Senior Project Officer (Assistant to the Chief of Party)

About ACTED

“ We go the last mile. Founded in Afghanistan, against the backdrop of a forgotten crisis, Acted’s mission is to save lives and support people in meeting their needs in hard-to-reach areas. Millions of vulnerable people around the world need humanitarian assistance today, and hundreds of millions will need it tomorrow, in the face of the growing threat of climate change. We believe that our assistance must be conceptualised and delivered within the framework of people’s natural environments, and the territories on which they depend. Therefore, Acted pursues a triple mandate as a humanitarian, environmental and development aid actor, contributing to the relief, stabilisation, and recovery of crisis-affected people in fragile areas. This vision is guided by the motto “Think Local – Act Global” - reflecting the need to rely on a deep understanding of local territories and contexts to develop and implement actions based on local knowledge, structures and capacities. This local thinking contributes to a global response - running through all Acted programming and operations - as we work together towards the building of a 3ZERO world: a world with Zero Exclusion, Zero Carbon, and Zero Poverty”.

Greening strategy:

Acted’s greening strategy aims to tackle environmental degradation and climate change while meeting the needs of the most vulnerable who are often those most affected by the deepening environmental crisis. Each Acted employee will adhere to these principles through key green programming responsibilities:

• Contribute towards the adherence and development of the greening strategy plan.
• Explore innovative green programming opportunities and/or solutions within your realm of responsibilities and roles
• Encouraging and promoting environmental safeguarding processes and environmental programming standards in accordance with SOPs and technical guideline notes

Acted PSEAH Policy:

The Logistics Assistant has the responsibility to adhere to the PSEAH Policy (Protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment). The Logistics Assistant has the obligation to complete all mandatory trainings related to the Code of Conduct and the PSEA policy and report any safeguarding concern such as breaches of organisational policies or codes of conduct according to Acted’s procedures. The Logistics Assistant carries out work duties in a way that does not harm children, vulnerable adults or other staff or volunteers.

Work Location: Damascus / Douma – Syria
Start Date: ASAP
Contract Duration: 6 Months

Job PURPOSE:
The Senior Project Officer (Assistant to the Chief of Party) provides senior-level coordination, drafting, translation, communication, and organizational support to the Chief of Party for acted’s GCF-funded WATER-RES project in Syria.
The position is a central operational link between the Chief of Party, Project Management Unit, Project Managers, Technical Advisors, Programme Development, FLAT departments, MoLAE, implementing partners, technical agencies, and other stakeholders. The post holder ensures that meeting outcomes, management decisions, project commitments, and external agreements are accurately documented, translated where required, communicated, assigned, tracked, and followed through to completion.
The role requires a strong Programme Development and partnerships background, excellent English and Arabic drafting and translation skills, sound knowledge of the project cycle, and academic or professional experience related to climate change, environmental management, water resources, or associated fields. Based in the acted Damascus Field Office, the post holder will accompany the Chief of Party to most meetings and serve as the principal focal point between the Chief of Party and the Programme Development Department.

OBJECTIVES:

1.Provide executive, coordination, drafting, translation, and organizational support to the Chief of Party.
2.Ensure decisions and commitments are accurately documented and converted into clear follow-up actions.
3.Strengthen information flow among project leadership, technical teams, Programme Development, FLAT teams, government and partners.
4.Support high-quality project papers, governance documents, minutes, translations, publications, presentations, communications, and advocacy products.
5.Track project decisions, actions, deadlines, risks, and deliverables.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Executive Support and Coordination

• Manage the Chief of Party’s project calendar, meetings, appointments, deadlines, and priorities.
• Prepare agendas, schedules, presentations, briefing notes, talking points, correspondence, and participant lists.
• Accompany the Chief of Party to meetings, visits, workshops, consultations, and events as required.
• Maintain organized files, correspondence, decision records, commitments, and follow-up systems.
• Handle sensitive information with discretion and confidentiality.

2. Meeting Management and Follow-up

• Coordinate PSC, PMU, TWG, government, partner, and internal project meetings.
• Prepare and circulate agendas and supporting documentation.
• Produce accurate, concise minutes in English and/or Arabic.
• Clearly distinguish discussion points, decisions, action points, responsible persons, and deadlines.
• Maintain a centralized action tracker and follow up with Project Managers, Technical Advisors, focal points, and departments.
• Alert the Chief of Party to delays, unresolved issues, risks, and matters requiring escalation.

3. Programme Development, Partnerships, and Project Cycle

• Serve as the primary focal point between the Chief of Party and Programme Development.
• Support coordination among Programme Development, Partnerships, Project Managers, Technical Advisors, and FLAT departments.
• Apply project-cycle knowledge to design, planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting, modification, learning, and close-out.
• Draft and review project papers, concept notes, implementation plans, workplans, internal memos, partnership documents, donor materials, amendments, and budget narratives.
• Track commitments under the Funding Activity Agreement, Subsidiary Agreement, Operations Manual, annual workplans, and action plans.
• Support stakeholder mapping, partnership development, and coordination with government, civil society, academia, and technical agencies.

