Syrian National/Regional Expert – Enterprise Ecosystem and Business Support Development for Impact Hub Aleppo

Founded in 2012, SARD is a nongovernmental organization dedicated to building resilience and self-reliance in those affected by conflict and natural disasters while championing the localization of humanitarian assistance. We strive to provide critical resources and innovative opportunities to affected people and communities so they can reach a future in which they can thrive. We work in the sectors of Food Security, Non-Food Items, Shelter, WASH, Protection, and Early Recovery and Livelihood.

Learn more at sardngo.org.

Background

Impact Hub Aleppo is establishing its business support program aimed at strengthening the growth, resilience, and competitiveness of enterprises in Syria. To ensure that its services respond effectively to market needs and are financially and operationally sustainable, Impact Hub Aleppo seeks a National/Regional Expert to support the design and development of its enterprise support offer, business model, governance framework, and pilot implementation.

The establishment and development of Impact Hub Aleppo is being supported through the Syria Community Consortium (SCC). As part of this initiative, SCC funding will support the design and implementation of incubation and enterprise development services aimed at strengthening the local entrepreneurial ecosystem and enhancing the capacity of Syrian enterprises to grow, innovate, and create employment opportunities.

Objective of the Assignment

The National/Regional Expert will provide contextual, market, and ecosystem expertise to the team in charge of the development of Impact Hub Aleppo’s enterprise support services. Working under the technical leadership of the International Expert, the National/Regional Expert will contribute to the design, validation, and implementation of activities, ensuring that all outputs are adapted to the Syrian context and respond to the needs of local enterprises and stakeholders.

The National/Regional Expert will work collaboratively with the International Expert and the Impact Hub Aleppo team in the development of analyses, recommendations, tools, and deliverables. While the International Expert will lead the overall assignment and retain primary responsibility for the quality and finalization of outputs, the National/Regional Expert will play a key role in generating evidence, facilitating stakeholder engagement, validating findings, and co-developing recommendations.

Scope of Work

The National/Regional Expert will support the implementation of the assignment through the following activities:

1\. Market and Ecosystem Assessment

· Support the review and validation of existing market assessments and ecosystem analyses.

· Contribute to the collection and analysis of updated information managed by the project team on enterprise needs, priorities, and constraints in the Syrian context.

· Contribute to competitor mapping and identification of relevant business support providers and ecosystem actors.

· Facilitate consultations, interviews, focus groups, and stakeholder engagement activities.

· Establish relationships with universities, chambers of commerce, financial institutions, business associations, accelerators and entrepreneurship support actors.

2\. Service Offer Development

Contribute to the identification and validation of enterprise support services responding to local demand, based on his or her market knowledge and practical insights on the feasibility and relevance of proposed services.

· Support the adaptation of international good practices to the Syrian context.

· Support the design and early implementation of the incubation programme by identifying potential incubees, contributing to enterprise selection processes, mapping mentors and coaches, coordinating cohort activities, and following up participating enterprises.

· Identify opportunities for collaboration with local institutions, businesses, and service providers.

· Develop and maintain relationships with mentors, technical experts, private sector companies, investors and ecosystem partners that can contribute to the hub’s programmes,

3\. Strategic Positioning and Stakeholder Engagement

· Contribute to defining Impact Hub Aleppo’s positioning within the local entrepreneurship ecosystem.

· Facilitate relationships with public, private, academic, and civil society actors.

· Identify strategic partnerships opportunities that strengthen the hub visibility, outreach, and long tern role within the Syrian ecosystem,

4\. Business Model and Governance Development

· Provide contextual inputs to the development of the Hub’s business model and sustainability strategy.

· Support the identification of potential revenue opportunities, partnerships, and resource requirements.

5\. Organizational Development and Capacity Building

· Support the design and delivery of capacity-building activities for Hub personnel and relevant stakeholders including coaches and mentors,

· Facilitate knowledge transfer and local ownership of systems and processes developed under the assignment.

6\. Service Piloting, Monitoring and Learning

· Support the implementation and testing of selected enterprise support services, by organizing workshops, coordinating focus groups, supporting launch events, coordinating pilot activities,

· Contribute to the collection of feedback from participants and stakeholders.

· Contribute to monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities, including data collection and analysis.

· Support the identification of recommendations for service improvement and future scaling.

Reporting and Coordination

The National/Regional Expert will work under the technical leadership and coordination of the International Expert. The two experts will collaborate closely throughout the assignment and jointly develop the analytical work, service design processes, recommendations, and implementation tools required under the project.

The National/Regional Expert will maintain regular communication with Impact Hub Aleppo, SARD NGO, and relevant local stakeholders and will support the effective coordination of field activities and consultations.

Deliverables

The National/Regional Expert will contribute to the preparation of the following outputs led by the International Expert:

· Updated demand and competitor assessment.

· Stakeholder mapping database

· Create a database of mentors, coache and strategic partners,

· Enterprise support services offering map.

· Vision, mission, and unique value proposition framework.

· Business model and governance design document.

· Organizational and capacity-building plan.

· Monitoring and evaluation framework.

· Final design report and implementation roadmap.

· Pilot implementation and lessons learned reports

In addition, the National/Regional Expert will provide:

· Stakeholder consultation summaries and meeting reports.

· Local validation reports and recommendations.

Level of Effort

The assignment is expected to require approximately **50 working days** over a period of **6 months**, with flexibility in scheduling according to project needs and key milestones.

Qualifications and Experience

· University degree in Business Administration, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Management, Development Studies, or a related field.

· At least 5 years of professional experience in enterprise development, SME support, entrepreneurship, business advisory services, economic development, or related fields.

· Demonstrated knowledge of the Syrian and regional private sector, entrepreneurial ecosystem, and business environment with familiarity with regional enterprise development trends is an asset

· Experience working with SMEs, startups, business associations, chambers of commerce, development projects, or business support organizations.

· Experience facilitating stakeholder consultations and multi-stakeholder engagement processes.

· Strong analytical, communication, and reporting skills.

· Excellent command of both Arabic and English

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