Danish Refugee Council, one of the world’s leading humanitarian NGOs, is currently looking for a highly qualified Area Manager to work in Ethiopia

DRC Ethiopia is in the process of significantly scaling up operations in southern Somali to respond to the critical, lifesaving needs resulting from the drought and acute food security crisis affecting the horn of Africa. DRC are responding through a combination of economic recovery and livelihoods, emergency response (cash-based and in-kind support), protection, shelter and WASH programming, with a funding portfolio and operational environment that are both highly dynamic.  The Area Manager (AM) is the most senior DRC staff member in their area of responsibility (AoR) and will be responsible for overseeing DRC’s scale-up in the southern Somali region, simultaneous to delivering on existing commitments.

About the job

The Area Manager is accountable for DRC’s results, impact and strategic goals in southern Somali, and is responsible for the coordination, management, development and representation of DRC’s work in their AoR.  Working with the Area Programme Manager, the AM oversees multi-sectoral programme implementation according to DRC Ethiopia’s country strategy, while working with the Support Services Manager to ensure that they are implemented in accordance with DRC and donor policies, procedures and compliance requirements.

The Area Manager is responsible for enabling a productive and accountable relationship with beneficiaries; community representatives; relevant governmental authorities; national and international NGOs, and UN Agencies in their AoR. As DRC’s primary representative in southern Somali, the AM also ensures a safe environment for DRC staff, beneficiaries and assets through a proactive, acceptance-building approach, in line with DRC’s global security framework.

The Area Manager – southern Somali will need to balance competing priorities in a fast-paced frontline emergency response and be able to take on critical management responsibilities simultaneous to providing strategic leadership in a complex humanitarian environment with significant access challenges.

Your main duties and responsibilities will be:

Programme Management and Quality

• Overall responsibility for the design, implementation and quality of DRC projects in the AoR. Accountable for ensuring projects are delivered in accordance with contractual commitments;

• Accountable for all budget management and financial planning in AoR to ensure the best use of resources in line with humanitarian need and value-for-money principles. Responsible for ensuring proper financial management practices are followed, including detailed budget reviews and accurate forecasting; proactively identify and flag variances with country office; management of area-level master budget, including oversight of staffing coverage and gaps, and resource scheduling;

• Ensure the development and implementation of all activities in line with Humanitarian Accountability Principles (HAP) and DRC programme policies, in particular, gender, age and disability;

• Ensure effective monitoring, evaluation and documentation of all activities and processes; ensure the analysis of data collected and the integration of findings and lessons learned throughout the humanitarian project cycle to inform programmatic decision making and improve the quality of services delivered;

• Accountable for ensuring project-level tools (e.g. work plans, budget trackers, procurement plans) are in place for all grants in AoR, and are regularly reviewed and updated;

• Accountable for internal and external programmatic reporting, ensuring inputs are high quality and provided in a timely fashion;

• Responsible for identifying technical support and training needs from country office technical teams; input into the design of key policies, processes and tools as required;

• Responsible for ensuring effective coordination between sector managers to ensure integrated, holistic, and efficient programming;

• Responsible for managing partnerships at the area level, in line with DRC Ethiopia partnerships model and structure;

People and Team Management

• Establish strong communication and clear roles and responsibilities within area team, holding regular management meetings and developing adaptive management processes to engender accountability and quality leadership;

• Accountable for ensuring that all staff in AoR have the required support to deliver on their professional commitments through ensuring that performance objectives, work plans and personal development plans are in place for all staff, and that performance reviews are conducted on a regular basis;

• Monitor staffing needs on an ongoing basis, including regular review of management structure of area office;

• Accountable for timely recruitment of staff, in line with agreed area office structure validated by SMT;

• Responsible for escalating critical human resource/staff management issues to the senior management team in a timely fashion;

• Ensure programme teams work closely with the support teams to deliver projects in alignment with DRC policies and procedures;  

• Encourage a positive and mutually supportive team spirit and working environment;

Programme Development and Strategy

• Ensure the implementation of the DRC Ethiopia country strategy at area-level, in close collaboration with the Head of Operations, Head of Programme, Head of Support Services and country office technical support teams;

