Country Director 231 views

Duration of the mission: 12 months

Location: Maiduguri or Abuja (with frequent and regular visits to Maiduguri)

ABOUT THE MISSION IN NIGERIA

SI opened its mission in Nigeria in August 2016, establishing its coordination in Maiduguri. With the support of the Emergency DESK, SI mission was able to quickly acquire operational capacity, which was first deployed in Borno State, for implementation of WASH and Food Security Programming. Over the course of 2017-2018, SI expanded the geographical scope of its intervention, and established presence in Monguno, Ngala and Dikwa. The current political and military crisis has affected millions of lives in Nigeria and SI is addressing the needs of displaced populations and host communities in Borno State with a specific expertise in WASH, Food Security and Livelihood (FSL), Shelter and response to AWD/Cholera outbreaks.

For the year 2020; the mission has a forecasted budget of more than 9M €. The mission operates from Abuja and Maiduguri, where the coordination is based, and from 4 operational field bases located in Maiduguri, Monguno, Ngala and Dikwa. The mission is composed of about 20 expatriates and 190 national staffs and is currently funded by Europaid, ECHO, OFDA, CDC and the UN (NHF, WFP).

ABOUT THE JOB

The Country Director is the Solidarités International official representative in a country.

• 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 Responsibilities:

• Coordination and strategic orientation:
• Relevance and operational quality / operations monitoring
• Resource management
• Human Resource Management (20 expats and 190 national Staffs)
• Security
• Relationships with financial donors / fund-raising
• Internal and external communication
• Representation
• Advocacy on key issues

ORG CHART POSITION (reporting and functional relationships)

Line manager: HQ Desk Manager

Line report(s) on base:

• Direct Management: 4 Field Co, HR Co, Fin Co, Log Co, Deputy CD (Programs) and Security Manager
• Indirect Management: 20 expats / 190 National Staffs

Functional manager: HR Expatriate Manager (HQ) for HR issues

Specific Stake and Challenges:

Opened in 2016, Nigeria mission remains quite young and has grown rapidly, which involves associated challenges in terms of national staff capacity, expatriate recruitment and retention (the mission has been experiencing a lot of turnover among expatriates, and several gaps in key management positions). While a lot of work has been done to structure the mission, and strengthen local capacities, enforcement of established roles and responsibilities, as well as of SI standard procedures, remains a continuous effort.

The security context being very volatile, a constant monitoring of the situation is required to adapt and enforce the security procedures on the 4 bases.

Priorities for the 2/3 first months:

• Continuous context monitoring, update and enforcement of security protocols and access management
• Focus on HR set-up finalization and internal communication/mechanisms, to continue to improve mission performance, structure.
• Focus on working environment and team building
• Roll out of the 2020 operational strategy
• Development of existing /new partnerships with other humanitarian actors

Implementation and follow-up of the recommendations made by internal / external auditors to ensure full compliance of the mission operations.

YOUR PROFILE

Education and Experience

• Master Degree in humanitarian/development studies, social sciences, management or other related discipline.
• Minimum 4 years overseas experience working with an international humanitarian/development NGO, with significant program, team and financial management experience;
• Minimum 2 years in a similar position
• Experience of working and managing security in insecure environments
• Proven management ability, including ability to motivate and develop skills of team’s members. Must be able to make sound management decisions in difficult situations and also be able to work in a participatory manner with colleagues.
• Previous experience and achievements in managing a consortium and strong partnerships with other NGOs (MoUs, negotiations, governance…)
• Proven ability to deal with donors and operational partners.
• Proven ability to develop adapted humanitarian vision and strategy.
• Experience working with SI (or a similar organization) is an asset
• Prior experience in Nigeria would be considered as an asset

Skills and Qualities

• Strong knowledge of donors’ policies and guidelines;
• Strong knowledge of the project cycle management;
• Strong knowledge of principled-based approaches and advocacy skills;
• Excellent communication, networking skills, organizational and prioritization skills, ability to multi-task
• Excellent reporting and writing skills
• Capacity to adapt and show organizational flexibility
• Cross cultural sensitivity and great team player
• Mature and solid leadership
• Fluent English is a must
• Knowledge of French is an asset
• Computer literacy with very good command of MS Office

SI WILL OFFER YOU

A salaried post: according to experience from 3300 euros gross per month (3000 base salary + 10% annual leave).

Per Diem: 600 USD / month.

Social and medical cover: Expatriates benefit from an insurance package which reimburses all healthcare expenses (including medical and surgical expenses, dental care and ophthalmological expenses, repatriation) and a welfare system including war risks. Essential vaccination and antimalarial treatment costs are refunded.

Vacation: During the assignment, a system of alternation between work and time off is implemented at the rate of one break every three months. Our policy was just modified: from now on, Solidarités offers you 7 working days ever three months, with a 850 USD allowance for each break. In addition to these regular break, SI adds a day off per worked month. These days off as well as the breaks are not deducted from the paid leaves that are paid every months with your salary as they are offered by the organization.

For further information about Solidarités International, please consult our website:

Living conditions

The Country Director is ideally based in Maiduguri, where all the coordination team and the Deputy Country Director for Programs are based, as well as the totality of NGO working in Borno State.

In Maiduguri the base offers a comfortable environment, in spite of limited movements outside of the compound for security reasons. The Guest House offers good living conditions, with private bedroom and bathroom and shared and comfortable common spaces.

A significant and regular representation of SI in Abuja remains essential, about the 50% his/her time, for coordination purposes, donor relations, security planning, advocacy and administrative reasons.

Candidate request to be based in Abuja could also be considered. However, a minimum of 50% of his/her time should be spent in Maiduguri.

Life in Abuja is comfortable and safe. Abuja has good markets, good international schools, high standard medical services, comfortable and safe housing.

In Abuja, all minimum criteria are reunited to benefit of a Family pack, according to SI policy.