The Role:

Oxfam {Syria} is looking for FOOD AND ECONOMIC SECURITY OFFICER 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES (Technical, Leadership, People and Resource management)
1. Resilient Livelihoods and Economic Security
• Support the design, implementation and monitoring of integrated food and economic security
interventions that enable individuals, households and communities to protect, recover, strengthen
and diversify their livelihoods and income sources.
• Implement FES interventions across humanitarian response, early recovery and resilience
contexts, using appropriate modalities including cash and voucher assistance, livelihood
protection and recovery support, productive assets, income-generation and other forms of
financial and non-financial assistance.
• Contribute to assessments and analysis of household and community livelihoods, productive
capacities, vulnerabilities and coping strategies, identifying constraints and opportunities for
livelihood recovery, diversification and resilience.
• Support the identification and implementation of context-appropriate livelihood and economic
actions, with attention to economic viability, inclusion, sustainability and participants’ capacities
and aspirations.
• Monitor changes in livelihoods and economic conditions, including the impact of shocks, market
changes and other contextual developments, and contribute to adapting interventions
accordingly.
• Ensure that FES interventions consider the specific barriers, risks and opportunities affecting
women, young people, persons with disabilities and other groups facing economic and social
exclusion.
2. Agriculture and Agri-food Livelihoods
• Support the design, implementation and monitoring of agriculture and agri-food livelihood
interventions that strengthen productive capacities, food production, income generation and the
resilience of farming and rural livelihoods.
• Contribute to assessments of agricultural livelihoods and production systems, including
constraints and opportunities related to production, productive assets, agricultural inputs,
services, infrastructure, market access and value addition.
• Provide or facilitate appropriate technical support to field teams and partners in the
implementation of agriculture-based interventions, drawing on relevant technical expertise where
specialised support is required.
• Support interventions that improve access to appropriate agricultural inputs, productive assets,
services, knowledge and technologies, ensuring that support is technically appropriate,
economically viable and responsive to local conditions.
• Contribute to interventions that look at strengthening linkages between farmers, producer groups,
service providers, traders, processors, buyers and other actors within agri-food systems

Support agriculture-related rehabilitation and productive infrastructure interventions where
relevant to FES outcomes.
• Promote approaches that strengthen the sustainability and resilience of agricultural livelihoods
(such as climate smart agriculture, agro-ecology etc.), including consideration of natural-resource
constraints, climate-related risks and changing production conditions where relevant.
3. Markets, Value Chains and Enterprise Development
• Contribute to market, value-chain and stakeholder assessments and analysis to identify viable
economic opportunities, market constraints, promising sectors or products, and opportunities for
strengthening livelihoods and local economic activity.
• Support the design and implementation of market-based and value-chain interventions that
improve the participation of producers, workers, entrepreneurs and small businesses in viable
economic opportunities.
• Support micro and small enterprises, home-based businesses and other livelihood actors through
appropriate financial and non-financial assistance, including business development support,
productive assets, skills development, market linkages and access to relevant services.
• Facilitate linkages among producers, enterprises, buyers, suppliers, financial and business service
providers and other market actors to address constraints and strengthen economic opportunities.
• Engage with private-sector and market actors to understand market dynamics, identify
opportunities for collaboration and contribute to interventions that are responsive to market
demand and avoid unnecessary distortion of local markets.
• Monitor the performance and viability of supported livelihood and enterprise activities and
contribute to identifying lessons and necessary adaptations.
4. Humanitarian FES and Cash-Based Assistance
• Support and, as delegated, lead field-level implementation of humanitarian food and economic
security interventions, including cash and voucher assistance and other appropriate assistance
modalities, in accordance with programme objectives, technical standards and organizational
procedures.
• Support community engagement, participant identification, targeting and verification processes
using transparent, accountable and context-appropriate approaches.
• Coordinate with relevant colleagues, partners, financial service providers and other stakeholders
to support safe, timely and effective delivery of cash, vouchers or other assistance.
• Monitor implementation and programme participants’ access to assistance and contribute to
identifying and addressing operational, market, protection and inclusion-related risks.
• Ensure that humanitarian assistance is linked, where appropriate and feasible, to opportunities for
livelihood protection, recovery and longer-term resilience, while recognizing that life-saving and
immediate-needs interventions may have distinct objectives.
5. Stakeholder, Institutional and Community Engagement
• Build and maintain constructive working relationships with communities, local partners, relevant
authorities and technical institutions, producer and community organisations, private-sector and
market actors, financial service providers and other stakeholders.
• Facilitate meaningful participation of communities and relevant stakeholders in assessment,
prioritisation, design, implementation, monitoring and review of FES interventions.
• Support approaches that strengthen local ownership and build on existing capacities, institutions,
services and market structures rather than creating unnecessary parallel mechanisms

