Project Officer - Media program – Syria, Damascus

Search for Common Ground

Damascus, United States

November 08, 2025

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Project Officer - Media program – Syria, Damascus

Damascus, Syria
Programs – Middle East and North Africa /
Full Time - Local /
On-site
Search is seeking a Project Officer to play a critical role in harnessing media as a tool for peacebuilding and social cohesion across the country.

Position Summary

    • In Syria, Search for Common Ground leverages media to address community grievances, promote dialogue, and amplify voices for peace and resilience. The project officer plays a critical role in harnessing media as a tool for peacebuilding and social cohesion across the country. The project officer will support the strategic engagement with key stakeholders ensuring it aligns with Search’s mission and peacebuilding objectives. This includes supporting the project manager to develop and implement a comprehensive media project, coordination with traditional media actors and social media. He/She will support the project manager in all aspects of media engagement, relevant ministries and future media practitioners. The project officer ensures delivery of the capacity strengthening program which promotes technical innovations and addresses issues of misinformation and hate speech in conflict-sensitive and inclusive manner. The officer will work closely with the manager and various media experts to deliver high quality capacity development programs and contribute to the development of the media sector in Syria while engaging key stakeholders to build an environment for inclusive and conflict sensitive media work. 

    • Reports to: Project Manager - Media program – Syria, Damascus
    • Contract Type: 6 months with possibility of the extension if funds are available

Scope of Work

    • Deputize the Project Manager (PM) necessary and relevant in project-related events and meetings.
    • Support the program team in the design, planning and implementation of project activities in a timely manner, ensuring good quality action and credible outcomes.
    • Lead in the planning and implementation of project activities in participatory approach with the project team and relevant partners and stakeholders.
    • Lead on ongoing communication, collaboration, and coordination with in-country focal points and other teams and units at Search on the national and the global level.
    • Support the team in overall partnership management and developing and maintaining proactive, positive, and professional relationships with all relevant stakeholders, including partners, civil society organizations, media professionals, and any other external actor.
    • Coordinate with the operations team to arrange for safe, accessible, and adequate logistical arrangements for the project’s partners and stakeholders.
    • Ensure financial necessary arrangements and documentation are made for activities and assist with all other matters related to the project as needed for financial and administrative compliance.
    • Support the PM in ensuring the project’s overall compliance with Search’s policies and procedures.
    • Support the PM in the management and reporting on project activities, timely grant reporting and compliance with contract and donor guidelines, in coordination with the local partners.

Roles and Responsibilities

    •  1.  Activity Design and Implementation
    • Support the Project Manager in ensuring the quality, effectiveness, and ultimately the impact of Search’s ongoing project activities.
    • Support the Project Manager in analyzing conflict, stabilization, peacebuilding, and social cohesion dynamics in target communities and ensure activity design responds to and is informed by these.
    • Support the Project Manager in designing new activities that meet the purpose of the project, as well as fit with Search’s strategy.
    • Support the Project Manager in ensuring Search’s project activities are inclusive, and conflict and gender sensitive.
    • Remain alert and responsive to any safeguarding risks, and acquire relevant knowledge and skills which will enable promoting strong safeguarding practices within the project.
    • Support the Project Manager in adapting activity design to digital and virtual methods to ensure project continuity in times of movement restrictions due to pandemics, tensions, or other factors.
    • Lead the planning and implementation of workshops, dialogue sessions, training sessions, meetings, and other project events and activities, as needed.
    • Collaborate with Search’s finance team to fulfill payments and other project expenditure, in alignment with project needs and standards of quality and value for money.
    • Cooperate closely with the Logistics & Project team to ensure that all financial transactions are accurate and well documented.
    • Support the PM in setting up and updating the financial and administrative systems necessary for the execution of the project.
    • Support the PM in developing and maintaining project records such as databases, reports, and records of decisions.
    • Support the Project Manager in regularly monitoring the quality, resonance, reach, and relevance of project activities by supporting the MEAL team in organizing reflection and learning meetings.
    • Closely collaborate with the MEAL team to ensure a monitoring system and monitoring and evaluation plan and system for the project.
    • Participate in project launch, mid-term reviews, and close-out workshop.
    • 2.         Project Planning and Reporting
    • Support the Project Manager in planning the work of the project team, including capacity building of the team, partners, media professional, and target participants.
    • Support the Project Manager in ensuring activities are delivered on time and with high quality.
    • Support the Project Manager in ensuring activities are documented by relevant staff.
    • Support the Project Manager in developing and following the project’s monthly work plans that derive from the annual work plans (programmatic and financial work plans).
    • Support the Project Manager in developing and regularly updating the project’s annual work plan.
    • Support the Project Manager in producing activity and project reports that are drafted in a results-based manner, ensuring high quality, consistency, and completeness.
    • Support the Project Manager in producing at least one well-written success story from the project per quarter.
    • 3.  Relationship with Stakeholders
    • Support the PM in maintaining a network of participants, stakeholders, and influencers at the local and national level and a contact database relevant to the project.
    • Support the PM in managing the partnership agreements with the project partner.
    • Keeping track of contracts and their end dates, ensuring timely renewal of agreements, and keeping track of support provided to each partner.
    • Support the PM in developing and maintaining proactive, positive, and professional relationships with consortium partners, civil society organizations, international organizations, UN agencies, media outlets, and local communities. 

