About this opportunity
Opportunity Overview
The International Association for Relief and Development is hiring a WASH and Shelter Program Coordinator in Damascus, Syria. The contract duration is five months, with the possibility of extension. The coordinator will be responsible for the strategic design, coordination, and quality assurance of the organization's water, sanitation, and hygiene, shelter, and non-food item interventions. The role requires a strong technical background and experience in humanitarian programming. The International Association for Relief and Development is a non-governmental organization that operates in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, and Yemen. The organization delivers humanitarian assistance and sustainable development initiatives in conflict-affected regions, with a focus on transparency, community engagement, and long-term impact. The WASH and Shelter Program Coordinator will work closely with engineering and field program teams to ensure sound assessments, appropriate technical designs, and safe implementation of projects. The coordinator will also promote protection, gender, disability inclusion, accountability to affected populations, environmental responsibility, and disaster-risk reduction across the portfolio. The role requires strong coordination, communication, negotiation, leadership, and decision-making skills, as well as a commitment to upholding the highest standards of safeguarding, accountability, technical integrity, impartiality, and professional ethics.
Responsibilities
- Develop and oversee WASH, Shelter and NFI program strategies in line with the organization's objectives, humanitarian priorities, and donor frameworks
- Lead the preparation and technical review of concept notes, project proposals, budgets, logical frameworks, implementation plans, and sector-specific indicators
- Conduct and supervise needs assessments, infrastructure assessments, feasibility studies, market analyses, and vulnerability analyses to inform evidence-based prioritization
- Ensure program designs integrate protection, housing-land-and-property considerations, gender and disability inclusion, environmental safeguards, climate resilience, and disaster-risk reduction
- Provide continuous technical support to engineers, project teams, and field staff to ensure compliance with SPHERE standards, WASH and Shelter/NFI Sector guidance, national requirements, and organizational procedures
- Review and approve technical assessments, designs, drawings, bills of quantities, technical specifications, tender documents, and Standard Operating Procedures before implementation
- Establish quality assurance systems covering water systems, sanitation facilities, hygiene activities, shelter repair and rehabilitation, emergency shelter, and NFI distributions
- Ensure engineering quality throughout the project cycle, including technical bid evaluation, site supervision, occupational health and safety, testing, as-built documentation, and formal handover
- Work closely with the MEAL team to establish monitoring tools, technical checklists, output and outcome indicators, beneficiary feedback mechanisms, and data-quality controls
- Contribute to monthly, quarterly, and donor reports, ensuring timely, accurate, and technically sound reporting on progress, results, challenges, expenditure, and corrective actions
- Review project evidence, lessons learned, post-distribution monitoring, technical inspections, and evaluation findings to improve program quality and future design
- Support assessments and evaluations that measure service functionality, shelter safety, beneficiary satisfaction, sustainability, and accountability to affected populations
- Identify capacity gaps and organize technical training for engineers, project staff, contractors, and partners on sector standards, assessment methods, design review, BOQ preparation, quality control, OHS, and reporting
- Provide on-the-job coaching, technical supervision, and performance feedback to field teams while promoting consistent documentation and decision-making
- Promote staff well-being, professional conduct, and compliance with PSEA, safeguarding, anti-fraud, and conflict-of-interest requirements in all work environments
- Maintain strong coordination with the WASH and Shelter/NFI Sectors, relevant ministries and directorates, water establishments, municipalities, local councils, and humanitarian actors
- Represent the organization in sector meetings, technical working groups, strategic advisory discussions, inter-sector forums, and donor coordination meetings as assigned
- Strengthen collaboration with local authorities, community-based organizations, suppliers, contractors, and technical partners to improve coverage, referrals, service continuity, and sustainability
- Ensure regular information sharing and technical coordination to avoid duplication, address gaps, harmonize approaches, and support joint planning and advocacy
- Ensure all interventions are designed and implemented with due consideration of protection, gender, age, disability inclusion, housing-land-and-property rights, conflict sensitivity, and the do-no-harm principle
- Promote safe, accessible, and accountable programming and ensure staff, contractors, and communities understand feedback and reporting mechanisms for misconduct or abuse
- Ensure compliance with the organization's Code of Conduct, Child Safeguarding Policy, PSEA standards, procurement rules, technical approvals, and donor requirements
- Report safeguarding, fraud, safety, environmental, or compliance concerns through established organizational procedures and support timely corrective action
Benefits
- No benefits are specified in the source material.
Requirements & Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Water Engineering, Architecture, Construction Management, or a closely related technical discipline
- Postgraduate degree or professional certification in humanitarian programming, water resources, shelter, project management, or a related field is highly desirable
- Minimum of 3 years of proven experience coordinating WASH, Shelter, NFI, engineering, or infrastructure programs within humanitarian or development settings
- Demonstrated experience in water and sanitation infrastructure, shelter repair or rehabilitation, NFI programming, technical assessments, procurement support, and construction supervision
- Experience in sector coordination, proposal development, donor reporting, budget oversight, and technical team supervision in complex emergency contexts
- Strong knowledge of SPHERE standards, WASH and Shelter/NFI technical guidance, national codes, humanitarian principles, and accountability standards
- Proficiency in technical assessment, engineering design review, BOQ development, cost estimation, tender evaluation, quality assurance, and contractor management
- Working knowledge of AutoCAD or similar design tools, GIS, Microsoft Excel, Power BI, and project information-management systems
- Understanding of OHS, environmental safeguards, climate resilience, disaster-risk reduction, HLP, protection mainstreaming, and inclusive programming
- Strong coordination, communication, negotiation, leadership, and decision-making skills
- Ability and willingness to travel within Syria and to the organization's project locations as required
- Commitment to upholding the highest standards of safeguarding, accountability, technical integrity, impartiality, and professional ethics
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English
How to Apply
- Review the job description and requirements to ensure you meet the minimum qualifications.
- Prepare your application, including your resume, cover letter, and any other required documents.
- Click the Apply button below to submit your application.
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