Identify opportunities to strengthen linkages between communities and the institutions, services
and economic actors necessary for sustainable livelihood and economic outcomes.
• Organize and facilitate coordination and technical discussions with relevant stakeholders to
address implementation challenges, identify opportunities and strengthen programme quality and
sustainability.
6. Programme Implementation, Quality, Monitoring and Learning
• Develop and implement activity and field-level workplans in coordination with the FES Team
Leader, project teams, partners and relevant technical colleagues, ensuring timely and quality
delivery of agreed activities.
• Lead assigned field activities and ensure timely delivery of agreed outputs within delegated authority.
• Monitor programme implementation, outputs and emerging outcomes, identify implementation
challenges and changing contextual conditions, and propose practical adjustments to improve
programme relevance, quality and effectiveness.
• Work closely with MEAL colleagues to support appropriate monitoring frameworks, data collection
and analysis, and use evidence and participant feedback to inform programme adaptation and
decision-making.
• Prepare timely and accurate programme documentation and reports, including progress updates,
field reports, activity records, case studies and inputs to donor and internal reporting.
• Contribute field-level evidence, learning and analysis to the development or adaptation of FES
interventions and proposals.
• Ensure implementation is consistent with Oxfam policies, programme quality standards, donor
requirements, safeguarding commitments, accountability principles and relevant technical
standards.
• Ensure effective feedback and complaints mechanisms are understood and accessible to
programme participants and that feedback relevant to programme quality is acted upon
appropriately.
7. Partner Coordination and Support
• Serve as the key point of contact for assigned implementing partners on Food and Economic
Security activities.
• Maintain regular communication and coordination with partners to support effective project
implementation and problem-solving.
• Facilitate collaboration between partners, local authorities, communities, and other stakeholders
to ensure coordinated and complementary interventions.
• Support partners in developing work plans, implementation schedules, and monitoring
frameworks.
• Conduct regular field visits to monitor implementation quality and ensure compliance with
technical standards and best practices.
• Support partners in integrating cross-cutting themes such as gender, inclusion, and
environmental sustainability into programme activities.
• Review partner reports and provide technical feedback to ensure accuracy, quality, and
compliance with donor requirements.
8. Coordination and Team Contribution
• Work collaboratively with Team Leader, FES lead and relevant technical coordinator as well as with
other programme teams to ensure integrated and technically coherent programming

Coordinate, where relevant, with other programme sectors to identify opportunities for integrated
approaches that strengthen livelihood and resilience outcomes.
• Participate in programme reviews, coordination meetings and learning processes, representing
Oxfam in technical coordination meetings as well where relevant, sharing field-level evidence,
challenges, lessons and recommendations

If you have any questions about the role, we'd love to hear from you.  Please e-mail us at recruitmentteam@oxfam.org.uk, making sure you include the job title and reference number of the role you're asking about.  Please be aware we are unable to accept CVs or applications via e-mail.  To apply, please use the "apply now" button on the right hand side of this advertisement

What we are looking for:

We’re looking for a candidate who cares about Oxfam's mission to end poverty and is personally aligned to our feminist principles and values of empowerment, accountability and inclusion in all you do.

An ideal candidate for the role will also be / have:

 ESSENTIAL
• Sound judgement.
• Listening
• Mutual accountability
• Self-Awareness
In addition:
Education and Professional Background
A university degree in a field relevant to the position, including agriculture, agricultural economics,
agribusiness, economics, engineering, development studies or social sciences, with at least 3 years of
relevant professional experience; OR a Diploma holder in another discipline combined with at least 5 years
of substantial relevant professional experience in food and economic security, livelihoods, agriculture,
economic recovery or related programming.

