MEAL Officer, Syria Program (subject to funding) At International Commission on Missing Persons

Every year, millions of people around the world go missing as a result of conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organized crime, irregular migration, and other causes. The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is a treaty-based intergovernmental organization with Headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. Its mandate is to secure the cooperation of governments and others in locating missing persons from conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organized crime, migration and other causes and to assist them in doing so. To learn more about ICMP click here.

Syria Program
ICMP’s Syria Program aims to establish the foundations for an effective and sustainable mechanism to address the issue of the missing in a future post-conflict Syria. The program focuses on the following:

• Contributing to increased understanding among victims, civil society and key stakeholders regarding processes, standards and rights of victims and survivors who are involved in accounting for missing persons;
• Establishing the conditions to launch a participative process of data collection that empowers and engages families of the missing; and
• Increasing the capacity of Syrian families, legal experts and other stakeholders to foster an impartial and law-based approach to accounting for missing persons in post-conflict Syria.

The primary beneficiaries of the Syria Program are families, in particular women, with relatives missing from the conflict, who are currently displaced in neighboring countries and, also where possible, those who are still in Syria.

Background of the Position

The Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer is responsible for providing technical support in the delivery of results within ICMP’s Syria Program, bringing immediate and lasting changes to the surviving families of Syria’s estimated 17,000 persons are missing from the regime of Hafez al Assad and at least 112,000 persons from the present conflict. The MEAL Officer is responsible for comprehensive internal and external reporting, as well as MEAL tools and templates for the ICMP Syria Program, including establishing systems to promote evidence-based decision making. Working closely with Program Manager (Syria) and technically supported by the ICMP Global MEAL Officer, s/he will support program planning and lead reviews and evaluations to document and monitor progress, effectiveness and impact of ICMP’s activities in its Syria Program.

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Program Manager (Syria), and in close coordination with the Global MEAL Officer, the MEAL Officer’s duties and responsibilities will include, but will not necessarily be limited to, the following:

1. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) (55%)

• In coordination with the Global MEAL Officer, prepares and refines logic models and results frameworks, performance indicators, and data collection and reporting protocols for ICMP grants in Syria;
• Supports the Global MEAL Officer in managing external evaluations to capture lessons and inform future programming in Syria;
• Contributes to the development, roll-out and implementation of the ICMP MEAL guidance that ensures accountability to donors and Iraqi key stakeholders;
• Monitors project implementation across grants and promotes adaptive management for increased transparency, accountability and a learning mindset, both internally (geographic program, horizontal program, and corporate services) and externally; and
• Ensures feedback from accountability and learning tools are integrated in program planning, implementation and closeout.

2. Program Development and Reporting (45%)

• Prepares and consolidates high-quality internal and external reports, including integrating data visualizations to help deliver meaningful information;
• Supports the Program Manager in the preparation of project proposals for the Syria Program and contributes fresh ideas to the development of program strategy;
• Supports the Program Manager in providing inputs to internal and external (via the Program Coordination and Impact Unit) communications, ensuring effective coordination with stakeholders, including, but not limited to, donor community, embassies, international organizations; and
• Represents ICMP in knowledge network events among implementing partners operating in Syria.

The incumbent will also be responsible for other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in project management, political science, international development, public administration, public relations, business, social science or other relevant areas;
• Minimum 6 years of relevant professional experience working in the field of MEAL at an international organization or national non-governmental organization or public institution;
• Professional proficiency in English and Arabic. Knowledge of Kurdish and/or Turkish will be considered an asset;
• Proven experience in strategic planning, designing and maintaining MEAL tools including indicator selection, target setting, reporting, database management, and developing MEAL and performance monitoring plans;
• Proven experience in the preparation of reports and project documents in English;
• Knowledge of gender mainstreaming in project management;
• Experience in planning and managing surveys and developing and refining data collection tools;
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced environment, set priorities, and meet deadlines;
• Ability to synthesize complex information and communicate it effectively to diverse audiences;
• Ability to manage critical relationships with diplomacy and tact and engage a wide range of stakeholders including the EU, potential donors, and organizations working on the Syria context;
• Strong attention to detail, organizational. and time management skills;
• Computer proficiency in Windows environment (Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint) and proficiency in online research;
• Proven ability to interact positively with colleagues regardless of culture, nationality or gender;
• Willingness to travel and to work flexible hours including weekends and evenings, when necessary;
• Commitment to the underlying objective of assisting the authorities and families of the missing in locating and identifying missing persons in an impartial and transparent manner;
• Mental and physical capacity and willingness to work in sometimes challenging circumstances and under hardship living conditions; and
• Positive attitude, humility and the ability to work within multidisciplinary team.

This is a full-time fixed term position with a competitive base salary at the LES level 6 on the ICMP Syria/MENA salary scale, generous paid leave, and extensive health insurance benefits for the incumbent and any eligible dependent. For more details, please see the ICMP website.