Information, Counseling and Legal Assistance (ICLA) Core Competency Specialist Syria Response

NRC currently has more than 2,000 staff in the Middle East region assisting people displaced by conflict in Syria. As a leading humanitarian organization, we support displaced persons by implementing programmes across the Shelter, Education, Food Security, Information Counseling and Legal Assistance (ICLA) and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sectors with strong protection and resilience focus integrated into our programmes.

The Syrian crisis is almost into its 9th year, but the level and intensity of the conflict in the country remains high. Humanitarian and protection needs inside Syria are overwhelming. Ongoing conflict and continued displacement compound a complex emergency situation. According to UN OCHA, 13.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria and millions have been forced to flee. More than 1.4 million displacements were recorded in 2019. More than 6.5 million are internally displaced and many have fled the war-torn country, including 5.5 million refugees across the region.

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organisation’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity and accountability. These attitudes and believes shall guide our actions and relationships.

Duties and responsibilities

The Information, Counseling and Legal Assistance (ICLA) Core Competency Specialist (CCS) is responsible to support the design, development and implementation of the ICLA programme in the areas of operation of the Syria Response Office.

The purpose of the ICLA CCS position is technical development of the specific CC, strategic direction and quality assurance. The CC Specialist is responsible for mentoring, training and capacity build staff on CC technical capacity, as well as assisting the CC through the development of tools that can be used to implement CC projects.

Generic responsibilities:

• Develop ICLA strategy, technical guidance and Macro log frames.
• Comply with and adhere to NRC policies, guidance and procedures.
• Contribute to fundraising, develop and revise funding proposals, budgets and donor reports.
• Identify trends, technical standards and donor priorities.
• Follow up on compliance with contractual commitments within ICLA, ensure high technical quality and synergies in project implementation.
• Provide technical direction and project implementation support.
• Ensure that key learnings are extracted from ICLA implementation, and incorporate them in ICLA and staff development processes.
• Provide systematic training and build capacity of technical staff.
• Represent NRC in relevant forums/clusters, including with national authorities and donors.
• Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy.

Specific responsibilities:

• Ensure that the NRC ICLA programme evolves to remain relevant to the changing legal context and conflict dynamics.
• Ensure that the ICLA programme addresses both programmatic and relevant policy issues and continue strengthening synergies with the Advocacy Unit.
• Identify synergies between ICLA and other NRC Core Competencies to ensure integrated programming is promoted, where relevant and feasible.

• Provide technical support and foster two-way collaborative relationships with the ICLA Project Managers/Coordinators. This includes:

  • Provision of trainings;
  • In collaboration with the Area Office teams, development of M&E and training tools;
  • Leadership of the Community of Practice that brings together ICLA Project Managers and Coordinators;
  • Facilitation of the ICLA components of the Syria Response Programme Workshops.

• Closely collaborate with NRC Syria Country Office Capacity Building Manager, the MERO Durable Solutions Adviser, MERO Syria Research Advisor and the regional ICLA Adviser especially in regard to legal publications.

• Undertake and document quality control and follow up, with a focus on:

  • Needs assessments;
  • Monitoring and Evaluation, through harmonisation and strengthening of M&E tools and methodologies across the ICLA project teams;
  • Ensuring safe programming and protection mainstreaming.

• Contribute to global and regional programmes, including ensuring a constructive exchange with other NRC ICLA programmes and the MERO Durable Solutions Unit.

• Represent NRC at relevant inter-agency coordination and bilateral meetings, and as delegated by line manager.

• Line-manage the ICLA Research Coordinator, ensuring supervision of workload and performance management.

Critical interfaces:

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Programme development: All members of the Programme Unit, Project Managers/Coordinators, Area Programme Managers, Area Managers, and Regional and HO ICLA Advisers.
• Proposal development: Area Managers, Area Programme Managers, Project Managers, Head of Programmes, Grants Unit, Finance Manager, M&E Unit.
• Quality control/ support: Area Managers, Area Programme Managers, Project Managers, Head of Programmes, Grants Unit, M&E Unit, Head of Support.
• Capacity development: Project staff, Area Managers, HR.

Competencies

Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following two categories:

Required Professional Competencies:

• Minimum 4 years of experience in senior capacity within Legal Assistance in a humanitarian/ recovery context.
• Degree in law, political science, protection, humanitarian development or other relevant discipline.
• Experience working in complex and volatile contexts.
• Understanding of key protection concepts.
• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile.
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal.

Required Behavioural Competencies:

These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies and the following are essential for this position:

• Handling insecure environments
• Strategic thinking
• Empowering and building trust
• Influencing change
• Initiate action and change.
• Legal and/or policy analysis
• Building Professional Networks
• Advocacy

Preferred context/specific skills, knowledge and experience:

• Solid background in civil documentation, Housing, Land and Property, Residency Rights, issues, employment law and/or collaborative dispute resolution (CDR).
• Knowledge of the context in Syria.
• Knowledge of International Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.
• Knowledge of Arabic is an added value.

We Can Offer

• Contract period: 12 months
• Salary/benefits: According to NRC’s salary scale and terms and conditions
• Duty station: Amman, Jordan

We will review applications on an ongoing basis, interested candidates are encouraged to apply early.