Background/IRC Summary: 

The Syria crisis is often described as the worst humanitarian catastrophe since the end of the Cold War. Today, 13.4 million people in Syria – more than half of the country’s population – are in need of humanitarian assistance with needs increasingly being exacerbated by economic decline. Of these, 6.8 million are refugees and asylum-seekers who have fled the country. This is no short-term humanitarian episode. The devastating human consequences to huge numbers of people will endure for decades. The destruction of relationships, communities, livelihoods, homes, and infrastructure will take years to repair.

IRC is offering a robust humanitarian response to the Syria crisis a rapidly expanding portfolio, supported by more than 1000+ staff in Syria Country Program. IRC is undertaking programs in Syria and the neighboring countries of Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan in the fields of health, child protection, early childhood development, education, women’s protection and empowerment, non-food items and food distribution, cash assistance, water and sanitation, protection and rule of law, and livelihood programming. Our work in these challenging settings gives rise to some of the most pressing issues facing contemporary humanitarian action, including questions of access, security, funding, and coordination.

Job Overview/Summary:

IRC Syria seeks an experienced professional for the position of Senior Communication Officer (SCO) to support project-specific communications deliverables and visibility requirements, as well as the content collection for and development of proactive and reactive communications elements across the program portfolio. The SCO will ensure regular, timely, and high-quality communications content to showcase the project’s/programs’ successes on our respective comms channels through a range of products including success stories, information and fact sheets, social media posts, etc.  The SCO will report to Policy, Advocacy and Communications Coordinator and will work in close collaboration with the Syria program’s grants, partnerships, and MEAL teams, as wells the Middle East Regional Communications team and global content and creative teams. This role will help to elevate the internal and external visibility of the IRC Syria country program in alignment with the country office strategic action plan.

Major Responsibilities:

Managing visibility and branding requirements:

• Work in close collaboration with IRC grants team to ensure adherence to branding and visibility requirements across IRC Syria programs and in partner locations.
• Maintain a calendar of donor deliverables which is accessible to program and other colleagues, and support in the collation and submission of products to the donor by deadline.
• Regularly liaise with regional communications and global communications/content teams to stay up to date on relevant processes, manage timelines, and ensure smooth processes.
• Advise program colleagues on compliance with the IRC and donor branding and visibility guidelines on communications materials as needed.

• Coordinate sign off on branded items and products as necessary.

Collecting and packaging communications content:

• Work in close coordination with PAC coordinator and program teams to develop a communications work plan including collection and production of high-quality communication materials such as human-interest stories, photos, blogs, and videos in English and Arabic.
• Work closely with the regional senior communications and media manager, and content and digital specialist to archive quality content to IRC’s multimedia bank and ensure content is accessible by all relevant stakeholders from different offices.
• Work closely with the content and digital specialist at the regional office to edit donor-requested videos as per IRC’s standards.
• Participate in joint communications initiatives by regional and HQ offices to raise visibility of IRC Syria’s programming and success stories and participate in IRC MENA’s monthly communications call to present updates from country program and exchange knowledge with counterparts.
• Develop communications calendar with regular updates to showcase program activities.
• Organizing and archiving all communications content and consent forms to IRC’s internal content management systems and digital storage platforms. 
• Stay updated on all ongoing and upcoming project/program activities to anticipate and plan comms opportunities.

• Gathering, managing, and summarizing information related to projects and programs:

• Working closely with program and MEAL teams to collect program information, updates on the impact of our work, and updated quantitative data to use in communications products and posts.

• Support information and briefings requests, updating information materials such as fact sheets, newsletters, and infographics. Lead in creation of social media posts in Arabic and English as requested.
• Keep up to date on relevant reports, data, national news articles, research, and partners’ communications related to IRC’s client populations, social and political developments, and local context and produce regular updates for colleagues.

Internal communications and visibility:

• Lead in production of IRC Syria internal newsletter for other IRC stakeholders, highlighting IRC Syria program activities, success stories, and partnership goals.
• Support to senior management as needed for visibility including blogging on ‘Rescuenet’, social media posts in English and Arabic, and key messaging for important dates.
• Provide training as relevant to IRC staff on best practices for communications.
• Provide English-Arabic and Arabic-English translations as needed. 

Media:

• As assigned, liaise with regional senior communications and media manager and PAC coordinator for emergencies and media-related opportunities.
• Work closely with PAC coordination to develop and manage relationships with national media and journalists.
• As applicable, support media visits in-country.
• Archive media coverage on IRC and partner activities in Syria and prepare semi-annual reports on reach.