Required Qualifications:

    • Bachelor’s degree in Media Production, Journalism, Communications, or a related field. A master's degree is an asset.
    • Minimum of (5) years of professional experience in project implementation and management.
    • Proven ability to manage media networks.
    • Strong understanding of the Syrian media landscape and conflict dynamics.
    • Experience working with local authorities, ministries and universities.
    • Excellent communication skills in Arabic; English proficiency strongly preferred.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

    • This position is based in Damascus, where security conditions are highly volatile and may pose significant risks, requiring strict adherence to safety protocols.
    • Local travels might be required (10%).

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate Search’s core competencies:

    • Supports team development while resolving challenges within a clear strategic vision.
    • Builds strong, collaborative relationships with partners and key stakeholders.
    • Balances routine operations with continuous improvement and innovation.
    • Adapts to changing contexts with creative, solution-oriented approaches.
    • Promotes consistent standards across functions, fostering global collaboration.
    • Models ethical behavior, reduces ambiguity, and sets a high standard for conduct.
    • Navigates complexity with clear decision-making and adaptive leadership.
    • Seeks creative, compliant solutions within complex, international frameworks.
    • Coaches and mentors others, sharing knowledge to strengthen team capacity.
    • Serves as a trusted expert, offering technical guidance and practical solutions.

General SFCG Officer Competencies:

    • Initiates brainstorming or problem-solving meetings. With time in job, develops skills for analyzing and communicating program successes and failures; reports lessons learned to the team and other members.
    • Represents Search at local and international events and meetings for professional organizations, vendors, partners, and funders. Develops skills to independently initiate and maintain relations with vendors, partners, and funders. Articulates Search program/project goals and objectives within Search and to external audiences.
    • Demonstrates appreciation for diversity of thought. Builds cross-functional relationships with other functional departments.
    • Demonstrates ability to be adaptable and willing to confront and change own ideas and preconceptions with the resiliency and flexibility to make changes based on hearing a diversity of thoughts.
    • Drafts team documents, briefing materials, and presentations. Articulates program/project objectives and how they fit into a team’s goals and/or Search’s mission and adapts to the communications setting.
    • Applies standards, identifies areas for standardization, and coordinates across functions from a multicultural perspective that reflects consideration of other cultures, other viewpoints, and other ways of doing things.
    • Takes into account the environmental landscape, assesses one's own and others' viewpoints in their environment, and proposes solutions from an ethical perspective.
    • Recognizes the options available for solving problems, conducts analyses, and calculates metrics and other technical tools to support informed decision making.
    • Conducts Quality Control of team documents, briefing materials, presentations, and systems data. Carefully reviews and checks the accuracy of information in work reports, management information systems, or with other individuals and groups. Checks the accuracy of one’s own and others’ work. Proactively informs management of potential risks and concerns; suggests resolutions.
    • Independently prioritizes time to reach deadlines and reaches end results of assignments with ability to accomplish multiple steps with limited to no supervision. Safeguarding: Remain alert and responsive to any safeguarding risks, acquire relevant knowledge and skills that will enable you to promote strong safeguarding practices, understand the safeguarding policy and procedures, and conduct yourself in a manner consistent with the Safeguarding Policy

      • Safeguarding: Remain alert and responsive to any safeguarding risks, acquire relevant knowledge and skills that will enable you to promote strong safeguarding practices, understand the safeguarding policy and procedures, and conduct yourself in a manner consistent with the Safeguarding Policy.
This opportunity will close on 14 November 2025.
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