HR Officer - Talent Acquisition (NOA) - Damascus - VA011-2026 at World Food Programme

Damascus, Damascus Governorate, Syria -

Full Time

Start Date

Immediate

Expiry Date

25 Jun, 26

Salary

0.0

Posted On

27 Mar, 26

Experience

2 year(s) or above

Remote Job

Yes

Telecommute

Yes

Sponsor Visa

Skills

Talent Acquisition, People Operations, Process Improvement, Team Management, Mentoring, Full Cycle Recruitment, Talent Pipeline Development, Employer Branding, Stakeholder Engagement, Reporting, Staff Capability Building, Communication, Analytical Skills, MS Office Proficiency, Recruitment Systems, Sourcing

Industry

Non-profit Organizations

Description

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS 10 April 2026-23:59-GMT+03:00 Eastern European Time (Damascus) WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability. ABOUT WFP The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves. To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok. WHY JOIN WFP? WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment. WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities. A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe. We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement). CONTRACT DETAILS: Contract Type: Fixed Term Grade: NOA Unit: Human Resources Duration: 12 months Duty Station: Damascus, Syria This position is open to Syrian nationals only. BACKGROUND OF THE ASSIGNMENT: As Syria navigates a new chapter marked by historic opportunities and enduring challenges, the scale of humanitarian needs remains overwhelming. Today, more than 70 percent of Syria’s population continues to depend on some form of humanitarian assistance. Over half of the population is grappling with food insecurity, with nearly 3 million people facing severe food insecurity. Around 7 million people remain displaced internally, while more than 4 million are refugees in neighbouring countries. Since December 2024, hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced Syrians have begun returning to their areas of origin. Many more plan to return and will require vital support as they reintegrate. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the largest humanitarian agency operating in Syria since 1964 and is uniquely positioned to support Syrian communities in their recovery through its expansive reach and scale. WFP’s interventions prioritize emergency relief and resilience-building efforts focused on the most severely food insecure populations. Additionally, WFP is a key actor in the country’s social protection sector also plays a vital role in strengthening Syria’s social safety-net systems. Operating under its 2022-2026 Interim Country Strategic Plan (iCSP), WFP addresses the growing food and nutrition needs livelihood, resilience and early recovery, and reviving food systems, in close collaboration with the Syrian government, humanitarian and development stakeholders. JOB PURPOSE: The HR Officer will be leading the Talent Acquisition team and reporting to the Head of HR; the incumbent will contribute to successful people operations for WFP’s Syria Country Office. The ideal candidate has a deep passion for talent acquisition, staying abreast of industry evolution, always looking to introduce new methods and ideas for identifying and engaging top talent; and successfully enlists support from the business for talent attraction, networking and employer branding engagement initiatives and a strong knowledge of the various aspect of talent management. ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES: Contribute towards the development of country specific plans and processes, and deliver HR operational activities or projects, following standard processes and ensuring alignment with wider WFP policies. Shape and enhance processes to ensure effective and streamlined talent acquisition strategies putting forward simplifications to contribute to process efficiencies and improvements with the aim of ensuring timely returns. Manage the HR talent acquisition team, acting as a mentor and guiding more junior staff. Responsible for full cycle recruitments for national positions ensuring transparency, consistency and adherence to HR framework and policies. Research availability of diverse talent pools focusing on gender, disability inclusion, to ensure diversity across the operation. Engage and partner with managers to understand their specific functional staffing needs and implement solutions to meet these needs, following standard processes and ensuring alignment with wider WFP policies. Articulate WFP’s employee value proposition to enhance visibility and reputation in key sourcing channels by carrying out impactful and targeted employer branding activities. Build partnerships, develop and maintain strong relationships that include outreach to schools, institutions of higher learning, target diversity organizations, professional associations and other recruiting sources to ensure sourcing produces a strong talent pipeline. Contribute to preparation of a regular, accurate reports (i.e, a dynamic dashboard) on talent acquisition activities that enable informed decision-making and consistent information for stakeholders. Act as a point of contact for all recruitment related matters for both hiring managers and staff. Contribute to staff capability building, working with managers to understand individual skills and business requirements, and organizing/delivering development solutions which equip people with the skills and knowledge required to meet current and future challenges. Coordinate internal and external communications with stakeholders and applicants to ensure transparency of processes and act as a focal point for recruitment related queries. Other duties as required. DESIRED EXPERIENCE FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE: Has provided direction and instruction to more junior staff members within area of expertise Has gained extensive experience providing administrative and systems support across multiple activities in employment life cycle including: recruitment, interviews, training support, and performance management within a country office environment. Has had exposure to supervisory responsibilities in previous experiences. