SYRIA – Head of Mission – M/W

La Chaîne de l’Espoir is an international NGO founded in 1994. Its mission is to strengthen health systems to provide equal opportunities for survival and development, especially for children.

Our interventions span 28 countries through a comprehensive approach focused on children, but also benefiting mothers and disadvantaged communities:

• Prevention and early detection from a young age, particularly through school health programs.
• Care and surgery to address the most urgent needs of children and their mothers.
• Training and skill transfer to local teams through our international network of experts across all fields of surgery.
• Construction and equipping of hospital facilities tailored to local needs.

Crisis context

After over 13 years of armed conflict and decades of authoritarian rule, Syria’s political and territorial landscape has undergone profound changes. Recent territorial and political shifts have created a complex and volatile environment, with humanitarian needs at an unprecedented level. Approximately 16.5 million people are in urgent need of assistance, with significant challenges in accessing basic services, including healthcare.

Vulnerable populations, particularly children and women, face heightened risks due to displacement and deteriorated infrastructure.

Despite the gradual stabilization in some regions, the security situation remains fragile, especially in the northwest and northeast.

Displacement continues at alarming rates, with over one million people recently displaced and many unable to return to their homes due to damaged infrastructure or lack of services. In this challenging context, humanitarian operations are critical but face persistent access and security constraints.
The health system in Syria is severely weakened after years of conflict, with only 62% of hospitals and 53% of primary healthcare centers fully functional. Attacks on health facilities and medical personnel, combined with the economic crisis and ongoing displacement, have significantly reduced the availability and accessibility of essential healthcare services.
Rising costs of treatment, shortages of trained personnel, and the destruction of critical infrastructure have left millions without adequate medical support. Rebuilding and rehabilitating the health system is a cornerstone of humanitarian response efforts. Priorities include equipping and restoring health centers, addressing critical gaps in medicine and medical equipment, and supporting maternal, neonatal, and mental health services

Mission

For the past six years, La Chaîne de l’Espoir has supported healthcare efforts in Syria, including indirect support to Al Raja’a Hospital in Aleppo. In the wake of the February 2023 earthquake, this support was pivotal in ensuring access to emergency healthcare for affected communities.

La Chaîne de l’Espoir aims to prioritize a comprehensive assessment of the current healthcare landscape, including the operational challenges faced by medical facilities and the effects of ongoing insecurity on access to essential services. By thoroughly monitoring the context, humanitarian access, and security conditions, the mission aims to ensure the safety of its personnel and beneficiaries while identifying strategies to deliver aid effectively in a highly volatile environment La Chaîne de l’Espoir is committed to ensuring global compliance with humanitarian principles, legal frameworks, and local regulations. Building on its longstanding experience, the mission will also focus on establishing meaningful connections with local authorities, civil society organizations and humanitarian actors..

Overall objectives

Under the direct supervision of the Middle East Desk Manager at HQ, the main objectives of the Head Of Mission in Syria are the following:

• Develop a clear analysis of humanitarian needs’ coverage gaps including geographical, sectoral and target communities priorization
• Develop a clear analysis of funding opportunities related to the identified gaps
• Develop, if relevant, recommendations and methodologies for the conduction of in-depth technical assessments
• Develop a network of relevant and reliable contacts among the main external stakeholders linked to humanitarian interventions (NGO, UN agencies, donors, authorities, suppliers…)

Evaluate the relevance and feasibility of the deployment of a CDE intervention in the country and provide linked recommendation and positionning strategy / intervention propositions

Essential duties and responsibilities

• Safety & Security  : S/he is responsible for the safety & security of all CDE staff and resources within the country
• Needs’ Assessment and Strategic positionning : S/he is responsible for the proper analysis of the humanitarian situation in the countries, the identifications of uncovered needs, the suggesting of conduction of in-depth assessments and the drafting of strategic positionning and project concept papers.
• Human Resources: S/he manages all CDE staff in the country including needs’ identification, recruitment…
• Logistics, administrative and financial monitoring: S/he, with the direct support of the Middle East Desk Manager at HQ, ensures that logistical and administrative practices used by the team in-country respects CDE procedures and templates. S/he is responsible of all logistics, administrative and financial elements at field level.
• Representation : S/he represents the association in its relations with partners, donors,the media and different authorities. S/he builds up a strong and comprehensive network of relevant and reliable external stakeholders.
• Relations with Headquarters: S/he is the link between the field team and HQ.

