Area Coordinator at COOPI Cooperazione Internazionale

COOPI Cooperazione Internazionale, is a humanitarian, non-confessional and independent organization founded in 1965 in Milan, Italy. For more than 50 years we have been dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and to supporting populations affected by wars, socio-economic crises or natural disasters in their path to recovery and sustainable development, by making use of the professionalism of local and international operators, and through our partnerships with public and private bodies and civil society organizations.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Position: Area Coordinator
Job Locations
: (Potiskum, Damaturu) Yobe and Maiduguri, Borno.
Duration: 6 months, renewable
Starting Date: ASAP

Scope of the Vacancy

  • We are looking for 3 Area Coordinators for the bases of Potiskum, Damaturu and Maiduguri.
  • The Area Coordinator is responsible for the overall management, execution and reporting of the projects managed from his/her base.
  • He/she is directly assigned to, and responsible of the supervision of all logistics, HR, financial and overall functioning aspects for the projects and of the base.

Main Duties / Responsibilities
Under the direct supervision of the Head of Mission and in link with the Coordination, he/she ensures COOPI intervention coordination in his/her area of intervention. He/She:

Coordinates the implementation of the country strategy in his/her area of intervention:

  • Participate in the development and updating of the country strategy by providing information from the field
  • Ensuring the implementation in the field of the part of the country strategy for which he/she is responsible in collaboration with the head of Mission, the Program Coordinator and the project Managers.

Coordinates the implementation of programs in the field:

  • Coordinate and control the implementation of planned projects
  • Coordinate in the field the development of new projects in collaboration with program coordinator and project managers.
  • Supervise the support services activities at field level, in collaboration with the support department managers
  • Guarantee synergy between technical and support teams at field level
  • Ensure the implementation of recommendations from internal audits / departmental field visits / field assessments

Manages the team in his/her area of intervention:

  • Supervise and manage the members of his/her team under his/her direct responsibility
  • Participate in the recruitment of his/her direct team (for expatriate staff in his area of intervention at the request of the Head of Mission)
  • Monitor the social climate in its area of intervention and alert the Head of Mission in case of difficulties or social demands
  • Ensure the global management of training needs for his/her team
  • Encourage compliance with the charter and the fight against fraud and abuse of power and alert the Head of Mission in case of fraud or abuse of power.

Facilitates good relationship with coordination team:

  • Keep the coordination team informed about program delivery
  • Proactively solicit coordination team for any question that could jeopardize programs, funding; or the safety of teams and equipments
  • Ensure that field teams clearly articulate requests for support to the coordination team to maximize operational effectiveness and programs’ impact
  • In general, play a facilitating role between the “field” and the “coordination”
  • Manage the follow-up of recommendations from the technical and support departments

Represents COOPI and ensures relations with partners, authorities, UN agencies and NGOs in its area of intervention:

  • Coordinate and supervise all partnerships
  • Participate in humanitarian coordination activities
  • If necessary, implement at the local level the strategy and advocacy activities defined by the mission

Ensures the reporting and the communication:

  • Coordinate the reporting activities with the Program Managers in the field in accordance with donors and the HQ requirements (type and quality of information)
  • Coordinate the establishment of a program capitalization system to provide evidence to carry out advocacy activities
  • Implementation good communication practices

Manage the safety and security of his/her area of intervention:

  • Follow the evolution of the security environment (networking, gathering and analysis of information …)
  • Maintain an effective network with local stakeholders on issues of context and security, collect and analyze information to establish context analysis and risk analysis.
  • Regularly Update the Local Security Plan with the support of the Logistics Manager and the security officer and send it to the Head of Mission
  • Briefe teams on context and security
  • Guarantee compliance with safety rules with the support of the Logistics Department
  • Manage any security incidents and report to the Country Director
  • Actively participate in audits and ensure implementation of recommendations

Profile of the Candidate (Education, Training, Competences, Skills)
Minimum Requirements:

  • Master's Degree in Humanitarian field.
  • At least 3 years of working experience in/with INGO on project management and with at least 1-year experience as Head of base
  • Proven interest & commitment to humanitarian and development principles and a demonstrable understanding of conflict/post conflict development contexts
  • Experience in proposal writing, analysis, and report writing
  • Excellent in English (oral and written)
  • Experience in security management
  • Ability to plan, organize work, communicate and reports effectively (both in writing and verbally)
  • Proven ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines
  • Team player, effective communicator, successful negotiator, creative and analytical thinker, active learner, able to work in a multicultural environment
  • Excellent communication skills, calm, with a good sense of humour
  • Proven commitment to accountability practices
  • Ability to function effectively under stressful conditions such as heavy workloads, and deadlines.
  • Ability to leave in a restricted area with curfew.
  • Excellent Microsoft Office applications skills (Excel, Word, Power point, Emails, Skype, Web researchers)
  • Knowledge of and adherence to COOPI Code of Conduct, understands other international development guidelines.