Head of Office - South Sudan

Head of Office

Ajuong Thok, Unity State, South Sudan

Introduction

Danish Refugee Council / Danish Demining Group (DRC DDG) is a humanitarian non-governmental organisation founded in 1956 currently working in more than 30 countries worldwide. DRC DDG has worked in South Sudan since 2005 providing humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced people, to communities threatened by land mines and unexploded ordnances and Armed Violence Reduction (AVR) through conflict sensitivity and safe weapons storage.

Purpose of the post

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is looking for an experienced Head of Office with overall responsibility for the implementation of DRC’s programs in Pariang County, Unity State. The Head of Office will be part of DRC and DDG South Sudan’s Senior Management Team whilst at the same time reporting directly to the DRC Head of Programmes.

Background

The Danish Refugee Council has been in South Sudan since 2004 mainly working with returning refugees and internally displaced persons returning home after a long civil war. In 2012, DRC opened its operations in Upper Nile State (Maban County) to respond to the large influx of refugees coming from Blue Nile State in Sudan. In early 2013 DRC expanded its operations to Unity State, by setting up a new refugee camp, Ajuong Thok, to welcome refugees relocated from Yida as well as new arrivals from South Kordofan. Apart from building the new camp, DRC is responsible in Ajuong Thok for: Camp Management, Shelter, NFI distributions and Community Services. DRC is also implementing small infrastructure upgrading activities for the host community.

In 2012 DRC in South Sudan merged with the Danish Demining Group bringing together DRC’s protection activities and DDG’s AVR (armed violence reduction) activities as well as humanitarian mine action.

DRC’s main donors in Unity Satte are UNHCR and Danida. The Head of Office will be leading a team of 6 international staff and over 70 national staff.

DRC is a rights-based organisation and a member of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) and therefore committed to documenting our accountability to the beneficiary population and the impact of our activities. DRC adopts a community-based approach, where beneficiaries and local authorities are included in the prioritising, planning and implementation of activities as an important measure of rehabilitation and capacity building.

Duties

Reporting to the DRC Head of Programmes, the Head of Office has overall responsibility for the implementation of DRC’s projects in Unity State. The Head of Officeis the direct supervisor of the Ajuong Thok Camp Manager, Logistics Officer, and Head of Finance and Administration for Unity. Specific responsibilities include:

Management

• Oversight of camp management programs, protection mainstreaming, and host community programs
• Oversight of logistics, administration, human resources, finances
• Contribute to the strategic direction of the country operation through participation in strategy planning meetings and developing strategic documents.
• Overall responsible for managing the office in Ajuong Thok, including the overall financial budgeting and expenditures, staff management, administrative issues, security, logistics and other aspects pertaining to running of DRC offices, and adhering to DRC rules and guidelines
• Assess staff capacity and provide/recommend training and coaching to increase technical skills for improved project implementation as necessary.

Programmes

• Responsible for the programmatic and organisational development of DRC Unity operations
• Ensure synergy between different programmatic units, including a coordinated camp management approach under DRC’s leadership and a strong integration between camp management, community services, shelter and distributions activities
• Continuously monitor programme quality and develop relevant accountability initiatives in the field as well as strengthen the effort to document the impact of activities and DRC presence.

Finance, Administration, Human Resources, Logistics - Ensure that adequate staffing is in place, including an appropriate gender balance, and that all staff are trained on skills and values required, with particular attention to accountability, respectful dialogue with the refugees, and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. - Ensure that the organisations’ financial, logistics, security and human resources policies and procedures are fully implemented

Coordination

• Ensure good collaboration and maintain a pivotal role in the coordination of all actors involved, including UNHCR implementing partners and local authorities, as well as other donors and other humanitarian actors in the area
• Represent DRC and DDG in the area of operation Monitoring and Reporting
• Accounting for progress toward project objectives and the overall goals of DRC in Unity State
• Ensure that timely narrative and financial reports are provided to the Head of Programmes
• Responsibility for preparing outgoing public reports in close collaboration with the DRC Head of Programmes Security
• Ensure that appropriate information regarding security in the area is collected and shared
• Security planning, including development and regular updating of security and evacuation plans and measures for the area, as well as implementation of contingency plan
• Take appropriate action in case of security incidents, e.g. medical evacuations, in consultation with the Country Director and UNHCR Safety Advisor

