior management, Board Members and other relevant staff members and volunteers in the lead up to advocacy meetings. They will work closely with the other members of the Advocacy team, as well as coordinating with the Media team, Programs team and the Justice and Accountability Program.

They will provide written analysis and support the advocacy department to develop briefings, reports and other official materials.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

• Duty station: Damascus , Syria
• Line manager: Advocacy and Communication Manager
• Line management Responsibility: N/A
• Full-time/Part-time: Full-time

Tasks and activities:

General administrative tasks:

• Coordinate with employees within the same department and collaborate with other departments regarding work requirements.
• Prepare frequent reports about the department’s work.
• Participate in the internal meeting assigned to him/her.
• Provides proposals and development initiatives for the department’s work.

Technical tasks:

• Coordinate meetings for senior leadership and relevant technical staff with external stakeholders, such as visiting state delegations, UN officials, international NGOs
• Support the organization to develop relationships with key stakeholders in Syria, including other Syrian CSOs, the consulates of states, United Nations agencies, funds and programs and international organizations.
• Support preparation for meetings, including: preparing and aligning talking points, seeking input from advocacy and other technical staff; briefing senior leadership and other staff or volunteers
• Note-taking and recording of meetings
• Track and provide analysis of developments in humanitarian and justice sectors inside Syria, conduct desk research where necessary
• Support the development of written materials such as policy briefings, reports or mailings
• Support White Helmets engagements with NGO Forums, national associations and other national advocacy groups
• Plan and implement events

Required qualifications: Education, Experience and Competencies:

• At least 2 Years professional experience in the humanitarian or development sectors.
• Bachelor’s degree or above in International Relations, Law, Social and Political Sciences, Business Administration, Communications or related field.
• At least 3 years’ experience in an office environment conducting similar tasks (meeting scheduling, note taking, writing memos, engagement with external and internal stakeholders)
• Knowledge of key humanitarian and justice issues in this context, including humanitarian access, protection of civilians, UXO or transitional justice is preferred
• High level of English and Arabic skills both spoken and written
• Strong interpersonal skills and independent judgment and discretion
• Self-motivation ability to work independently in a fast-paced context

Desirable:

• Master’s degree or above in a relevant subject area.
• Events organizations experience an asset
• Excellent ability to follow-up on ongoing processes.