Operations Director – Afghanistan

Job Title: Operations Director

Reports to: Country Director

Terms: This is a 24-month, replacement role with non-accompanied terms.

Location: Taloqan, Afghanistan

Salary: GB7 €51,861 - €57,623

Requirements: The role is based in Taloqan, Afghanistan with frequent travel between Kabul, Taloqan, Kunduz and Badakhshan.

Role Purpose: You will be responsible for the overall management of Concern Afghanistan support functions, which comprise administration, HR, and logistics including procurement, warehousing and fleet management. You will ensure appropriate systems are in place to meet programme needs, while ensuring the effective and efficient use of Concern’s resources. As a member of the Country Management Team, you will provide strategic direction to Concern Afghanistan. You will also supervise security management in country.

Responsibilities:

Strategic leadership - as part of the Country Management team

• Contribute actively to the Country Management Team (CMT), the Country Strategic Plan and other country-level strategies, including emergency readiness and security planning. Translate country priorities and programme needs into coherent operational plans, systems and resourcing decisions.
• Advise the Country Director and CMT on operational risk, organisational capacity, compliance, access, cost and value for money.
• Represent the operations of Concern in Afghanistan with authorities at provincial and when needed at central (Kabul) level.
• Represent Concern in relevant operational coordination forums and build constructive relationships with peers and external stakeholders. Ensure support functions are prepared to scale and adapt for emergency response and participate actively in responses when required.

External engagement, legal compliance and inclusive operations

• Lead and coordinate engagement and representation with provincial and national authorities, including relevant authorities in Kabul, on operational, legal, access and administrative matters.
• Ensure timely organisational registration, licenses, permits, visas, work and travel authorisations, and compliance with applicable national legal and administrative requirements.
• Oversee legal advice and, with the Country Director, the management of legal matters affecting Concern’s operations.
• Negotiate, maintain and monitor appropriate arrangements that enable female staff to access offices and participate safely and meaningfully in Concern’s work.
• Identify and proactively manage constraints affecting female staff access and operations, escalating significant risks and decisions through the appropriate management and security channels.
• Ensure government authorisations and related commitments are tracked, implemented and renewed in a timely manner.

Security, access, risk and assurance

• Lead security and operational access management as Concern Afghanistan’s National Security Focal Point, working with field focal points and programme teams.
• Ensure the Security Management Plan and relevant procedures remain current, context-appropriate, understood and implemented, and that offices and international staff residences meet required security, health and safety standards.
• Participate in relevant security and access forums, maintain appropriate information flows and support timely decisions when conditions change.
• Ensure risk management, governance and internal controls operate effectively, audits are completed as required, and agreed recommendations are implemented.
• Assure compliance with Concern and donor requirements across support functions, and escalate material risks to the Country Director and CMT.

People Management

• Lead, develop and hold accountable the managers and teams responsible for HR, administration, logistics, procurement, fleet, facilities, assets and IT, ensuring clear priorities and effective collaboration with programme and finance colleagues. Ensuring Concern is fully compliant with national employment legislation and requirements and global HR policies and procedures and identify strategic training development.
• Ensuring staff are trained on Safeguarding and that mechanisms to report and reduce potential for abuse are functioning effectively,
• Promote an inclusive staffing structure including gender, ethnicities etc.
• Ensuring an effective performance development review (PDR) system is in place and ongoing training is provided to line managers and staff.

Operational delivery and resource stewardship

• Ensure reliable, efficient and accountable support services for all programme locations, including administration, facilities, travel, transport, fleet, procurement, contracting, warehousing, assets, communications and IT.
• Oversee procurement planning, tendering and contracting so that goods and services are delivered transparently, competitively, on time and with value for money.
• Ensure stores, assets, vehicles, offices and accommodation are safe, fit for purpose, properly controlled and managed in line with Concern and donor requirements.
• Lead planning and monitoring of support-function budgets and national staff costs, address significant variances and identify responsible efficiencies.
• Use management information to monitor operational performance, service quality and emerging constraints, and agree corrective action with relevant managers.

Accountability

• Promote and ensure compliance with Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) commitments and quality criteria
• Ensure that all staff are familiar with the principles underpinning accountability, safeguarding and Concern's Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) and ensure that information about Concern's commitments on accountability and safeguarding are disseminated among programme participants and communities
• Ensure that the CRM is functional, effectively implemented and accessible in all programme locations, enabling safe reporting of both programmatic and sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns
• Ensure that complaints are welcomed, managed and responded to in a timely, fair and appropriate manner; ensure that sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns, are handled with utmost confidentiality and that the safety of the complainants and those affected is prioritised at all stages.

Other

• Any other related duties as assigned by the Country Director
• Adhere fully to the commitments and rules of Concern’s Code of Conduct and its Associated policies, including the respect of confidentiality.

Role Holder Requirements:

• Relevant degree or equivalent professional experience in operations, management, supply chain, HR, administration or a related field.
• Substantial senior operational leadership experience in an INGO, humanitarian organisation or comparable complex international setting, including leadership through managers and multidisciplinary teams.
• Depth of expertise in at least one operational function, with sufficient breadth to lead HR, administration, logistics, procurement, fleet, facilities, assets and IT through specialist teams.
• Demonstrated ability to design, strengthen and assure operational systems that enable programme delivery and meet organisational, legal and donor requirements.
• Experience engaging and negotiating with government authorities and other external stakeholders on sensitive operational, legal, access or administrative matters.
• Experience managing security and operational access in an insecure, volatile or highly constrained context.
• Strong risk, internal control, compliance, resource-planning and budget-management capability.
• Proven leadership, communication, negotiation, judgement and prioritisation skills, including the ability to make timely decisions under pressure.
• Fluent written and spoken English.
• Willingness and ability to be based in Taloqan and travel frequently between Kabul, Taloqan, Kunduz and Badakhshan
• Commitment to safeguarding, equality, accountability, Concern’s values and inclusive ways of working.
• Empathy with Concern’s vision, mission, goal and objectives and commitment to capacity building, protection and participation.

Desirable

• Previous experience in a context with comparable regulatory, access and security constraints to Afghanistan
• Experience working with Concern Worldwide and knowledge of its policies and procedures.