Professional Experience
• Demonstrated practical experience in at least two of the following technical areas: agriculture
and/or agri-food livelihoods; cash and voucher assistance and humanitarian FES programming;
livelihood recovery and resilience; markets and value-chain programming; enterprise, MSME,
home-based business or income-generation support.
• Demonstrated experience in field-level programme implementation, including planning,
coordination, monitoring and adaptation of activities.
• Experience working directly with communities and engaging a range of stakeholders such as local
authorities and technical institutions, local partners, private-sector and market actors, service
providers and community-based organisations.
• Experience applying participatory approaches to assessment, programme implementation and
monitoring.
• Experience supporting/ providing technical guidance to field teams or partners
Knowledge and Technical Capabilities
• Good understanding of food and economic security and the factors affecting household
livelihoods, income, food access and economic resilience.
• Good understanding of agriculture and rural livelihoods and their relationship with markets,
services and wider market systems.
• Understanding of market-based approaches and the basic principles of market and value-chain
analysis.
• Understanding of humanitarian FES programming and cash and voucher assistance, including key
considerations related to targeting, markets, accountability, inclusion and protection.
• Ability to analyse field-level information and changing contextual conditions and translate
findings into practical recommendations for programme implementation and adaptation.
• Understanding of gender, protection, inclusion and safeguarding considerations relevant to FES
programming.
• Strong understanding of the Syrian socio-economic and institutional context, including key
challenges affecting livelihoods, agriculture and local economies.
Skills and Behaviours
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to understand connections between
household livelihoods, agriculture, markets, services and institutions.
• Ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders and build constructive relationships with
communities, partners, public institutions and private-sector actors.
• Strong facilitation, communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to balance quality, analytical thinking and practical delivery in complex and changing
environments.
• Ability to work independently, prioritise competing demands and contribute effectively within
multidisciplinary teams.
• Commitment to participatory, accountable and inclusive ways of working.
• Good planning, documentation and report-writing skills.
• Good digital literacy, including proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and relevant programme
management or data tools.
• Fluency in spoken and written Arabic and good working proficiency in English.
• Willingness and ability to undertake regular field travel and work under pressure

Desirable:
• Postgraduate qualification or specialised professional training in agriculture, agricultural
economics, economic development, livelihoods, market systems/value chains, business
development, resilience or another relevant field.
• Experience in integrated programmes linking agriculture, livelihoods, markets, enterprise
development and/or economic recovery.
• Experience conducting or contributing to market assessments, value-chain assessments,
livelihood assessments or economic feasibility analysis.
• Experience supporting MSMEs, producer organisations, cooperatives, home-based businesses or
other local economic actors.
• Experience with agriculture-related productive infrastructure or rehabilitation interventions.
• Experience working with local institutions and private-sector actors on livelihood or local
economic development initiatives.
• Experience working with international or national NGOs and/or local partners in complex or rapidly
changing contexts.

We offer:

We offer a competitive salary and a range of additional benefits to staff including flexible working options, generous pension scheme, annual leave, additional leave allowances, company sick pay, life assurance and a range of other benefits. 

From the day you join Oxfam we invite you to stretch and learn in your role. Our wide range of Learning & Development opportunities includes in-house courses, e-learning modules, on-the job learning opportunities, coaching and mentoring, and much more. 

You can read more about all Oxfam has to offer here.

How to apply:

As part of your online application, please upload your up to date CV and Cover Letter explaining your suitability against the essential criteria in the job profile.  

Our values and commitment to safeguarding

Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults and beneficiaries with whom Oxfam GB engages. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organisation.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. Oxfam GB also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.  In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.

We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organisation and encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply.

About us

Oxfam is a global community who believe poverty isn’t inevitable. It’s an injustice that can be overcome. We are shop volunteers, women’s right activists, marathon runners, aid workers, coffee farmers, street fundraisers, goat herders, policy experts, campaigners, water engineers and more. And we won’t stop until everyone can live life without poverty for good.

Oxfam GB is a member of international confederation of 21 organisations working together with partners and local communities in the areas of humanitarian, development and campaigning, in more than 90 countries. 

A thriving diverse Oxfam: 

It’s people power that brings about change. To play our part as a global organisation working to overcome poverty and inequality, we need equality, diversity and inclusion across our community of staff, partners and volunteers. Together, we’re committed to becoming a more diverse workforce, better able to tackle the global challenges that face our world today.

To do that:

• We need to dismantle the unequal power structures that exist everywhere, this including Oxfam and the wider development and charity sectors.
• We need an inclusive Oxfam where everyone can bring who they are to our work and feels celebrated for the differences they bring.
• We want and need everyone, and that means we need you.