Country Director

JOB REQUISITION & JOB DESCRIPTION

Country Director

Syria Crisis Emergency Response

Contract Grade:                                               D

Contract Length:                                              1 year

Date needed by:                                              1st February 2015

New Post or Replacement:                         Replacement

Accompanied / Unaccompanied:             Unaccompanied

Exact Job Location:                                          Turkey

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title:                                                            Country Director

Responsible for:                                              Concern’s Syria Programme

Job Location:                                                     Turkey

Liaises with:                                                      RD, Desk Officer, Emergency Directorate, HRO, SAL, Local authorities, Donors, (I)NGO’s

Reports to:                                                         Regional Director

Job Purpose:

The Country Director is responsible for strategic and programme development, security management and overall management and coordination of Concern’s emergency response to the Syria crisis in line with Concern Worldwide organisational specific strategies, policies and procedures. The position is based in Turkey and requires frequent travel for coordination purposes.

Main Duties & Responsibilities:

a)      Leadership

• Develop and implement a coherent country programme that contributes to achieving Concern’s global strategy and objectives in particular addressing emergency needs of populations victim of the civil war in Syria
• Provide leadership in the overall effective planning and direction of Concern’s programme and operations at country level.
• Build strong and committed team of national and international staff adhering to Concern policies and procedures and applying key principles of transparency, accountability, good stewardship and participation.
• Create and maintain shared vision, amongst all Concern staff, of Concern’s programme aims and objectives and their role in achieving these.
• Lead and support in strengthening coordination and collaboration within teams and across all teams, maintain and ensure constructive communications, contribute to a positive working environment.

b) Security Management

• Take overall responsibility for the security and safety of Concern personnel and resources
• Be responsible for participatory development and implementation of the Country Security Management Plan and Standard Operating Procedures.
• Liaise with necessary external bodies to keep abreast of current affairs in order to maintain an awareness of economic, political, humanitarian and security developments
• Set up Security Focal Groups and coordinate and chair regular security meetings with the Security Focal Group (SFG) to keep up to date with security incidents in all field locations
• Work with the SFG to ensure the development and maintenance of effective security systems for Concern employees, programmes and property including the regular revision and implementation of the Security Management Plan.
• Report any security threats and incidents to the Regional Director.

c) Programme Development and Management

• Lead the strategic development and implementation of programmes in line with Concern organisational strategic plan and following the Concern Project Cycle Management policy including proposal writing and sourcing funding.
• Ensure effective coordination of technical inputs (e.g. Head Office advisors) in designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating programmes.
• Develop a country level funding strategy and establish productive working relationships with donors and be responsible for undertaking country level negotiations related to securing funding, programming contracts, and reports.
• Explore the possibility of working with local partners through the application of Concern assessment tools (CLOSAT and CLOFAT)
• Manage the country programme effectively including allocation of resources and ensuring that appropriate monitoring and controls are established and maintained at all levels by working with programme and systems managers, staff and where relevant partners.
• Provide adequate leadership and support to programme managers in setting up high quality standards and implementation of programmes to include equality, prevention of GBV and DRR.
• Ensure that all programmes are implemented and completed according to programme documents including agreed plans and budget.
• Maintain effective communication and liaise with Concern Head office in Dublin and ensure that high standard internal and donor reports are produced and submitted in timely manner and in line with relevant targets and objectives.

d) Human Resource Management

• Line manages senior management staff (Country Management Team – CMT) and be responsible for the overall management and development of national and international staff
• Manage and support country programme team ensuring that there is clearly defined structure and job descriptions for all staff.
• Ensure that regular staff Performance and Development Review (PDR) system is established and maintained and that PDRs are undertaken seriously at all levels.
• Develop, review, and effectively implement all Human Resources related policies and procedures in accordance with Concern policies and procedures and in line with the national labour laws.
• Establish and maintain regular, participative and documented forums and meetings for all key staff to discuss policy, strategic, operational and management issues, coordinate planning and implementation of activities, and ensure information sharing.

