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Roving Country Director
Relief International (RI)
Director and Top Executive Full-time
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Posted 1 year ago
Job Description

Roving Country Director

Location:
International
Position Location:
Remotely based

Description

Title:           Roving Country Director

Department: Middle East Region

Location:     Roving Position, with extensive travel in the Middle East region (home-based but on deployment estimated 80% of the year)

Reporting to: Regional Director

Direct reports: As per each assignment

Budget responsibility: As per each assignment

ABOUT Relief International.

Relief International (RI) is a leading non-profit organization working in 15 countries to relieve poverty, ensure the well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and chronic poverty with a focus on the four RI sector pillars: Health, WASH, Education, and Economic Opportunity.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach — which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships, and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design, and implement the solutions that work best for them.

RI includes the four corporate members of the RI Alliance: RI-US, RI-UK, MRCA/RI-France, and RI-Europe.  Under our alliance agreement, we operate as a single, shared management structure.

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About our Region.

RI operates in six countries in the Middle East region: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen. RI currently employs more than 3,500 staff (direct and indirect) in the Middle East region and implements a range of emergency response and development programs valued at approximately $70 million USD on an annual basis. The majority of RI’s programming in the region is focused on Health, but also includes RI’s other three pillars of expertise (Economic Opportunity, Education, and WASH).

Position Summary.

As a member of the Middle East Regional Team, you will be home-based with availability to deploy at short notice to any of RI’s countries in the region, including remote and insecure locations, according to RI strategic priorities. The majority of deployment assignments will be for a Country Director role to fill gaps in coverage (ie, between CD-ships, maternity leave, extended medical leave, etc). While priority will be as gap-filling for the Country Director role, other leadership roles may also be filled as needed, including but not limited to: Deputy Country Director, Program Director, Program Manager, etc. Gap filling at the regional level and/or leadership in the start-up of new country missions and/or large-scale projects will also be required if needed. The Roving Country Director is a strategic role in ensuring continuity in management, mobilization, and effective scale-up and quality of RI programs in the region. The Roving Country Director will be part of the regional team and participate in internal coordination meetings and other region-driven initiatives as relevant when not on deployment assignment. It is anticipated that this position will be deployed up to 80% of the year.

*Note: in case of multiple CD vacancies in RI’s other region (Africa/Asia), the Roving Country Director may be requested exceptionally to gap-fill for a post in RI’s Africa/Asia region.

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Key Responsibilities and Duties.

Key Responsibilities and Duties of the job-holder will be the same as those of the position for which the job-holder is deployed, in addition to participation in other regional tasks as requested. Indicative areas of responsibility and duties are below.

People and Program Management

  • Assume overall management and oversight of country programs, coordinate project implementation plans and budgets within the framework of the agreed emergency response programme, establish strong partnerships and networks
  • Mobilize donor resources to allow the start-up of a RI Country Program, based on ongoing needs consistent with the RI global strategy.
  • Work closely with the Regional Team to support response in a timely and effective way to urgent needs.
  • Represent RI as a focal person on a national, regional, and international level with external stakeholders, including humanitarian partners, donors, authorities, etc. Establish systems for communication with local Government partners, relevant line departments, and community representatives in the project area(s).
  • Advise and ensure that programs meet stated objectives, are in line with RI’s philosophy and strategy, and monitor programme objectives, outputs, indicators, and activities.
  • Monitor and analyze, identify and address gaps and weaknesses so as to improve overall country program performance, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Grant Management and Development

Deliver and monitor effective grants management, secure strategic funding opportunities and develop proposals based on identified gaps and needs in strict compliance with RI national and global policies and procedures and with relevant donor regulations and agreements.

Financial Management

  • Oversee the financial health and management of the Country Office.
  • Through the Regional Finance Manager, support all audit processes across the region
  • Support the implementation of all relevant audit recommendations at the regional and country level

Risk and Security management

Work closely with Regional SMT on anticipating and mitigating programmatic and organizational risks, through introducing and ensuring constant improvement of country teams through systematic approaches, including but not limited to country risk registers, monthly country-level reporting, monthly portfolio review, incident management process, security planning and reporting, etc.

Prioritize building and improving security capacity and processes at the country level, ensuring internal policies for security are followed. Lead the roll-out and follow-up of compliance and due diligence policies and procedures in the country office, in coordination with regional team members.

Ethics and Compliance

  • Ensure efficient and effective compliance measures and prompt and successful resolution of audits and investigations of alleged noncompliance and/or ethical issues.
  • Oversee implementation of effective compliance communication and training programs for regional team and country teams as well as other efforts to promote an enterprise culture of integrity and compliance, both for new and existing employees.

Financial Management

  • Oversee the financial health and management of the Country Office.
  • Through the Regional Finance Manager, support all audit processes across the region
  • Support the implementation of all relevant audit recommendations at regional and country level

Incident Reporting and Management

  • Lead incident management at country level; ensuring investigations are correctly reported to Incident and Crisis Management Teams
  • In coordination with the Global Support Office Incident and Crisis Management Team, ensure incidents are reported to the appropriate donors and regulatory authorities, as appropriate

Safeguarding

  • Uphold and promote RI’s commitment to ensuring the safeguarding and safety of the vulnerable communities we serve.
  • Consistent with RI’s safeguarding and protection policies, ensure all people who come into contact with Relief International are as safe as possible.
  • Support systems that create and maintain an environment that prevents sexual exploitation and abuse and promotes the implementation of the Code of Conduct and safeguarding policies.

Culture and leadership

  • You will ensure a positive and productive work environment which is free from harassment and bullying.
  • Ability to demonstrate sensitivity and understanding of diversity and cultural differences, gender issues and the commitment to equal opportunities

Experience and skills required for the role .

  • Track record of achievement in a previous, similar role. Proven field experience in team management, having served as Country Director or equivalent previously; finance and administration; donor relations; and inter/intra-agency communications in progressively senior roles
  • Demonstrated record in collaborating with local governments, rural communities, other NGOs U.N. Agencies and other international emergency response and development actors.
  • Experienced in representation on a national, regional and international level to donors, partners, relevant government bodies, the media and members of the humanitarian community.
  • Demonstrated project cycle management skills, inclusive of work plan/ timeline/ deliverables/ and budget tracking and course correction.
  • Willingness to travel, sometimes at short notice, as required for the successful implementation of the role.
  • Ability to work and manage a highly complex security situation, emergency context, programs in remote and unstable environments.
  • Strong understanding and experience in risk management.
  • Strong preference given to candidates with prior experience in Middle East.
  • Proficient English language writing and verbal skills are required.

RI Values.

Guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, as well as “Do No Harm,” Relief International Values:

We value:

  • Integrity
  • Adaptability
  • Collaboration
  • Inclusivity
  • Sustainability

How to apply

To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button in the job advert page

You will be asked to upload a CV and Cover Letter.  The cover letter should be no more than 2 pages long and explain why you are interested in this post with Relief International and how your skills and experience make you a good fit.

Closing date. Please apply immediately we will be reviewing applicants on a rolling basis, therefore may withdraw the position for the job board closing date.

Please apply by uploading your cover letter and up-to-date CV on our website.

Due to limited resources, only short-listed candidates will be contacted

Relief International is committed to protecting our staff and the communities we work with from abuse and harm including sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and sexual harassment.

All staff are expected to abide by our Code of Conduct.

Recruitment to all roles in Relief International include a criminal records self-declaration, references and other pre-employment checks, which may include police and qualifications checks.



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