Country Director-DPRK

Date requested: 23 December 2014

Contract Grade: D

Contract Length: Two years

Date Needed By: ASAP

New Post or Replacement: Replacement

Accompanied / Unaccompanied: Accompanied

Exact Job Location: Pyongyang, DPR Korea (DPRK)

Reports To: Regional Director

Responsible For:

International staff: One Programme Manager: Water and Environmental Health (WEH) one Programme Manager: Food, Income and Market (FIM) and one Conservation Agriculture Project Officer (part time). National staff: Liaison Officer, Finance Officer, Project Officers x 4, Drivers x3, Household Staff x 2.

Liaises With:

• INGOs, UN agencies, Embassies, Donors ( Irish Aid, SIDA, SDC, EU-Food Security Office) DPRK Government officials, Concern Office Dublin especially Desk Officer, and London, Concern DPRK Staff
• Liaison with in-country and overseas experts, including from Strategy Advocacy and Learning (SAL) Department in Dublin on the main programme components – FIM and WEH.

Job Purpose:

To be responsible for the strategic development and the effective management of the Concern DPRK country programme in line with Concern’s organizational strategies, policies and procedures; taking into consideration the specifics of working in the DPRK.

Main Duties & Responsibilities:

Leadership

• Provide leadership in the overall effective planning and direction of Concern’s programme and operations at country level.
• Build a 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, among staff, of Concern’s programmes aims and objectives and their roles in achieving these.

Programme Development and Management

• Oversee and lead the strategic development of programmes in line with the Concern organisational Strategic Plan, DPRK Strategic Plan and Concern PCM guidelines.
• Ensure that effective monitoring and evaluation systems are established and are implemented in line with Concern policies in so far as is possible within DPRK, to measure impact of the programmes for the programme participants.
• Develop and maintain productive working relationships with donors, and be responsible for undertaking country level negotiations related to funding, programming and reports.
• Provide management support to programme and support staff.
• Ensure that all programmes are implemented and satisfactorily completed according to programme agreed plans and budgets.
• Maintain effective communication and liaise with Concern Head Office in Dublin and Regional staff (IT and Finance).

Human Resource Management

• Line manages staff and be responsible for the overall management and development of national and international staff of Concern DPRK.
• Ensure that there are up-to-date job-descriptions for all staff.
• Ensure that regular staff Performance and Development Review (PDR) is established and that PDR’s are undertaken at all levels.
• Ensure transfer of information through meetings and discussions with national and international staff, including discussions on programmes, policies, operational and management issues.

Financial Management

• Responsible for the overall financial management of Concern DPRK, including budget preparation, revision and monitoring.
• 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.
• Ensure that internal and donor financial reports are submitted on time through consultation with the Regional Accountant.

Policies and Procedures

• Understand and adhere to all Concern policies and procedures.
• Ensure compliance with Concern’s Programme Participant Protection policy (P4)
• Ensure all staff are familiar with appropriate policies and procedures and are effectively implementing them.
• Ensure that support systems are in place in accordance with Concern’s procedures and manuals in order to ensure transparency and accountability to programme participants, donors, government and other key stakeholders.
• Responsible for security and safety of Concern personnel and resources and review Security Management Plan annually.
• Responsible for annual review of the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) - 2012-2016.

Representation and Networking

• Represent Concern in DPRK and maintain coordination and networking relationships with the government, donors, UN agencies, embassies and other INGOs.
• Represent Concern at meetings, functions and events organised by government, donors and embassies.
• Promote and protect the reputation of Concern in external settings, ensuring that the organization’s experience and expertise is well communicated and consistently presented, and that we are looked to as a professional organisation.
• Respect, uphold and actively support the broader CW organisational development initiatives within the context of DPRK programme e.g. Equality, Disaster Risk Reduction, Advocacy, Program Participant Protection, the Environment and Capacity Building.

Technical expertise

• Responsible for the sound provision of technical advice in line with How Concern Understands Extreme Poverty (food security and nutrition and WASH) in the DPRK context to the staff members
• Responsible for the sound provision of technical advices about programme cycle management, project proposal development, finance management, logistics and administration.

Emergency preparedness and response

• As part of Concern’s mandate and within the DPRK context, be prepared to prepare for, mitigate against and respond to emergencies should they occur.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

ESSENTIAL

Education, Qualifications & Experience Required: 

• Third level qualification in appropriate field:  Masters in Development related discipline, public health, agriculture, natural resources management and environment.
• At least five years (overseas) experience in similar or related senior management position in a NGO environment
• Experience of programme development and programme management (including preparation of proposals and reports)
• Experience of staff management, administration and logistics function
• Proven experience of budget / finance management
• Experience in building relations with donors and securing external donor co/funding.
• Strong leadership skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and ability to represent Concern effectively in DPRK.
• Delegation, time management and prioritizing skills and coping with broad range of demands.
• Strong knowledge of Concern Policies and Procedures and Affinity with organisational values, mission and vision, commitment to humanitarian principles.

Special Skills, Aptitude or Personality Requirements:

• Sense of humour and an ability to keep things in perspective
• Sensitivity and understanding of DPRK cultural and social mores
• Diplomacy
• Strong negotiation Skills

DESIRABLE

Education, Qualifications & Experience Required:

• Programme experience in areas of water and sanitation, food security and nutrition and environmental protection in restrictive environment.
• Previous Concern experience at a management level.
• Knowledge of HAP.
• Experience of managing major donor grants such as EU, SIDA, Irish Aid.

Special Skills, Aptitude or Personality Requirements:

Good training and facilitation skills.

Any Other Special Requirements:

International Driving licence necessary if wishing to drive in country (recommended)

Good knowledge of Microsoft word, excel and PowerPoint. Solid knowledge on Concern policies and systems is desirable.

All applications should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date…. 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 OR Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer posts before the closing date.

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.