Programme Officer – Agronomist

Starting date: 1 March 2023 (pending funding decision)

Contract duration: 12 months full time position (3 month probationary period), with the possibility of extension

Based in: Damascus, Syria, with travel inside Syria when applicable and possible

BACKGROUND:

The Syria crisis has been described as the largest humanitarian crisis of the 21st century. 6.8 million Syrians were displaced internally and over 5.5 million Syrians fled outside the country. In 2021, Syria was ranked among the ten most food insecure countries worldwide.[1] Currently, 12 million people are estimated to be severely food insecure across the country and an additional 1,9 million people are at risk of sliding into acute food insecurity. Caritas Austria, through its implementing partners, has provided humanitarian assistance in Syria and neighboring countries since 2011. Today, Caritas Austria continues to be actively involved inside Syria with a work focus on basic assistance, protection, education and livelihoods. In addition, Caritas Austria is currently developing an impactful early recovery programme in the agriculture and food security sector, which is expected to be funded by EU DEVCO and will, once confirmed, be implemented by two national NGOs in Syria.

PURPOSE & RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Programme Officer – Agronomist will play a key role in developing and monitoring Caritas Austria’s agriculture and food security programme inside Syria. Responsibilities include programme development including needs and response analysis, building and maintaining partnerships, sector coordination, and providing technical guidance for implementing partners to help beneficiaries build productive and sustainable agricultural systems. All aspects of the position are governed by a strong commitment to humanitarian standards and Caritas Internationalis’ Partnership Principles.

The Programme Officer will be part of Caritas Austria’s Middle East/ Asia team, based in Damascus, Syria and will report to the Programme Coordinator.

SPECIFIC TASKS:

• Closely work with the Programme Coordinator and implementing partners to oversee activity implementation;
• Closely work with a technical expert (consultant) in elaborating farm plans focusing on climate-smart and conservation agriculture approaches;
• Closely work with a technical expert (consultant) in planning and supervising the (re)construction of small buildings, such as sheds, greenhouses and controlled environments for livestock, as well as systems for water conservation, irrigation and drainage systems.
• Assist implementing partner field teams in supervising the implementation of bi-weekly Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and offering consultancy services to beneficiary farmers, collectives and other training participants;
• Assist implementing partners and technical experts (consultants) in designing training curricula and content on sustainable farming;
• Assist implementing partners’ procurement officers and technical experts (consultants) on procurements; Testing of specialist equipment, such as ploughs, seeders and cultivators, etc.
• Frequently travel to project sites inside Hama, Latakia and Tartous governorates;
• Frequently meet and closely cooperate with implementing partner organisations;
• Prepare and present reports in coordination with the Caritas Austria Programme Manager;
• Conduct research and support the development on new projects;
• Represent Caritas Austria in relevant working groups, coordination mechanisms, and clusters.

SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS:

• Be a resident of Syria, with the ability to work inside Syria;
• Bachelor’s degree in agricultural science/ engineering or biological engineering;
• 2-3 years’ experience of implementing development projects in Syria in the Food and Agriculture Sector;
• Previous experience in working with farmer collectives and supervising Farmer Field Schools (FFS) is a plus;
• Experience in delivering capacity building trainings and developing high quality, engaging resources;
• Good command of Arabic and English and excellent numeracy skills with ability to produce excellent written and oral reports/ presentations to a range of audiences
• IT proficiency (Windows Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and proficiency in online research
• Analytical thinking skills and strong environmental awareness;
• Interest in conservation agriculture and organic farming approaches;
• Flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced environment, set priorities, and meet deadlines; organizational and management skills
• Willingness and ability to travel inside Syria (up to 50%);
• Experience in liaising with partners organisations, stakeholders and authorities.

[1] UN OCHA (2022) Humanitarian Needs Overview Syria 2022.