Country Director Syria, Lebanon, Türkiye*

The position is to be filled as of 01.03.2026, with an initial contract duration of 1 year. There are good prospects for an extension. Employment location will be Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic (SY).

As Country Director Syria/Lebanon/Türkiye, you are responsible for managing the impact oriented Welthungerhilfe (WHH) country programme. In doing so you take into consideration the overall WHH strategy and mandate and ensure adherence to WHH quality standards. You are expected to create a work environment based on trustful cooperation both within the team in the country program and with all relevant stakeholders at headquarter. Taking the huge programme with its high complexity in three countries into account, a professional and experienced approach towards structures and processes, strategic programming, security management and human resources management will be required.

Your responsibilities

Ensuring Leadership / Management

Overall responsibility for the development and implementation of country programs in Syria, Lebanon and Türkiye, paying special attention to the expansion of the program in Syria.

Continuously assess and adapt existing program / office structures to ensure efficient and impactful programming in line with WHH and relevant donors / sector standards within the above-mentioned program countries.

Lead and manage a diverse team in a complex, challenging context in line with WHH organizational values

Recruit and contribute to the professional development, autonomy and well-being at work of his/her direct managers: set formalized individual objectives, ensure coherence between WHHs needs and competencies and motivation of his/her teams, evaluate and acknowledge individual and collective efforts and performance, contribute to career evolution.

Consistently model behaviors that demonstrate a commitment to fostering a non-hostile work environment free of discrimination, bias, unfairness, exclusion, offensive behaviors and harassment of any kind in line with WHH leadership principles and Code of Conduct

Implementing WHH Global strategic objectives, framework and regulations

Conduct the development of the WHH Country Strategies, and its implementation and annual monitoring, considering context and external constraints, WHH mandate and global strategy.

Ensure WHH programming in the respective countries to be in line with the new WHH global strategy, placing specific emphasis on the organization’s ambition for (food) system transformative programming, people centered approaches and the humanitarian mandate of the organization.

Promote and advance WHH localization agenda in the program countries; develop and identify potential partner organizations; develop joint strategies and project ideas

Ensure the best allocation of resources to match Program’s strategic objectives, and plan accordingly

ensures all staff are aware, understand and comply with relevant WHH policies and rules, the Code of Conduct and key policies, including the PSEA and Safeguarding Policy.

Ensure financial control and monitoring of operations are effective in the Program

Ensure technical quality standards are applied in the projects of the Program and monitor the implementation of evaluations and donor audit recommendations.

Hold overall responsibility for security management. In link with the Security Advisor: develop a culture of safety & security; ensure that security documents are up-to-date and that all necessary measures are put in place; ensure incident management and reporting according to WHH global standards.

Acting as legal representative of WHH

Legal representation of WHH in country.

Represent WHH vis-à-vis local, national, traditional, political and diplomatic authorities and bodies.

Ensure compliance with local working regulations.

Positioning WHH as relevant actor

Position WHH towards relevant donors and other key stakeholders to achieve and maintain a sustainably funded program portfolio in line with the key strategic priorities of the organization.

Develop and implement a fundraising strategy for the countries to achieve and maintain diversification of financial resources.

Warrant the required flow of information and public transparency of the project work in the country of deployment

As part of WHH Global Leadership Team, actively contributes to organizational development, provides HQ with constructive feedback to established strategies, policies and standards and dedicates time to participate in relevant global, regional strategic discussions.

Building strategic relationships through formally as well as informally networking and developing partnerships with all relevant stakeholders in the country.

Maintaining a good partnership within Alliance 2015, ensuring and supporting Alliance coordination mechanisms are in place and promoting cooperation to build synergies amongst the partners and ensuring Alliance2015 joint branding in country.

Your profile

A university or polytechnic degree in relevant field like international development, international management, rural development or a comparable level of qualification

A minimum of 7 years of project management and relevant leadership experience in carrying out co-financed projects of international (aid) agencies, preferably in the region

Experience programming both in humanitarian and development context.

Experience in security/crisis management

Outstanding analytical capabilities to judge the humanitarian and politicial situation

Coordination and organisational skills - even under a high workload

Ability to work in a multinational team

Excellent communication skills and intercultural sensibility

You recognize the growing value of data within an organization and inspire teams to make decisions grounded in analysis and evidence

Knowledge of institutional donor environment (German Donors, UN, ECHO, EU, etc.), and extensive experience with donor liaising, external communication, and strategic program planning;

Proven ability to represent and network with national, international stakeholders and negotiate in the interest of the organization.

High level of mental and physical resilience and readiness to travel to areas with volatile local conditions

Excellent spoken and written English; Arabic language skills would be a strong asset

Our offer

We offer you the opportunity to work in a responsible and interesting field as part of an extremely dedicated team. Welthungerhilfe attaches great importance to the personal and professional development of its employees. Remuneration is based on our gender-independent salary scale.

• Excellent spoken and written English; Arabic language skills would be a strong asset