Country Director Job at Solidarites International

Solidarites International For over 35 years, the humanitarian aid organization Solidarités International has been committed to providing aid in the event of conflict and natural disasters. Our mission is to provide aid as quickly and as efficiently as possible to endangered populations by meeting their vital needs: drinking water, food and shelter.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Position: Country Director
Job number: SRH03312
Job Location: Maiduguri, Borno (80%) with frequent travels to Abuja (20%)
Contract Type: Short term contract
Duration of the mission: 1 year 
Desired start date: February 2019

Context

• The northeast Nigeria context is complex with areas of acute humanitarian emergency, early recovery and fluctuating and volatile security situations in different parts of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.
• Ongoing hostilities between the Nigerian military and non-state armed groups result in attacks on civilians, destruction of infrastructure and disruption of key services leading to cycles of displacement.
• According to OCHA, 7.7 million people were in need of life-saving assistance in 2018. In the Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, 1.8 million people are internally displaced and human rights violations continue to be reported daily.
• Over 80% of internally displaced people (IDPs) are in Borno State, the epicentre of the crisis, and over 60% are living in host communities, making it harder to access them with assistance and putting additional pressure on the already stretched resources of these communities.
• Solidarites International opened the Nigeria mission in mid-2016. Starting with a single project, this mission has quickly expanded and SI is now a major WASH and shelter actor in the Borno State.
• The current political and military crisis has affected millions of lives in the area and SI is answering the needs of displaced populations and host communities in Borno State. The targeted areas of intervention are WASH, shelter, logistics, food security and livelihood.

Programs currently running:

• Multi-sectorial WASH and FSL project funded by EuropeAid over 3 years in consortium lead by ALIMA –  started in January 2018 in Monguno, Ngala, Askira/Uba
• Logistic Platform project funded by WFP in Monguno
• Emergency WASH and Shelter response funded by OFDA – Maiduguri, Monguno, Dikwa, Ngala
• Emergency WASH in Health funded by ECHO - in partnership with ALIMA (leaded by SI) in Maiduguri and Monguno
• Emergency WASH funded by ECHO in Maiduguri, Monguno and Dikwa

This mission has potential to continue developing relevant and mandate-based interventions to cover the humanitarian needs in the area and to ensure a real humanitarian impact. 

The team is well staffed with very diverse profiles (former SI, former national staffs from several SI missions, various backgrounds and technicalities). Overall, the atmosphere is very good, people get along well and they love to play volleyball on Sundays.

Here are the key numbers and information about the mission:

• 5 bases (Maiduguri, Abuja, Dikwa, Ngala and Monguno) plus Coordination Office in Maiduguri.
• The number of expatriates is around 23
• The national staff are approximately 190
• The total budget of the mission is around 8 million euros

General Overview

• The Country Director is the official representative of SI in Nigeria. S/He is in charge of the smooth running of the mission.
• S/He proposes mission strategy, according to the geopolitical and humanitarian context, and ensures its implementation once it has been validated.
• S/He monitors projects, ensuring that they are progressing in accordance with the Solidarités International charter and complying with internal and contractual procedures.
• S/He mobilizes the material and financial resources necessary for the programs to run effectively and supervises the administration of these resources.
• S/He coordinates the teams in place and ensures their security on the mission.
• S/He is the direct liaison for Solidarités International HQ.

Main Tasks
Coordination and strategic orientation:

• Monitor and analyze the humanitarian, political, cultural, social and economic context
• Propose and develop an operational strategy consistent with the association’s policies and population’s needs
• Define a plan of action for putting this strategy in place
• Propose new operational directions as contexts change

Relevance and operational quality / operations monitoring:

• Guarantee the coordination, development, monitoring and evaluation of programs implemented on the mission
• Ensure the relevance, quality and consistency of programs
• Ensure that programs are implemented in accordance with annual operational strategy, Solidarités International technical requirements and financial donor criteria

Resource management:

• Propose and organize the Human, financial and logistic layout of the mission
• Ensure the financial resources and means necessary for the completion of projects are mobilized
• Guarantee that resources are used effectively

Human Resource Management:

• Build and maintain team dynamics that enable Solidarités International objectives to be carried out  effectively in the country
• Promote Solidarités International ethics and values
• Ensure that Solidarités International Human Resource policies and procedures are applied (recruitment, performance reviews, etc.)
• Ensure work-life balance for Solidarités International staff and maintain suitable working and living environments
• Manage the coordination team as well as staff s/he supervises directly

Security:

• Be responsible for the security of all teams and property on the mission, under the supervision of the HQ Desk Officer
• Monitor and analyze the security situation and ensure that teams clearly understand it
• Ensure every new arrival on the mission receives a geopolitical and security briefing
• Ensure that documents and procedures relating to security are regularly updated
• Ensure that everyone complies with security rules and procedures on the mission
• Ensure that a permanent security watch is put in place
• Deal immediately with any security incidents that may occur on the mission and alert HQ without delay

Relationships with financial donors / fund-raising:

• Monitor and analyze financial donor strategies
• Actively assist in fund-raising and ensure the mission’s financial stability
• Strengthen relationships between Solidarités International and financial donor representatives

Internal and External Communication:

• Ensure that deadlines are adhered to and that documents produced by the mission are of good quality
• Ensure compliance with formats and procedures in internal reporting
• Organize coordination meetings on a regular basis
• Ensure that key operational information is circulated correctly, on the mission and between the mission and HQ

Representation:

• Act as the Solidarités International official representative in the country for aid workers, local political and administrative authorities, the civil society and the media
• Attend humanitarian forums and relevant coordination meetings

Your Profile

• At least 3 years of experiences as Country Coordinator in volatile contexts
• Demonstrated experiences in conflict contexts and insecure environments, with consequent experiences in supporting emergency response programming, access negotiation and security analysis and management
• Previous experience in the region would be a strong asset
• Extensive program development and fund raising experience, including working with major institutional donors
• Problem-solving skills and ability to make decisions
• Outstanding communication skills, including excellent diplomacy skills with the ability to influence and negotiate
• Strong management skills
• Strong interest in the context and strong commitment to humanitarian work and principles.
• Good and proven writing and spoken English are required
• Organizational and analytical skills;
• Anticipation and self-organization capacities;
• Great work and stress management capacities;
• Ability to set up and orientate coordination mechanism in an operational way
• Ability to prior tasks and manage a large scope of work

Living Conditions

• Living conditions in Maiduguri are good. Private room, private bathroom. Many goods and variety of food is available. However, movements are restricted and a curfew is set up.

Application process: Does this description fit you? Please send us your CV and Cover letter in English.