4. Governance and Institutional Coordination

• Support the functioning of the PSC, PMU, TWG, and related subcommittees.
• Maintain membership lists, nominations, ToRs, meeting schedules, decision logs, and governance records.
• Support communication with MoLAE and other government entities.
• Draft official requests, invitations, briefs, correspondence, and follow-up communications.
• Track institutional commitments, approvals, permissions, technical inputs, and information requests.

5. Communications, Advocacy, Publications, and Knowledge Products

• Coordinate and quality-review briefs, fact sheets, presentations, success stories, learning papers, reports, publications, and event materials.
• Support implementation and review of communication, visibility, knowledge-management, and advocacy plans.
• Ensure alignment of advocacy messages and communication products with technical evidence, national priorities, project commitments, acted and GCF requirements.
• Maintain a publications calendar and track drafting, translation, review, approval, design, publication, and dissemination.
• Prepare speeches, talking points, key messages, briefing packages, press lines, and event scripts.

6. Translation and Language Support

• Translate project documents, correspondence, presentations, briefs, agendas, minutes, reports, publications, and communication materials between English and Arabic.
• Provide consecutive interpretation during meetings, workshops, consultations, official visits, and project events when required.
• Edit and proofread translated materials for accuracy, clarity, consistency, and audience suitability.
  Maintain consistent terminology related to climate change, environment, water resources, agriculture, safeguards, gender, climate finance, and governance.
• Establish and maintain a bilingual project glossary.
• Coordinate translation review and validation with technical teams, Programme Development, Communications, government counterparts, and external translators.
• Ensure translations faithfully reflect source documents without substantive changes.
  Maintain an organized archive of validated English and Arabic versions and coordinate specialist translation services when approved.

7. Information Management and Quality Assurance

• Maintain trackers, filing systems, document registers, decision logs, deadline calendars, and version control.
• Review documents for logic, structure, consistency, language, formatting, and alignment with project commitments.
• Coordinate inputs from Project Managers, Technical Advisors, MEAL, Finance, Partnerships, Programme Development, and other departments.
• Ensure records are complete and accessible for reporting, audit, evaluation, and learning.

8. Stakeholder Engagement and Representation Support

• Build effective relationships with ministries, agencies, technical institutions, UN agencies, NGOs, academia, private-sector actors, and partners.
• Prepare stakeholder profiles and briefing notes.
• Support consultations and technical discussions and follow up on external commitments.
• Represent the Chief of Party or project when specifically delegated and within approved authority and messaging.
  9. Other Responsibilities
• Report important delays, risks, inconsistencies, and coordination challenges promptly.
• Support project and acted events.
• Uphold Acted’s Code of Conduct, safeguarding, confidentiality, and conflict-of-interest standards.
• Perform other duties reasonably requested by the Chief of Party or acted Coordination.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Meeting agendas and materials are prepared within agreed timelines.
• Accurately draft minutes are shared within two working days unless otherwise agreed.
• Final minutes, decisions, translations, and actions are approved, filed, communicated, and tracked.
• At least 90% of agreed actions are followed up by their deadlines.
• The Chief of Party receives timely briefing packages ahead of key engagements.
• Project papers, reports, presentations, translations, and publications meet quality standards with limited substantive revision.
• Translations are timely, accurate, clear, consistent, and technically faithful.
• Bilingual governance materials are circulated on time and the bilingual glossary is maintained.
• No material discrepancies arise between approved English and Arabic versions.
• Communication and advocacy products align with approved plans, evidence, branding, and messaging.
• No material confidentiality, safeguarding, information-management, or unauthorized-communication breaches occur.

Professional Experience and Education

• University degree in climate change, environmental management, water resources, agriculture, international development, project management, communications, or a related field.
• 4-5 years of relevant experience in Programme Development, partnerships, project coordination and/or management, grant management and communications
• Experience supporting senior management and coordinating complex, multi-stakeholder projects.
• Strong experience in drafting, translation, project-cycle management, and engagement with government and development partners.
• Experience in climate change, water security, environmental programming, agriculture, or GCF-funded projects is an asset.

Required Skills and Competencies

• Full professional proficiency in Arabic and English, including drafting, translation, editing, and interpretation.
• Excellent organization, communication, coordination, and stakeholder-engagement skills.
• Ability to prepare clear documents, meeting minutes, presentations, and briefing materials.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, track actions, and work effectively under pressure.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office, Teams, SharePoint, and document-management tools.
• Sound judgment, discretion, attention to detail, and commitment to Acted’s values and safeguarding standards.