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Education: Advanced university degree in Human Resource Management, Public or Business Administration, Industrial Psychology or other relevant field, or First University degree with two additional years of related work experience. Experience: At least one (1) year of postgraduate professional experience in Human Resources with strong experience in recruitment/selection and talent acquisition and with an interest in international humanitarian development. Knowledge & Skills: Experience in sourcing and recruiting hard-to-fill profiles. Demonstrated success developing and deploying creative, effective candidate pipeline development methodologies and effective outreach strategies. Ability to leverage social media to connect with diverse community to do Employer Branding and recruitment market. Knowledge of the Syrian employment Market. Knowledge of Talent Acquisition best practices – latest trends (Sourcing, EVP, Selection methodologies, Onboarding, Retention, etc). Customer Orientation at any times and very proficient communication skills (verbal – written). Experience working as part of a multicultural and diverse team. Ability to transfer knowledge, best practices to colleagues in a context-relevant and credible way. Strong analytical – reporting skills to compile, maintain, analyze and prepare strong people reports to draw some (initial) conclusions and help key stakeholders make some informed decisions. Curiosity to learn, challenge the status quo and positive drive. Experience in partnering with senior management and managers is desirable. Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Knowledgeable of online recruitment platforms and recruitment systems. Languages: Fluency in spoken and written English and Arabic. WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission. Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact: global.inclusion@wfp.org NO FEE DISCLAIMER The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web. REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel. We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete, and that all sections are filled in, including your employment history, academic qualifications, language skills, and UN grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application. If you experience technical issues while submitting your application, you may contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org. Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application - unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply. At the application stage, the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents (passport, certificates, recommendation letters, etc.) may be requested later in the process. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process. All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks. No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service. If you used to have an account on our previous platform, please note that you will need to create a new account for future applications. However, this change will not affect any ongoing recruitment processes. To ensure that WFP is able to deliver on its mandate, a range of contract types exist depending on the duration and nature of work. Find out more here. These guidelines are here to help you use AI tools responsibly throughout WFP’s recruitment process. We also want to be transparent about how we use AI on our side. Curious? Find out more here. Our greatest strength is the people working around the world providing access to nutritious food and promoting lasting solutions to those we serve. WFP provides its staff with meaningful and impactful careers, continuous learning and training, and a multicultural and stimulating work environment. WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status, physical or mental disability. The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters, and the impact of climate change. Read more about WFP’s history here, and WFP’s mission here Want to hear what it’s like working for WFP? Check out our newsletter highlighting the career stories of our passionate staff here: Pathway to WFP | LinkedIn Integrity, collaboration, commitment, humanity, inclusion. These values inspire everything we do every day, allowing us to work towards a world with zero hunger. You can read more about the values here. Our behaviour guides us in how we accomplish our mission. All WFP employees are expected to demonstrate the standards of behaviour described in the WFP Leadership Framework. Learn more about the WFP Leadership Framework here. WFP is aware of fictitious employment offers being circulated via email or originating from online job boards. Many of these schemes consist of an alleged offer of employment or contract with WFP in return for the payment of fees or providing personal or banking information. Read more.

Responsibilities

The HR Officer will lead the Talent Acquisition team, reporting to the Head of HR, and contribute to successful people operations for WFP's Syria Country Office. Responsibilities include shaping and enhancing streamlined talent acquisition strategies, managing the team, and overseeing full-cycle recruitment for national positions.