Team Leader

Job description

This position is based in Damascus and is an unaccompanied post. It is contingent upon donor funding. While on-the-ground operations are being finalized, the position will initially be remote.

*Please Note: Hiring for this position is contingent upon final funding approval. Contracting is subject to confirmation of project award and scope.

Search for Common Ground

In a world often divided, Search for Common Ground stands for the power of bringing diverse people together to find solutions. By meeting this moment with Search, you join a powerful global peace movement that believes in the profound impact of courageous multipartiality - that all voices should be heard and respected in shaping a better, more connected world, and a collaborative vision is essential for lasting peace. Search for Common Ground takes a dynamic approach by developing solutions tailored to the needs of communities. We engage with leaders and elected officials to advance dialogue and collaboration. We are community leaders. We are youth activists. We are women. We are  Peacebuilders. We have been doing this work for over 40 years, and we have developed a deep understanding of what peace looks like, enabling us to quantify our impact and design more effective programming. Peace moves at the speed of trust, so we invest for the long haul. When we’re no longer needed, we leave, leaving behind people and institutions with the ability to manage future conflicts.

Team Summary

This FCDO ISF Syria: Syria Stabilisation Response Mechanism responds to the evolving dynamics of the Syrian context by advancing UK security and policy objectives through innovative, high-risk, and politically informed programming. It pilots flexible and adaptive approaches to support a sustainable and inclusive political settlement in Syria. Core interventions include technical assistance and support for Syrian-led initiatives in transitional justice, peacebuilding, social cohesion, and security sector reform. The Consortium Management Unit (CMU) for the FCDO ISF Syria programme functions as the central coordinating and management body of the consortium, overseeing day-to-day operations while ensuring strategic alignment across all activities.

Position Summary

The Team Leader will provide overall leadership, strategic direction, and programmatic oversight for a multi-year peacebuilding project in Syria, focused on social cohesion, transitional justice (TJ), security sector reform (SSR), and community-level resilience. The Team Leader will be responsible for the effective implementation of projects, coordinating with partners and stakeholders, ensuring compliance with donor requirements, and managing the team.

This is a senior leadership role requiring a deep understanding of the Syrian context, adaptive management skills in fragile environments, and a strong background in peacebuilding or governance programming.

The position requires strong and innovative leadership, management, coordination, representation, fundraising, organisational analysis, and the provision of programme management and technical assistance to Search in-country teams and partners, which includes formulation, operationalisation, implementation, and overall supervision, monitoring, and evaluation of various projects, initiatives, and actions.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership & Oversight

• Provide overall vision, direction, and strategic guidance for the peacebuilding project, aligning with donor expectations and organizational priorities.
• Lead development and updating of project work plans, results frameworks, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Ensure the integration of cross-cutting themes, including conflict sensitivity, gender equity, the Do No Harm principle, and inclusion.
• Supervise and lead the consortium management unit to provide technical support and lead strategic alignment across the consortium teams.
• Provide overall leadership and strategic direction for the consortium implementation in Syria.
• Lead planning, design, and adaptive management of programmatic activities across governorates.
• Ensure program alignment with the triple nexus approach (humanitarian, development, peacebuilding).
• Coordinate with local teams and partners to ensure the timely execution of project deliverables.
• Harmonize tools and procedures across the consortium partners’ teams and ensure the high technical standards of the programme.

Budget & Resource Management

• Manage project budgets to ensure expenditures align with project plans and donor requirements.
• Oversee procurement and logistics for project activities, including materials and equipment needed for training and livelihood programs.

Team Leadership & Capacity Development

• Supervise and mentor a diverse team of national and international staff across locations.
• Support staff development and ensure a collaborative, safe, and productive work environment.
• Foster a culture of accountability, learning, and adaptive management within the team.

Risk Management & Problem Solving

• Risk Management &Problem Solving:
• Identify risks to project implementation and develop strategies to mitigate them.
• Address any operational challenges that arise, including coordination issues, risks, or barriers to beneficiary participation.

Competency Behavior Indicators (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Motivates colleagues and direct reports to develop while resolving problems within the context of a proactive and broad vision set by the organization.
• Builds and maintains collaborative relationships with the FCDO, partners, and other stakeholders.
• Manages and contributes to routine activities and initiatives while also making progress on continuous improvement efforts.
• Juggles multiple demands and adapts to new situations with fresh ideas or innovative approaches.
• Contributes to the development and implementation of the Consortium, aligning with its goals and objectives.
• Confirms and socializes standards across functions globally while allowing for thoughtful collaboration in an international context.
• Practices ethical behavior to meet Search’s expectations for conduct, minimizes ambiguity, and sets an example for others.
• Builds a framework and sets in motion a plan to overcome challenges by making sense of complexity and an uncertain future, staying cognizant of the implications of a choice for the department, and being decisive while also applying flexibility for further change as needed and in response to changing work plans that meet environmental factors.
• Sets up procedures and team building to ensure high quality of work (e.g., review meetings).
• Seeks out creative solutions within a complex and international environment while working within an organizational framework of compliance, ethics, best practices, and standards.
• Shares information, advice, and suggestions to help others to be more successful; provides effective coaching.
• Sought out as an expert to provide advice or solutions in their technical or functional area (s).
• Convenes groups or teams through the problem-solving and creative thinking processes, leading to the development and implementation of new approaches, systems, structures, and methods in a consortium environment.
• Involves team members in thought leadership discussions and decision making to lead to continued growth and development for team members and partners.
• Remains alert and responsive to any safeguarding risks, acquires relevant knowledge and skills that will enable them to promote strong safeguarding practices, understands the safeguarding policy and procedures, and conducts themselves in a manner consistent with the Safeguarding Policy.

