Danish Refugee Council Program Director - Nairobi

The NGO Safety Program (NSP) for Somalia / Somaliland is a program created by NGOs, which aims at supporting International and National NGOs to operate safely and securely in Somalia / Somaliland. NSP, initially called the NGO Security Preparedness and Support (NGO SPAS), was established in 2004 by NGOs operating in Somalia / Somaliland. NSP is administratively and legally hosted by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) to provide it with a legal and administrative framework, through which to fulfill its functions more efficiently, effectively and accountably.

NSP provides support to NGOs through 4 types of activities: Information and Analysis (Reports, briefs…), Training (Personal security, capacity building of NGOs), Response (incident management support…), SPU facilitation for Puntland and Somaliland.

NSP is currently funded by ECHO, DFID, CHF, SDC. All NSP services are free of charge for NGOs.

Purpose

The Program director has 4 core responsibilities:

•To be NSP official representative

•To provide leadership and give strategic direction to NSP

•To mobilize and manage NSP staff and resources to achieve NSP strategy

•To provide a high and operational level of understanding of the Somali context to NGOs

Hierarchy

•Reports to the NSP Steering Committee

•Manages directly:

•the Information and Analysis Manager,

•the Training Manager,

•the 3 Area Managers (Mogadishu, Puntland, Somaliland)

•the Senior Administration and Finance Officer

•Manages indirectly the 40+ staff of NSP

Key responsibilities

The list of responsibilities is not exhaustive: other tasks maybe requested to adapt operational needs.

Representation / coordination with External actors

•Represent NSP and participate systematically in all coordination meetings relevant to NSP mandate (Security Cell, NGOs meeting, OCHA meetings, NGO consortium meetings etc...)

•Ensure NSP mandate is known and correctly understood by all stakeholders

•Maintain the strong NGO oriented culture (neutrality, impartiality) and identity of NSP

•Pro-actively liaise and ensure good rapport with Local Authority Officials, Elders and any other relevant stakeholders

•Pro-actively liaise and ensure good rapport with NGOs, UN Agencies, particularly UNOCHA and UNDSS, and any other relevant stakeholders

•Initiate and propose when relevant new coordination mechanisms (meetings, reports, communications...) to ensure better security for NGOs

Coordination with Hosting agency, NGO Consortium and NSP Steering Committee

•Ensure good relations with the Hosting agency and respond pro-actively to its concerns

•Participate the quarterly meeting between NSP and the Hosting agency

•Ensure the Memorandum of Understanding between the Hosting Agency and NSP is respected and updated if necessary

•Ensure positive synergies (finances, mandate, image, activities) and collaboration with the NGO consortium

•Ensure the Steering Committee is consulted about NSP strategic decisions as per the Steering Committee Terms of Reference

•Initiate and call for Steering Committee quarterly meetings and draft the agenda with the NGO Consortium director

Strategy

•Lead and draft the NSP Strategy in broad consultation with NSP staff, NSP Steering committee and NGOs. Ensure proper validation of the Strategy by NSP Steering Committee.

•Ensure proper understanding of the NSP strategy by relevant actors (NSP staff, NGO Consortium, DRC, Donors)

•Draft the Logical Framework, the action plan, and the budget of reference based on this strategy

•Follow-up the action plan based on the strategy and reports against it

•Ensure regular and critical review of the Strategy and of the documents of reference

General Management

•Responsible for the general management of NSP

•Ensure NSP is a beneficiary oriented structure, and that all NSP staff are always available for NGOs

•Define and follow-up objectives for the different NSP departments (Analysis, Training, Support, Regional offices) according to NSP strategy and action plan

•Initiate and lead the senior staff meeting as well as the monthly staff meeting in Nairobi, in link with the NGO Consortium Director.

•Ensure team cohesion and organize regular team building events (i.e.: Quarterly NSP workshop in the field)

•Ensure regular visits to the fields in various duty stations

•Participate the capitalization and the development of the institutional memory of NSP (data base)

Donor relations / funding

•Responsible of the fund raising for NSP, with support of the Hosting agency and of the Steering Committee

•As such, actively and regularly engage with Donors, and draft relevant documents before submitting them to the Hosting agency (Proposals, reports, questions / answers)

Administration: Finances, Human resources and Logistics

•Signatory of most official documents (contracts, payments, purchase orders) in compliance of the Hosting agency rules and regulations and of the Kenyan law

•Responsible for the Finances, Human resources and logistics of NSP according to the Host Agency rules and regulation, in link with the Senior Administration and Finance officer

•Define and follow-up objectives to the Senior administration and Finance officer

•Ensure the department has access to the relevant means to conduct its activities

•Check and validates monthly accounts, budget follow-up and budget forecasts

•Ensure purchasing and costs are under control

•Ensure quality recruitment and sound HR management practices for the whole NSP staff

Information and Analysis

•Define and follow-up objectives to the department with the Information and Analysis Manager

•Ensure the department has access to the relevant means to conduct its activities

•Initiate and propose other relevant support documents for NGOs, in link with the Information and Analysis Manager

•Maintain a high level of knowledge and understanding of the Somalia context and of the NGOs operational constraints and practises

•Support the analysis team and keep a hands-on approach by participating in certain activities (Ad hoc brief, special report, advisories, Risk and Access maps, area brief etc...)

