Programme Director - Surge at Concern Worldwide

Members of Concern’s Surge Team will be deployed to various Concern country programmes for varying time periods ranging from six weeks up to six months. When not deployed, team members will work from home.

Contract details:

• 8 weeks annual leave increasing to 10 weeks after completion of first full year and R+R where applicable
• Up to 3 weeks home-based work
• All Surge Team members must be available to travel overseas within 24 hours of being requested to deploy
• Unaccompanied position

The job: You will respond quickly and flexibly to new and existing emergencies and provide support in the development of contextual analysis, programme design and implementation, the management of programme teams, and in the preparation of funding applications and donor reports. You will fill appropriate gaps in non-emergency programmes and existing chronic emergencies. This may require deployments in a specialist advisory as well as managerial capacity.

If you join us, this is what you will be doing:

Emergency Response

• Lead in emergency assessments
• lead in the design, delivery and management of emergency response programmes

Programme development and management

• Manage emergency responses as necessary
• Lead in developing high quality programmes in line with country strategies
• Develop and maintain effective relations with donors, UN and NGOs, and key government institutions to widen our impact, raise funds and stay responsive to changing needs
• As a member of the in country SMT, ensure stable leadership for Concern and coherence between programmes and systems
• Actively support and ensure the roll-out of accountability across the country programme
• Lead in the mainstreaming of HIV and AIDS, equality and disaster risk reduction
• Support the development and management of an effective learning system

Programme Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Support programme staff build and increase the quality of monitoring and evaluation
• Ensure that the monitoring and evaluation system is clear and that staff fully understand their role in this and receive feedback on the overall programme performance

Finance:

• Ensure that the Concern programmes are managed in accordance with approved budget and responsible for monitoring expenditure against budget of all programmes
• Ensure close management of all grants and contracts with responsibility for their execution effectively delegated through the programme teams
• Work with the Country Financial Controller (CFC), Country Director and Systems Director in-country to prepare and monitor programme budgets and provide the CFC with information necessary for the preparation and revision of country budgets

People Management:

• Line manage Programme and/or Area Managers as required
• With the HR Manager and the CD, ensure timely recruitment of staff, succession planning, and retention and staff development
• Ensure that systematic Performance and Development Review (PDR) processes are undertaken with all staff within the programme remit
• Conduct training and staff development needs assessments of programme staff and in consultation with the CD and HR Manager, ensure that the needs are addressed through sourcing and delivering appropriate training/ mentoring and follow-up

Management Team:

• Contribute to the effective management and development of Concern country programme through active participation in the Senior Management Team (SMT) and Country Management Team
• Actively participate in the development, revision and roll out of organisational and country specific policies and procedures
• Deputise for the CD when required

Security support:

• Assist in developing, revising and implementing the Security Management Plan, ensuring that security measures are appropriate to the context and adhered to by the programme team. Report all security matters to the CD

Accountability 

• promote and ensure compliance with the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) commitments and quality criteria
• ensure that all staff are familiar with the principles underpinning accountability, safeguarding and Concern's Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) and ensure that information about Concern's commitments on accountability and safeguarding are disseminated among programme participants and communities
• ensure that the CRM is functional, effectively implemented and accessible in all programmes' locations, enabling safe reporting of both programmatic and sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns 
• ensure that complaints are welcomed, managed and responded to in a timely, fair and appropriate manner; ensure that sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns, are handled with utmost confidentiality and that the safety of the complainants and those affected is prioritised at all stages.

Skills you will bring:

Essential:

• Third-level qualification in humanitarian studies or a related discipline
• At least five years’ experience of working in humanitarian contexts, of which at least two should have been at progressive management level
• Broad knowledge of programming from assessment through design to evaluation, and an appreciation of the different sectoral approaches
• Understanding of the gender implications of emergency responses
• Experience of working in insecure environments
• Familiarity with Sphere and other good practice standards
• Be a strong team player with a can do attitude
• Have a strong commitment to helping the poorest people in the world to improve their wellbeing and achieve their goals
• Ability to work to deadlines and under pressure
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, including being able to work effectively in English and French – written and spoken

Desirable:

• Experience in emergency assessment and response management, or other technical skills related to humanitarian response
• Experience in the use of participatory approaches in project design and implementation and understanding of key vulnerabilities

You will report to the Head of Emergency Operations overall and between deployments, and to the Country Director  while on deployment. You will manage relevant programme staff in country when deployed.

Closing Datee: 13th September. 2023