e) Budget and Financial Management

• Responsible for overall financial management including participatory budget preparation, revision and monitoring and timely submission of Budgets and FRP’s to HQ.
• Ensure that the Concern organisational financial guidelines and procedures are adhered to.  
• Develop and implement work and expenditure plans and ensure that the country programmes are implemented within agreed and approved budget through undertaking regular budget monitoring of expenditure against budget.
• Ensure that internal and donor financial reports are submitted in timely manner and up to high quality standard.

f) Representation and networking

• Represent Concern in and establish coordination and networking relationships with the government, local authorities, donors and other national and international humanitarian actors including Alliance 2015 in the country.
• Ensure compliance with Concerns registration in Turkey including regular reporting to local authorities
• Ensure that relationship and formal agreements with the government are established, maintained and updated as appropriate.
• Represent Concern at various national level coordination forums.
• Promote the humanitarian principles of Concern in external settings, ensuring that the organisation’s neutrality, impartiality and independence is well communicated and consistently presented, and that we are perceived as an independent humanitarian organisation addressing the needs of the most vulnerable.

g) Policies and procedures

• Ensure that support systems are in place and functioning in accordance with best practices in order to ensure transparency and accountability to programme participants, donors, government, and other relevant stakeholder.
• Promote and ensure compliance with the requirements of Concern’s Programme Participants Protection Policy (P4) and implementation of Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) standards including Community based complaint and response mechanisms to ensure maximum protection to programme beneficiaries.

h) Other

• As a commitment to our humanitarian mandate the Country Director will be responsible for the implementation of any emergency response.
• The Syrian programme is in a dynamic context that requires continuous adaptation of the strategic planning frameworks and new area and sector assessments and the possibility of expansion to other geographic areas.

Person Specifications:

Essential:

• At least      5 years’ overseas experience in management and coordination of humanitarian      interventions and emergency response with at least 2 years’ experience in      a senior management position
• Experience in insecure and      complex contexts and environments
• Strong security management      skills

• Strong leadership skills and ability to manage change effectively.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with an ability/confidence to engage and represent Concern at public forums, media and donors.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, including fluency in written and spoken English.
• Highly developed listening and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and to strict deadlines.

• Strong interpersonal,      motivational and coordination skills.

• Cross cultural awareness      and sensitivity.

• Good coaching, facilitation and capacity-building      skills.
• Effective oral and written English language skills      as demonstrated in ability to write reports as required by donors
• Affinity with      organisational values, mission and vision, commitment to humanitarian principles
• MS Office      Professional

Desirable:

• Previous Concern experience at a management level.
• Experience of working in the Middle East an advantage.

• Experience      in programme start-up operations Experience in starting up new      programmes and setting up systems and procedures.
• Spoken      Arabic language
• Experience      of working in Middle Eastern countries
• Experience of managing major donor grants such as ECHO,      Irish Aid, DfID, ERF

All applications should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date of 19th November 2014. CV’s should be no more than 4 pages in length.

All candidates who are short-listed for a first round interview will be notified via email after the application deadline

Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.

Concern has a Staff Code of Conduct and a Programme Participant Protection Policy which have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organization, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context staff have a responsibility to the organization to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment.   By signing the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct candidates acknowledge that they have understood the contents of both the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and the Programme Participant Protection Policy and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these two documents.

Concern receives a substantial amount of funding from external donors each year. Increasingly donors are introducing requirements whereby future funding is conditional on Concern ensuring that the names of any new employee or volunteer do not appear on terrorism lists generated by the European Union (List of person, groups and entities to which Regulation (EC No. 2580/2001 applies), the US Government (Office of Foreign Assets Control list of specially designated Nationals and Blocked Persons) and the United Nations (Consolidated List). Any offer of employment (either paid or voluntary) with Concern Worldwide will not be made pending a clearance check being conducted on the applicant. For additional information please consult our web site or contact the Human Resource Division in our Head Office.

Concern Worldwide is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.