• Accountable for ensuring timely and high quality technical and context-specific inputs into donor proposals and programme design processes;

• Accountable for the development of sector-specific targets and budget inputs into donor proposals;

• Required to be engaged strategically with all technical sectors as need and provide management oversight of programme staff and strategic input into technical processes at area level;

• To facilitate linkages and support with Country Office and Regional technical advisors and ensure quality design and implementation;

• Provide regular analysis on the context and humanitarian situation in AoR to ensure continued relevance of DRC’s programming to community needs;

• Responsible for partnership mapping in AoO;

Accountability to Affected Populations

• Accountable for ensuring DRC deliver on accountability to affected populations commitments in AoR, including ensuring robust community feedback and response mechanism is in place;

• Ensure programmatic adherence to DRC policies, procedures, guidelines, systems and standard practices, including commitments under the HAP and DRC’s accountability framework;

Representation and Coordination

• As the primary DRC representative in AoR, build and maintain close working relationships with sub-national clusters / technical working groups, UN agencies, and national and international organisations at the local level;

• Ensure appropriate DRC staff attend the ad hoc and regular meetings, clusters, technical working groups as applicable to DRC’s programme and work in the region;

• Engage with all stakeholders including community leaders, local and regional government, and humanitarian partners seeking opportunities for collaboration and cooperation;

• Proactively foster relationships with Government authorities and other relevant stakeholders in AoR;

• Manage donor, and other key stakeholder, visits to field sites as required;

Safety and Security                       

• Security focal point in AoR, with delegated authority as per CD authorisation;

• Accountable for ensuring area office security procedures are in line with DRC’s local policies and global MOSS requirements;

• Responsible for ensuring adherence to DRC’s safety rules, regulations and SOPs; conducting risk assessments and recommending mitigation measures and changes to local security protocols, in consultation with country Security Manager, Head of Operations and Country Director;

Job Requirements

About you

To be successful in this role we expect that you possess the following:

Required

• University degree in relevant field (required);

• Minimum 5 years high-level management experience overseeing humanitarian multi-sector, multi-donor programmes in complex and volatile environments;

• Proven expertise in project management at all stages of the humanitarian programme cycle, including programme design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and applying learning;

• Demonstrated capacity to work in remote hardship areas where adaptability and innovative implementation are required;

• Security management experience in conflict or post-conflict insecure environments;

• Proven expertise in assessments, monitoring and evaluation processes;

• Relevant technical expertise/experience in DRC southern Somali programme sectors;

• Demonstrated experience of people management, capacity and team-building; understanding of HR principles and ethics;

• Demonstrated experience in financial and budget management;

• Excellent written and presentation skills in English essential; extensive proposal and report writing skills with an understanding of NGO and donor requirements – experience with DANIDA, ECHO, FCDO, GFFO, USAID / BHA, UNHCR and UNICEF an advantage;

• Proven ability to build external relationships with diplomacy, tact and professionalism in a complex and demanding environment;

• Commitment to the values, vision and mission of DRC;

• Fluency in English required; full professional proficiency in both written and oral English language;

Desirable

• Experience as Area Manager – or equivalent role – a significant advantage;

• Expertise in area and / or programme start-up, or significant scale-up in restrictive environments, a major advantage;

• Master’s degree in a related field an advantage;

• Somali language abilities a strong advantage;

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’ five core competencies:  

Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.  

Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.  

Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.  

Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.  

Demonstrating integrity: You uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation to our values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

We offer

Contract length: 12 Months

Band: E

Designation of Duty Station: Non-accompanied

Start date: The successful candidate must be able to deploy with 14 days’ notice

Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates

How to Apply

Application process

All applicants must upload a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages) in English using the following LINK. Applications sent by email will not be considered.

Closing date for applications: 14 March 2023

For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website drc.ngo

The screening process for this position is on rolling basis, so early submission of applications is encouraged.  DRC reserves the right to start with the next steps in the recruitment process prior to the closing date, should we identify a suitable candidate.