Ensuring the safety and security of goods and people

• S/he ensures that relevant security and safety protocols are designed and enforced.
• S/he ensures that all areas targeted by the assessments are properly assessed security-wise and that all staff under his/her supervision are properly briefed
• S/he ensures that material and personnel resources are sufficient to ensure the optimal safety of the teams, the material and the beneficiaries.
• S/he ensures that in case of a security incident, the information concerning the incident is communicated, without delay, to the Middle East Desk Manager and in accordance with the existing format.
• S/he ensures that safety & security information is properly collected, analysed and that alerts or important information is effectively and timely communicated to the Middle East Desk Manager
• S/he ensures the implementation of a strict movement tracking system both in-country and in link with the Middle East Desk Manager
• S/he provides a comprehensive analysis of the security situation in the areas identified for assessment / intervention to the Middle East Desk Manager for prior validation

Ensuring that needs are properly assessed and that relevant humanitarian actions are designed and/or implemented

• S/he is responsible for the provision of comprehensive analysis of the gaps in humanitarian needs’ coverage
• S/he is responsible for the collection of relevant data from external stakeholders pertaining to the humanitarian situation in the country
• S/he attends all relevant humanitarian foras at both central or local level and interacts consistently with relevant external stakeholders for the collection of information regarding the humanitarian situation
• S/he is responsible for the proposition, resources design and coordination of in-depth technical assessment within identified areas of concern (including additional resources to be discussed and validated at HQ level)
• S/he establishes a formal coordination mechanism within his/her team and between the team and external stakeholders
• S/he supervises the deployment of the assessments, the data collection and analysis and ensures real time sharing of general findings
• S/he initiates, organizes and ensures that the general and/or in-depth assessment findings are translated into intervention propositions. S/he prepares Concept Notes and shares them with the Middle East Desk Manager
• S/he leads the fundraising strategy of CDE in the country and advocates towards relevant donors for the coverage of the identified humanitarian gaps
• S/he leads, if relevant, the preparation of the deployment of interventions in the country

Supervising local and international personnel teams in-country

• S/he supervises all local and international staff in the country
• S/he leads the definition of HR needs (both national and international staff) for the diagnosis and (if relevant) the intervention phase
• S/he, in direct link with the Middle East Desk Manager, identifies international HR needs and provides relevant Job Descriptions / Terms of Reference
• S/he leads the recruitment process of national staff during the diagnosis phase
• S/he briefs, or has someone else brief, each new member of the in-ountry staff, when they take on the job, on the context, the objectives and the working schemes of the mission, as well as safety regulations, logistical and administrative procedures, financial management and human resources and the use of communication means.
• S/he leads the training of expatriate or national staff (organizational, methodological and potentially technical support, organization of trainings, etc)
• S/he is particularly sensitive to managing the team’s stress. S/he monitors and authorizes “breaks” and also mediates potential conflicts, seeking appropriate support in case of an incident.
• S/he ensures CDE’s Internal Regulations are respected.
• S/he protects CDE’s image in the country and thus makes sure the entirety of the staff behaves in a way which is in compliance with the values maintained by the organization and is respectful of the local culture.

Ensuring the logistical and administrative monitoring in-country

• S/he leads the identification of means and resources (including human, material and financial resources) to be allocated in-country and conveys them to the Middle East Desk Manager
• S/he, ensures that all in-country staff are respecting CDE logistics and administrative procedures and formats
• S/he is responsible for the management of financial / cash resources in-country
• S/he leads the mapping of the in-country logistics and administrative environment, including (primary items/services price lists, suppliers lists, labour legal frames, financial institutions…)
• S/he supervises premises, equipmen…under the responsibility of the mission staff (vehicles, IT equipment, office equipment, radio-communication and telecommunication equipment) and ensures they are properly utilized.
• S/he is responsible for general cost optimization of the mission deployment
• S/he is responsible for the drafting of financial and logistics components of project proposals

Ensuring the representation of CDE

• S/he represents the association at external meetings (authorities, humanitarian stakeholders…) and relevant coordination schemes
• S/he leads the official registration process of CDE in the country
• S/he participates in important coordination meetings and is an active attendee of these meetings.

Team composition :

• Inception phase:
• The team composition will evolve according to the humanitarian needs identified and the implementation opportunities.