Palliative Care Expert – Key Expert (Category II)

About the role

The Key Expert – Palliative Care Expert will provide technical assistance to strengthen oncology‑related clinical protocols, medication safety, multidisciplinary coordination, clinical training and quality monitoring within the Syrian Ministry of Health.

Key responsibilities

• Support the development and harmonisation of national or institutional anti‑cancer therapy protocols, especially chemotherapy protocols.
• Design monitoring frameworks and quality indicators for palliative‑care service delivery.
• Develop and strengthen pharmacovigilance and medication‑safety systems for chemotherapy administration.
• Design structured clinical training for oncology teams on protocol implementation, treatment sequencing and toxicity management.
• Convene multidisciplinary technical working groups across oncology, primary care and nursing directorates.

Required profile

• Master's degree in Public Health, Palliative Medicine, Nursing or related clinical field; medical degree with specialisation in palliative care preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of clinical or technical experience in medical oncology, including protocol development.
• Familiarity with international cancer treatment guidelines (WHO Essential Medicines List, NCCN, ESMO) and adaptation to resource‑constrained settings.
• Experience in post‑conflict or early‑recovery health systems, especially in the MENA region, is a strong asset.
• Excellent written and spoken English; working knowledge of Arabic is an asset.

Required skills

• Design of monitoring frameworks and quality indicators for palliative‑care services.
• Pharmacovigilance and medication‑safety system development for chemotherapy.
• Clinical training programme design for oncology teams.
• Development of evaluation tools to track treatment adherence and safety indicators.