•Initiate and organize security assessments missions

•Be available to NGOs for any Ad-Hoc brief requests and prioritize them

Training

•Define and follow-up objectives to the department with the Training manager

•Ensure the department has access to the relevant means to conduct its activities

•Assist as a facilitator when required (i.e.: country director training)

Response

•Be available and reachable 24/7 for NGOs

•Propose immediate support to any NGOs experiencing a security incident: threat analysis, enquiry, kidnapping, support toward local authorities etc...

•Dispatch and allocate relevant NSP staff to support NGOs requests for assistance

•Ensure follow-up

SPUs

•Be the pro-active focal point for NSP in all SPU related fora, on behalf of NGOs, in link with the NGO consortium: SPU technical working group, Humanitarian Country Team, Donor group, any other high level meetings

•Ensure facilitation of SPU requests when relevant, on the field, by the field officers

•Ensure NGOs are aware of the SPU system and its requirements / constraints

Monitoring and Reporting

•Organize once a year the NSP satisfaction survey, after validation of the Steering Committee

•Organize the NSP External evaluation, in link with the Hosting agency and the Steering Committee, as per Donors’ regulations

•Ensure regular informal and formal feedback by NGOs on NSP performance

•Collect and analyse Sitrep from the field (area managers, Field officers) and visit regularly the field

•Collect and follow-up impact indicators as defined in the Logical frame-work of reference

Communication

•Ensure NSP website is updated and other information documents (leaflets) are updated

Security

•Responsible for the security of NSP staff

•Ensure security is managed as per the Hosting agency rules and regulations

•Ensure NSP show good practises and is exemplary

•Develop specific SOPs when relevant due to the particular nature of NSP mandate

Posting details

•This position is based in Nairobi with frequent travel to Somalia. Somalia is a hazardous environment the selected candidate must adhere to all security precautions and contribute to the security of the team. He must be able to exercise a large degree of common sense and personal discipline.

•The position requires the holder to be able to undertake tasking at short notice with due regard to the security environment

•The position requires the holder to be able to work effectively and efficiently unsupervised. The selected candidate must be able to plan and manage their own time effectively. The holder must exercise a strong work ethic and take responsibility for his/her own actions.

•This position requires a high degree of flexibility with respect to working hours

•The work undertaken will have a direct effect on the safety and security of individuals operating in Somalia. The successful candidate must be duly aware of this and be prepared to meet this challenge.

Qualifications & Experience

•Minimum Master’s degree, in Political Sciences, Social sciences, Development studies or other related field;

•Minimum 2 years of Experience of the Somali context at the highest level management level (Country director or Regional security manager) : in depth and deep operational knowledge of the Somali context and its security implications, and regular field visits, are absolutely mandatory

•Minimum of 7 years of working experience in a senior position within NGOs / UN, particularly within the field of security or field coordination

•Proven experience in high quality production Donor proposal and reports is mandatory

•Proven management experience of a medium size operation (40 staff; finances, logistics etc...) is mandatory

Skills and competences:

•Strong NGO background and adherence to humanitarian principles

•Excellent writing skills

•Demonstrated capacity to work with minimal supervision and maintain a high level of engagement.

•Demonstrated capacity to recognize when and where proactive action is required and to initiate timely and appropriate action.

•Demonstrated leadership capacity

•Demonstrated ability to make clear and articulated presentations of complex information

•Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to establish effective working relations with local staff and other stakeholders

•Calm and focused decision making

Conditions

Availability:

May, 2013.

Duty station:

Nairobi, Kenya, with regular trips to Somalia / Somaliland (50%). The selected candidate must adhere to all security precautions and contribute to the security of the team. Contract: 1 year renewable contract. Salary and other conditions in accordance with the Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Global Expatriates (available at www.drc.dk under Vacancies). This position is graded as A8.

Further information

You are welcome to contact NSP Program Manager Emmanuel Rinck on email: emmanuel@nspsomalia.org for further information on the programme and the position. Please note that applications are not to be sent to Mr.Rinck; we only receive applications via email to: info@somaliangoconsortium.org

For general information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult www.drc.dk.

Commitments DRC has a Humanitarian Accountability Framework, outlining its global accountability committments. All staff are required to contribute to the achievement of this framework.

How to apply:

Application and CV

Interested candidates who meet the required qualifications and experience are invited to submit updated CV and cover letter explaining their motivation and why they are suited for the post. Only motivated applications that address the stipulated duties and meet the required qualifications will be considered.

CV-only applications will not be considered. Please forward the application and CV, marked “NSP Program director”, no later than March 24th COB, 2013.

We encourage all qualified candidates to apply, irrespective of nationality, race, gender or age.