Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) Coordinator, LFT-P3, Damascus, Syria

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WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

All applications should be received no later than Wednesday 7th September 2022

CONTRACT TYPE AND DURATION

Eligibility: Non-Syrian nationals

Type of Contract: Limited Fixed Term

Contract Duration: 1 year (extendable)

Duty Station: Damascus, Syria

Number of employees required: 1

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetime. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need. In 2020, WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to fight hunger globally, including its work during the coronavirus pandemic.

In Syria, WFP provides food assistance to more than 4.6 million people each month. This includes families who require emergency assistance when affected by conflict and displacement and also those who need help to improve their nutrition and food security. WFP supports children across Syria with healthy meals and snacks at school, mothers with nutritious diets, and families and communities with sustainable livelihood projects.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

This post is based in Damascus and falls under the direct supervision of the Head of ICT.

JOB PURPOSE

The ETC Coordinator will lead the delivery of efficient and effective IT and Telecommunications (TC) services, providing sound, innovative solutions that enable staff to deliver food assistance to beneficiaries, in line with WFP’s strategy. The person will serve as an active member of the ICT Working Group, through deployment to Syria and surrounding countries’ response and will: Lead service delivery in line with the Strategic Response Plan1 and strategic priorities; Support the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) and their team’s strategic decision-making through needs assessments, gap analysis, identifying & implementing solutions across & within sectors; Plan and develop strategy; Monitor, evaluate and report on performance, ongoing activities and needs; Build national capacity in preparedness and contingency planning.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Lead the identification/assessment and prioritization of key telecommunications bottlenecks and gaps impeding delivery of essential assistance by the humanitarian community 2. Manage the relationship with Emergency Telecommunication (ET) service providers on behalf of the cluster members 3. Provide leadership to the ETC by organizing and chairing ETC meetings in order to better strategically coordinate the continuous identification of ICT problems and solutions to ensure delivery of humanitarian assistance 4. Represent the ETC at Inter-Cluster and other related coordination meetings 5. Upon request of the Country Director of the leading agency, the ETC Coordinator may advocate for funding with donors as well as brief them on the ETC activities in the country 6. Recommend to partners SOPs, alternative ET solutions and a cost/benefit analysis for each solution 7. Ensure adequate ET preparedness through the inter-agency contingency planning process 8. Continuously raise awareness of the Cluster concept with the organizations present in the country of operation and support the mainstreaming of the cluster approach 9. Liaise on a regular basis with all the in-country stakeholders 10. Ensure proper dissemination of information and full participation of cluster participants to Flash Appeals, Strategic Response Plan (SRP)s and other funding proposals for common funds and donor funding mechanisms 11. Coordinate, monitor and evaluate the implementation of ETC projects 12. Where necessary, identify and mobilize resources (i.e., finances, personnel, equipment) for the services to be provided under the coordination of ET Cluster or other Cluster participating organizations) 13. Promote/support training of staff and capacity building of humanitarian partners 14. Ensure that common inter-agency emergency telecommunication services are in existence in all common operational areas as agreed by the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) 15. Other responsibilities as required.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced university degree in Computer Science, engineering or other relevant field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience or trainings/course.

Experience: Minimum five years of post-graduate progressively responsible professional experience in an international context, preferably in the humanitarian sector

Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English. Working knowledge of Arabic desirable

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Ability to communicate clearly both orally and in writing, transforming technical terminology into easily understood communication • Good analytical skills and resourcefulness • Ability to plan and organize work • Ability to take initiative and work with minimum supervision • Tact and ability to work harmoniously with people of different national and cultural backgrounds • Demonstrated problem-solving skills, ability to conceptualize issues, think in abstract terms, and analyse numerical data • Good understanding / experience of the Humanitarian Reform / the Cluster Approach • Experience in Emergency ICT assessments and analysis, Emergency Preparedness & Response and contingency planning • Experience in managing meetings • Ability to work under pressure and on multiple tasks

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Been involved in at least 3 emergency operations during the last 5 years with escalating level of responsibilities • Has planned the development and improvement of systems, databases and data security requirements • Has documented complex business requirements and applied techniques to trace them throughout the solution development

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Limited Fixed-Term Appointment (LFT) position is a non-mobile staff appointment in the international professional category for a limited period of up to 4 years. This LFT position will be based in Damascus, Syria and the selected candidate will be expected to relocate. Incumbents of LFT positions are not eligible to apply for other mobile positions advertised internally through the Reassignment.

WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package in line with ICSC standards (http://icsc.un.org) including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, travel and shipment allowances, 30 days’ annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, a pension plan, and medical insurance.

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All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.