CHARITY JOBS IN AFRICA

Organization: Concern Worldwide
Country: Central African Republic
Closing date: 15 Nov 2014

Reference:CD CARCountry: Central African Republic (CAR)Job Title: Country Director

Contract Grade: D

Date Needed By: early 2015

Accompanied / Unaccompanied: Unaccompanied

Exact Job Location: Bangui

Reports To: Emergency Director or Regional Director

Responsible For: Senior Programmes and Systems Staff

Job Purpose:

The Country Director is responsible for the management of all of Concern’s programme activity in the Central African Republic. The Country Director will oversee and manage Concern’s engagement in emergency response, long-term development work and related advocacy activities; in this way the position will contribute to the targets set out in the organisation’s strategic plan. It is expected that our programme work will meet international operating standards and follow best practise.

As this is a new Country Programme for Concern the initial months will focus on establishing our presence in the country, establishing the relevant networks and relationships to support Concern’s presence in CAR and proposing the initial Country Programme direction and implanting emergency response activities. Initial programme direction is expected to be focused on the needs of the communities affected by the on-going civil unrest.

Main Duties & Responsibilities:

1. Oversee the development of the strategic plan for the Central Africa Republic, ensuring that it demonstrates:
2. that Concern is adequately prepared to respond to sudden and slow onset emergencies.
3. that development programmes are addressing the needs of the extreme poor and are in line with agreed programme policies and strategies.
4. that advocacy opportunities relevant to the needs of the extreme poor are identified and progressed;
5. Ensure programmes and projects are designed, implemented, monitored and evaluated so that learning is optimised, internal and external standards are met and best practise is adhered to;
6. Develop a funding strategy for the Country Programme that includes co-funding from institutions and general donation income and work closely with major institutional donors with a view to optimising co-financing for programmes;
7. Develop a Country Programme team ensuring that there is a clearly defined management structure and job descriptions for all staff.
8. Manage the Country Programme team in line with the organisation’s procedures; in particular ensure that the Programme Participant Protection Policy and Code of Conduct is rolled out across the Country Programme;
9. Ensure that adequate mechanisms to assess and monitor the security environment are in place and that security measures mitigate identified risks;
10. Lead the development and implementation of the Country Security Management Plan and Standard Operating Procedures ensuring that the organisation’s management practises are reflected within these;
11. Work closely with the Country Finance Controller to manage the financial affairs of the Country Programme, ensuring compliance with the organisation’s procedures and external best practice as well as donor and regulatory requirements;
12. 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;
13. Represent Concern as appropriate with donors and other key stakeholders, including the Alliance 2015, and contribute to the development of policy formulation and best practice in the sector within CAR;
14. Ensure that relationships and formal agreements with the government are established, maintained and updated as appropriate;
15. Maintain effective communication and liaise with Concern Head Office in Dublin;
16. Maintain relevant contact with the various fundraising offices, Republic of Ireland (Fundraising and New Business Development), United Kingdom, and United States, in order to ensure the required on-going support for the Country Programme;
17. Accept, advance and pursue any new objectives or responsibilities that may be assigned by the line Manager, including transfer of existing duties and/or re-assignment to other responsibilities should the organisation so require;
18. Ensure that the organisation’s values and policy commitments, including accountability and equality, are reflected in our programming work.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

The appointee must be passionate about the aims and objectives of Concern.

The following are essential:

• Master’s degree in Humanitarian Assistance, Business Administration, Development Studies or equivalent;
• Ten years’ experience of working in the international NGO arena of which at least five years are at a senior management level;
• Experience of managing Country Programmes in humanitarian contexts;
• Fluency in French and English;
• Willingness to live and travel in a complex insecure environment.

Concern Worldwide’s Core Competencies

This is a key leadership position; potential candidates are expected to demonstrate significant ability in the following areas:

• Leadership;
• Communicating and working with others;
• Delivering results;
• Planning and decision-making;
• Managing yourself;
• Creativity and innovation;
• Influence, advocacy and networking;
• Change management

How to apply:

All applications should be submitted to swaweru@sri-executive.com by the closing date.
Please do not apply via the Concern website for this position.

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.