Fundraising - Negotiate budgets at field level. - As the majority of the fundraising is done locally, the Head of Office will, under the leadership of the Country Director and Head of Programmes, take part in applying for funding and broadening of the funding base for DRC Unity. - Hosting regular donor and diplomatic missions to Ajuong Thok.

Qualifications

Required - At least 8 years’ proven and successful track record of project management experience - Direct experience and/or broad knowledge of themes relevant to conflict-affected or post-conflict countries, and specific operational experience with Emergency Response and Community Driven Development or Community Based Development programming - Ability to work effectively as an integral part of multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural team and to work with a wide range of government and civil society counterparts, and other partners - Experience with budget management, navigating financial systems and payments, and contracts management - Experience familiarity with systems and concepts for monitoring and evaluating project performance
- Post-graduate degree in Political/Social Sciences, Management, Economics, International Development or equivalent - Demonstrated experience delivering programs to tight deadlines - Fluency in written and spoken English with excellent writing skills is essential - Excellent human resource management skills, interpersonal skills, cross-cultural communication and ease in managing a multi-ethnic team

Preferable

• Demonstrated ability for rapid analysis of very complex issues, strong decision-making, and translation of programmatic learning and priorities into operational strategies
• Knowledge of local governance in post-conflict contexts, and of gender and inclusion strategies
• Prior experience in South Sudan a plus
• Self-motivated and able to work with a minimum of guidance
• Very strong computer skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook)

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

Conditions

Availability: As soon as possible

Duty Station: Ajuong Thok, Unity State

Contract: to mid-2014 (with possibility of extension).

Salary: Salary and other terms are in accordance with the Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment. The position will be placed at salary level A9.

Further Information

You are welcome to contact the DRC Head of Programmes, James Curtis at head.programme@drc-ssudan.org or Head of Sudan & South Sudan Unit, Scott Tind Simmons at scott.tind.simmons@drc.dk For general information about the Danish Refugee Council and Danish Demining Group, please consult www.drc.dk andwww.danishdemininggroup.dk

About DRC

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a private, independent, humanitarian organization working on all aspects of the refugee cause in more than twenty five countries throughout the world. The aim of DRC is to protect refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) against persecution and to promote durable solutions to the problems of forced migration, on the basis of humanitarian principles and human rights. DRC works in accordance with the UN Conventions on Refugees and the Code of Conduct for the ICRC and NGOs in Disaster Relief.

The protection and assistance to conflict affected population is provided within a long-term, regional and rights-based approach in order to constitute a coherent and effective response to the challenges posed by today’s conflicts. Assistance consists of relief and other humanitarian aid, rehabilitation, support to return and repatriation as well as promotion of long-term solutions to displacement and its causes. In addition, support and capacity building of local and national authorities and NGOs form an integral part of DRC’s work.

How to apply:

Application and CV

Only motivated applications that address the stipulated duties and meet the required qualifications sent together with a CV will be considered. Please provide references, but do not attach any written recommendations until requested to do so.

Please submit your application and CV in English and marked “Head of Office – South Sudan” no later 15th November 2013. CV-only applications will not be considered. Please note that applications are not to be sent to Mr. Curtis or Mr. Tind Simmons. We only accept applications sent via our online recruitment system onwww.drc.dk under About DRC/Vacancies/Current vacancies/Head of Office – South Sudan.

Applications sent directly to Mr. Curtis or Mr. Tind Simmons will not be considered.

Problems with on-line application? Please inform us via job@drc.dk, if you have questions to the application process or experience problems with your on-line application.