Field Researcher - Syria
Seefar
Job Information
Description
Seefar Foundation is looking for five researchers to join the SCORE project team in Syria, with one researcher based in each of the following governorates: Aleppo, Rural Damascus, Idlib, Homs, and Hama. This role will contribute to a research project examining reintegration dynamics, institutional support mechanisms, and the lived experiences of returnees and repatriates following their return from European countries, particularly Sweden. In this context, repatriates refers to individuals who pr
Seefar Foundation is looking for five researchers to join the SCORE project team in Syria, with one researcher based in each of the following governorates: Aleppo, Rural Damascus, Idlib, Homs, and Hama. This role will contribute to a research project examining reintegration dynamics, institutional support mechanisms, and the lived experiences of returnees and repatriates following their return from European countries, particularly Sweden. In this context, repatriates refers to individuals who previously held legal permanent residence in the EU but voluntarily returned to their home country.
The Researcher will conduct fieldwork and collect primary data through:
- In-depth interviews (IDIs) with repatriates who returned from Sweden
- Surveys with repatriates who returned from Sweden
The researcher will be responsible for:
1. Conducting outreach to identify and recruit eligible repatriates and returnees for interviews and surveys.
2. Coordinating logistics, scheduling appointments, and securing safe interview locations.
3. Conducting in-depth interviews (IDIs) with repatriates using pre-approved interview guides.
4. Administering household surveys
5. Ensuring accurate data entry and secure submission of survey data in the required format.
6. Transcribing interviews in Arabic and providing English summaries or translations as specified.
7. Maintaining high ethical standards, including informed consent and data protection.
This is a deliverable-based consultancy; a full table of activities can be found below. You need to be based in Syria and will conduct your work on-site. Remote work will also be required for some activities.
**Start date: 20 March, 2026**
1. Deadline: Apr 3, 2026. Deliverable: Conduct outreach, identify, and schedule interviews with 2 eligible repatriates for IDIs. Fee: 50 Euros
2. Deadline: Apr 10, 2026. Deliverable: Conduct 2 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with repatriates in assigned governorate, including transcripts in pre-specified format and IDI notes. Fee: 30 Euros per successful and valid IDI for a maximum of 60 euros
3. Deadline: Apr 10, 2026. Deliverable: Conduct outreach, identify and schedule appointments with 50 eligible repatriates for surveys. Fee: 300 Euros
4. Deadline: Apr 20, 2026. Deliverable: Administer 50 household surveys using approved survey tool and submit clean dataset. Fee: 10 Euros per successful and valid survey for a maximum of 500 euros
The researcher will be compensated per milestone based on the successful submission and approval of deliverables.
**Milestone**
1. Submission of deliverables 1-2
2. Submission of deliverables 2-3
Additional compensations will be provided separately for successful completion field data collection
**Item and Amount**
- Phone credit: Two recharge cards with monthly bundle
- Transportation: Daily transportation fee with the value of 3 euros and maximum total amount 60 euros
## Reporting & Supervision
The Researcher will report to Seefar’s Lead Researcher, who will provide:
- A mandatory training on the different data collection tools
- Research tools & templates (interview guides, research protocols, etc.)
- Weekly check-ins to ensure fieldwork is on track
- Feedback on draft reports & transcriptions before final submission
## Selection Criteria
We are looking for someone with:
- Minimum 4 years experience in field research
- Experience in administering qualitative interviews
- Experience working with migrant communities
- Experience conducting outreach activities and mapping of communities
- Computer literacy and access to the internet and laptop or electronic devices
- Substantive community-based work experience
- Good communication and interpersonal skills
- Fluency in Arabic
- Fluency in English
## Working with Seefar Foundation
Our mission is to work with vulnerable people to build a better future. We specialise in justice, migration and social inclusion. Our expertise is in strategic communications, counselling, consulting, monitoring and evaluation, and research. This role demands someone who is smart, intrinsically motivated, worldly, and interested in hard challenges. Seefar has a track record for delivering research, consulting, program design and evaluations and strategic communications projects, including on migration and human trafficking issues. To get a sense of the services we specialise in at Seefar, please visit [https://seefar.org/about/](https://seefar.org/about/).
Current and former personnel have noted the points below as positive features of Seefar’s work environment and culture:
- You work with highly diverse people and across a diversity of contexts.
- There is a high level of trust that supports you to work autonomously.
- The people in the Foundation encourage innovation and experimentation.
- Achieving results is prioritised over rigid structures and workflows.
- You are never bored and always challenged.