Education and Experience

• BS/BA with a minimum of 13 years of progressive experience managing large-scale programs in conflict-affected or fragile contexts, including Syria.
• Strong background in project management, ideally in peacebuilding, international development, or political science.
• Prior experience in a senior leadership role, such as Program Director or Chief of Party on donor-funded contracts, is highly preferred.
• Strong understanding of FCDO contract regulations, compliance, and project management.
• Exceptional interpersonal and collaboration skills, with the ability to effectively engage and communicate with partners, stakeholders, and counterparts at all levels.
• Fluency in English, with the ability to produce high-quality reports and presentations for diverse audiences. Fluency in Arabic is a strong asset.

Preferred Education and Experience

• Master’s degree in Peacebuilding, International Development, Project Management, Social Sciences, or a related field.

Type and Nature of Contacts

• Routinely coordinates with colleagues and consultants on-site and in the field and resolves problem situations with tact. Has multiple and regular high-level external donor and partner contacts.
• Represents, as assigned, the anticipated FCDO ISF Syria program and other organizations, including donors, vendors, and international and local partners.
• Leads the anticipated FCDO ISF Syria program team, directly supervises key programme leaders, and oversees the CMU while coordinating closely with the technical working group.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

• This position is based in Syria, where security conditions are highly volatile and may pose significant risks, requiring strict adherence to safety protocols.
• Must be able to travel internationally at least 20%.

Supervisory and Budget Responsibility

• Expected to directly supervise 3–5 senior managers, provide strategic oversight to implementing partners and consultants, and lead multiple functional areas, including the management of associated budgets.

As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.

---————————————————————————————————–

Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please. Please see our website www.sfcg.org for full details of our work.All Search Employees must adhere to the values: Collaboration- Audacity - Tenacity - Empathy - Results. In accordance with these values, Search enforces compliance with the Code of Conduct and related policies on Anti Workplace Harassment, Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Conflict of Interest, and Anti-fraud. Search is committed to safeguarding the interests, rights, and well-being of children, youth, and vulnerable adults with whom it is in contact and to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for children, youth, and vulnerable adults.Search for Common Ground does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.View our code of conduct here and our privacy policy here.

Les descriptifs de pouvant ne pouvant être exhaustifs, le titulaire du poste pourra être amené à entreprendre d’autres tâches qui correspondent globalement aux responsabilités clés ci-dessus.

---———————————————– —————————————————

Seuls les candidats invités à un entretien seront contactés. Pas d’appels téléphoniques s’il vous plaît. Veuillez consulter notre site Web www.sfcg.org pour tous les détails de notre mission.

Tous les employés de Search doivent adhérer aux valeurs de Search : Collaboration- Audace - Ténacité - Empathie - Résultats. Conformément à ces valeurs, Search fait respecter le code de conduite et les politiques connexes sur la lutte contre le harcèlement au travail, la protection contre l’exploitation et les abus, la protection des enfants, les conflits d’intérêts et la lutte contre la fraude. Search s’engage à préserver les intérêts, les droits et le bien-être des enfants, des jeunes et des adultes vulnérables avec lesquels elle est en contact et à mener ses programmes et ses opérations d’une manière qui soit sûre pour les enfants, les jeunes et les adultes vulnérables.

Search for Common Ground ne fait pas et ne doit pas faire de discrimination fondée sur la race, la couleur, la religion (croyance), le sexe, l’expression de genre, l’âge, l’origine nationale (ascendance), le handicap, l’état matrimonial, l’orientation sexuelle ou le statut militaire, dans aucune de ses activités ou opérations.

Consultez notre code de conduite ici et notre politique de confidentialité ici.

Dado que la descripción de funciones no puede ser exhaustiva, el titular del puesto puede tener que realizar otras tareas que coinciden en líneas generales con las responsabilidades clave mencionadas.

---—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Sólo se contactará con los candidatos invitados a una entrevista. Se agradece no recibir llamadas telefónicas. Consulte nuestro sitio web www.sfcg.org para conocer todos los detalles de nuestro trabajo. Todos los empleados de Search deben adherirse a los valores de la organización: Colaboración - Audacia - Tenacidad - Empatía - Resultados. De acuerdo con estos valores, Search hace cumplir el Código de Conducta y las políticas relacionadas con luchar contra el acoso en el lugar de trabajo, la protección contra la explotación y el abuso, la protección de la infancia, los conflictos de intereses y la lucha contra el fraude. Search se compromete a salvaguardar los intereses, derechos y bienestar de los niños, jóvenes y adultos vulnerables con los que está en contacto y a llevar a cabo sus programas y operaciones de una manera que sea segura para los niños, jóvenes y adultos vulnerables.  Search for Common Ground no discrimina ni discriminará por motivos de raza, color, religión (credo), género, expresión de género, edad, origen nacional (ascendencia), discapacidad, estado civil, orientación sexual o condición militar, en ninguna de sus actividades u operaciones. Consulte nuestro código de conducta aquí y nuestra política de privacidad aquí.